Category: Integrative Studio 2

Studio Seminar Final

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I centered my two projects on the efficiency of NewYork’s public spaces. I’ve always had passion for the usage of space and their efficiency. And that is the main reason why I chose my major; Interior Design and the reason behind why I chose Systems and Strategies.

The class visit from City Lore was something that really stuck up in my mind. The way they cared about different public spaces and how each space has its own little story brought me back thinking that they might be part of people’s lives after all. One quote that I found helpful in gathering my ideas was “small urban places are “priceless,” and the city street is “the river of life…where we come together.” 

 

For my Studio Final, I decided to make an playful interaction for kids with Union Square. The simplest and easiest way to spread the history and facts about Union Square might just be children telling their parents what they’ve learned about Union Square or even just completing this fun little activity while the parents drink coffee at the benches. I decided to take this approach because I felt that this was how I used to engage with the art works at famous museums in Paris when I was living there a child myself. France always tried to include kids and their art education starts at a very early age. In Museums, they would have kid’s packets where there were activities like coloring (plus free mini color pencils), treasure hunting, games…etc. I decided to make one for adults or kids with educational purposes but also express their creativity.

I made 7 cards for the 7 different facts  about Union Square. The children are free to do anything they want to do with it,  but the best way would be to find seven different locations to draw. Also, I made a little map to guide them where they were in terms of the map.

The reason behind the Vintage look I went on for the packaging is to bring back the essence of touch and having something in hand to keep. Usually so many people are on their phones, even kids now use phones and are materialistic.

Here are some photos of the finished product. 

Studio Final 

(Front View) Est. 1882 – The year Union Square was first built

(Back View)

(Inside: Cards)

(Inside: Map of Union Square)

 I couldn’t find little mini colored crayons but I would have included them inside the packet.

=

 

Seminar Essay: I decided to write 7 entries on key things to know about Union Square in general. Except for the facts I wrote about Union Square being a location for drug dealing, I think these facts are perfect and work both way for the studio final.

 

Union Square

New York city has managed to create vast amount of public spaces for the people living in such urbanized area. Very easy examples of such public spaces in New York City are the public parks. People might think they’re simply just spaces where New Yorkers can take a break from their urbanized surroundings and feel closer to nature but that isn’t quite all. They’re places where social interaction is easily possible. Organizations are able to hold events that usually help businesses nearby, people are able to voice their thoughts by protesting.

Farmers Market/ GrowNYC
Farmers Markets have played a great role in revitalizing the area, from a drug dealing abandoned area to a flourishing people friendly tourist area. The major food market that manages this is from the non profit organization called GrowNYC. GrowNYC created in 1970 is an organization that was able to operate the Union Square greenmarket , building community gardens, teaching people about the environment, recycling awareness.
According to their website, Grow NYC’s mission is “ to improve New York City’s quality of life through environmental programs that transform communities block by block and empower all New Yorkers to secure a clean and healthy environment for future generations.”
It all started out with 7 farmers in 1976, and now hosts around 140 regional farmers, fishers and even bakers for around 4 days a week, the growth of the Farmers Market hosted at Union Square might be the largest accomplishment Grow NYC has ever had.

Protests
The first protest rally in Union Square Park takes place in support of the Union on April 20, 1861. Along with the 10,000 workers marching for first-ever American Labor Day rally that took place in September of 1882. Since then, Union Square has been New York’s number one hub for rallies, political protests relating to immigration, race and politics. On sunny days, Union Square is filled with people playing chess, performances and people just sitting to talk. On those days, organizations or even small groups of people stand with signs

Needle Park
About 20 years ago, Union Square was not a place you would call up your friends to gather. The park was filled with homeless people, and drug dealers. Throughout the years, the so called “Union Square Park” we know, had several different nicknames such as Needle Park and Methadone Alley. Along with this park, another park located in Greenwich village, called Washington Square Park, and even the uptown city-run facility called Madison Square park, residents are still reporting specific areas where the drug dealers use the open space for such activities. These drug involving activities are happening in a place , where people seek a leafy shaded area to lie down on the grass to read a book and where kids are running around in the playground area.There had been several police arrests in Union Square, around May 2012, NYPD arrested 10 drug peddlers and 2 carrying. In total they found up to 160 pills including Xanax, Klonopin as well as 2 bags of Heroin. Recently there hasn’t been cases dealing with such amount of drugs but the usage of the park to simply smoke weed happens on a daily basis.

