Communal Jukebox . . . . . . . . Nov 2022

       Born in a class called art and social change taught by Gustavo Aguilar, Communal Jukebox was a culmination of ideas from classmates, Ken Durasi, Morris Yang, and I. As the name suggests, the final project asked us to go out into the world and encourage change though artistic means. Ken was thinking about a free platform for connection. Morris questioned how we could learn about each other through curations of music. And I wanted to cultivate and draw out joyful emotion. The full idea came about as a culmination to a freshman year essay where I pitched playlists as forms of art. And with Morris’s experience headlining cyphers in public spaces, the foundation was set. 

       Like buskers, we made a giant sign with a sharpie. It asked a broad, yet fitting question: “What is the opening song to your autobiographical film?” Our jukebox was a wooden box that hid Morris’s bluetooth speaker and displayed hand-drawn artwork by Ken. And finally, I built us a website to be a hub for our mission and playlists we’d be creating. We picked one weekend in November to spend some time in New York City parks and ask people our question. And whatever expectations we had, they were shattered at our first location as we had a manageable stream of people who partook. People’s willingness to stop and talk gave us the confidence that our project would work. We have memorable moments with a lawyer and his friend who chose the olympic theme and a family who chose a couple REM songs. That first morning we were also able to determine what aspects of our project worked or were even necessary; like how to pose the question to passerby and that we could bend our own rule of one song per person. At Washington Square Park, international tourists and literal cross country runners talked to us. There were people who came up just to look at the sign and share it online and those who just passed by to shout a song and run away. 

       The turnout was greater than expected. We got a diverse set of responses from “Eye of the Tiger” to video game music and jazz. They all just fit the days somehow and the people who chose them. Everyone who decided to stay and talk all had a unique story about why they picked the song(s) they did, whether it was because they were born when that song was playing or just because they were working out with it. With lofty goals, but moderate expectations, I think it was successful beyond what we could have hoped for. I am glad that I was able to help Morris see his idea come to life as much as he credits me for having the same one.