July 27, 2006

[Originally published in the 2005 Expo newspaper]

[Read about other guerrilla art interventions in the Expo DIY Library.]

In July 2001, Odyssey Works, a collaborative performance art group, conducted its first experiment.

At the height of the rent hikes in San Francisco, we placed an ad for a nonexistent one bedroom apartment on Craigslist. At a time when this apartment would have gone for $1200, it was listed for $800.

The advertisement for this too-good-to-be-true apartment was peppered with phrases such as "parking included, lots of light and well ventilated." The apartment's fictitious address was 522 Haight Street.

Prior to the open house, dozens of frantic people e-mailed me in attempt to get an advance viewing. On the day of the open house, we set up a "living room" with a physical door in a parking space where the apartment should have been located.

When people arrived, our "landlord" toured the prospective tenants through the apartment. Our guests were offered cookies and milk while they filled out a rental application form. The form was actually a feedback form regarding their experience of having their expectations subverted.

By doing so, we intended to draw attention to the absurdity of a rental crisis that made living in a parking space almost seem like an affordable solution. The project cost approximately $50 for lumber and paint to build the "front door."

The response of the unsuspecting audience was fascinating. After a moment of confusion, most people were amused and enjoyed the break in their arduous housing search.

Several people were angry at having been tricked into believing in what they originally, and correctly, suspected was "too good to be true."

One person thought that we were actually pre-interviewing people on the street and selecting the best applicants to go upstairs and view the apartment.

Another would-be renter thanked us for jolting him awake to how consumed he had become with his aggressive housing search.

Shortly after the project was conducted, things begin to change in the market.

Our work has moved on to other forms, but we have considered repeating a similar experience regarding the absurd cost of buying and owning homes in the Bay Area.

For more information, please visit www.odysseyworks.org/.