Line Artist Statement
New York City is always a busy place. People are going to and from their jobs and others are just enjoying the City itself. Most of the time the parks in NYC are very populated. In Union Square Park there is a subway entrance that is pretty popular. I decided to sit at this subway entrance and track how many people are going in and out. Within the busyness of this area there is also a constant - the chess players. I tracked how many interactions the chess players made with people alongside the subway entrance because it added an extra depth to the city in Union Square Park. Being influenced by “Walking in the City” I wanted my piece to show the flow of the common day for the working class of the city juxtaposed with the chess players in Union Square Park who are there most every day. Michel de Certeau writes, “The ordinary practitioners of the city live “down below,” below the thresholds at which visibility begins”. With my piece I wanted to capture the people who live down below and see how many of them come up for air.
Newspaper
Newspapers are a lot of people's main source of information in the world. While they may be losing popularity over time they still have a place in the current society. Many newspapers are different even though they all are reporting the same events. In a discussion with the artists who were featured in “The Last Newspaper” they talk about how a prevalent topic is that so many newspaper companies are so different from one another, some being more local and some stating more to the global public. I felt like whenever I saw a newspaper headline it was always sad or tragic news. I wondered if the news had anything good to say at all. I found articles that were more positive buried away in the depths of the paper. I decided to show this in my piece by Overlaying the Headliners of the New York Times with a happier article underneath to show how the news overshadows the good with the bad.
Shapes
Glendalys Medina talks about how shapes and symbols can form identity within yourself. For my shapes project I decided to use various objects from my camera kit to make a new unique shape. I used these items because photography is important to me and what I would consider my identity in general. I wanted to make the pattern I made very uniform because it represents my passion for photography never faltering. I decided to stack my pattern in straight lines and in black and white which ended up making a very ornate looking textile.
3D Project
For my 3D project I was given the task to find an object with conflict to me and make a 3D model of it. In the age of Covid-19 this was particularly hard to find an object with conflict that was accessible and also worked in the 3d Model software. The item I chose was a mini terracotta bust of Bob Ross. The conflict I see within this statue is the conflict of art for art's sake. I believe that too many people are making art for a progressive agenda but not enough people are making art because that is what they love to do. Bob Ross reminds me of making art for his own enjoyment and that is what I thrive to do in my own life. I do not want to get wrapped up in making everything perfect because overall “we don’t make mistakes, just happy little accidents.”
Indesign
I was diagnosed with Major Depressive Disorder with Psychosis around Freshman year of highschool. I went to the hospital for quite a while and attended a lot of group therapy. Within my time in therapy one of the best coping techniques I have found for dealing with depression is to make a playlist that is curated to you, ultimately lifting you out of depression. The playlist should start with songs that describe the sad feeling you have and go through your emotions while ending with joyful songs that you know will cheer you up. For my indesign project I made a Depression playlist that is specific to me. It is a simple booklet but holds a lot of meaning to me.