Questionnaire on living with animals.

I do, as you can see, I have a Poodle, and I also have a cat back at home

Washington Square Park, Pamela

1. Do you have a pet animal?

I do, as you can see, I have a Poodle, and I also have a cat back at home

1. How many pet animals do you have?

Just two, but I might be getting another cat soon

1. What animals are they?

A cat and a dog

1. If not, do you face any issues with animals present in the city?

I mean, I am a pet owner, so I am not bothered by other people with animals, I understand them, but I can see how the dirt created by animals can be annoying to other people. Oh, and people with allergies also don’t like my pets, and I don’t blame them, I have an allergy myself, just not on animal fur.

1. Where do you reside?

I live two blocks away, up Fifth

1. Does your pet change the way in which you commute?

Not really, I just never go anywhere with her, she stays at home while I work, and Mary, my cat, she rarely even gets out of the house. The only time I had to deal with things like that is when I went abroad for a month, and had top take them both with mw, that is a real pain I have to tell you. The airline companies do everything to make your life as hard as possible if you have a pet onboard.

1. Is your pet a happiness producer, or a liability?

How can they be a liability? I love them both. I mean, look at her, she is so fluffy and cute, how can she not bring me happiness? And it is sometimes hard for me to even fall asleep is Mary is not on bed with me, so you know, I kind of love them both.

1. Do you face challenges with recycling the products of defecation of your pet?

Not really, I mean, it was a bit iffy at first, but now I am used to it, just grab a couple of bags with you, and you are sorted. There aren’t that many bins though, its a bit annoying

1. If you do not own a pet, do you face issues with feces produced by others pets?

N/A

1. Do you see any ways in which the gentrification of certain areas affected pet owners?

I mean, where I live, there really its any gentrification, but I think that in the areas where it happens,there are suddenly much more people around, scaring dogs and that sort of stuff. I think that also there are less parks in the areas that get gentrified, because the cost of land grows, and the owners try to get more money, so they build more buildings.

1. Is the urbanized environment a welcoming one in your opinion?

In New York its fine. There are parks, and there is a lot of green, but that is an exception from the rules. Usually there is no space in the big cities to walk your dog, the air is dirty, and people really dislike you for having a pet.

Union Square Park, Joe

1. Do you have a pet animal?

No, I don’t. but my mother does

1. How many pet animals do you have?

N/A

1. What animals are they?

N/A

1. If not, do you face any issues with animals present in the city?

Oh yes, there is always sop much crap on the streets and in the parks from all the dogs. An they also always pee on the floor, literally everywhere. It stinks so bad, especially in the summer. There is a small island of grass right in front of the building, and these damn dogs crap on it every day, its so annoying.

1. Where do you reside?

I live on 71st and 2nd uptown.

1. Does your pet change the way in which you commute?

N/A

1. Is your pet a happiness producer, or a liability?

N/A

1. Do you face challenges with recycling the products of defecation of your pet?

Not of my pet, but yes, I wish there was somewhere that they could just all go and do their dirty business, preferably as far away from me as possible.

1. If you do not own a pet, do you face issues with feces produced by others pets?

As I have said, I have not pets, but every day I walk down the street I see dogs crap on the floor, pee on the floor, and their owners sometimes have no dignity, so they don’t pick anything up from the floor. And there aren’t that many places uptown, apart from central park where you can take your dog. Its so annoying and frustrating to see this.

1. Do you see any ways in which the gentrification of certain areas affected pet owners?

I dont really know, I haven’t  visited any gentrified areas recently, but I think that there could be issues. No space to walk and that sort of thing.

1. Is the urbanized environment a welcoming one in your opinion?

Not at all, there is little green space, cars everywhere. But really, why should it be, cities are made for people, and they should be designed for people, not cats and dogs.

Madison Square Park, Michael

1. Do you have a pet animal?

I have a hamster, he is called Fluffy

1. How many pet animals do you have?

Only one, I wanted to get some pet fish, but couldn’t find a place where to put a fish tank

1. What animals are they?

He is a Syrian Hamster, he is called Fluffy, he if already two years old, so he is very old, and he is a boy.

1. If not, do you face any issues with animals present in the city?

Not at all, I absolutely love animals, I love to see different dogs around the city, they are all so cute and nice. And New York is very clean, people clean up after their animals, its all vey nice and chill.

