Fast forward a few months... I began volunteering with Papergirl Vancouver in January 2013 and immediately fell in love with the project and what I saw as an innovative and unusual approach to community-based art. I saw its “gift-ervention” and challenging of art market conventions as politically subversive; I was excited by its political origins in Berlin; I was intrigued by the project’s attempts to engage different groups of participants on multiple levels and in varying ways; and I remained involved with the project because of the meaningful experience and value it gave (and gives) to its core group of volunteers, including myself. I knew it would be the perfect topic for my thesis and definitely an interesting project to explore in depth! (It didn't hurt that my research supervisors were just as excited as I was.)
Following my successful (albeit stressful) thesis defense in May, I headed to the Canadian Communication Association's Annual Conference at Brock University to present my research findings. It was so exciting to share my research and talk about the project! The response I got was great and many were intrigued by Papergirl and its spontaneous gift-giving.
- Danielle