Please Hold On... (with gold leaf)

"Please Hold On": a series of maps

I have always used drawing to sort of document physical experience through time and space, such riding as a passenger in a plane, car or bus. Not long after opening the Drawing Room on 23rd Street, I became solely reliant on public transportation to get from home to the my studio in San Francisco - a 5m distance across the city. At that time, many of the streets were under construction and not particularly friendly to tires, and making the ride especially physical. I began to track my body’s physical experience during my 48 minute ride from home to work, and back. The outcome was an accumulated mass of 6x9 inch black and white squiggly lines, resembling some sort of seismic reading or tracking of the circulatory system of the city.

These drawings all became a record of movement as well as the other riders going through that collective action. When assembled together, they resemble a map. This particular map is unique to the Post-COVID Muni map. When the buses resumed their schedules - they were not consistent or reliable. Additionally, the added danger of riding the buses and getting sick were really high, especially on the busy lines where the buses were packed FULL. To me, the ride was a path to survival for those who had no other options - but the bus, to get to work.