As part of PORCH Fest at PORCH: An Architecture of Generosity, the official U.S. Pavilion exhibition for the 19th International Architecture Exhibition of La Biennale di Venezia, Sheryl Oring presented a pair of participatory art projects that invite the public to reflect on the values, rights, and responsibilities that shape civic life. Timed to coincide with U.S. national holidays - Independence Day and Labor Day - these works create space for dialogue about freedom and work.

In Spirit of Independence, Oring asks: “What does independence mean to you?” Visitors share their thoughts while she types them verbatim on a vintage typewriter, creating carbon copies - one for the participant, one for the exhibition and her archive. In related large-scale public performances planned for 2026, the project will mark the 250th anniversary of the U.S. Declaration of Independence and founding of the country.

Together with What We Work For, prsented at PORCH Fest over Labor Day, the projects investigate what we inherit, what we contribute, and what we strive for through the intimate act of sitting down with the artist on the PORCH, speaking one’s truth, and having it set into words, one keystroke at a time.