Parking lots as performance spaces
October 13th, 2010 By Matt Drake
I wanted to point to an interesting phenomena, local fairs.
Let’s look at local fairs.
http://www.blueridgekiwanis.org/fair/ is a great example of a county-wide fair. The practice involves the gathering of equipment, staff, and food into what is usually an open area. In many different instances, the fair is placed near a leveled area. This can be a grass field or something more industrial, like a parking lot.
The Kiwanis club of Atlanta puts an annual fair in south-central Atlanta on a parking lot like this. Here the dynamics of the parking lot change with the addition of one major rule, you cannot park on the parking lot while it is in use unless you are part of the sponsored fair group. The fair group is not parking cars, but equipment instead. So, in an odd irony, patrons are able to freely move through the lot because its activity is restricted to a certain group of people. While parking has and does occur on the lot, it is done in such a controlled manner that pedestrian traffic will not be problematic as long as it is controlled. Imagine showing up while the fair is being put together! Failure would ensue. This highlights what are the expectations of the patrons; they are engaging in a kind of performance based on what is acceptable fair activity. This is far different from their typical performance in a parking lot, which involves moving cars and moving to and from them.