For Observation as Meditation, I chose James Luna’s series of photographs, “Half Indian-Half Mexican”. In this work, he shaved half his mustache, slicked back half his hair, and then posed for photographs as half Indian-half Mexican. This installation was placed on the third floor of 65 West 11th Street, which was not a very crowded place. On the first day, I came after a full day of classes, so most students had left the building. Therefore, I had a tranquil time to carefully observed the details of the photographs without much distraction. This peaceful time of drawing obliviated my exhaustion. I went there the second time during a lunch break, so there were more passers. Since the photographs were installed near the stairs and elevator, people mostly took a quick glance and left. Unfortunately, no one actually stopped and observed it carefully or read the wall text. This was ironic because some of the passers might feel relatable to this piece, including me. The New School is a culturally diverse community with individuals who had different ethnicities, religious beliefs, and personal backgrounds. They might experience the awkward cultural rift derived from moving to this unfamiliar new environment, and this mood was well presented in James Luna’s photographs, “Half Indian-Half Mexican”.