Union
Many people don’t know the meaning behind “Union” in the name for the Union Square Park. Most think that it comes from federal union of United States or just labor unions in general due to the ever first labor union march that took place there. But it actually comes from the location, placed between or at the “union” of then-Bloomingdale Road and Bowery Road which is now Fourth Avenue and Broadway,

Landmarks
In Union Square park, there are in total of four major historical monuments, usually good meeting spots for people in area.
The statue of George Washington, the first president of the United States is the oldest sculpture in New York City Parks collection. It was built by Henry Kirke Brown (1814-1886) dedicated in the park on July 4th 1856. The statue, made of Bronze and Barre granite measures overall 26’4” and is located in the South end of the Union Square Park.
Next, is the Statue of Abraham Lincoln which was also built by Henry Kirke Brown not long after his death and was sponsored by Union League Club. The statue is made of Bronze, Dix Island, ME granite and measures about 8’, located in the North end of the park.
Another is the Statue of Marquis de Lafayette, a french general fighting for Americans during the American Revolution built as a token of appreciation from the french government on September 6th 1876. It was built by Frederic-Auguste Barthodi, who also designed the Statue of the Liberty in 1886. It’s built with Bronze and polished Quincy granite which measures 15’ height and stands in the Park Avenue South at 16th street.
Last but not least, the most recently built is the statue of Mohandas Ghandhi, dedicated on October 2nd, 1986 on the 117th anniversary of his birth. Well-known leader of nonviolent protests for the Indian independence from Britain, this statue of Gandhi was placed in the park due to the tradition of protest that happens in the park.

Activities
Every year, Union Square brings in neighboring businesses near Union Square to strengthen the consumer and business-to-business through hosting events. In 2017, 198 events were hosted at Union Square Park. Around February, Union Square uses local gyms, fitness studios that are near and brings them to host events such as Sweat Fest. And around summer, Union Square Partnership brings hundred of activities at the park. Lastly, around fall, they host Harvest in Square, bringing in local restaurants and their wine.
Sanitation
As Union Square is becoming a very popular place, Union Square Partnership has put effort in keeping the park clean with their Clean Team working seven days a week. Thel lime green bistro tables and chairs have been newly added. According to Union Square Partnership’s report on the year 2017, there are 22 Clean team workers, 45,745 hours of cleaning done, 237 feet of graffiti removed.
Public spaces as they’re open and accessible to the people, it is so easy to tell whether that public space is really working or not by simply observing the place yourself. William H. Whyte, an American urbanist, journalist and organizational analyst, working with New York City Planning Commission in 1969, became interested in the efficiency of public spaces in the city. He conducted observations and film analyses of open public spaces such as parks, streets, corporate plazas, all over New York City. More than anything, Whyte believed in the perseverance and sanctity of public spaces. For him, small urban places are “priceless,” and the city street is “the river of life…where we come together.”

 

 

 

 

Annotated Bibliography

Collins, Meaghan. “Union Square: Activism by Design.” Off the Grid : The Blog of the Greenwich Village Society For Historic Preservation(blog), December 10, 2012. Accessed May 02, 2018. http://gvshp.org/blog/2014/12/10/union-square-activism-by-design/.

This website was the most informative in terms of the past history and union square came to be in terms of the space used for protest, in order for the people’s voices to be heard and concludes with how it still is used with that purpose. A lot of factual information, dates and even photographs of these events taking place.

