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Observation Notebook – Walking in the City

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Walking in New York is so much different from walking in Korea. Thinking about it, it’s quite fascinating how the subject matter on the streets are the same but the way they act and coexist one another is so much different. One thing I’ve noticed that was clearly different from the countries I’ve been to is jaywalking. Of course, a lot of people tend to jaywalk all over the world. But the way streets of New York are built, the one way signs that allow you to look at one direction of the cars coming past is quite ideal I’d have to say. Walking from my dorm to the school buildings, I see so many different people and so many different situations. On good sunny warm days, I realize that people tend to stop in the middle of the streets to look at their phones to either figure something out or text someone. By this, I don’t just mean the weather influencing how people roam around the streets, I literally mean people standing facing the street light pole and texting. I’ve had so many cases where those kinds of people standing awkwardly in the street made me laugh. Here’s the best example I found which I had to stop and take a picture of.

 

 

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.

 

 

Bridge 3 (Multiple Perspectives) Trigger: Gender as a Tool and as a Weapon

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Assignment:

  1. Some writing about my own reflection on this exhibition at the NewMuseum.
  2. Choose one work from the exhibition that speaks to the axioms in “Gosh, Boy George” , if it supports it or challenges it. Specify the connection between the art piece and the axiom and develop.

Exhibition Review: 

Overall, my visit to the NewMuseum was very interesting. Sexes and gender both are things that I’ve never really found myself interested. The discussions we had during seminar class about femininity and masculinity were sort of hard for me as I did not have that many opinions as I was not open to these subjects growing up in Korea.

 

My favorite pieces from the Gender as a Tool and as a Weapon exhibition were these pieces.

After the show, I connected one of the artists and the reading we did during seminar class.

Exhibition : Gender as a Tool and as a Weapon

  1. In Mickalene Thomas’ work, she works around the art historical subject of the European narrative of idealised beauty, through showing portraits of exotic women. The different screens, gave a distorted vision. In Mariah Garnett’s work, she tries to reinterpret existing materials to explore relationship between representations, embodiment and identity. Once you’re far back, all you see is the repeating pattern and when you get up close, you start seeing the nudity(porn), things that you wouldn’t expect to see with such beautiful installations
  2. Mickalene thomas’s video work, she uses nudity and takes the “exotic women” to challenge the order the society has put up in dealing with the european concept of idealised beauty. The distorted image of the body, its visually engaging with seduction. She had the chance to play around between the odalisque and exotic women.
  3. If seduction was a performative act, it would attempt to influence the existing social order, conveying messages for people to stand up for things they’re mostly afraid to say in society.
  4. In Mickalene’s work, the whole production dealing with exotic women .The artist themselves they have the artistic control and play around with their overall production. The audience only sees things after the artists are done manipulating it.

THOUGHTS ON THE EXHIBITION:

This exhibition changed my mind on gender and sexuality, and showed how people outside of Korea are really think differently about it especially these days. It shifted my thoughts from having a closed mind and into a bigger opening for the society that we belong right now.

ESSAY: 

Usually masculinity would be confined to physical traits and outward appearance such as having broad shoulders, being muscular, and plenty of other. Masculinity in my perspective has nothing to do with the physical appearance of certain person, how they dress and even associating only with the males. For me, masculinity is something from the inner self that has something to do with confidence.

In fact, I started to ponder what masculinity really meant. But for some reason it was really hard to grasp what masculinity is, how different people have different perceptions and how it’s often argued over how that word is used. In South Korea, at least from what I’ve grown up seeing, masculinity isn’t something that is stressed upon. It was very recent, having moved to New York, I was introduced to the perception people have over gender, and the two terms; masculinity and femininity. In Korea, masculinity translates directly to “being manly”. There is no specific word for masculinity. The different perspectives and the way different people view the term masculinity in American was indeed fascinating.

As someone that has been recently introduced to this whole masculinity and femininity , I took it with a different approach. I focused more in how something could be viewed differently. In Gosh, Boy George written by Eve Kosofsky Sedgwick, he proposes four axioms that challenges and even disrupts the ongoing thoughts on masculinity. One axiom that I find relatively general was “Sometime masculinity had got nothing to do with [men]… And when something is about masculinity, it is not always ‘about men.’”. What I mean by relatively general is, it deals with disputable perceptions people have on masculinity.

And relating to one of the art works at the New Museum exhibition: Gender as a tool and a weapon, I found Mariah Garnett’s video installation the most associable. Mariah Garnett’s 16mm film installation, called Encounters I may or May Not Have had With Peter Berlin is a short video reflected on a mirror disco ball that disperses the images in little circles across the whole room. As I started to do more research on the artist and the installation, I found that the work actually deals with narcissism and the way which heroes are embedded into the identities and manifested through the body. And the purpose of the film is to guide the audience through process of making contact with the iconic 70’s gay sex icon Peter Berlin who only exists in his own photographs.

