hiding 5

Wednesday April 4, 3:30pm - 5:5:6pm
Quinpool/ Robie/ Vernon/ Pepperell
Ok! so here are a couple notes and I'll add more when I warm up!
2 and a half hours. It was cold. Under a wooden ramp.
My back hurt. Every time I do this project I realize just how easy it would be to hide a body in the city. Also how glad I am to be doing this in Halifax where hiding places don't smell like piss and aren't full of used needles.
I decided before I started the project that I cannot DO anything while I'm hiding, what I'm doing IS hiding. No multi-tasking, no reading, no writing. I spent most of the time worrying that I couldn't possibly sit outside in a cramped uncomfortable cold position for the full time. It seemed like so long. I sang to myself a lot, since no-one could hear me. I thought people probably thought I was a homeless kid. A lot of people didn't notice me so I felt really safe, also because I was hidden from view from all but one perspective, so I could see anyone who could see me. Also, I was lying/sitting on a sheet of cardboard, so I wasn't crouching or standing in uncomfortable positions, but there wasn't much headroom and any position is uncomfortable if you can't move too much.
I got really bored and tried to zone out, got pretty sleepy, but then whenever someone would go into the store they would walk over top of me and that was terrifying! It sounded like the world was ending, because I was in this sort of out of it headspace to pass the time and then the hugest explosions sounded like they were all around me and the ramp was going to hit me, but it was just cause the customers would ride their bmx bikes in or out of the store on the ramp.
Half an hour before the end a guy who worked in the store came down and asked me if I had a particular reason for hiding under their stairs. I said it was for an art project, his cellphone rang and he went back inside. A few minutes later he came back out and seemed interested. He asked what kind of art project and I said it was about public space,that I was hiding and cold. He said yeah it is cold and went back inside.
I said to him, I have 20 more minutes left. He kept going. I kept waiting, counting down the minutes until I could pee. A guy from NSCAD walked by, he caught a glimpse of me,I have a feeling he's in the class I TA. He backed up and smiled at me and kept going.
I saw a police van going up the street away from me. I was almost done. Then I saw the van pulling up to the store. Two police officers stepped out in full body armor (no swat team but still) they put on their gloves as they approached me. They told me I would have to come out. I said sure, and they asked me why I was hiding under the ramp. I said it was an art project. One of them thought that was really cool. He asked how much longer I had been going to be there, I said, actually only 4 more minutes. They asked about the project and I said it was about public space,and I said I was glad they had come because I was cold and wanted to stop.
They asked for my ID and I said that I'd rather not give it to them,but they said that since the owner of the business had called them they had to make sure I wasnt' wanted for manslaughter or something else in the province. I said I was sure that I wasn't but I asked if my student ID was ok. They asked what I majored in at NSCAD, since I looked like I was in High School. I said sculpture. We went over to their van and they ran my ID. The one who was into the project said we're not all dumb toughs in boots or something like that. I smiled and said I know, I'm not afraid of you. He asked what kind of art it was if nobody could see it, I said well thats sort of what its about, nobody notices art anyways and if you hide it people will notice it more, he said he disagreed, but seemed amused by the idea. Hiding in plain sight, eh? Yeah something like that. Thankfully, I'm not wanted for murder, so they let me go and wished me a good day, I said thank you for catching me, and they watched me leave.

I'm cold, but I guess that everything's ok.

hiding 4

I will post a description of hiding 2 and 3 soon, they were, however, uneventful, for the most part.
Today, April 2nd, from 9:30am to 12:30 pm I had committed to hiding in the location bounded by the streets Hollis, Sackville, Bedford Row and Prince. The location I selected was a basement window box that was about 5 and a half feet below the sidewalk. There was the width of the window across and the depth of my body so my eyes were at street level and I had about 2 or 3 body widths of space around me.
It was very cold today. I had planned to try to count the number of times I blinked during the performance, but because I felt exposed by concealing myself I found it challenging to concentrate on anything except how afraid I was of being hurt and how tempting it was to make eyecontact with everyone who passed. I picked a stone inside the window box about four down from the edge to stare at whenever people walked by. It was really difficult to know that I would have to stay here for three hours, since every minute seemed quite long in the experience of the cold and the fear of being 'discovered.'
My feet and back hurt from standing for so long. I tried to think about pigeons, the ocean, listened in on people's conversations.
A couple walked by and a man let out a startled curse as he recognized that what he saw (me) was unexpected. I continued to fight with my eyes to keep them lowered, and tried not to keep an expression on my face. It was most difficult for me to not be excessively aware of my external appearance. I felt more aware than I typically am of other people's gaze and how I appeared when I was being looked at.
I was hoping the police would tell me I had to leave because I didn't think I could keep convincing myself that this was a good enough reason. Nobody is looking for me, I'm not documenting the performance, I could just say I'm doing it and actually not do it, nobody would know the difference. Really. Why choose to hide? how ridiculous is that?
And of course then I heard a voice telling me, hey man, you're going to have to get out of there, you're going to have to do that somewhere else. I looked up, one man and then 2 others behind him. I said, I've made a committment to be here for another 2 hours, can I just stay until then? He said, no you're going to have to do your committment somewhere else, you're making the people feel awkward. I looked at him again, I laughed. He didn't get it. I hauled myself up and out of the space. looked at my clock. 10:47. I didn't even make it half way.