Reclaiming Commons: A Portrait-Story Project of Gardening in Philly
Reclaiming Commons: A Portrait-Story Project of Gardening in Philly is an ongoing media solidarity project painted by the artist Francesco di Santis & penned by the numerous folks who work and beautify the land in Philadelphia. Please enjoy the many narratives written below.
Collective summoned the media solidarity of The Portrait-Story Project
(PSP), after reviewing the project’s mission statement and seeing
Portrait-Stories from years ago, both online and as hardcopy
reproduction. Portrait-Story Projects emerge within geographic
delineation & within the context of non-authoritarian, direct
action-based grassroots social struggles towards self-determination,
especially when these strongly indicate a connection to land base,
against the grain of alienation. After some brainstorming and discussion
the concise title Reclaiming Commons: A Portrait-Story Project of
Gardening in Philly felt ‘spot on.’
“Due to the coronavirus pandemic, this Portrait-Story Project had
very gradual initial momentum, which felt quite acceptable, due to both
the protracted nature of underdog yet indomitable solidarian movement
and the perennial nature of gardening. For the first time, a
Portrait-Story portrait was painted outdoors in below freezing weather,
with a barrel fire crackling between Portrait-Story artist and
Portrait-Story participant, with the chairs deliberately spaced two
metres apart. When the portrait completed, the participant put on a mask
to go into a warm interior space to regain finger dexterity and write
her narrative. In another moment, for not the first time, a participant
wore a mask while sitting for her Portrait-Story portrait. The PSP
artist respected that folks had varying levels of epidemiological
caution, that some otherwise enthusiastic, wanted to postpone
manifesting a face-to-face art-media-social phenomena.
“As weather warmed, gardening activity increased and
pandemic-related concern ebbed, PSP participation accelerated. These
Portrait-Stories visibly grew as a series, exhibiting in the same
reclaimed common in which some participants wrote about their
involvement within. During some portrait sessions, The PSP artist would
stick one of his palette knives into the cooled coal dust or ash of a
garden fire pit and work this extremely locally sourced natural pigment
into the other paint mixtures. While he liked the texture and color of
the pigment and the frugality, spontaneity and intuition of the
practice, he most of all liked that the substance of the garden itself
became part of an aesthetic and empowering record of the joyful and
liberating victory of this gardening.”
-Francesco di Santis
To view more Portrait-Story Projects please visit the website: https://portraitstoryproject.org/
Cesar Andreú Iglesias Community Garden 