Earlier this year Aline Deschamps organized a wonderful Inside Out group action with novice monks (samanens) in Chiang Mai, Thailand. We interviewed her to hear more about her experience and why she chose Samanens as her subject. The interview was edited slightly for grammar.

IOP: Was this your first foray into exhibiting your art on the street?

AD: I had a few attempts with friends before…they were fun but we did never something that big and controversial.

What was the pasting experience like for your team?

A revolution and a game at the same time.
As monk novices, it was a revolution to paste their portraits. Never had they thought possible to paste their images and what they represent on the walls of their community/temples which are usually kept very neutral.

But it was also a game. Because pasting your own portraits poster sized on the street when you are a kid is quite entertaining!

On the first temple the Samanens were so excited to paste that they put their photos EVERYWHERE without any order. A naive way of doing it that made the beauty of their action.

What inspired you to get involved in The Inside Out Project?

The whole philosophy, goal and interaction of the project. More than the aesthetic part, I knew JR´s photos power. It inspired me.

The PEOPLE – subjects in his pictures AND the ones interacting with them – inspired me even more.

The Inside Out project was for me an open gate of expression, on a global scale and in a democratic way.

How did you determine what statement to make?

Great changes are happening in the Buddhist community. The young generation of Samanens is synonymous of this change and I wanted to represent it.

How did you recruit people to participate?

They came from themselves! I had talked to a few temples about this project. The day of the exhibition I went to Wat Phra Singh and a long line of monk novices was waiting for me.

Did it take a lot of time and effort to find the right walls? To get permission?

This is definitely the most crucial and controversial point of this whole experience!

I chose the walls of Ratchadamnoen Road because it is absolutely crowded during the Sunday Road Market, and thus visible to the broader number of people.  I wanted the photos to be pasted on temples’ walls just for the whole symbolism of representing a community…and the challenge.

I had to convince aboytts of temples, sometimes for days, of how InsideOut was linked to Buddhist values by bringing up knowledge of the others and tolerance, how it could innovate on the image of the temple itself.

I have encountered refusals, temples fearing the bad press of the community with ‘something that never happened before’ (despite their agreements with the project’s values). Some other temples, such as the Wat Chedi Luang, turned out to be very interested and supportive. They backed up the whole message and values of the project and saw it as a means to represent themselves in a innovative way.

A monk even told me ‘Even though some people would not understand, and there will always be, you have to do it.’

To get the right permissions and reassure some temples I went – on their demand – to ask the permission of the Highest Monk of Chiang Mai, Pratepkonson. I did not realize at that time but it was a very privileged moment. After 2 hours of talk and mentioning that the pictures were ugly, he gave me his full support for the exhibition. Victory!

What was the community’s reaction to your action?

Next to the photos we also pasted the purpose of ‘Inside Out’, articles about JR’s work, and the authorizations of the project.

Three hours later, all the pictures got ripped off. That same night only trace of glue remained from the exhibition.

It was heart breaking. So much time and work wasted by people who did not even make the effort to read and consider a legal exhibition.

I finally understood it was an answer from the street, and I accepted it.

What conversation do you hope results from your group action?

A conversation between people, that would be the first step.

Why do you feel art, and particularly the Inside Out Project, was the best way to express your statement?

Because change is part of debates, sharing views, communication between people….and Inside Out brings them. Doing it in an artistic way just calls the attention. And what better place to express a statement than in the street? A place open to everyone, where all generations and social backgrounds can view and answer to it.

What piece of advice would you give to someone else who wants to organize a group action?

Do it. Don’t give up no matter the pressure nor the gossip. Gather people around you and it will bring so much strength.

Do you think art can change the world? Why?

Yes, because ART has the ability to reach people in distinct psychological levels of intimacy.

It calls something that may be imperceptible, but that gives new variants and sensible perspectives.

In June, Agustin Fernandez Gabard organized a Inside Out group action in Montevideo, Uruguay to highlight the work and human stories of wastepicker cooperatives. Today we present an interview with him about his experience, the second in a series of interviews with IOP group leaders. The interview was edited slightly for grammar.

IOP: Was this your first foray into exhibiting your art on the street?

AF: It was my first time doing it on such big scale. I had two previous experiences exhibiting photographs on the street. In 2008 I did a small homage to musician Eduardo Darnauchans using a photo of his last concert. The other experience was in 2009 when -with a group of photojournalists- we made a street exhibition of photographs taken during the presidential campaign. The photographs were an ironic approach to the campaign, those photos the newspapers rarely use, and were pasted on a wall just the politicians posters. The exhibition was called “Sacámela!” (Give me a break!). It was the first time for Mane Gurmendez, the friend who was also responsible for this action.