1. Where do you reside?

I renta a place near Battery Park downtown, not far from the Financial District

1. Does your pet change the way in which you commute?

Hahahahahaha, definitely not, I cant imagine Fluffy getting out of the house, he is afraid of everything.

1. Is your pet a happiness producer, or a liability?

Of course a happiness producer, why would he not be. Come on, he is called Fluffy for a reason, I love him, he is so sweet.

1. Do you face challenges with recycling the products of defecation of your pet?

He is way too tiny for me to get any issues from it.

1. If you do not own a pet, do you face issues with feces produced by others pets?

I mean, I like to take a walk in the Battery Park sometimes, and not all people decide to hold their dogs back, or take them to designated areas to do their business, but it’s not too bad, could be worse. But people who don’t clean up after their pets are really annoying

1. Do you see any ways in which the gentrification of certain areas affected pet owners?

I dont really know what you mean by that, its it affecting people more than animals? Well, It doesn’t affect me (laughs)

1. Is the urbanized environment a welcoming one in your opinion?

For the Animals? Relatively, I don’t see how it isn’t. But I don’t have like a big animal, or anything, so its hard for me to tell.

Places of Love

Stuyvesant Park

The park is filled with calmness and the rustling of the trees. The paths are still empty, as the early hours roll in. The sun starts peaking in shyly through the foliage, and the head of Antoine Dvorak’s statue is starting to glisten in its rays. The benches are unoccupied at such an early time, and I can observe the entrance leading onto the main roundabout of the park. As I am resting, I see an old man striding into the park through the regal-looking gate. His body and posture indicate his old years, but his walk is still stiff and composed. You can see that his dignity is the only thing that keeps him going, yet his health is preventing him from being the man that he once was. His hand holds a wooden cane polished by years of use and the handle has been formed into an ideal shape of his palm. He carries himself with dignity through the struggles of old age, and as he enters the main park roundabout, I notice that he has a companion. An old Irish Setter is trundling along next to his feet. The once bright orange fur is now bleak, and the knees are trembling from old age. The man throws with difficulty a worn tennis ball, and the Setter slowly strides towards it.  He brings back the ball, and the owner bends over to pat the dog on the back, and they then proceed to the bench to rest. The pair gets down to rest, and as a man makes another physical effort in order to caress the dog, I notice that the way in which he does it, shows his deep love for this animal, and the bond that they have formed over the many years of life.

Union Square

The park is filled with protestors. There is a protest going on against the politics of the 45th president of the United States. Slogans, banners and flags are aplenty, and the faces of people are exerting discontent and anger. The crowd is loud. The crowd is fluid. The crowd is united. There is no love to be found in the crowd, only the negative emotions. I turn away, but as I am starting to walk away, I notice a pair sitting on a bench. They seem to be completely swallowed up by their feelings towards each other, that they did nit even notice what was going around them, as if they had a safety bubble around. The serenity of their postures, and the peacefulness of their expressions were in a great contrast to the red, angered faces in the mob. This iddilic image in the centre of such a social turmoil shocked me. The love that the pair had for each other was so strong that is showed in every bit of their appearance. The way that he looked at her, with a mist in his eyes, in the way that she held his hand, and how her other arm weaved around his neck. The way they sat on the bench expressed such a great amount of feelings, that I completely forgot about what was going on around me in the square.  The contrast of this scene is a mere reflection of the contrasts in New York City, one of the most multinational, multicultural cities in the world, and the love that lives in it is all-encompassing, just like the love of those two.

Washington Square Park

As I take my evening walk from the Elmer Bobst library towards my residence, I stroll through the open pathways around the central fountain of the park. The park is living its usual night life with the street performers and artists aplenty in the square. The people around me are enjoying their time, smiling and laughing, while others are enjoying their art. That is when I noticed an old man playing a banjo. He sits every day on the bench on the North-western side of the park, just next to the arch. He looks like he has been down on his luck lately, his shoes are dirty, his clothes are the same every day, and it seems like all of his belongings travel with him, due to a lack of place where he can store them. His eyes look like two little coals that have been cold for some time, no glow, no spark. But when he picks up his banjo, his spine miraculously stretches out, and his hands become two little doves, floating around the instrument, and producing the sound, that from the way the banjo looks, should resemble more a whale song, rather than the angelic piece that it makes. His eyes glow up, as if the wind in the air is blowing them brighter, and through the exterior of a fallen man shines the person he once was, as if his love to music helps him get through the day. His banjo is a child who he caresses with his arms, and with each stroke, sound comes from the old body of that banjo, announcing to the world the feelings of the man. This love is the love that keeps the man going, and this is one of the types of love that I  find most fascinating.