 

Goicochea, Julia. “A Brief History of Union Square, New York City.” Culture Trip. December 21, 2017. Accessed May 02, 2018. https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/new-york/articles/a-brief-history-of-union-square-new-york-city/.

A NewYork Guide and tips post for Union Square on Culturetrip, a website for exploring different cultures. It gives information on how Union Square had impact on the Labor movement in NYC.

“GrowNYC | The Sustainability Resource for New Yorkers.” Union Square Greenmarket Monday | GrowNYC. Accessed May 01, 2018. https://www.grownyc.org/.

Grow NYC is the main organization that funds the farmers market in Union Square. It not only gives people in New York the chance to buy fresh organic products, it is beneficial to the farmers themselves. The goals they’ve set and the achievements they’ve made have largely impacted the efficiency of Union Square.

 

Johnston, Garth. “Police Arrest 10 Alleged Drug Dealers, 2 Users In Union Square’s ‘Methadone Alley’.” Gothamist. Accessed May 01, 2018. http://gothamist.com/2012/05/10/police_arrest_10_dealers_2_users_in.php.

An article on the largest arrest of drug dealing that happend at Union Square park. It adds to the fact that Union Square long before the efforts put in, was a park that people were afraid of, and lead to inefficiency of the area.

Martin, Douglas. “A Growth Spurt for Union Square Park.” The New York Times. September 12, 1998. Accessed May 08, 2018. https://www.nytimes.com/1998/09/12/nyregion/a-growth-spurt-for-union-square-park.html

New York Times article on how Union Square has grown over the years. It addresses what the people wanted and how they’ve tried to incorporate them into improving Union Square.

 

“New York City Department of Parks & Recreation.” §1-04 Prohibited Uses : NYC Parks. Accessed May 08, 2018. https://www.nycgovparks.org/.

This is a New York government organized website that specifically gives information about the parks. It gives detailed information on the location, basic history, events that happened and will happen, some key figures (if there is)…etc.

 

“William H. Whyte.” RSS. Accessed May 03, 2018. https://www.pps.org/article/wwhyte.

William H. Whyte was an urbanist, journalist and an analyst. He with his own curiosity, researched how public spaces were working out in the city. He started his Street life project, conducting observations and research with film on open spaces in New York City.

 

Union Square Partnership Annual Report 2018. PDF. New York: Union Square Partnership.

This is an annual report for the Union Square’s profile, improvements, important numbers from the year 2017. It shows the current state of Union Square and the things Union Square Partnership is doing to improve the state and usage.

Simultaneous Perception Map

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Assignment was to create my response to the multi-sensory experience to the place that I chose: Union Square. I was expected to collect data 3 times of the day per week, and make a map that captures the things I’ve collected.

These are the three pieces I decided to create using Photoshop. The three images portray the different perceptions I got from Union Square, as a by-passer, because I walk through, around it almost everyday.

The three images go in this order, and illustrates the co-existence of human and the environment. Of course there’s a part of that experience that is very harmonizing and is well balanced but sometimes we go over that privilege and take advantage, in this case pollution.

 

Nothing Personal

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Introduction to our Chapter

 

Quote 1: “Where the people can sing the poet can live  

Where the poet can sing the people can live”

 

Quote 2: “Things often have to be destroyed,

dissolved in acid, cut apart, or dismantled in

order to tell their full story”

These quotes talk about unity and destruction. While the first one illustrates the power of the union of forces, of inspiring one another and of the harmony that exists in a balanced system, the second one delves deeper into the creation of these forces that unite us, the destruction we undergo in order to unleash our power. We, as a group, chose to explore this unique balance of unity and destruction and the symbiotic relationship between being connected and present eternally in a system, and yet isolated and ephemeral.