What was the pasting experience like for your team?

It was a very intense and fun experience. We started at 5am (we were 10 people) and we finished pasting at around 4pm. In all that time we only stopped around for 40 minutes for lunch.

What inspired you to get involved in The Inside Out Project?

It seemed a great opportunity to put together voices from so many different places with a common goal of visibility, for claiming dignity, for change…

How did you determine what statement to make?

We decided to stand for the work and the dignity of the organized waste-pickers. The situation of the waste-pickers and the role of their work for the recycling industry is not known by the common people, that’s why we focused on the waste-pickers organized as cooperatives, because cooperatives are the way they have found to do their work on human conditions and not having to look for materials inside the garbage containers.

How did you recruit people to participate?

We sent e-mails through friends and as soon as they read about the action they were willing to take part.

Did it take a lot of time and effort to find the right walls? To get permission?

It didn’t take a lot of time to find the right walls. We chose a downtown zone and we spent one afternoon looking for the right walls. Besides the walls downtown we also used the wall of a church that is close to the waste-pickers cooperatives. About permissions, we only had to ask for permission for using two walls (the other walls are often used for pasting posters/publicity and so). One was the wall of Teatro Solis, the biggest theatre in Uruguay, where we met the director and he accepted our proposal very gently. The other wall was at the church nearby the cooperatives. We went to meet the priest in charge of the church and we were surprised about his enthusiasm about having ten photos pasted on his church.

What was the community’s reaction to your action?

Many people got curious about the action, and thanks to the media, the blog we made, and the social networks we were able to get our statement out to many people who had never before hear about the cooperatives of waste-pickers.

What conversation do you hope results from your group action?

I hope that people will consider the work of the waste-pickers in a different way, as work that is very important for our nature, for all of us, and it can be done in good conditions.

Why do you feel art, and particularly the Inside Out Project, was the best way to express your statement?

Because it was a very innovative way of showing something that most of the Uruguayan people usually deal with every day but never stop to think about it.

What piece of advice would you give to someone else who wants to organize a group action?

I would advise to think of a story that needs to be told, by people who have something strong and clear to say.

Do you think art can change the world? Why?

Yes I do, because art -as a way of communication- tends to show things in a different way (no matter what things, could be a social statement, could be feelings…), and therefore it makes people think on a different way, I think that is the basic motive why art can change the world.

Today we launch the first in a series of interviews with Inside Out group action leaders from around the world.

Meet Dana Eskelson of Brooklyn, NY. She organized one of the Inside Out Project’s first actions.

IOP: Was this your first foray into exhibiting your art on the street?

DE: I am not a visual artist. I have never done anything like this before.

What was the pasting experience like for your team?

One of my favorite moments from the entire experience was at the end of the day we were pasting. My neighbors had started to come home from work, they all walk from the train and take the same route and have to head up the block. And as they did they saw us and what was happening and they gathered and shook hands and introduced themselves and stood around talking and watching together. Neighbors on one end of a Brooklyn block don’t often know the others at the opposite end, and on that day, the project had shrunk the size of a Brooklyn block to a smaller and more personable expanse. It was not something I had really thought about at all-I was only focused on celebrating the local, long time shop owners. In the end, it was not only a beautiful repercussion of participating in the project, but something that would have a long term positive influence on the people who live here-long past the time when the posters dissolve and fade away.

What inspired you to get involved in The Inside Out Project?

I had seen an article about JR in The New York Times maybe in January and saw some of his photos and I was so blown away by them, that I cut them out and put them up on my walls. Then months later, when I heard he won the Ted Prize, I watched his speech and the announcement of his wish. I was too moved and inspired to remain inactive.

How did you determine what statement to make?

When I asked myself what I cared about, past my son and friends, the answer was ‘people.’ I am very grateful for my life and everything I have in a world where so many have so little and yet they remain optimistic, joyful and generous.  I thought of my neighbors who began as strangers and then became friends as they helped me over the years while I struggled as a new home owner and single mother raising my son.  And then I expanded that thought to my neighborhood and how much I love it, how grateful I am to live here, even have this house. And my neighborhood is made of a community of small shop owners-some of whom have been here more than 44 years –long before it became hip to live here- and their continued presence is what makes our neighborhood so great.  And they are largely an immigrant community supporting family members back home in countries all over the world. I wanted the shop owners and their families to know that their sacrifices to be here and the long hours they work are not in vain: that we see them. And I wanted them to be celebrated in a way that their families back home, who I am sure miss them very much, could witness. I wanted their families as well as the shop owners to know that the community is not taking their presence here for granted.

