Amy Oates

For over 10 years, my art practice has explored the “crowd” as a metaphor for the city, representative of ephemeral moments layered one upon the next where individuals come together to create something new, abstract, and larger than the individual self. I am fascinated by observing the way individuals interact in negotiations between public and personal space. I find that cities – the static dots on the map – are formed, altered, and sustained by layered moments between anonymous persons, fleeting exchanges, rubbed shoulders, blocked views, stuffy spaces, converging paths, diverging destinations, what is given, and what is taken. 

My current practice has been impacted by the recent cultural pulse that suggests that our society is not comfortable with strangers. I believe that greater density of our urban spaces necessitates greater attention to our social interactions. Within my practice, I am currently asking myself questions such as, how can we learn to live within the crowd? How can we transform crowds into neighbors? I want to see San Francisco lead the way in answering such questions in order to maintain a generative, sustainable, thriving space for everyone for generations to come. 
 

 

For more information about the artist, please visit her website.