 

Our conceptual process:

We all kind of knew that we were going to use photos. So regardless what kinds of photos we took, we wanted to focus on the gathering of the photos and the format. Initially Saheim had photos took on an app that had a vintage feel to it, photo as a film. And as a fan of film photo I thought why not use the film idea and apply it to our project. When we individually got all of our photos,I gathered all of them and formatted them to fit in a booklet. The concept that I thought could really go well with the whole film idea was projecting the method of how photos are usually chosen as a photographer. To create something and maintain the beauty, you also have to destruct photos that you don’t want. And adding to that, giving motion to the photos, giving the white frame the impression of moving across these films.

 

Our roles:

Anshu: Quotes, 2 individual photo interpretation.

Saheim: Idea of film roll, 2 individual photo interpretation

Georgia: 2 individual photo interpretation

MiRi: Booklet formatting, individual photos.

 

Following Piece

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Introduction: The assignment is to follow a stranger till they go to a private space just like Vito Acconci’s ” The following piece”.

 

Pre-following/hypotheses

I think the major concern isn’t getting noticed while I’m following someone random on the street, I think its more towards where the person will end up being.  The thing is they really cant say something about me walking behind them in the same direction for an hour or more, because I can just argue that they might be following me and that I’m freaked out about that.

A strategy would be walking in a pace that wouldn’t really bother someone. The best would be keeping everything natural.

If this was my research method, I think I’d be able to learn about people’s consciousness regarding their safety?

 

Include a photo or photos of your re-enactment

 

Following notes:

My notes 

  •  Chose a path where I usually go home from school. (more natural and subtle)
  • Decided to choose a woman who was carrying a light cross purse, with good steady winter shoes and coat
  • Very steady pace.
  • Chose the time between 12-1 when there’s a crowd of people around Union Sq area trying to get lunch

Started from 13:01: 5th Ave. between 13th and 14th

Ended: 13:08 : Nordstrom Rack

The weather, pretty windy, lots of people with hoods on trying to get home/work fast.

 

 

Conclusion

 It was an interesting experience for me but it’s something that I’ve always thought into. In Korea, men following women in the streets where there’s not a lot of people have been the fear of all women across the country. The government even came up with a system that allows volunteers near subway stations to walk women till their homes safely. They all wear a flashing yellow vest, with the words “Safety Escort Program” printed at the back. The service is open to anyone just by calling the number 30 minutes beforehand. And I’ve seen positive responses to this service and perhaps it helped the number of sexual assaults decrease. The point I’m trying to get across here, is that I think following someone for more than 20 minutes in Korea would be so much different from following someone in NewYork. Perhaps the fact that in Korea, I’d be better off following a male instead of following a female because they’re so insecure about what’s going on around them.

 

 

“…Under the seeming disorder of the old city, wherever the old city is working successfully, is a marvelous order for maintaining the safety of the streets and the freedom of the city. It is a complex order. Its essence is intricacy of sidewalk use, bringing with it a constant succession of eyes. This order is all composed of movement and change, and although it is life, not art, we may fancifully call it the art form of the city and liken it to the dance — not to a simple-minded precision dance with everyone kicking up at the same time, twirling in unison and bowing off en masse, but to an intricate ballet in which the individual dancers and ensembles all have distinctive parts which miraculously reinforce each other and compose an orderly whole. The ballet of the good city sidewalk never repeats itself from place to place, and in any once place is always replete with new improvisations.”
― Jane Jacobs 

Using one of the two quotes below to inflect your thoughts (-or- choose another quote from any seminar reading you think helps you talk about this experience), unpack the experience – what did you learn? notice? experience? were your hypotheses correct? if not – what was unexpected?

 

This quote seems to talk about how the city works in unison, the movements and change that happen on the streets are not just compared to dance but specifically ballet where the individual dances reinforce one another. I thought this was interesting how comparing the movements that happen in the city on the street to a dance is something thats pretty common, pretty predictable. But specifying that dance to a ballet, where all the movements together “which the individual dancer and ensembles all have distinctive parts which miraculously reinforce each other and compose an orderly whole”.  Walking around union square, an area where mingling around or staying for a long time only really happens when the weather is really nice. Unless we have the warm climate, the cold restricts our movements and the way we maneuver around the city. But also in another sense, the way we act all together because of these restriction also keeps things happening as a result.

