Walk 6
For this walking assignment I decided to carry a small pink blanket and a stuffed animal around with me all day. I wanted to do something that appeared to be out of the norm; and for someone my age it is definitely a little strange to be carrying these items. Sure, little kids do it on a daily basis but not adults. I decided to further this experiment and act like a little kid when someone tried to take either object from me or if I misplaced it somewhere. So I gathered my objects and left to go about my daily business. I first went over to my mother’s place just to say hello. The first thing out of her mouth was “and why exactly have you become two years old and are carrying a blanket and a stuffed animal??” I responded with “no reason”. She gave me an odd look and we just kept on talking. However, when I got up to go use the bathroom she couldn’t take it anymore and had to know what my deal was. So, I told her the truth. Now that my fun had been spoiled here I left for my boyfriend’s place. Of course, I had my belongings with me. What was interesting is that he didn’t say anything about it but he did just give me a weird look. I decided to try the whole acting like a kid thing next. He and I left the house to go get some lunch and I purposely left my blanket and stuffed animal behind. However, when we got around the corner I started to freak out about leaving it behind. I kept saying oh no! my blanket! We have to go back!! Turn around! He looked at me and asked, do you really need it? Of course my response was yes! He had to know why at that point and so I told him the truth and we went back so I could experiment with the reactions of people I didn’t know. When we got to lunch I put my blanket and stuffed animal right up on the counter when I ordered my food and the cashier looked at me like I was a nutcase. I also got strange looks from other people in the restaurant when I picked up my belongings and hugged them intensely. I think overall it was an interesting experiment to do. I really enjoyed being able to act like a little kid again. It was almost like bringing it back to basics when all that mattered in the world were these types of possessions.
Walk 6
For this walking exercise I decided to consult the wisest man I know, my Grandpa. I figured he has experienced so much in his lifetime that he would be the best source for inspiration on my walk. He has recently been diagnosed with lung cancer and is responding well to treatment so far but of course this news in life is never great news. In the era in which he smoked it was not common knowledge that smoking was bad for you and could cause cancer. Not like it is today. So I walk in his name, in his cause, to make sure that there is never too much information about the harms of smoking. I went around to areas where I could find cigarette butts or evidence of people smoking. I think that it is in early adulthood that most people pick up the habit of smoking so this is the culture I targeted. Most of my images are taken around campus because of this. I left statistics about smoking and lung cancer in ashtrays, designated smoking areas or anywhere I found a decent amount of evidence of smokers.
These are some of the statistics in the notes I left behind. I did leave others but did not document every single card. These facts are quoted mostly from the year 2005 which is the most recent year in which these statistics were populated.
The majority of lung cancer patients are diagnosed so late that they will die within a year.
Lung cancer will kill an average of 439 people a day.
Over 60% of new lung cancer cases are never smokers or even former smokers of whom quite decades ago.
In 2005, lung cancer acounted for more deaths than breast cancer, prostate cancer, and colon cancer combined.
In 2005, 90,139 men and 69,078 women died from lung cancer.
The cost of treating lung cancer in the U.S. in 2004 was about $9.6 billion per year.
Only 16% of lung cancer is being diagnosed at its earliest and most curable stage.
Walk 4
For this walking experience I decided to head up to La Encantada shopping center where I felt it would be more difficult for me to be cocooned since it is such a small area with small shops with small staffs. I really wanted to push myself into a cocoon and then have the ease of coming out of it. I used my new Blackberry as both my tool for cocooning myself and to document my experience. The two main aspects of my device: the music player and the camera. I wondered how different types of music would change my style or creativity of documentation.
As I wandered around the area the first time I listened to some of my least favorite music genres: rap, hip-hop and pop. I found myself not only ignoring everyone and everything around me but I was super tense. I didn’t feel inspired or creative. I was just uptight and rigid. To be honest it made me want to leave the area. These are some of the pictures I took while I was listening to these genres.
After I couldn’t take anymore I switched my music to a more alternative sound which for some reason always puts me in a good mood. I feel inspired and have this unbelievable desire to be creative. I feel like it gets my blood really flowing. Now, even though I was still cocooning myself with the music I was beginning to become more aware of the things and people around me. It was like I was looking at them through a different set of eyes. These are some of the images I captured while listening to more pleasing music to my ears.
Finally, I removed my headphones and walked around the same area for the third time and noticed how open I was to everything around me. I was looking people in the eye, striking up conversations and was just generally in a better mood. I no longer wanted to leave—I was relaxed and at ease. I think that these following images show that I was out of my cocoon and really thinking creatively—and documenting it in a way (as best I could) that demonstrated my feelings and thoughts now that I wasn’t ignoring everything.