Madison Square Park

It is September 15th. I stroll towards uptown Manhattan on 5th avenue. It is the first month since I came to New York. I have never been in America before. I have only ever read about life in this city, and it was hard to imagine for me how it is. I was bewildered and bemused by what I saw here. Never in my life have I imagined that this city is so full of lively energy and people who are so invested into the city in which they reside. As I was walking up, I have reached Madison Square Park, a place which I have only ever imagined visiting before, let alone living only eight blocks away from. Even the concept of blocks was an absolutely alien thing before, as the cities where I have previously lived, did not even have streets arranged in such a way. The park is something that I have dreamed of seeing, as it is home ti the Flatiron building. It is the building that was on the front page of my history book. It is the building that I have studied in my IB Art class as a fine example of the US architectural style. It os the building that i fell in love with. The tall, brown shape streaming up into the skies is a visualisation of willpower and strength of mankind. It is a stepping stone that demonstrated that people can try to reach the stars even in their day to day lives. The shape of it makes me think of a front end of a battlecruiser ship, cutting through the water, just like this building cuts through the city, streamlined in its determination.

Bobst Library

Elmer Bobst library is not a place where I have expected to observe any love. Nor did I think that being there would ever be as interesting as I found it to be. As it turned out after my fifth or sixth visit, there is a section of Russian literature on the 8th floor, and as soon as I found out about that, I have headed straight there. When I arrived, I found large amounts of literature, both in English and Russian, and I became captivated by the vastness of the collection and the sheer amount of knowledge and culture encapsulated in one hall of a university library. That is when I was interrupted in my search for new linguistic features by a pair of a boy and a girl. They were both Russian, and they were here for the same reason as me, but they did not notice me. They were completely engulfed by their mutual love. They used this place as away of hiding from everyone. The boy sat on the floor with a book of Lermontov poetry, and was reading it out to the girl with such passion, that this cheeks started to blush. But it seemed that his efforts were heading him in the direction that was not so desired by him. The poetry was having a strange effect on the girl. Her attention was shifting from her partner to the beauty and intricacies of Russian poetry. The intricate weaving of the language made her amorous, but not with a human, but with a language.

In the memory box that I am constructing, the main motif that I am pursuing, is the one that has been with me for a long time. The motif of moving around the world, and the motif of change. Over my life, I have changed locations, and moved countries. This is what I have put in the box: the signs of different places that I have lived in, and some memorabilia from there. These items are what connect me to the places where I live, where some of the memories from my life reside.

The box itself is a simple cardboard box that can be used for moving places, which harks back to the original intention of the piece. This box other than being a container of the piece, it is a part of the piece. The tape that seals it, is the standard brown removals tape, which in my intention should be removed by the person that is the first to observe it.

Inside, the box is lined with vinyl stripes in the colour of my country: red and blue. From the strips stand out the items that I have decided to put into my memory box. These are the items that I think are significant of the places where I have lived, and of the things that I have enjoyed there. These strips represent the waves of our mind and the waves of memory, from which the different objects emerge.

The first object that you notice is the collection of poetry by Lev Gumilev, one of my favourite authors, and the biggest connection to memory for me is poetry, as that is what I used to train my memory since young age. Other objects that I have placed in the box represent the different locations that I have lived in. The first cluster of objects tells about my time spent in the United Kingdom, and it consists of my Sevenoaks School ID, and several coins that I would usually use in the vending machines in the Dining Hall. The second cluster consists of the items that I use now in the US, with a golf ball, and a case from a roll of film representing my current hobbies. In the middle of the piece is the bottle of wine, which despite it being frowned upon is something that I enjoy sometimes.

