“Attempting to Drink Union Coffee From the Second Floor of MIAD Across the Street.”

Hundreds of straws were connected and stretched across the street on a clod day with the help of more than four people including MIAD security.  I called the Union and ordered a couple cups of regular coffee with a packet of sugar to be made and put on the table on the second floor of the Union.  When I tried to drink it, I got the coffee to flow halfway down the street, but it would not go further.  Then we decided to lower it to the ground floor and try from there.  After the complicated lowering operation I quickly got the first sip of coffee which by that time was cold. 

In this project, I investigated the absurdity of solving certain problems that supposedly make life easier, and the idea of comfort and luxury.  In reality I believe every solution, or the western culture’s “progression” forward, brings both good and bad, and requires tons of effort to invent and execute the solution.   I wanted to achieve comfort and luxury in doing an everyday thing; drinking coffee without crossing the street in the cold weather, yet was ultimately faced with more challenges than reward.

Special thanks to my parents, my sister Yelena, Brad Conklin, Greg Azbel, Anatoli Berezovsky, Derek D, Topher, and Holly V, this one would not be possible without you all