The piece itself was visually so attractive and it grabbed quite a lot of attention. The little circles dispersed across the room contain such vague graphic that from far you don’t really see what it is but up close you see the image that it contains which is partial nudity. Without researching too much about the piece, I realised that this piece could perfectly portray how different people view the same matter differently. From far behind, the installation itself is very pleasing to the eye. The sparkling lights, the lights that flicker in the darkness. But as you start to move forward, the audience starts to see the nude graphic in each of the circular reflection. From such quiet beautiful piece, nudity isn’t something that you’d expect, especially of a porn star Peter Berlin. And I think this goes with how people view masculinity in general. People might think it’s so obvious that masculinity only applies for men, but up close it has a whole other meaning to it and it really depends on how people insist to take it from there.

Thoughts – shift: 

Overall, to begin with, the subject matter it self : gender, femininity and masculinity, was very difficult for me to expand my thoughts upon. This topic in general didn’t trigger any thing in me, unlike almost every other person in the class or even in America. Despite having spent most of my life, all over the world, I still believe that I’m a strong Korean thinker; conservative and neutral. In Korea, this line between Femininity and Masculinity has been just brought up and people who strongly oppose or agree with an opinion on such are seen as people who have nothing to do or somewhat crazy. This essay overall didn’t really shift any thoughts in my mind as I didn’t and still cant grasp this whole concept… And that is probably why the grade reflected upon this confusion.

Bridge 2 (Peer-to-Peer) Peer Profile

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Assignment:

Expand my own interpretations on my partner’s interview footage, after asking a series of questions (Vertical Interrogation). Keep in mind Broges’ story, and write a portrait of your partner that incorporates the specific sentence, addressing the topic of memory, forgetting or language. And we can go creative as we can, even shifting details into fiction.

My thoughts:

I decided to expand specifically on one particular sentence my partner said during the interview that stuck on to me.

“For my love, I made a prom dress.”

The Essay :

 

The country side never gets old. The scenery outside seem the same every time I visit. The colorful fields, the trees and the sky all seem like they’re framed in time. Every time I’d ride the train, I would sit in my assigned seat and fantasize about things that could possibly happen in that moment. Like in the typical Asian movies where the main character falls instantly in love with the guy sitting across from her and later realises that he’s actually a guy she held hands with in pre-school. Sitting across from me, was an old guy. His perfume was such a delight and his overall look was so chic but he sure wasn’t the love of my life. I glanced over to see what the old man was rapidly writing or perhaps sketching in his little notebook. Our eyes met and right away and I noticed the sunlight reflecting against the tears that had been swelling up in his eyes. He smiled very softly as if he wanted me to start the conversation. I timidly said, “I’m sorry, I was just curious what kind of pen you were using”. I didn’t want him to think that I was peeking over, curious of what he was writing or sketching, so I had to make up a lie. This time he smirked and said “I was writing down my birthday and my wife’s birthday”. He showed me his notebook; a page about the size of his palm, full of same numbers repeating over and over. “I forget too many times and now it’s become a habit.”, he said. I noticed that one of the dates was tomorrow: 14th of August. I carefully asked him, pointing at one of the dates, “Is that your birthday?”. He shook his head and said “No, it’s my wife’s birthday.”. I smiled and said “oh! Are you going to celebrate tomorrow then?”. He closed his shaking lips and slowly said, “No, she passed away 6 years ago, and so I’m visiting her”. I didn’t know what to say. I never understood why people would say that they’re sorry if they hear someone’s passing. So instead, I told him “That’s great.”. He put away his metal framed glasses, like the ones young fashion lovers like to wear these days. But something about his made it look “real”. It had the rustic golden metal frame surrounding the big lenses. He folded them carefully and placed them on the table. “She made this one for me as a gift when I got back from the UK” he said. I held it up and saw a beautiful cursive writing engraved on the metal side that said with love, Ella.  “It’s beautiful…”. The train was moving so fast and loud but the trees and the endless mosaic fields were so quiet. The warmth of the sunset, and the coral colors surrounding us sparked up the golden color of the glasses even more. He wore his glasses and started searching for the end of the small notebook he was holding. Something fell out of it and landed on the floor. As I picked it up, my fingers instantly felt the delicacy of the paper. It was a very old photo of a young man and a very beautiful young woman. “For my love, I made a prom dress.”he said. That’s when I noticed the writing on the flyer behind them that said – Prom Night Besant Hill High School.  I was stunned to see the dress so perfect and modern looking.

“I studied fashion and later became a designer, had my own clothing line. But now as you can see, I can’t even thread a needle. That dress was the first dress I designed and made for someone. Oh, I remember that night.”, he said chuckling.

