davis_square | Wheel Questions

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Wheel Questions

I'm Ashley Taylor, a reporter for the Somerville News writing a story about John Monsarrat's Wheel Questions installation currently at Davis Square in front of the 7-11.

What do you think of it?

Have you posted questions, and did you appreciate the answers? Or do you just read it?

Or have you never heard of it or seen it?

Particularly, as members of an on-line community, what do you think of the idea of having a community based around a physical structure, "the Wheel"?

Please let me know explicitly, when you reply, whether or not I can quote you in my article.

Thank you.

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I find it to be incredibly arrogant, and would find it so even if the installation weren't run by a creep and a sexual predator.

Holy crap. The more you know.

amen

That seems possible. I've seen him give his age as 35 lately, but maybe it was a reporting or editing error.

by the way, to the OP -- you can use anything I've said here, but I haven't said a whole lot. I do think that the cited past incidents are relevant when evaluating both the installation and its creator, and I'll be interested to see how you integrate that information into your article. This may be more than you originally signed up for.

Edited 2009-07-24 20:36 (UTC)

Ditto.

By reading your description, a certain BU medical student that has been in the news recently comes to mind!

OP, you can quote my first post here:

"It perpetuates the mindset that somebody else can answer our questions, which is part of the problem in our society. I'd be for an "anti-wheel", where people write down something they discovered through hard work."

The guy is probably trying to make a living with this, somehow. Making himself the center of attention is kind of necessary when you try to make a living as an artist (OK, we can debate whether this is art or good art). But if it's true that this guy harasses people and all that has been said, that is a questionable way to trying to attract attention....

Perhaps what is a bit disturbing is the tension between the obvious ego inflation role of this and its proclaimed "community service" role...

Wrong level in the thread... Sorry...

I would like the installation a lot more if it only was a display of the questions people asked, not the answers. It could then be kind of documentation of the questions folks in the physical proximity of the thing had on their minds. Of course, then, I don't know there would be much incentive to leaving a question. But it reminds me maybe of how people throw nickels and dimes and pennies into water fountains for luck. Maybe they ask the questions more to get it out in the open anonymously rather than to actually get an answer. Grouphug.us is an online site that's been around for at least a couple of years that serves just that purpose, and can be at times humorous / entertaining / sobering / lose-your-faith-in-humanity-depressing to read.

I do question from what authority the answers come from. As many folks have pointed out, it's a bummer the community itself can't answer the questions - I've noticed since it's been in Davis Square people have tried to contribute answers and have been scolded.

It does remind me a bit of this feedback setup we had at the cafeteria at my university, RPI. The cafeteria had these cards where you could ask questions or provide feedback on the food and service. The manager of the cafeteria would answer every card and tack it up on this huge corkboard at the exit of the cafeteria. Usually the cards had mundane questions like: "Can we have sushi one day of the week?" or "The meatloaf was gross today." But sometimes people would ask questions like "Should I change my major?" or "Will I ever get a girlfriend?" and the cafeteria manager always answered them nicely. :) Those kinds of more personal cards were only occasional though.

If it's all anonymous then... Why not just do it online? The point of doing it in RL would be that you may get to know some people who live near you better. Perhaps see the problems they are having or what they are trying to achieve and feel a bit closer to them. If that is not possible, then there is no point at all in having a physical installation...

The guy is probably trying to make a living with this, somehow.

that seems a radical interpretation of the evidence. i don't think there's any monetizing happening around this, is there? and i don't believe the creator of this is otherwise displaying public art.

edited to be more verbose...

Edited 2009-07-25 00:35 (UTC)

Perhaps not YET... But that is probably the final goal... Idea flies, companies may want to advertise on these things, whatever nutty scheme this guy has in mind.

Actually, I've heard him try to solicit corporate sponsors for it on more than one occasion.

ah! i had not encountered this. in that case, i am mistaken.

I'm a bit surprised -- doesn't he already own a big videogame company?

The website invites all levels of financial support (http://wheelquestions.org/blog/donate.html) and alludes to a forthcoming book. Doesn't PostSecret have a similar publishing program, based on harvesting the work of unremunerated volunteers?

Incidentally, you can witness the oracle at work here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjCZhLNfeM8.

That yard was a self aggrandizing eyesore. I had thought whoever put it up realized just how butt ugly it was, but clearly I was giving him too much credit.

There's still a difference between RL and online even if it's anonymous. It's that the person who submitted the question/thought once stood physically where you stand reading it, and that they were necessarily in the same area as you. You don't have that with online sites.

Some people, myself included actually liked it. Subjective aesthetic assessments (whether asserted as fact or not) aside, I liked that it seemed a sincere effort to make something useful and available to others with the property, and that it added some eccentric character to the neighborhood. It was unique, and at least to me not ugly, and so I was sad to see it go.

Edited 2009-07-25 15:35 (UTC)

"if it's all anonymous then... Why not just do it online?"

Idunno, even with anonymity, meatspace still has a certain quaint charm, when taken in small doses. =;)

For a similar idea, but done entirely online since 1989: The Internet Oracle (originally 'The Usenet Oracle')

Thanks for the reminder. I added a link to that as a top-level comment.

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Wheel Questions

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Man, oh man...

Same here

Let's be concrete here....

Ron has a point...

Re: Man, oh man...

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The thing is...

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Last chance to send me your dollar!

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The Internet Oracle

Re: A bit of a dumb idea, IMO