Good For One Fare
A homage to the heroes, tragedy and psychogeography of Philadelphia
A homage to the heroes, tragedy and psychogeography of Philadelphia
The term psychogeography was invented by Guy Debord in 1955. Inspired by the concept of the flâneur–an urban wanderer–Debord suggested new and inventive ways of navigating the urban environment in order to examine its architecture and spaces.
I took the idea of wandering and how the environment directly influences experience to heart when I wrote the short stories in Good For One Fare. I drew inspiration from conversations that I overheard on the subway, comments on Instagram and Facebook, and my own personal experience and the experiences of close friends. I took a free-roaming, collage-like and artistic approach to combining the true and imaginary adventures of citizens from different neighborhoods in Philadelphia into a new narrative that is able to reveal deeper truths about the city than a strict documentary retelling would be able to.
The stories are at times dire and other times humorous. They explore the effects of the opioid epidemic, long-entrenched ethnic, racial and economic class alliances and conflicts, rampant gentrification, and poverty. Despite the heavy nature of the tales, I hope that they reveal the humanity of each of the characters, and inspire people to think a bit harder about the lives of people in other neighborhoods of their own city.
As part of my participation in the Radical Cut-Up program at the Sandberg Institute, I had the chance to take the writing in the book and transform it into an installation at the Looiersgracht 60 Gallery in Amsterdam. Building on the idea of wandering through a city via public transit, I created a set of oversize Septa tokens. Despite the advent of contact-less payment systems that many public transit systems throughout the world utilized, Philadelphia held on to its archaic token and transfer system until 2017.
I chose the token because it alluded to the inherent dysfunction and game of catch up that many of Philadelphia’s institutions play, and also because I liked the idea that a token allowed you entry into a system, and afforded a way to travel through a city. In this case, the system or city that you are granted entry to is my book of stories.
Each token has a citation from the book written on in, creating a talismanic link to the people and places in Good For One Fare. The set of tokens was placed throughout the gallery, and accompanied by a release and reading of the book itself.
Project
Type
For
1 Sea Change
Publication Design
Haverford University
2 Heartworm Reader Issue One
Publication Design
Heartworm Press
3 Slagerij DeSchuyt
Identity Design
Slagerij DeSchuyt
4 By Proxy
Publication Design
James Cohan Gallery
5 Carbon Social Club
Identity Design
Lauren GIfford
6 Memory Place Desire
Publication Design
Haverford University
7 Digital Anthropomorphism
Publication Design
Andre Gray
8 Louise Nevelson
Publication Design
Locks Gallery
9 Making: Your Life As An Artist
Publication Design
Andrew Simonet
10 TwoFiveSix
Website Design
TwoFiveSix
11 A Field Guide to Philadelphia's Public Art
Publication Design
City of Philadelphia
12 Elizabeth Atterbury
Publication Design
The Colby Museum
13 Good For One Fare
Publication & Installation Design
Self-Initiated
14 Strategic HR
Publication Design
Ed Krow
15 Ultraboost 19
Global Advertising Campaign
adidas
16 City as Protagonist
Publication Design
Self-Initiated
17 What We Want Is Here
Publication Design
Asian Arts Initiative
18 Killscreen
Website Design & Strategy
Killscreen
19 The World by Train
Publication Design
Self Initiated
20 Next City Aniversary
Editorial Design & Art Direction
Next City
21 An Inaccurate, Incomplete and Absolutely True History of the City of Philadelphia
Publication & Installation Design
Self-Initiated
22 Philagrafika 2010
Publication Design
Philagrafika
23 Michael Snow / Photo-Centric
Publication Design
Philadelphia Musuem Of Art
24 LoDown x Radical Cutup
Publication Design
LoDown Berlin
25 The Pool
Identity Design
The Pool
26 The World Stage
Exhibition Design
Next City
27 Depth of Surface
Publication Design
Philagrafika
28 Next City Magazine
Magazine Design
Next City
29 Akustikplatten
Identity Design
Julien Grefe
30 Heartworm Publications
Publication Design
Heartworm Press
31 Letting Go
Publication Design
Pew Center for Arts & Heritage
32 Steve Powers
Publication & Website Design
Steve Powers
33 The Stumbling Present
Publication Design
University of Santa Barbara
34 Swindle Magazine
Magazine Design
Roger Gastman & Shepard Fairey
35 Common Touch
Publication Design
Library Company of Philadelphia
36 Mural Arts @30
Publication Design
Mural Arts Program
37 City Limits Magazine
Magazine Design & Art Direction
City Limits
38 Fels Policy Research Initiative
Identity Design
University of Pennsylvania
39 Red Collective
Identity Design
Red Collective Real Estate Group
40 Haiku Song
Publication Design
Mural Arts Program
41 Room 21
Website & Identity Design
Barnes Foundation / Jace Clayton