FINAL PRODUCT

What?  What’s that you say?  “Aya, wasn’t this supposed to be site specific?”  “Aya, why is this not a clearer communication of your concept?  Or even of your word?”  “Aya, why is your piece so similar to Lauren Gallagher’s?”  Well, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, maybe it’s not perfect.  Maybe.  There wasn’t much I could do about the rain, because of my struggles with the material and because I changed my mind so many times about the manner in which the execution of this project was going to take place, so I’m cutting myself a break for that.  As for Lauren and I using the same materials, she had a good idea and I borrowed it.

Anyway, I used it differently. She doesn't OWN the idea of leaves and sticks. I mean, I confessed to her. I do have a guilty conscience.

But I do wish I had been clearer about what exactly I meant by this piece.  The idea was that, well, first I was trying to take this girl’s belief to heart in a genuine way, and I think I did that, but I realized that’s really just research at this point, because I didn’t go into it in the final piece, which is the part that was really for show.  I was going to write a sermon, but it’s really hard to find a good sermon to base things off of.  Not terribly concise, those Christians, nor are all of them charismatic, and I was actually spending most of my time gluing, anyway.

But what I could have done was make the actual piece more clearly religious, even if the girl wasn’t religious the point is the evoke the sense of a sacred space in the viewer.  Regardless of whether or not I could write a sermon, it’s not about that, it’s about the way I communicate the idea of worship, and I think I should have used some familiarity to my advantage.  It’s a little heavy handed, but with this time constraint I think it would be the best option.  I could have made a cross, or made it look more like a church window, I could have looked into some indigenous art involving sun gods, I could have titled it better to be completely honest.  I mean, specificity is hard with something this freeform, but it’s not freeform because whether or not we have inspiration, we still have a deadline—- regardless, I see these things now.

Wednesday night, I had the idea to use tracing paper with color, which I would have had more control of and probably would have made a better piece.  What I’m realizing is that a matter of great importance is hard work.  Not just time spent fucking around with ideas, because that’s work too, but HARD work.  Getting your hands dirty.  Doing the hard thing.  Taking.  The.  High.  Road.  I mean, I feel like I’m perpetually learning this lesson and will never really learn it because I always realize I get ideas from doing, not thinking, because I can think forever and dismiss/accept ideas that aren’t good BUT–here’s the catch–if I don’t see the product I don’t actually know, now, do I.  And I know this I KNOW IT but I never do it.  Motivation to change is difficult.  I just wish I could think faster, because in the long term hard work saves time, but in the short term you feel like you’re getting nothing done because you’re not going the perfect direction.  But anyway.  At least I learned something.

I’m going home now for REAL FOOD, so have a good weekend, professors and grad students.

FOCUS: sunlight

So, listening to the conversation I recorded, I realized that even though I was interviewing to get other perspectives on the line and form some sort of group opinion on the existence of ultimate truth, I wasn’t listening enough.  I cut a lot of this out, but I talked a LOT, which maybe I do a lot, but I learn less I think.  So, listening to the recording I tried to actually understand what people were saying rather than hearing their ideas as either contrary to mine or in agreement.  This is supposed to be about digging deep, finding something, EXCAVATION.

Finding an answer re: ultimate truth didn’t happen, but I really liked what happened with Kristen, her instinct was to say that the ultimate truth was the sun.  And like another interviewee said, there’s no right or wrong, it’s pretty much all about faith, and Kristen’s faith (in that moment) was in the sun.  FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS NEXT AFTER THE JUMP.

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Research: a conversation on the line

CONVERSATION ON THE LINE feat. Drew Schenck, Kristen Mansfield, Aki Miller, Isabel(l)(a)(?), and Aya Kaufmann.  It’s longish, but it’s cut down from 50 minutes.  This was an attempt to gather other perspectives on the line.  This conversation (not all of it was recorded or interesting) started out with questions regarding the physicality of the line itself and the way  then moved on to the idea of finding some natural and ultimate truth (excavating, one might say).  Gave me something to think about.

FoCuS

An installation would be the easiest thing to do.  I’m comfortable with the materials required and the concept.  For that reason it should probably be my backup plan, because I want to like push myself  and do something new.

On the other hand, I know for a fact I’m not a skilled performer and I know for a fact that I love my visions for installations and could make something beautiful in that arena and I do want something beautiful to come out of this.  I mean I want it to be a finished piece, not a mistake.  And I want to work with my hands, and I’m doing something performance-based-ish (she’s photographing me) with someone else and a collaboration could be the best way to be exhibitionist without having to compromise my vision.

Another idea is to do a scavenger hunt of some kind and put my pieces out for people to collect and put together themselves, that way people can be engaged and I can engage them without even having to be there, I can be hidden and they can AHEM– excavate–parts of me and discover what this concept is. This way it won’t be reliant on my ability to perform or hold an audience.

