acupuncture

THE ACUPUNCTURE PROJECT / Treatment for Portland

art & acupuncture for the city

In March 2008 I was the monthly guest artist in Portland’s new South Waterfront neighborhood at the base of the aerial tram, where I brainstormed this idea with help from acupuncturists & acupuncture students, city planners, ecologists, artists, writers, public art professionals and the general public. Together we envisioned Portland as a metaphorical body, explored how energy flows through the city from an acupuncture perspective, debated which parts of the city correspond to the different acupuncture organs and meridian systems and where the city’s health problems are.

A single 23 ft tall acupuncture needle was inserted at the South Waterfront for the month of March. A city-wide installation of many such needles is possible in the future. Treatment for Portland was commissioned by the South Waterfront Artist in Residence (AiR) Program, Sept/07-Sept/08, as part of its Monthly Guest Artist Series - AiR program at www.southwaterfront/art_and_design/artist.

This project explores the interface between art, regional planning, traditional Chinese medicine and the health of a city. Using acupuncture as a metaphor, think of the city as a physical body that also has a parallel system of energy that flows in distinct pathways called meridians. Each meridian has particular acupuncture points where that energy can be accessed and adjusted. For optimal well-being, this energy, or Qi, wants to be in balance. If a person's Qi is out of balance, disease can set in. Could the same be true for a city?

Over the course of the month, a wall of maps filled up with concerns and suggestions for Portland’s healthy and well being. I got input from the City of Portland & Vision PDX, the Coalition for a Livable Future, The Portland Audubon Society, Portland State University, Urban Greenspaces Institute, and Metro, who also donated many of the maps,

In addition to the expected issues of traffic congestion, the environment, affordability, safety and education, overall, there was a general consensus that Portland is at a crossroads between what it has been - a livable, affordable, family-friendly & human-scaled place to live - to what it is becoming, a world-class cosmopolitan city becoming encumbered with all the issues and problems that come with that status.

Energy, or Chi, could take many forms in the urban setting, such as utilities, transportation, information, politics, recreation and natural features just to name a few. Chinese medicine also associates different emotional and mental states with each meridian. People are also part of a city’s energetic flow.

After discussions with acupuncture professors here in Portland, I correlated (as best I could!) a city to a human body as seen through the acupuncture lens.

There could be places where the city's Qi is flowing or blocked, deficient or overactive, places of congestion, neglect or conflict, or places of vitality, serenity and beauty.

HEART (supreme controller, spirituality, connection to higher reality, ancestors) = mayor, religious institutions, cultural institutions, art, places for ritual, music and celebration, native american & colonial history

LIVER (vision, strategy, endurance) = politics, city planning, government agencies, fuel supply & reserves

SPLEEN (transportation and distribution, coursing and draining, primary healer) = mass transit, automobiles, roadways, commerce, healthcare

LUNG (receiving pure energy from the heavens, freedom, vitality, nobility) = nature, parks & gardens, city reservoirs, open space, air quality, outdoor recreation, leisure, high society, exclusive clubs, air travel, judiciary

KIDNEY (basis of life, vital essences, eternal and infinite source, DNA ) = streams, rivers, lakes, marshes, marshes, natural resources

STOMACH (ripening and rotting, food and drink, storehouse, granary) = food supply, farmers markets, housing, entertainment, nightlife

GALL BLADDER (control, motivation) = police, fire, safety / rallying, activism, lobbying

LARGE INTESTINE (drainage, keeping the precious, letting go of impurities) = banking, manufacturing, railways, ships yards, garbage, solid waste stream, recycling, sustainability industries

BLADDER (storing and utilizing reserves, boundary between self and non-self) = reservoirs, drinking water, water treatment & sewer system, urban growth boundary

SMALL INTESTINE (wisdom, truth, virtue, sorting good from bad, morality, charity) = judiciary, schools, colleges, universities, shelters, nursing homes, charitable organizations, social services

By pinpointing Portland’s health problems the project could increase public awareness of these issues, which may in turn lead to actual improvement’s in the city’s health.

Below are more proposed acupuncture points for Portland. They reflect many of the issues that rose to the surface in March. I’ve given each point a name, improvising on some of the wonderful traditional chinese point names.