home        needles        locator map        volunteer / donate      contributors      background      the artist

(portland, oregon)

In March 2008, Adam brainstormed the project with help from acupuncturists, city planners, ecologists, artists, writers and the general public at the South Waterfront Guest Artist Residency Program. Together we envisioned Portland as a metaphorical body, considering its health through the non-western lens of acupuncture and Chinese medicine.

Participants contributed ideas about the city's health...

... and layers of information accrued on the maps...

...which  informed the project as a whole and suggested specific issues and locations to focus on.

  home    needles    map    volunteer/donate    contributors    background    artist    contact    t-shirts            © 2010  -   portland acupuncture project

Possible Correlations between Acupuncture Meridian & Organ Systems and a City Developed in the Workshops

Kidney

    ( Chinese Medicine ) basis of life, vital essences, eternal and infinite source, DNA

    ( a city? ) streams, rivers, lakes, marshes, marshes, natural resources

Liver

    ( Chinese Medicine ) planning, vision, strategy, endurance

    ( a city? ) electricity & fuel supply & reserves, politics, city planning, government agencies

Heart

    ( Chinese Medicine ) supreme controller, spirituality, connection to higher reality, ancestors

    ( a city? ) mayor, religious institutions, cultural institutions, art, places for ritual, music and celebration, native american & colonial history

Spleen

    ( Chinese Medicine ) transportation and distribution, arbiter of coursing and draining, primary healer

    ( a city? ) mass transit, automobiles, roadways, commerce, healthcare

Lung

    ( Chinese Medicine ) receiving pure energy from the heavens, freedom, vitality, nobility

    ( a city? ) nature, parks & gardens, city reservoirs, open space, air quality, outdoor recreation, leisure, high society, exclusive clubs, air travel, judiciary

Bladder

    ( in Chinese Medicine ) storing and utilizing reserves, boundary between self and non-self

   ( in a city? ) reservoirs, drinking water, water treatment & sewer system, urban growth boundary

Gall Bladder

    ( Chinese Medicine ) control, motivation

    ( in a city? ) police, fire, safety / rallying, activism, lobbying

Small intestine

   ( in Chinese Medicine ) sorting good from bad, wisdom, truth, virtue, morality, charity

    ( in a city? ) judiciary, schools, colleges, universities, shelters, nursing homes, charitable organizations, social services

Stomach

    ( Chinese Medicine ) ripening and rotting, food and drink, storehouse, granary

    ( a city? ) food supply, farmers markets, housing, entertainment, nightlife

Large Intestine

    ( in Chinese Medicine ) drainage, keeping the precious, letting go of impurities

     ( in a city? ) banking, manufacturing, railways, ships yards, garbage, solid waste stream, recycling, sustainability industries