I was particularly drawn to public education after talking with a kindergarten teacher in
Rhode Island this past summer. She said that her 5-year old students had trouble playing
pretend and using their imagination while in class. She said, "There's no time for kids to
be creative OR social anymore!"
The atrocity project started with two goals in mind:
1.) Drawing attention to what is being cut in our schools
2.) The desire to get people engaged.
We believed that we had to go beyond just putting information out there and extend beyond an
"art is good" approach. We wanted to create something that would stick with people – something
that would stir up conversations amongst friends, family and colleagues who would then tell
others they know, and so on and so forth. What better way to reach people than on billboards
during the holidays and over the web where social networking reigns supreme?
The website received around 9,000 views from all over the world, and has become a topic readily
discussed on popular websites like Facebook, Reddit, and Tumblr
(see Online Publicity). Many reacted in
anger and disbelief and began to discuss their own current educational system which evolved into
deeper conversations amongst their peers.
We've received approximately 250 responses that ranged from "two word responses" to heart-felt
testimonies, and replied with our reveal about the project to those who gave us working email
addresses (see Responses).
Our survey had approximately 1,480 hits from all ages who all disagreed with our faux website. Several "people" also filled out and submitted our join form under names such as Lara Croft and Bruce Wayne, while a handful of those who immediately recognized the satirical purpose of the site truly joined.