News Piece: https://www.reuters.com/article/us-russia-art-theft/russian-painting-stolen-from-moscow-gallery-during-exhibition-idUSKCN1PL0PG

Arkhip Kuindji is a Russian painter, who was working in the late 19th century, and the beginning of the 20th century. His way of depicting rural landscapes is extremely captivating, and with his way of mixing paint including into it the use of rare minerals, in order to achieve a strange luminosity, his works are amongst my favourite. He inspires me due to the fact that he is a brilliant colourist, and one of the most interesting Russian artists.

Sir James Dyson is the creator of the vacuum cleaners working based on the cyclonic separation principles. He once stated that he went trough over 5 thousand prototypes before he reached a design that was operational. This intensity and determination are a great inspiration to anyone, and bearing in mind how he combined design and functionality, a big inspiration to me.

Natalia Bragina is one of the biggest influences and inspirations in my life, as she was the first person to introduce me to art as something that you can enjoy not only as an observer, bust also as a creator of. She was the first person to teach me how house oil paints, and she is one of the greatest examples of work attitude for me. At 84 years old she still wakes up at 9 am and begins working at 10. Not a day goes spare.

Dyson Curling Iron Hype Has Made Its Inventor the Richest Man in the UK

This article demonstrates how the incorporation of style into ordinary, yet functional objects can yield a large success, financially and commercially. This is what successful design decisions can lead to, and I think that this os an example of what in the ideal world designers should aim for. However, there are certain questions about this persons views on politics and life, and the way in which the business he runs operates, thus I would doubt if he is the best example.

For the project I have decided to develop on the idea of the mundane: the path that I take every day at the same time. The path that I chose is the 15 minute walk from my university accommodation to the University Centre every week from Monday to Friday at nine a.m. This walk became something of routine for me over the last four months, hence why I thought that this is something that I want to portray. My idea is that I want to demonstrate the fact that this walk became such a routine for me that I know just by looking at what is around me what time it is. This is because this walk is such a predictable and ordinary thing, yet I find this very pleasurable, as the predictability is something that I find soothing. To demonstrate that I have taken the map of the area where I reside, and put a string over the path that I take, and placed pins in every place that I deem as a landmark on my way. Then, I have walked that route at the usual time, and took polaroid photos of those landmark places. I have then attached these polaroid photos onto the board that the map is attached to. Then I connected them with strings to their respective pins, and then wrote the times at which I would be at those points completing the piece. 

The first semester of my education at The New School have been extremely eventful, and even more enjoyable. I have learnt many things, and I have expanded my skills widely. A large part in this was played by the Studio and Seminar classes. They were exactly what I expected from being a Parsons student: engaging, encouraging to try new things and very free in terms of the work. I felt that the syllabus of these two classes made me explore a lot of things that I deemed to be distant from my practices in the past and I was really made to push the boundaries of what I feel is comfortable for me. As cliche and basic that sounds, that helped me a lot in the sense that now I feel that I can do much more than I did at the start. It all began with the first project, where out of the blue I was advised to use the Laser Cutter. Before, I thought that this is something from the future, or is only used by spies in B-list movies from 1990s. Yet, as it turns out, it could be a useful tool in creating a piece of art. Through it I managed to make something that represented well my past experiences, and I think that the tendency of using this media is going to continue for me in the future. After this, I have realised that the course allows for such a high level of experimentation, that I decided for my next project to use the most unorthodox materials that I can think of. I have purchased a skull, and then filled it in with sealing foam, into which I have placed various objects that demonstrated the thoughts of the person who I was planning to represent in this piece. This was extremely strange for me, but I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome of it. But after that came the tough part of the course. I was asked to create a site-specific installation in Washington Square Park, and as it turned out, I was unable to do so, as well as I was not a great team player, creating something that was not to my liking. I felt that this was by far the low point of the semester, as my interaction with the group, although lovely in personal terms, was far from being productive, and did not bode well at the final critique. This failure, however, did not force me into sadness, it provided me with a motivation to work harder for the upcoming projects, and thus, I have managed to get better results in the future.

From the start of the semester my way of thinking about art changed a lot, as I have now realised that art does not have to be completely orthodox, it could come in a large amount of forms, thus for the last project I decided to combine what I have learnt from the previous project, and combine it with a performance, in order to create a very wholistic image of my old school. I have made a booklet like I have been taught before, and with a costume and  performance compelling enough to convince people that I am a representative of the said school, and the sarcastic tone of the presentation made it much more entertaining. That is when IK understood that the wording of what I had to say played a major role in making this a successful piece, because if I would have kept things serious, I would paradoxically sound less serious than I did being sarcastic.

