PARTY STORE // for three days over july 16, 17, and 18, folks were invited to explore a former PARTY STORE overtaken by michigan-grown fresh cut flowers and artificial flowers purchased used from michigan resale stores. the experience was a visual cacophony, every surface enveloped--shelves covered, coolers stuffed, counters coated with a floral veneer. this public art installation offered a multi-sensory reset through the beauty and abundance of flowers, as well as nudging visitors to consider the disposable culture of travel and tourism.

while the flowers in PARTY STORE were composted and all materials reused and recycled, most items purchased in a convenience store are packaged in single-use plastics. what can be considered as we move toward redesigning our lives after quarantine?

the term 'PARTY STORE' is a michigan-specific phrase for a shop that sells mainly liquor, beer, lotto, pizza, and other convenient drinks, foods, and items. in spending time in port austin, i recognized a similarity between its tourism culture and that of my hometown of petoskey. the local economy relies on the tourists, but often the folks who come can have a 'disposable' quality to their visit, exemplified in the increase of consuming convenient items--often packaged in single-use plastic. by installing flowers that will ultimately be composted into a space that historically sells items that cannot be biodegraded, i hoped to bridge a connection for responsible choice-making in its visitors' future.

project photographer: christian gerard