Step One: 8-10 Sketches
Step Two: Written Proposals
System/Project Name 1: Process of Curating a Museum Exhibit
Summary: I want to research the process of curating a museum exhibit because I want to know the underlying steps that go into it. After reading the article about wayfinding and going to Museum of the City of New York, I really started to question how and why certain places are laid out a specific way. I want to focus on museum exhibits because I’ve been to a couple of different exhibits in NYC since I have been here and I noticed that all of them have been set up in different ways, but have attracted the same amount of people to come and see it. I want to research on how many people are involved in the process, what professions are needed, and how does this team work together to make the decisions they need to make and create an exhibit. Who are the inside people, who are the shadowed people? How do they come upon a topic to make an exhibit on? How do they decide and get the pieces they want? I’ve always gone to a museum exhibit to see or learn something about it because it was related to a class, but I have never learned how that specific exhibit was created and why.
Argument: My subject matter is an observable system because it relates to wayfinding and information systems. My take on this project will reveal something new because I’m not researching about the specific museum exhibit, but the underlying process of creating an exhibit in general. I want to uncover the insides of it, which I don’t think that many people know about.
Research:
- Going to different exhibits around NYC and observing the layouts and what the exhibit showed
- Talk to curators of museums or try to interview them about the steps
- Look into the different departments in specific museums and try to talk with them
- Talk to museum visitors and ask them what attracts them to come see the exhibit and once they are there what do they think about the layout
Sources:
- Jstor
- Interviews
- Museum/the website- gain knowledge about the museum and the exhibits
System/Project Name 2: Fashion Related in Workforce
Summary: In this essay I would like to explore the different side effects in making “fast and affordable” clothing. I want to look into the things the labor force in third world countries go through to make these types of clothing. What and how their lifestyle is after creating clothing for popular brands like Forever 21 and H&M. The consumers only see the final piece of clothing, but don’t actually know what the factory workers go through to create that piece. And researching on the harsh working conditions workers go through in factories can also affect the environment in a negative way. There is a lot of toxic and water wastage created in the fashion industry in general by making clothing, which damages the Earth, generates an unsafe environment and harsh conditions for the workers.
Argument: My subject matter is an observable system because it talks about various different types of systems like sustainability, the waste, and the labor system in third world countries. This will reveal something new because it will tell consumers who buy clothing from specific stores how the clothing was actually made, what the factory workers have to go through on the inside and how badly it impacts the environment they live in and the workers live in. I don’t think many people know the background story of a piece of clothing is created because most people think a designer designs it and simply creates it, but that is not the case.
Research:
- Talking with professors (sustainable systems/fashion design) about sustainable clothing and wastage of fabric and how that affects the environment and the fashion industry
- Watching the documentary and video clips of harsh working conditions in clothing factories
- Researching into stores that have clothing that create a lot of waste(Forever 21 & H&M)- how they make their clothing and why
Sources:
- Watching the movie “True Cost”
- Talking to fashion professors at Parsons/ designers if they know anything about this (I know a professor named Timo who is very keen to discuss about this topic)
- Finding articles on fashion sustainability, abuse of workers in factories/working conditions
System/Project Name 3: How does the Subway System Works?
Summary: Since I have moved into NYC, the subways have become my new form of transportation because they literally take you anywhere for $2.75. There are so many different types and categories of subways(456/NQRW/ACE/BDF) that work together every day to transport people to various places around NYC. The fascinating part of the subway system to me is how it was created underground, how did the creators create the varied and interconnected paths? How did they figure out how to map it and then create it underground? How did they come up with “names” of the subway and know which train goes where? How many people were involved in this process? What types of professions were connected with this process? Once the subway goes downtown, does it turn into an uptown train? How did they come up with the turn sliders/swiping the MetroCard card?
Argument: My subject matter is an observable system because it is about the subway system and it reveals something new because even though the subway system is really old, people still don’t know how it actually became into a system. In other words, I want people to learn about the internal development of the subway systems and how it is still up and running even though some of the trains are dying down?
Research:
- Talk with people who work for the Metro North subway- subway drivers, electricians
- Figure out who are the types of people who are involved in the subway system- ask them their daily routine to make sure the subways are running correctly
- Visit a place/museum or watch a documentary/video that hopefully talks about creating the system
- Talk to people who use the subway- what they know about it and what they don’t
Sources:
- People working in subways/for the subway system
- Jstor- background history of the subway system
- Finding credible websites with articles or evidence to explain the “grid-like system,” which I think help form the subway system
Step Three: Made Proposals
Step Four: Reflection
I am really interested in researching about the curation of museum exhibits. Everyday I think about it, new questions and thoughts pop up in my mind that I never even thought about all these years until now. For example, how many different departments are there within a specific museum for curating a exhibit? Do all museums curate their exhibits in the same way? Who has the most say in it? Who makes the final decision? Does the museum ask for the artwork or does the artist ask for their work to be put into an exhibit? ( Or does it depend on the situation?) Within these six months at Parsons, I have gone to four different museums in NYC and each one has had their own unique set up for each exhibit, how? Yes, there are some similarities, but altogether one can differentiate the exhibits without talking about the subject matter because it is the layout that stands out. I’m also really fascinated about knowing how museums decide what they are going to do an exhibit on and on which artwork will go into the exhibit and which won’t? Another interesting thing to think about in this process is the duration because not all exhibits last for the same amount of time. How does one decide how long something stays up? I really hope I am able to answer all these questions during my research and finally understand this process because I think finding the answers to these questions will be a process itself. I will probably look into two different types of museums and focus only on those two, so it doesn’t get that confusing because if I look at random places, all the answers are going to vary. Therefore, I am planning to narrow my search to specific museums/exhibits that intrigue me and work with those. If I find the answers to all of my questions, hopefully I will be able to make my “made proposal” idea into a reality. I really want to learn from this process and use those techniques to create my own museum exhibit on using work from First-Year students from Parsons.
