Provenzo's installation makes new mental connections.

Yesterday the other “fishbowl” at 107 West Beverley Street in downtown Staunton may have looked like an offbeat art project itself, one of those quirky performance art gigs where pedestrian movements are carried out in a tight space.

In reality, it was author/artist Gene Provenzo and myself installing, through sweat and laughter, THINK, the video advocacy piece Gene made in collaboration with Transition Staunton August for the Minds Wide Open Filling the Glass Half Full: A Storefront Art Initiative project in downtown Staunton.

Provenzo’s piece, a gestalt-driven rapid imagery glance at the modern cultural elements pertinent to our Transition group, sits inside a black box “peep show” style image bank we constructed using black paper, lifts, black foam core, tape and crossed fingers.

Covering energy use and consumption, food production and food waste, cognition, education, sprawl, oil and coal disasters, and the life of Staunton, THINK loops again and again, ending with a question about how we will determine the future of this town amidst larger questions of society and economy.

The short film also uses language, albeit sparingly, in a recapitulating manner, urging the viewer to think on the issues rather than turn away. But one can easily turn away from these questions, not only in ordinary life, but also in relating to the installation.

Disappearing into a black box, the almost secret installation requires the viewer to step into a willing process of engagement. Simply to encounter the piece, one has to be an already aware walker, moving eyes wide open through the Staunton streetscape. Should the viewer happen to see the video hiding in plain sight, he or she must stop, fixing his or her view directly into the screen in its shadowbox home.

Just like the issues of our times that are as plain as the nose on our faces, yet disappearing into the circuitry of our daily lives, buried by the foreground of myriad concerns commandeering our attention, this installation requires conscious encounter to rouse awareness and concern. When will we stop the frantic pace long enough to take a good long look into the deeper issues of our times, issues that will assert themselves inescapably if we do not take them on first?

THINK on it. We invite you to see the Provenzo-TSA collaborative installation until July 27, 2010.

Buy Local Campaigns worked this Christmas, says new study.

It’s easy to get cynical about “buy local” campaigns when you compare the traffic at Main Street shops with the parking lot at Wal-Mart.

Is Buy Local any more effective a slogan than Nancy Reagan’s “Just Say No”?

A new survey just says yes. The study, put out by a coalition of business groups, shows that the little guys actually outperformed the big guys this Christmas season. And further, that Buy Local campaigns made a difference.

Holiday sales for independent retailers were up an average of 2.2% while  overall retail sales were down 0.3% in December and up 1.8% in November.

And those retailers in cities with Buy Local campaigns did even better. “Independent retailers in these cities reported an average increase in holiday sales of 3.0%, compared to 1.0% for those in cities without an active Buy Local initiative,” according to the study.

“This survey adds to the growing body of evidence that people are increasingly bypassing big business in favor of local entrepreneurs,” said Stacy Mitchell, senior researcher with the Institute for Local Self-Reliance. “Amid the worst downturn in more than 60 years, independent businesses are managing to succeed by emphasizing their community roots and local ownership.”

Ethics vs Pocketbook

But this report has a troubling finding. It suggests that people bought local primarily for ethical reasons — because they want to help their community — rather than for price and quality of products and services or convenience of shopping.

Nearly 80% of those surveyed said public awareness of the value of choosing locally owned businesses had increased in the last year (16% said it had stayed the same).

A small movement can get going by do-gooders. And the Buy Local movement has made progress so far by largely appealing to civic pride.

But doesn’t it take real issues of self-interest for a movement to get big?

Won’t it take local retailers offering a better combination of price-quality-convenience to start to gain real traction over chains?

Boutiques, Not Hardware

As long as local retailers sell mostly home decor, women’s fashions, and other stuff you might want but don’t necessarily need, as they do in downtown Staunton, then there will be a need for others to provide food, appliances, hardware, and other staples. And today, that’s mostly done by chain retailers.

Of course, for local stores to start selling staples, there has to be a consumer market for the higher prices and smaller selection that local retailers would have to offer. Right now, with plenty of free parking at the mall and cheap gas to get there, there’s not much of a market for selling necessities downtown. So it’s a chicken-and-egg problem.

But once peak oil kicks in and energy prices begin to rise, then having stores nearby will become more important. That’s when buying local becomes a real pocketbook issue for shoppers.

(Full disclosure: I sit on the board of a group that regularly runs Buy Local campaigns, the Staunton Downtown Development Association. I’m sometimes skeptical, but I want them to succeed.)

Photo: catchesthelight from Flickr via Creative Commons.

Welcome to Transition Staunton Augusta, a citizens’ group to help the city of Staunton and its surrounding area in Augusta County, Virginia, move beyond fossil fuels.

As the world runs out of cheap oil, we will need to make other arrangements.

In the new economy, globalization and massive scale are out and re-localization and human scale are in.

To get there, we will face huge challenges. But there will also be fantastic opportunities for those who are prepared.

In this economy, small cities and their surrounding rural areas can again prosper.

Local food, local manufacturing, and local services offer opportunities for entrepreneurs, good jobs for our families, and a high quality of life in our revitalized communities.

A century ago, Staunton and its surrounding area thrived in a world that used a fraction of today’s energy.

We can look toward that past to inspire us — as we bring the best of modern technology to bear on creating a new economy that is built to last.