Exploration 2: Water on The Line

One thing that many people may take for granted is the simplistic beauty in something as simple as water. Water itself is a free moving and easily manipulated substance that can create beautiful forms and shapes that are stunning to look at and appreciate.

For this exploration I decided to go out on the line and search for different forms that water has created, weather it be temporary shapes due to manipulation of the hand or an object, or even naturally occurring forms of water such as frost or ice.

I decided to document these shapes and forms using my camera in order to capture the beauty of the forms as best as I could, I also included simple notes on each documented photo that describe how the forms made me feel or even specific words that I thought of after seeing the forms and shapes.

This also happened to be the exploration that I decided to set up and present in class.

Exploration 1: People Watching on The Line

For my first true exploration of The Line I decided that I wanted to see what kind of people were wondering around near or on the line itself. Since there are many different people on and off the two campus’s I wanted to figure out a way to document them without violation their personal spaces.

After brainstorming I decided that I would choose 5 different people to study and to document on my journey. I did this by taking down the following information about each of them:

-What they looked like.

-What they wore.

-Where they might have been going.

Once I had this information I decided to carefully sketch out each of the different people and taking down as many visual details about the people that I could. I also used some pastels to roughly add some color to each of the figures I was observing.

This exploration on its own helped me to see how many different people are wandering around and how unique each one of them really are.

 

Exploration 4: Time on The Line

When trying to think of an exploration one word kept coming to my mind and that word was “time”. I felt like I was running out of it and that I needed to think of an exploration fast. But thats when I had the idea that maybe I could use the idea of time itself to travel The Line and figure out ways of documenting time itself.

In order to do this exploration I decided to choose a single spot on the line to sit and observe. I sat there and I brainstormed different ways of how a person could figure out the time that was passing them by and I wrote down each of these ways neatly in my sketch book.

The different ways of figuring out the time that I was able to come up with were the following:

-The location of the sun

-The color of the sky

-The directions of shadows

-My phone or my iPod

-My own feelings (such as feeling tired if it was getting too late)

-When my coffee gets cold

-When I hear the Alfred bells

With this information that I collected I decided that I should keep things like time in my mind always when doing projects such as this one because not only did it help me to notice the little phenomenons around me, but it also helped me to understand the little signs that time gives to show that it is always moving forward.

Taking Two Tours: Part 2

My second tour that I went on was created by Greg Wright. Greg’s kit included the following:

-A pencil

-A map

-A large blanket

Most of these things were placed together in a small wooden box while the blanket was to be carried around the traveller.

The first part of Greg’s tour was to simply follow the hand drawn map and to get to the spot that he claimed as his own. After trying hard to find the exact spot that I needed to go I was only able to find the general area. But once I was there I began to follow the other instructions that were in the map itself.

Greg’s instructions had me take the blanket and lay it out in a way that the corners lined up with a certain point on the spot, but since I never found the exact spot I simply placed the blanket down as close to where I thought it was supposed to go. The blanket itself was very similar dimensions to Greg himself length wise so it was easy to tell how big of a space he had claimed.

Now that I had what I thought was the space mapped out I continued on to listen to the instructions on the map. They told me to flip the page and use the pencil to draw on the map itself different images of things that Greg had noticed when he was in his space. The activity was very similar to an “eye-spy” and the traveller had to draw the specific items.

After completing this task Greg’s tour was done and I continued on to find my next adventure!

Although Greg’s tour was meant to be simple it might have improved if there were photos so that the traveller could more easily get to the exact location.

 

Taking Two Tours: Part 1

This past week I was able to go out and explore two very different territory tours created by my classmates. The first tour that I was lucky enough to go on was by Hannah Best.

When I was first handed Hannah’s kit I could tell that she had put plenty of time and effort planning out this adventure. Hannah’s kit included the following:

-An iPod with a sound recording on it.

-A map with visuals.

-Reference photos.

-Ribbons for measurement purposes.

-Tape

-A red sweater.

All of these tools were carefully placed in a convenient tool box that was easy to carry around on my journey.

The first part of Hannah’s tour had me take out the map and the photos for reference. Both of these tools helped to guide me down the street carefully and easily. After following the map I was able to make it to the spot and find exactly where I needed to go and sit.

Once I arrived at the spot that I needed to I referred once again to the map and the photos to see that I now needed to use the ribbon and tape to measure out the dimensions of the space itself. Before doing this however I made sure to double check that I was near the right tree. I did this by looking up and seeing the word “LISTEN” painted on the tree. Hannah had mentioned this tree multiple times in her map so I knew that I was definitely in the right spot.