How did you recruit people to participate?

I counted how many stoop stairs there were on my block and made forty four 2 page flyers with photos of JR’s work and a one sheet proposal of my idea and gave my contact info.

Did it take a lot of time and effort to find the right walls? To get permission?

I figured that if I proposed the posters to be on the stoop stairs, I’d have a better time getting people to agree to me pasting on their properties. I gave myself a deadline of about 3 weeks for people to respond because I felt that if someone had to think too much about it or they were hesitant, it was probably not a good idea for them to participate. I didn’t want to talk anyone into anything. I wanted it to be a project of optimistic enthusiasm because I actually had no idea how I was going to do it or what it would look like and since there were no guarantees, I only wanted property owners who were excited.  I initially wanted to reach out and organize this to happen in the entire borough of Brooklyn, with pockets of blocks doing this for all of their local shop owners, but I thought it could take me all year to organize something like that and I was only one person. So I forced myself to limit it to my block.

What was the community’s reaction to your action?

Complete support and interest. Amazement. While it was not my intention, it has also fueled the ongoing dialogue and political fire that has been going on in our neighborhood a few years now due to the ongoing construction of a new sports arena 1 ½ blocks away. This construction has enacted the eminent domain law and has forced many businesses to close, while putting many people out of their homes—although the politicians would not phrase it that way.

Our block is also a bus route and every day as people pass on the bus, it’s like they are in an outdoor art gallery and you can see the surprise on their faces. People stop every day and take pictures and ask questions. Best of all, it not only brings a smile to anyone who sees them for the first time, but to all of us who live here as well, every day, even 2 months later.

What conversation do you hope results from your group action?

I didn’t do it to inspire anyone or hope for dialogue or anything like that at all. I just wanted to publicly honor my local shop owners and give my neighbors a forum to express the gratitude I knew they felt as well.

Why do you feel art, and particularly the Inside Out Project, was the best way to express your statement?

Any time someone publicly stands up for something, there is an opportunity for those that are silent who may be feeling internally the very same thing- the quieter people in a community-to feel connected and maybe even inspired in their newly discovered unity to be a little more brave-to speak up or to participate. It just takes one person to start. Others will always follow. Art is not for the elite. It’s not for inside walls where only a few can afford the time or money to see it. It should be for everyone. If it really is a reflection or meditation on society or humanity, then society should have access to see it.

What piece of advice would you give to someone else who wants to organize a group action?

If not now, when? Do it.

Do you think art can change the world? Why?

Yes. Art is the peoples’ politics. It gives everyone a voice: both the artist and the viewer. It provides the opportunity for a communal experience and any time strangers are brought together to experience something, discourse occurs and diversity of thought is encouraged. This is the definition of a true democracy. Movements and revolutions are begun by someone speaking up-whether verbally or visually. Sometimes you can’t give a public speech to protest against injustices, but you can create something that speaks even louder, moves even more people, transgresses language barriers, can’t be stopped and doesn’t need a permit to exist. People are put off by political parties, the class system, governmental alliances, religion-all of the things that separate us and differentiate us and divide us from being one race. Art asks, not dictates. All people need to unite is one person to start. That is the essence of change: unity.

Read more about her action in the New York Times >>>

Time is Now, Yalla! is currently underway in Israel (Tel Aviv and Haifa) and Palestine (Bethlehem and Ramallah). JR and his team have set up four giant photobooths, which will run September 3-11, turning out about 1,000 photos each day. Palestinians and Israelis are invited to visit and, in exchange for a personal statement, receive a large-format portrait they can paste wherever they wish – either on their own or as part of a group.

“When I first worked here on the Face2Face Project, I pasted portraits of Israelis and Palestinians doing the same jobs to show that, despite their differences, Palestinians and Israelis are similar enough to understand each other” said JR. “And then I came back in 2010 to set up the first tours allowing people to discover both Israel and Palestine during the same trip”. “I return now simply as the printer, giving people the photobooths for free so they can take their own portraits, share what they stand for, and paste the streets of their communities. Everyone can tell a story through art, and the Time is Now to break down barriers to expression and give people the tools to be seen and heard.”

Read the full press release >>

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“We wanted to bring two different communities, two different races together…The whole project was not for fame or to get your pictures all over Cape Town and be known. It was about making a difference.” – Inside Out Cape Town youth participant