At this moment, I realized that this was the moment I had dreamt of, way better than the love stories from the Asian movies I watched. What a perfect story to tell my friends, family and even my kids when I get older. All of a sudden, he started coughing. The coughing noise got louder and louder and as soon as I opened my eyes, I found myself sitting in my seat. I looked outside the train window and saw the sunset. I realized that this was all a dream. I only had 5 minutes left on the train. As soon as I got my luggage to head out, I passed by a seat and noticed a pair of glasses. I knew in that second that I had seen those glasses somewhere before. The way it caught the sunset light, and the way the golden color sparked.

Thoughts after – shift

Writing this style of essay was pretty fun, the fact that I had this freedom to play around with something someone’s saying. It gave me a chance to shift my ideas into what others have experienced.

Multiple Perspectives Project

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“We are the generation that must throw everything into the endeavour to remake America into what we say we want it to be. Without this endeavour, we will perish. However immoral or subversive this may sound to some, it is the writer who must always remember that mortality, if it is to remain or become morality, must be perpetually examined, cracked, changed, made new. He must remember, however powerful the many who would rather forget, that life is the only touchstone and that life is dangerous, and that without the joyful acceptance of this danger, there can never be any safety for anyone, ever, anywhere….Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced.” 

— James Baldwin in “As Much Truth As One Can Bear” (1962)

I chose the last part of this quote because it exactly portrayed what the younger generation of South Korea is doing right now in terms of this taboo the society has created with tattoos. Even though it isn’t guaranteed that people’s minds/perceptions are going to change, they still express their form of art in hopes of changing.

 

From the “Gender as tool and as weapon” exhibition at the New Museum, I was fascinated with a particular piece. The way I approached that piece was in fact out of curiosity. As an interior design major, first thing I start to look at is the way the exhibition is set up, the pieces, the lights, the space for people to sit or stand. And one thing I noticed was a wall that didn’t seem to quite feel the pattern the room was giving. I approached the wall and as I did, I started noticing that there was some kind of noise or music playing. And then I noticed the small hole on the wall. I peeped through the hole and saw a small room with a tv screen that played sexual images and videos. This peeping through the hole, giving the audience chance to reveal their curiosity but also give them the privacy and intimacy.

I took the wire and glass to portray the different perspectives and view people had/have in Korea about tattooing. The bars that show that Korea is now changing, and the space cut on the side shows that there has been some progress in changing people’s perspectives. And show that even though there could be the obstacle people need to face, there’s always another one and you can never get past it without trying.

(I dont have any photos me presenting because my friends forgot to take photos because we turned the lights off… And my actual project, I dissembled the piece after class was over because I had so many stuff to carry…) But here are some sketches.

This is the video that I decided to project on the screen. I found it hard to create a video about tattoos because I don’t even have a tattoo and that much knowledge about it myself. This documentary is about Grace Neutral exploring South Korea’s illegal tattoo scenes and learning about this whole taboo, where it came from and how it goes around in Korea.

The beginning of the documentary, she meets up with a tattoo artist named Apro Lee and he says

“In Korea, its illegal to tattoo without doctor license but who’s going to be a tattoo artist when they have a doctor license?”. 

He continues to tell us more about how Koreans, mostly elders have a very negative view on artists like him and people around him who have tattoos which drives him to avoid public transit.

Shift: This winter, I’m going to get my first tattoo done and it’s a first step for me to reach out and be the first one to change people’s perspectives around me. And it’s going to be an emotional shift for me as it’s a big decision i’m willing to put myself in.

Diderot Encyclopedia

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Teinturier de Riviere (Textile Dyeing)

Axing

Taper

Organization

 

 

 

Histoire Naturelle, Le Rhinoceros (Natural History, The Rhinoceros)

Natural 

Toes

Wrinkles

A sinuous or tortuous movement, formation

A crease, fold, or ridge caused by the folding, puckering, or contraction of a fabric, cloth, or other pliant substance.

A slight narrow ridge or depression on a surface; a longitudinal mark; a corrugation.

hulking

 

Handles

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Assignment:

To research the world “handle” in the New School’s encyclopaedias or databases. Then gather your finding in LP and write a new paragraph for Benfey that could be inserted to the essay.

Process:

I tried to search up the keyword “handle” in the New School’s databases, but was having a hard time finding anything. So i started searching on google, some reliable resources about handles and their special function. One article I found was called: Hospital Door Handle Design and Their Contamination with Bacteria: A Real Life Observational Study. Are We Pulling against Closed Doors? from PLOS.  1 

In this article by Christopher Benfey, it talks about the functions of the different handles with different positions and how people manipulate it to make it function.We see handles all looking more or less alike. But one is the handle of a crank which can be moved continuously; another is the handle of a switch, which has only two effective positions, it is either off or on.. 2  I thought it was interesting with the whole interaction between humans and the different types of handles.