Now that I knew for sure that I was where I needed to be, I took out the iPod as instructed in the map and I pressed play. I sat in the spot and relaxed while I heard the voice of Hannah begin to speak. The audio instructed me to take out the sweater that was in the kit and to put it on. Then the audio began to explain that this sweater that I was wearing happened to be Hannah’s favorite sweater, which not only made it easier for me to be apart of the space overall but also helped me to see more of what its like to be in her shoes.

As I continued to listen to the audio I heard Hannah tell me to listen. She just kept mentioning little things that many people unintentionally tune out and it helped me to simply relax and honestly…listen.

Once Hannah’s audio was done, I was instructed to carefully place everything back into the kit where I had found it and to continue on with my next journey with the idea of simply listening kept in mind.

Overall, Hannah’s tour was magnificent and very well planned out. I am extremely lucky that I was able to experience it.

 

PERSONAL TERRITORY TOUR

For this assignment we were asked to leave the comfort of Cohen Studio and set off to find a space to explore and claim as our own. My first instinct when brainstorming ideas was to have the person following my map to go through what I consider my regular routine when leaving Cohen. After thinking on it more I was able to expand this idea and create a kit that I believe successfully contained materials that would properly guide my traveler to my personal place.

My travel kit included:

-One map to guide the way

-A pouch filled with change for the travelers first stop (2.65 + tax)

-A sketch book

-A container with some charcoal and an eraser

And the kit was all wrapped up in a box latched with a Velcro button.

Once I had my kit assembled I set off to text out what I wanted my traveler/ adventurer to try for themselves. My first mission was too follow the path I had pre-made with new thoughts in my mind. It was an odd change because I had to try my best to describe using pictures, my words, and a few tools how I viewed the world.

The hardest part of this entire project was figuring out how to get the traveler to see my space exactly like I did. I have always been the type of person who sees the beauty in details and the complex wonders that some people may miss, and I wanted to try and convey that to the person following my path. I decided to do this by providing my traveler with the tools that I use to best express myself.

A sketch book and something to create with. In this case, some charcoal. With these materials I hoped that my traveler would be able to follow my map and make it to the small bench that I claimed as my own.

The bench itself was important to me because it was in a peaceful spot on campus that was surrounded by simple beauty that some may surpass. Including gorgeous foliage, the sounds of the birds, and the quiet treads of the passerby hitting the sidewalk with heavy feet. I also decided to mark my space with a small heart and photographs in the map to help the traveler as best as I could. Once there I hoped that my traveler would be able to notice these things with the help of my map and simple words and be able to use the medium I provided to capture it on paper.

I believe that my trip overall helped to express how I see life everyday and I hope that I am able to express to the traveler how simply you can live life in someone else’s shoes.

Blog/DISPLAY

Our first assignment was to travel the line with the word “tired” in mind. My partner and I immediately related to this word, being college students and all, so our first step was to analyze each definition of the word. The definitions that we found were as follows:

-In need of rest; weary.

-Bored with.

-(Of a thing) No longer fresh or in good condition.

With these ideas in mind, we set off on our first adventure.

We started by talking with one another about the word. We immediately began to relate the word “tired” to being a sleep deprived college student, and in being just that the first thing we complained about were the immense amount of stairs on the Alfred State campus. From that we began to photograph our journey, starting with the stairs.

After that we moved on to think about words, things, or ideas that related to the word “tired”. What we came up with were ideas of needing coffee, energy, food, or simply relaxation in general. So we began to document those things in our photos.

Our next step was to reach out and talk to others around us. After searching for a while we finally found a woman who was willing to discuss with us what the word “tired” meant to her. She told us about how she related well to this word being apart of the cleaning staff at A-State. Then she went on to give us a story about the hard workers who are constantly tired at the college. Finally after all of that we thanked her and moved on with our adventure.

With all of the information that we collected we decided that we were ready to move on to the next step and create a presentation for project that depicted what we had learned.

We used our photos and we created a visual depiction of the word tired. We set up the photos and used some decoration, and facts and tid-bits in order to create a flowing presentation of our word. On top of all of that we used the audio that we captured from the woman who gave us the story to edit and turn into a comical audio recording of thoughts and feelings of a tired college student listening to the woman’s story. https://soundcloud.com/moodymarinaro/tired-audio

In the end we were able to express clearly what we as a group believed the word “tired” to mean.

Visual1

Visual2

Visual3

Sign of Hope

Fuel

Working Woman