Overall, I think that by taking these courses I grew a lot as an artist, and I have greatly enjoyed my time doing it. I have loved the tasks, and especially the fact that teaching was not reading the textbook out, but rather sharing the experience in life of the people who are practicing artists themselves, and they have a lot to tell us.

Thank you Johannah and Emily for a wonderful semester, and a great amount of skills that you taught me.

“A map is not the territory…”

For me, the most important map in the recent years has been the map of the town where my school was located. The map of my 9 minute 1 mile long route that I took every day to school and back. It s the route that I by now can walk while sleeping, and I believe that I will remember every corner of it for years to come. It was a crucial part of my process of maturation, as while walking to school every day by that route I thought about what i the day is going to bring me, and how am I going to remove the issues that I am faced with during it. It was the walk during which I pre-loaded myself with confidence, and at the end of the day, when I walked back, I was able to calm myself down, and put my mind into a calmer mood. These 9 minutes were important to me.

That is exactly why I want to make this project about this walk. A map of it, that would minute by minute explain my path, and how it was for me. This will be achieved by me using the map of the town, and laying the route of it with a piece of red guiding string, as an allusion to the string that Ariadne gave to Theseus in the labyrinth of Minotaur. Then, I would indicate at which time would I be in which part of the path. That would be supported by images of what that place looks like, and each of the images would refer to a certain landmark that I would pass on my way to school. Thus, I would virtually recreate the feeling and visuality of my usual morning.

While walking around New York I noticed that despite the vibrancy and the liveliness of the city, the people in it are far less positive. At first I thought that this is simply a coincidence, but soon I realised that actually there is a reason behind this lack of happiness on the faces of the New Yorkers. This reason is the loss of identity. As people arrive into this gigantic city with millions of people in it, they might feel the need to fit in with the ones that surround them. This will to fit in with the people in my opinion leads to them loosing their original selves, and appropriating snippets of the cultures and characters that they see. The personality of people fades away, as if they fade away themselves. This motivated my photoshop exploration.

The photos that I have taken in the beginning of this project came in a treat, as they show a person roaming around the city at night, and that dark and gloomy atmosphere made me consider the project in the way that I did. The idea came to me when I thought of the word fade. Peoples personalities fade in New York, and I decided to demonstrate that by the people fading themselves. Thus, came about the composition. A central figure looking directly at the observer is fully present, and looks at us with a saddening look, which asks for help from us without words. From the sides of the figure two ‘doppelgängers’ leave, each taking a part of the personality with them. Because they only take a part, they are transparent, as they fade into the dark background. They part their own ways, and the city takes another victim who lost themselves in this vast megapolis.

In this project me and my group has aimed to deliver an experience which would enlighten and inform people. We wanted to change the way in which people would perceive the park and we hoped that through informing them of the past we may change the future, and may prevent people from taking this area for granted. We planned to create  site specific piece which would stop people who are walking around the park, and motivate them to think about the place that they see, and about the people who have contributed to the formation of the contemporary park.

In working with a group I found it challenging to collaboratively choose the idea that we will take as the main one, and go through with it. It was also slightly challenging to spread the workload according to everyones skill set due to the fact that our group had mostly similar knowledge. I was surprised by the fact that during the process of translating the ideas that we had in our heads onto material it turned out that we had different visions of what we want to end up with, yet we managed to resolved that issue swiftly and come up with a piece that was suiting the vision of all of us.

The critique taught me that we should have spent less time thinking up different ideas, and focused on the materiality of what we want to be our final piece. What we ended up with did not seem to convince the general audience due to its seemingly poor quality of assembly and looks that attracted attention, yet did not look like the objects are made to last. This made me realise that in the next projects I should prioritise the build quality higher.

I think that the piece was successful in the fact that the information was delivered in a clear concise way that was easy to read and easy to perceive, thus the goal of informing people was achieved swiftly. On the other hand, the build quality lacked therefore letting the idea down. That was what I would change if I was to repeat this project.