Walk 3
I was so excited for this walk because I knew right away what I wanted to focus on. And it was actually this walk that really got me thinking about my second project. As I said previously I am going to culinary school in a few months so I consider that my newest and most exciting social scene. I decided to focus on anything and everything culinary for this walking experience. I realized that this demographic was potentially everywhere—the grocery store, fast food places, target, an unthinkable amount of places. So I decided on three main locations that really focus on the gourmet side of culinary which is obviously what I am most interested in and relate to most. I proceeded with my investigation at AJ’s Fine Foods—the gourmet type market, William Sonoma—the ultimate culinary store, and Crate and Barrel—the second best culinary place in town. I consider Crate and Barrel to be the second best because it does not focus only on culinary like William Sonoma does.
Now, spending two hours exploring my scene was unbelievably easy for me. I think I was at these three places for at least six hours. I could spend an incredible amount of time in these stores just looking at all of the products, reading all of the signs and suggestions and the literature these places have on everything culinary is amazing. I paid attention to every detail I possibly could and how it related to my social scene. As I was exploring my areas of investigation I was snapping photos to document this journey. I literally could have taken a picture of every little thing.
What I found to be the most interesting were the labels that each of these things have… as if it isn’t obvious what some of them are. However, there are those culinary items that you look at and go “what the heck is this for?” I also loved how some things were labeled as gourmet or even fancy. Another interesting aspect of my walk was discovering the amount of exposure there was of the Food Network. In Aj’s there is almost an entire shelf of Barefoot Contessa boxes of mixes for cupcakes, breads, cookies, pancakes, and so much more. On top of that I noticed literature by Bobby Flay—the iron chef. It’s incredibly how accessible some of this stuff is. It’s like, here is some culinary information and the tools you need, now you can do it too! Not that I am complaining of course. Overall I found my walk to be an interesting and somewhat eye opening experience. It makes me wonder, why didn’t I decide to become part of this social scene sooner? Better late than never I suppose.
Walk 2
For this walking exercise I already had an idea of what I was looking for. As I have previously done a walking exercise about the desire line I really wanted to push myself to see the other side of which I had not previously focused on. Last year when I did this exercise on the desire lines of people including myself and focused on the desire to cut corners or go off the beaten path. This time around I knew I really wanted to focus on desire lines of nature or even how nature can sometimes rebel against mankind. There were some images I had clearly in my mind, like a contained garden with plant life growing outside of the borders, but these images were hard to find here in town. I feel that those are images I would have to create over time. However, even though I had a rough time finding things that I immediately thought of for this assignment, I did have several pleasing surprises during my walk. I discovered paths that nature have taken or currently are in ways that I had never taken notice of before.
Much to my surprise, right outside my front door I found a sort of desire line, although rather small. It was an area where water had collected during the recent summer showers. It had made a small line, or a mini ditch if you will, that was notably different than the surrounding area.
Another area of interest was along side the sidewalk. I noticed that the roots of a tree had made their own path at the ground’s surface along the sidewalk. I think it is really interesting how sometimes nature can mimic man made desire lines like sidewalks. I find it even more interesting when they defy them, like when tree roots go underneath the sidewalk and come out the other side. Unfortunately I did not witness any of these instances on this particular day.
When I wrote earlier about how there were desire lines in ways that I had never noticed before I was speaking of this image. I came to the conclusion that we walk and drive across some of nature’s desire lines every day. I presume that all of those little cracks in the asphalt that eventually form potholes in the roads were formed by water going in its own direction.
I went to the wash on First Avenue just south of River Road and explored the area thoroughly for desire lines made by nature. I realized that the wash itself could be considered a desire line that was at least started by nature. There had to have been enough flowing water to hollow out the area and bring enough attention to it to turn it into a man made wash.
Underneath the overpass I found areas in the dirt that were clearly affected by water. Winding patterns and cracking mud were evidence enough that water formed this area.
My absolute favorite desire line that I encountered was the plant growing out the side of the wall. This was exactly the kind of desire line I had hoped to encounter. This was nature’s desire line to break free from man made paths. This plant was growing in a crack in the side of the wall, like it was creating its own path down into the wash.
Perhaps the most unexpected desire line I found was along this pathway. As I was walking I noted all of these little wholes. I decided to consider them more of a desire spot because I was sure that some wild animal had created them. Little did I know I was going encounter several of these animals. As I was walking around I found a snake in one of these “desire spots”—which caught me very much by surprise. But what was even better was when I discovered that the majority of the holes I found were inhabited by little rodents of some kind (I really have no idea what they were but they were cute). It was then that I realized that these spots really were desire lines, I just couldn’t see them. They were underground paths that these little creatures had created. I think this was a fantastic discovery and really opened my eyes to the possibilities of a desire line.
