It’s simple: a call for participants was made via email, in newsletters and, in the case of The Power Plant, an ad in Now Magazine. The text stated: “The Talking Creature is a participatory event examining the art of conversing with strangers in public. The Talking Creature examines this anxious dynamic in an ordered but random fashion, with the conviction that unfettered and fearless conversation between strangers is fundamental to freedom.” Once the participants gather at the predetermined time and place, everyone disperses and scours the surrounding neighborhood, approaching strangers and inviting them back to the meeting place for an unstructured, unagendaed conversation.

In the fall of 2004 we presented a variation on The Talking Creature to two classes at Parkdale Collegiate and the Art Gallery of Ontario’s Youth Council. In the high school setting we had to contextualize the event, and provide some pedagogy while balancing the desire to let the experience speak for itself. It was inappropriate to send the kids into the surrounding neighborhood and expect them to confront total strangers, so we adapted the project, utilizing a variation called The Walking Talking Creature where the students travel as a group, approach strangers and simply ask the stranger random questions about whatever the students are curious about. Parkdale, with its wide range of cultures, races and economic classes was a perfect area for the project. Instructor Marie Axler expressed surprise at how easy it was and how much people loved to be interviewed by a large group of teenagers. As well as having an impact on the consciousness of the students, the strangers approached seemed to view the event as interesting and some significant encounters occurred.