Help an anthropomorphic deer with writer’s block and receive a poem in return.
That’s the gist of an upcoming art installation at 103 Allen St. called “Dear Deer,” an interactive project created by 29-year-old artist Yu-Ting Feng.
Visitors sit down in front of a screen featuring a bespectacled deer in front of a typewriter. Facing writer’s block, the unnamed deer asks each person a set of questions, like “What did you have for breakfast?” or “When was the last time you were happy?” Participants reply by using a keyboard to type in their responses, which are used to help the deer “write” a poem.
“It’s more like a ‘Mad Libs’ kind of thing,” Feng said.
Unlike previous “Dear Deer” exhibitions — like the ones in Grand Central Terminal and the DUMBO Art Festival — participants will not receive the poem they helped create.
Instead, Feng said, visitors will receive a poem created by someone who interacted with the installation during a show in Taiwan two months ago. The art piece will choose poems by searching for writers with the same initials as the participant, he added.
The Allen Street event will display poems from previous events that Feng and curator Jiayin Chen thought were particularly interesting, he said. The event will also include a data visualization of the answers collected by the installation by artist Youjin Shin.
“I hope people have fun,” Feng said.
“Dear Deer” opens Friday at 7 p.m. and will show throughout the weekend. Saturday’s hours is 10 a.m. to 10 p.m. while Sunday’s is 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Click here for more information.