Walk 1
There is something curious about summer showers in the desert, especially the first of the season. All rain during the summer heat in the desert has an unbelievable smell; yet, there is something uncanny about the very first that distinguishes it from all of the rest. This scent is so unbelievably strong it is almost overwhelming. It is this pungent smell that withdrew me from my apartment to venture out on my first walk.
Quite late in the evening I was relaxing in my living room watching a movie when the aroma of the first summer rain seeped in through the cracks of the doors into my home. I literally stopped what I was doing, put some shoes on, left my apartment, and began to walk. Where was my destination? I had no clue. But I knew my goal—to soak in every moment of this lovely experience because it only happens once. There can only be one first summer rain in the desert. Once it happens, there is nothing else quite like it until next year.
As I roamed my neighborhood I was overwhelmed by the scent of the freshly moistened earth. The smell of wet dirt filled my nostrils as I breathed trying to take in every bit I could. Really there is no other place to encounter such an exquisite experience. I have been in desert rains elsewhere in the country but there is something to be said about the showers in Arizona. Maybe it is because they are so far and few between that Arizonans cherish them so. Or maybe it is because they create a temporarily foreign world for these residents in which to escape. No matter what the reason, nothing and nowhere can quite compete with the special gifts of an Arizona shower in the summertime.
As I continued on my walk I began to focus on a different sense—sound. It was very late at night so there were not too many that were outwardly apparent. However, when I stopped for just a moment and really listened I discovered that it was actually very noisy at that hour. The most obvious sound was the sprinkling rain tapping every surface around me. It was interesting how each surface created a different noise. The cement created more of a “pat pat” noise meanwhile the asphalt was a much less audible version of this sound. As I walked by some cars the sound of the falling rain transformed into more of a “tap tap” sound. The noisiest version of the rain came from the metal roofing all around me. It was a cross between and “tap” and “ring or ding”. I could only image how this would sound if it was raining just a little harder—or even if it was pouring.
The final sense that I focused on was touch. Each little raindrop was like a little tactile surprise on my skin. Even though I knew it was raining and was expecting these feelings there was something about each drop that seemed to catch me by surprise. I was watching all of the drops fall around me and somehow I was being hit by them less frequently—or at least so it seemed. I decided to take off my flip flops so that I could further these sensations of touch. Walking barefoot seemed to heighten my sense of touch in relation to the rain because almost everywhere I stepped was wet. It was an interesting experience to step from the wet ground into areas that were sheltered by the rainfall and then back onto the wet ground.
Everything about this walk seemed so surreal, from the sounds, the smells, and the feeling of the rain. It seemed too early in the season to rain, but somehow it did. But then in a flash it stopped and I retreated back inside having been glad to be a part of such a wonderful experience.
Project 1
I attempted to approach this assignment differently than I did in the past. Previously, I used items that I found in my immediate environment much like Andy Goldsworthy. This time around however I wanted to use items that weren’t connected to nature in any direct way. I printed off several warm colored gradients and brought them with me to my site. I chose to create my ephemeral piece on a neutral tan colored wall in an open area that any passerby could easily see. I used printer copies in warm pink, yellow, and orange in a collage fashion on the wall. I tried to connect these colors to the warm, early sunrise that illuminated my work area. I think that there is something very curious about how it is human nature to try to capture or even mimic beautiful things in nature, like the sunrise or sunset for example. There are multiple photographs, paintings, and sketches that capture several aspects of nature’s beauty. For this ephemeral work I wanted to use a more urban or man made object to represent nature in a way that I had never experienced before. I did get quite some interesting looks from people in the neighborhood where I was working, which might I say was not the best area of town. But there was something about what I was doing that at least made them look just a little bit longer. I have no idea whether it was the beautiful way in which the light was illuminating these colors on the wall or that they have never seen someone doing such a thing; but either way I caught their attention for just a fleeting moment. My own personal critique is that this idea could have been pushed—maybe by having more print out copies (however my printer only had so much ink). However I feel that this is a step in the right direction for this idea.
Random thought about mapping…
I was just watching the movie White Oleander and towards the end there is a great example of mapping. She creates these dioramas in different suitcases that map the different stages of her life. I think this is a really interesting self-portrait/mapping idea. It makes me wonder what other kinds of mapping I can associate with my life and how I could portray them.
