Where is Fairfield?

Community project 1995

"Where is Fairfield?" was a city wide, community based, interactive public art project. This work was a collaboration with various members of the Fairfield community in California and was designed to explore the city's sense of identity and to heighten the community's awareness of Fairfield's existing characteristics.

The question "Where Is Fairfield?", with all of its subtle layers, was presented to the community through a wide spectrum of media and contexts.

Projects included were: Banners, Bookmarkers, Buttons, Engraved Bricks, Fairfield Quilt, Fairfield Living: City of Fairfield T.V. Program, Grocery/ Retail Store Bags, Jelly Bean Project, Library Project, Mall Video Installation, Movie Theaters, Murals by Teenagers, Oral History of Fairfield by High School Students, Photography Project by College Students, Air Plane Banner, Population Sign, Post Cards, Post Office/Cancellation Stamp, Restaurant Flags, Senior Center Project, Slide Projections on Buildings, and T-Shirts.

"Where is Fairfield" also involved gathering information and feedback from individual members of the community and presenting them back to the community at large. The ultimate goal of "Where is Fairfield?" was to inspire a sense of community pride; one which would manifest over the long term through a heightened sense of caring for and about the community in all its historical, social and political aspects.

City Sign; The question "Where Is Fairfield?" was presented as a sing on the highway and near the downtown exit. Grocery/ Retail Store Bags; The question was stamped on paper bags of various stores throughout the Fairfield community.

Post Cards; Teachers in every school in the City of Fairfield introduced the question to their students, anddiscussed it with them in whatever context they were teaching (ie. history, art, geography, photography,...). Each student was provided with a postcard ( printed on one side with "Where Is Fairfield?" and blank on the other side). Students wrote, drew and illustrated their responses to this question. Postcards were then displayed and available for purchase at the Fairfield Center Gallery. Seyed Alavi

* Rememberance * Garden of Secrets * Where is Fairfield? * Selected Words

* Here * Forgotten Language * Words by Roads * There Is No Place Like Here