PEERY SLOAN
- More Than It Holds (workshop)
Loitering with Purpose
2026: food trucks, PSU
2025: Black Friday, Hawthorne Blvd.
Portland, Oregon
When does being become loitering?
Loitering occurs when someone's actions counter what's expected & are being surveilled: sitting on a commercial street sidewalk, lying down near a crosswalk, wearing tattered clothing in an affluent area.
Taking cue from our avian loitering expert, the pigeon, I invite people to linger in commercial spaces without buying anything.
Our bodies move through public space differently. We each notice what our own presence feels like, then share.
I give people "researcher" badges to explore if official ephemera changes how we feel about our right to be there. Participants report feeling both protected and self-conscious.
Photos at food carts by: Nina Vichayapai