 

 

Handles are there for people’s use, and for users to be able to use the material it is attached to. And in this case, a research is done on handles in a location where hygiene is crucial. Looking into handles of hospitals, the relationship between how often and how many people cross door thresholds the number of bacteria deposited on door handles.  3 

 

 

 

 

 

Bibliography

1.

2. Wojgani H, Kehsa C, Cloutman-Green E, Gray C, Gant V, et al. (2012) Hospital Door Handle Design and Their Contamination with Bacteria: A Real Life Observational Study. Are We Pulling against Closed Doors?. PLOS ONE 7(10): e40171. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0040171

 

 

  1. This is a footnote. ↩
  2. This is a footnote. ↩
  3. This is a footnote. ↩

Erasure

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Assignment: 

Manipulate part of a text, by erasing, covering drawing over, to create a new interpretation of the writing. Adding new dimension to the already written piece.

Before:


After:

Thoughts:

What I did for this erasure was, from the examples of the erasure texts, I found erasing completely the text so that the audience couldn’t see what was beneath the erasure was quite uncomfortable. I really liked the erasure example where it was stitched and you could see what was beneath the writing. So I tested out multiples markers and pens to find the one that doesn’t really cover the letters but when covered, its up to you to really look at it closely or not. I decided to leave out words and parts of phrases that were somewhat the opposite of what love would be like. And using blue red and black thin marker I decided to create sort of a dread mood, and almost make an image of a river.

Inhabited Space Project Descriptive Paragraph / Self-Assessment

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INHABITED SPACE PROJECT DESCRIPTIVE PARAGRAPH

Something that I realised about New York after living couple of months was the open natural space like parks, rooftop farms among the packed buildings. The way nature coexisted with modern architecture inspired me to create a structure incorporating these two opposite elements.

 

As a start, I started to look up architectural sketches with maximum natural light source and basic necessities for a botanical garden. And then with that idea, I thought of the most efficient way people could enjoy and appreciate the nature. A  garden for people to not only look at the natural surroundings but also relax. In Korea, younger generation of people tend to look for the nicest places to take pictures in to put on their social media. One of the things restaurants, museums, exhibitions tend to put more effort to is a photo zone. It’s a way to promote the place when people put their pictures on social media like Instagram or Facebook.

 

Another reason why I thought of a botanical garden was the use of one of the essential element for nature: water. But I also wanted to again, create something that is also visually appealing and fulfill the goal. By creating a slanted roof the rain water is directed to fall into an open area inside, creating a sort of an indoor waterfall. Once again, not only does it help supply water to the plants but also create a visually appealing exhibition area for the people that visit. Inside the botanical garden, a café and some relaxing benches with reading spaces would be provided.

The textural elements that I have chosen, also follow the two opposite elements. The natural elements and the man-made elements. Color-wise I also wanted to contrast the building with the plants.  As plants give more of a warm color tone, I wanted to make the building have more of a cold blueish color tone. Metallic texture mostly gives off a blue greyish color tone so I chose the building to have such texture.

 

 

Inhabited Space Project Self-Assessment/Reflection

In your opinion, what is a strength of your project?

One of the things that I put the main focus on was the clean precision formation of the building and the whole idea behind the use as an exhibition. The way the clean modern structure contrasts with the natural elements inside and that uses rain water, something that we can see frequently, as an exhibition material.

 

One detail I would like to improve on would be the texture collage. As an interior design major, I’ve always liked building these kinds of structures but I had never had to add textural effects on to the physical models. To be honest, I felt uncomfortable gluing the textures onto the structures.

 

There weren’t any materials that were really difficult but if I had to choose, it would be plexi-glass. Just the way how it would snap the wrong way, it was so brittle but the cleanness of the material itself would give a great effect. The thing I had the most difficulty with was the connections between the materials without glue. The window part of the structure where it was the most complicated. I had such a hard time trying to make the Plexi-glass pivot using the wires tucked in wood.

 

Rate yourself from 1-5  (1 Low, 5 High) on how you have resolved the following project grading criteria.

The construction details are well resolved, the cuts are clean, edges are smooth, the craft is refined overall.

 

5

The solution to the Inhabited Space structure concept is creative and engaging.

5

The interior space is clearly developed and the intended function is clearly evident

5

The surrounding exterior environment is indicated

4

Mechanical connections are clearly thought out and are aesthetically well resolved.

4

The photo collage elements are thoughtfully integrated and carefully adhered to their supporting surfaces.

4

A variety of sheet metal, Plexiglas, plywood, and cardboard is utilized.

5