This month's show at Crawl Space isn't really a show at Crawl Space. It's a monthlong spotlight on artist Jennifer Towner as she prepares to try out for Survivor. Every day she writes and posts videos to her blog, I Will Survive, about what she's doing to get ready. Earlier this week she put up a videos she made in the conference room of her full-time day job. She was lying on the floor, in the dark, trying to calm a caffeine-withdrawal headache. There will not be coffee on Survivor.

This is the kind of project that wouldn't have had much resonance, say, six months ago. But seeing a woman attempting to prepare herself for a strange, new, and more difficult world reminds me of, well, everything. Of the ranks of the newly unemployed documented here on Slog. Of Dave Schmader giving up his fussiness to join America for a free Grand Slam at Denny's earlier this month. Sure, Survivor is a stupid TVland fantasy and an art project mirroring the pre-show episodes of a reality show is a naked grab at publicity, but this one is also asking all the right questions at this moment. Giving up coffee: no big deal. But what would be too much to give up? Who do we need to be, what can we do now, so that the future isn't one big shock after another? How do we get ready?

Towner is hosting workshops—there's one this Sunday from 1-4 at Crawl Space—that will bring people together to stage these questions for themselves, although ostensibly they're helping Towner get ready. This first workshop is called "OUTWIT: Help the artist sharpen her strategy skills. Join Jennifer for a fun filled afternoon of puzzles, games, and strategies that will help her succeed in competition." (The other sessions are "OUTPLAY," focusing on Eagle Scout-type skills, and "OUTLAST," for endurance challenges.)

The ultimate question is which reality it's best to prepare for—which one will be real. The answer seemed much more fixed six months ago.