Puzzling Conversations
This was the first project that sparked our interest in creating opportunities for conversation.
We bought puzzles from charity shops and worked on them steadily for weeks in our flat, when we had just moved in and many flatmates were still strangers to each other.
It created an situation that allowed people to sit for prolonged amount of time and focus being around the puzzle, so there was not pressure for any conversation to happen as well as providing a starting point for conversation when it did- it was a mediator.
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Reflective Poem
Once the puzzles were completed (and destroyed during a party much to everyone's disappointment) we put this script in an envelope that noted the date of the conversation and returned the puzzle to the charity shop for the next person to purchase.We hoped when the box is opened and the script is discovered it may spark thought about the other people and lives that have occurred around the mutual activity of working on this puzzle. We also enjoy the fact this very personal piece of text is a secret and private between two strangers united solely by the puzzle.
This question of the life that occurred with each object is one can consider for every item in a charity shop yet it is unlikely you'll ever know, but this reveals just a little.
This was different to out other projects as we did not invite anyone to be involved but just left the puzzles for whoever and gave us time to listen and question the various qualities and sectors that effect conversation.