If the walls could talk: Students build plan to control drinking

"Pssst. Hey you. Should you be drinking that?"

Safe drinking and responsible party behavior are the focus of a unique initiative that features "Homie the Talking House" discussing bad drinking experiences with passing partygoers in an attempt to reach out to students and young adults attending off-campus house parties.

A School of Art & Design image of the 'House Confessions' exhibit. (Image by Christopher Bradley)

U-M students will install a montage of illuminated screens called "House Confessions" on the front wall, roof and yard of a house in a student-populated neighborhood near campus where many off-campus parties take place. Installation dates are April 1-2 and Sept. 23-24, at 629 S. Division St. in Ann Arbor.

The montage of text and images depict a party scene. The screens are placed over windows and the roofline, while a central screen is set for a conversation between Homie and partygoers, who communicate through a microphone connected to a speaker inside the house.

A member of the newly formed Neighborhood Arts Committee (NAC) listens and communicates through a computer/video projector. The illuminated screen creates a face on the front of the house, revealing a personified image of Homie.

According to NAC, Homie is designed to encourage partygoers to contemplate their own partying and drinking habits as they focus on Homie as the one who needs assistance. Committee members hope this approach will encourage conscious behavior and responsibility.

Homie also provides aid, which may include water, food, designated driving service and information on local organizations concerned with issues related to partying and drinking.

The NAC worked closely with University Health Service, the School of Art & Design (A&D) and other units of the Michigan Student Assembly. Sadashi Inuzuka, A&D professor of sculpture, advised NAC on using art as an approach to its mission.

The installation will encourage conscious behavior and responsibility, without seeking to prohibit such activity, says NAC member Christopher Bradley.

"We hope that the project won't be seen as another authoritative figure preaching the rights and wrongs of social drinking and party-going, but rather to engage the party population from their perspective on how to handle a night of partying—and perhaps many nights of partying," Bradley says. "We believe this assertion on safe partying and drinking can be made through a student-to-student relationship, from one young adult to another."

Members of the NAC believe the effort is strongly needed to confront the issue of partying and drinking as a major community concern, Bradley says.

"We have looked over efforts and approaches taken by other safe drinking initiatives, such as the University Health Service Task Force on Alcohol Misuse and Excessive Use, and feel we have a unique approach to add to the cause," he says.

The NAC plans to take "House Confessions" to other college campuses around the country. So far, sites at Michigan State University, Rutgers University and the University of Colorado have been investigated for future installment.