Displaying Supermarket, Marketplace and Hawkers

Introduction

Semana Santa, the Holy Week, doesn't interrupt daily life in Carúpano. Normal life and daily routines continue even though the religious practices are well visible. During Semana Santa time people eat plenty of fish, because eating of meat is not allowed. People get the basic food items from the marketplace and more special ones from the super market. Prices are usually higher in stores than in the marketplace.

Even though there are claims that the economy of Venezuela is in crises, markets are still filled with goods and customers.

We try to present the variation and colourfulness of the people, goods, places and the chaotic way it appeared to us at first sight. We also want to show the importance of the unofficial economy in ordinary peoples lives through our trade-installation.

Supermarket Installation

The shop consists of two shelves, which are placed in the corridor facing the market place section of exhibition. The first shelve includes basic items found from the supermarket. Items include the price tags, so that the visitor can easily compare the price level to their own countries. We try to create a feeling of plenty of items by using proper lighting and mirrors. One mirror is hanging on the wall and a visitor can see his or hers own reflection showing the marketplace behind him or her.

The other shelve contains also some items, or one large print of a photo from the supermarket, but mainly three televisions which display video footage from the store and from the market place. The main idea of this shelve is to present the vivid atmosphere of the super market. The videos contain the following:

1. Short images of the several products from the super market displayed individually with a delay of 30 seconds.

2. Action taking place in the supermarket. Clerks and customers moving around in the store. Possibly a few interviews.

3. General information, which shows how the super market, the market place and the individual persons selling their products are linked together. The line between official economy and free enterprise is very thin and both are important parts of entity. This tape also contains an interview of a bartender telling about his way of spending the Holy Week and about the economic aspects of Carúpano.

The floor of the super market is made out of a white plastic floor carpet, which makes it more sterile than market. The soundscape consists of general noise and the sounds from the store.

Marketplace installation

The atmosphere of the market place is built by showing the vivid action, abundance of the goods and colourfulness of people over there. At first the marketplace may seem chaotic, but soon one can see clearly the different sections of which the entity of the marketplace consist of. For example fish, meat, fruits, machine supplies, poultry, cafeterias and barbershops are divided into own sections. In the middle of official sellers lurk the unofficial ones selling all sort of small items like plastic bags, birds and other uncategorised items. The marketplace, which gives the visitor a messier image than the super market, consists of:

1. Digital video showing a loop of an alley. The loop is constantly running.

2. Big picture of a marketplace stands, which is placed next to the video alley making it more immersive and creating better illusion of a real alley.

3. Changing slide show, which presents slides showing actions taking place at the marketplace.

4. An actual table/stand for selling fruits and a garbage bin placed under it, which will hopefully create authentic scents.

5. A pyramid of tin cans, which are covered with printed images photographed at the real locations. A visitor can hold and rotate these cans to view images, which will show that the selling of items is present in everywhere and in every situation.

6. A box of chickens. The interactive part of the marketplace is a square form box, which a visitor can view mainly from outside. The box contains small holes through which a visitor can see our impression of chickens. If one approaches the box the chickens get scared and start making some noise.

Hawkers Ð persons selling items

We also want to show the unofficial part of the economy by showing the hawkers as a part of the exhibitions. This type of enterprise was all around in Carúpano. 7. A person selling clothes on the street on the top of a black plastic waste bag. Also a printed image of this person hanging on the wall in addition to clothes on the floor.

8. A person selling audio tapes. This is mainly one large loudspeaker and a cassette player on top of it.

Equipment needed

Supermarket:

3 x television
3 x VCR
Several looping video tapes
Two wooden or metallic shelves
Price tags
Mirrors
Concrete items from the store
White floor carpet
+ Things needed for soundscape

Marketplace:

1 x data projector
1 x computer
2 x slide projectors (other one can be replaced with printed image)
1 x marketplace stand + garbage bin
n x tin cans and printed digital images
1 x chicken box
Sensors
Sound device
An actual box
Some feathers or chickens

+ Things needed for soundscape

The hawkers
1 x black plastic waste bag
1 x printed image
The audio tape seller
1 x large loudspeaker
1 x cassette player
n x audio tapes

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