The Human Tour is a a permanent project designed for Houston and is dedicated to a more human city.

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The Human Tour was first conceived in 1982 as an exploration about scaled images using computers. The selected image was that of an outlined frontal view of a male figure. Experiments included reducing the image to fractions of its original size and enlarging it to gigantic proportions. These experiments were designed to investigate the limits of the computer’s abilities to plot very large and very small images. Although the computer was able to understand very large coordinated, it was obviously unable to plot such a huge picture because of the small plotter. Several of these “non-plots” were executed in 1982. Later, the original drawing of the figure was superimposed on a map of Houston. The contours of the figure were adapted to the streets of Houston so that if a drawing of this size were realized, the participant could actually experience the drawing by driving it. Thus an anthropomorphic “driving drawing”.

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The Tour travels through a cross-section of communities in Houston’s inner city including such historic districts as the Fourth Ward and the Near North Side as well as burgeoning neighborhoods such as “Chinatown” and the East End. It became evident that the significance of the project was not merely a formal realization of a large drawing, but rather the opportunity for the participants to experience parts of Houston that may have otherwise been unfamiliar to them. The focus then shifted from the formal to the social aspects of the project, and in turn, the implications and responsibilities this brings with it. It is hoped and anticipated that this simple act of driving through different parts of the city will bring about greater awareness to the challenges facing Houstonians and initiate an educational process that will contribute to the humanization of Houston. This is the reason for and the goal of The Human Tour.

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This map and the permanent road markers (places at the extremities of the figure: the head, the hands and the feet) are part of the first realization of The Human Tour. Further plans include painting the entire route in such a way as to be visible from the air. Also planned are events and projects that will address issues such as pollution, over-population, housing, transportation, communication, and education.

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The Human Tour is dedicated to the most idealistic scenario, a utopian view that sees a solution to each of these problems. When this occurs, communication (from the Latin “a shared space”) will replace transportation. And on that day all of the streets of Houston will be closed except for those of The Human Tour which will be left as a testament that Houston has become the Human City.

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Have a safe trip!

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—Michael Galbreth, 1987

     [The above text is from the original Human Tour map, 1987 (see below)]