Gift Post

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Our task was to create a gift to someone else just by looking at the other person’s 10 chosen photos from their own social media.

 

The post below shows my process in gathering information from observation, making careful assumptions, leading to the final decision on what I want to gift

To start with, these were part of the photos that Sean chose to show himself on his instagram.

 

From seeing Sean’s photos, my first thought was “Wow. He really has character”.  Most of his photos that were actually of him, were very distinct, showing his character and attitude. And another thing I noticed was that he was making art.

Based off of that, I took an emotional? psychological? senses? approach.  I wanted to make something that showed a bit of effort, to give him the thought that someone else is going to make art for him in return for his art “giving”. The visual approach I made was to give him a pencil drawn self portrait because I think they show the most purest? most natural form.

I don’t have a picture of the portrait drawing I did of Sean.

 

 

COUNTERGIFT 

Getting a gift to Jade wasn’t as easy as I thought it would be. Well it was the same with getting Sean a present but overall this experience of gifting someone with something that we made wasn’t easy. The observations had to be direct, which was her overall attitude, things around her in class.

Jade gave me a paper model of a camera which I thought was very interesting because that’s something I’ve never expected from someone. I saw the effort and thought into it and especially coming from someone I don’t know well, I was happy.

 

Countergift Strategy

Giving her a gift was hard in a sense that I didn’t know what to begin my inference with.

All I knew from seeing her in class, and from her introductions in class was that she was super into fitness. One thing I noticed everytime class started was that she had such healthy drinks or packed food from home. So I decided to give something that my mom always packs me when I’m about to miss breakfast as a replacement for a meal.

Misugaru is the term, it’s a very Korean drink that goes with hot milk or hot water. It’s a fine powdered 7-10 different kinds of grain and is considered the most healthiest lattes in Korea. Older people more often likes it because it has a very healthy grainy taste.

I didn’t know how I’d pack it for her so I found a ziplock bag and put quite a lot in there. I’m not sure if she’d even try it because of the weird packaging but i feel like she’ll get a sense of what it is when she tastes it once.

For me and probably for every korean kid who grew up with Korean parents will relate to a glass of misugaru moms make. And knowing that Jade is part Korean, I thought it would be a new experience for her.

I didn’t know how I’d pack it for her so I found a ziplock bag and put quite a lot in there. I’m not sure if she’d even try it because of the weird packaging but i feel like she’ll get a sense of what it is when she tastes it once.

 

 

 

Response to Wark Quote

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“In the Game of War, history is made mobile again, in an irreversible time where strategy can reverse the course of events. ” – Mackenzie Wark

 

I approached the quote more in a personal way. The picture above is a photograph that I took while walking down the street in NewYork. The reason why I took that photo was because it reminded me of my guardian when I was living in Paris. Our apartment located near paris, a small town called Saint Cloud was very quiet and basically everyone knew everybody near by. The person who took care of the whole apartment facility was called Le Guardien. I used to forget my keys a lot so i’d always knock on his office to get the spare keys. It was very rare for these people seeing an asian family around because usually the asians would live in Paris by the 16th or 18th arr. where all the Korean supermarkets were. For that reason he took care of me, giving me candy, always being around when I would sit outside when locked out.

He was the one incharge of cleaning the windows too and this particular man cleaning the window with that tool just reminded me of him since it’s what I had seen growing up.

And i had always associated “history” specifically on our past (cultural past). Which made me think “what would my mom say if she saw the photo?”. As a person who had lived her whole life in Korea, growing up with a different history I decided to ask her.

The answer I got back from her made me realise one thing. She said “oh that reminds me of our guardian back in France”. I was expecting her to say something completely different or rather I should say something culturally Korean. But instead she also had read the memory that she experienced in her life. I had  forgotten how history is not only about her history in her cultural background but that also additionally wrote her history when living in paris.

 

 

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