Put Something There

My put something there project found me. I sat down in a restaurant (Macaroni Grille) and I saw that there were crayons sitting on the table. At first, I just thought the crayons were for a kids placemat or something, but then I realized that I was able to draw on the table covering itself. I couldn't pass this up.

I decided to draw something every time I received something that I ordered, be it drink, salad, main course, and dessert. What I drew depended really on the first thing that I felt. It sometimes was a word, maybe a little bit of scribble, and a lot of time it was a picture. When I left the table to leave, I thought about the waiter who will look at this completely covered tablecloth, and I wondered if I left a part of myself at the table.

Participatory urbinism

http://www.urban-atmospheres.net/ParticipatoryUrbanism/index.html

I stopped driving on the way to the bank, pulled over and began watching the people who passed me. I took pictures of these people. For me, this was watching my back. looking at the future of the same spot that I'd stopped at, but if I didn't stop this would've bee the things behind me.

follow

I was thinking about the way we view and follow celbreties. I pretty much know and have seen all of Robert De Niro's movies, not only that but I know his height, when he was born, and his wife's name. It's creepy because he doesn't even know I exist, and yet I know a lot about him, not just pretaining to his movie career. It's funny that the people we follow and realate to the most, are people we don't even know. But these celebrities feed off the audience. Some people can't live without being followed.

This was an extremely creepy assignment, but by the end I was extremely paranoid about being spotted. I started out following this small red car, which just happened to be the first car that I turned behind. I took my girlfriend along to take the pica, so I wouldn't crash into anything, and I tried to maintain a safe distance so they couldn't see in their rear view who I was and what I was doing. I followed this car for about five minutes on a straight path, and then turned into a CVS parking lot with them, I waited while the man went into the bank, and his girlfriend stayed in the car. When he came back out I attempted to follow them but they turned when I wasn't able to so I followed the first car I got behind, which was a ford explorer I believe. This car turned many times, and I followed, but they began to pull ahead, and I realized I was going sixty trying to keep up. I wondered if I was spotted. Anyway, I was able to catch up at a red, a few seconds later they turned into shopping center, and I followed. When the man stepped out of the car he headed into a dry cleaners, but not before looking right at my car. I took off. This assignment was fun for me. It's crazy all the different paths one can go down when you're following people. They're leading you and they don't even know it. It's a cool experience.

For my creating a new situation in my community project, I made a little Happy Presidents Day card for my fellow neighbors who I've never talked to before. Even though it's not until the 19th, it's still the closest holiday besides honesty Abe's birthday. Anyway, I figure I'd create a new situation by developing a friendship between people who live right near me, but who I'd never had a conversation with in the two years since I moved in. Thus, making them feel good about getting a card in the mail (people always want to be loved), and making me feel good about attempting to relate to people. I haven't gotten a response yet because they probably think I'm insane, but that's just the price you pay for greatness. Besides, I don't get my hair cut, so I couldn't do that.

For my reorganizing my room project, what I did was meticulously clean my sleeping space. I believe this worked on many levels because not only was this what I had to do because I live with my girlfriend, and she didn't want me moving stuff, but also, you wanted us to change the way we perceive our room, and have to change the typical directions we move strolling through it. No longer do I have to avoid the shoes and pants on the floor, and make a left at the hamper to sit at the computer chair, where there's no space to put anything. And no longer will people thing were disgusting slobs when they see the way that we sleep. And now there's not four feet piles of junk on top of the dresser. I've actually messed around with space of my room by not moving everything around, but by clearing unnecessary stuff out of the way. This is why I feel what I did works for this project.

Deconstruct The City Space

Deconstruct = Take down, or break a part. This can be done mentally, physically, spiritually, and emotionally.

The = Overused. I think it should be taken out of the English language.

City = Some place you go to take a dump, just kidding. Not suburban or rural. Usually marked by high populations, industrialization, and one way streets.

Space = Something we attempt to understand, but will never fully comprehend. I always make the connection to time when I contemplate space.

Map

There’s a couple of pop-up maps I’d like to comment on. The first is Mariko’s. The everyday map, well I can’t even remember what that was, no offense, but the labyrinth was awesome. Using the transparent photo paper was a terrific idea. When you put these pictures together they create what seems like an endless world, with many layers, and countless directions. And when lift it up, you see the space in between these layers, and you realize they’re not endless, but part of a bigger picture. Also, I liked the fact it was mobile because things change in a labyrinth.

Another map that I liked was Jamey’s. So, I guess the name game did work. Anyway, I am in appreciation to Jamey’s neighborhood map. I liked that fact that everything was the same, and everything was bland. It described actual existence very well. I envy this map, and I wish I did this with my neighborhood map. Besides, Dave was right when he said it looked like a graveyard. Did he say that? Well, if he didn’t, I did.

Mr. T-shirt

I'm not sure if we we're supposed to document our t-shirts and pop up maps. This I would find unreasonable because we’ve already done these assignments and expressed it to the class. I’ll still comment on a couple of others.

This in general, I found fascinating about a lot of shirts. It was the fact that in a lot of them, there was nothing good or pleasurable going on. Everything was work and school, and no play. So I was thinking, what’s the point of living, and mine was no exception. Then I realized that there was some light at the end of the tunnel documented on some shirts, and it was some intangible dream of moving to Hollywood or becoming rich or implausibly successful . So then I realized those dreams are what keeps us going, and I tied it in to people’s attitudes in general. It seems like the older you get the more miserable you are, but miraculously after a while you‘re content. You see, the dreams begin to fade, until eventually you convince yourself that you never wanted anything but what you had. Either that or you’re disgusted by everything.

Another shirt I’d like the comment on is Mariko’s. This shirt was so precise and well orchestrated it has to be mentioned. The whole idea about the paths and the means to get somewhere, and using a t-shirt and technology to illustrate to us how you can use these things like a puzzle. You need both to solve the mystery of the T-shirt. It was really cool, and must have taken a lot of effort. A+

Labyrinth

Sometimes we create words that we cannot fully understand its meaning, and I believe that labyrinth is one of those words. It’s just something we use to fill in the gaps to an assortment of questions and dilemmas. It could be a maze, or it could be just the way we perceive the world.

Anyway, I saw Pan’s Labyrinth one of the first days it came out, so it’s not completely fresh in my mind, but I know that it was a beautiful piece of cinema. And I read The Garden of Forking Paths which was a nice little read. To me, the connection between these creative works is unknowingness. Things aren’t always what they seem, and that our lives are colossal labyrinths if we’re able to open our eyes and minds to it. Time doesn’t relent, and things are always changing, but you end up back at the same places, at different times. Life has many directions, although we only exist in the paths we choose, we are constantly choosing new paths, which means that there are billions of uncharted paths that could be walked down.

Our personal universe and the universe itself is a Labyrinth according to the short story. “A book whose last page was identical with the first, a book which had the possibility of continuing indefinitely.” Our first and last page are the same, meaning there’s non-existence, existence, then non-existence. Same applies for the universe, thus everything in between is a labyrinth, and the cycle will continue ceaselessly. The movie takes a more literal approach to the word Labyrinth, and delves into a word where anything can happen (girl’s world) and the world that overshadows it (mother’s world), and both can exist simultaneously, unaware of one another. The girls gets absorbed in the labyrinth of life because she chooses to, and the mother ignores it.