So yeah.  I think I’m going to do that last one, it’s a combination of the first two.  I really have to start working, so if any inspiration strikes, it’ll have to accommodate my original idea.  Spontaneity and safety combined.

excavate pt. II

So I was thinking at first in terms of working to dig up something of worth on the line, maybe from the people on the line or maybe a location.  But Rob advised that just because my assignment dictates that I relate my project to the word excavate doesn’t meant I have to do the excavating.  I can get other people to uncover something that I covered or placed.  Interesting.  So….

• From a literal standpoint, I could bury something that I create either in a place that would be natural for someone to find or that I could lead them to by some process…

1. A treasure map, X marks the spot
2. A sign that says dig here.  I mean it sounds too simple, but the person who actually followed the direction would be an exception to the rule.
3. A series of posters piquing the curiosity, something suggesting mystery.

• Or if I wanted to get more abstract, I could create a situation where people would have to (driven by their own curiosity, “have to” is maybe a little strong) discover something, maybe about me, maybe about something I don’t know about, maybe about something I do know about, maybe about nothing.  To that end this could be a learning experience, a teaching experience, or a practical joke.

1. A trail of clues that leads nowhere.  Or somewhere weird and senseless, without meaning.
2. Interviews.  Maybe surveys where I try to get people to ask ME questions, without them knowing it.

• Get people to discover the line themselves.  People who don’t know about the project.

1. Hold meetings on the line.
2. Put up something big and flashy to draw people to the line.
3. Line-based advertisements.  Ha.

Never fear, authority figures, keeping this line-related has not fallen by the wayside.  I mean a lot of this has come down to getting people to uncover something, which would draw them to the line if what there was to discover was thus located.  Interviews would be conducted on the line.  Location location location.  I won’t forget.

WORD DEFINITION

EXCAVATE

Definition: to make a hole by digging or extract material from the ground OR to remove coverage to discover something buried.  It can also be to FORM something by digging/hollowing out.

I think that the word connotes the latter, though.  When I hear “excavate” I hear a word with purpose.  It’s a word used by detectives who need to dig up a body, or archaeologists who discover a hidden city.  It’s the “ex” part, I think, same sound as exciting… extreme.  Extra.  Exceptional.  Plus, it has the c, v, and t in it, which are all hard consonants.

This word can also mean to form and to reveal rather than just being a word that stands for the void.  That’s why it’s about novelty and discovery rather than just purgation and destruction.  But I don’t think the connotation is entirely positive, it’s a word that implies excitement and intense discovery, but not happy discovery, more like discovery borne of necessity and maybe danger— it implies there’s something important to discover.  It’s a word that talks about the human need to be greater than human, to have important jobs and have their discoveries be big and relevant.

The excavates are also a type of unicellular organism, according to wikipedia.

Exploring the Line

This is the most of the line I think I could get in one shot.  The line LOOKS straight, but it is not forgiving.  I ended up musing a lot about the difference between man and nature and how distinct that line seems, and then thought about how maybe it isn’t and maybe that’s just arrogance.  This is a good picture to illustrate that.  Look how easy it is to see the buildings.  More after the jump.

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PERSONAL TERRITORY TOUR

This is really really long.  Good luck.

THE PLACE: The fire escape in the parking lot behind Panda.

THE TERRITORY.

More after the jump

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exploration 49

FOUND WORDS

Boys playing video games

WHAT THE FUCK does that mean (still a freshman still afraid the voice drops after “fuck”)

BRO

hot dogs NOT dogs

HYAHHHH You’re DEAD

KILL YO ASS

ahhh shit

suck on my

nah nah nah I hate that level

ah sorry. I thought I was dead

AWWWWWHAHAHAWWW that was so disappointing

(how is this an interaction?)

yo I know my pasta. Placenta is not a pasta.

What?

You know what placenta is? Is it a pasta?

(the number of laughs at this is not appropriate)

NOOOOOOO

get raped, jiggly puff. you too, mario. get RAPED

haha!

NOOO

fuck you noooo. NO!

POKEMON! GOTTA CATCH EM ALL

nah yo do it again! Do it again! you sonovabitch

how did he

cuz he uh picked up the heart container

(silence silence silence)

exploration 21– describe a street in detail

UPPER MONROE
start up a hill stumble down past tennis courts middle aged people in serious uniforms that’s what their lives have come to and now the border between the city and the suburb with a huge tacky sign and flowers and that’s not beauty I know beauty there’s a huge hill with woods RIGHT BEHIND me what do you know, city of Rochester, now the townhouses, or apartments, these beautiful old run-down houses split up to accommodate several families and if it’s night there are people on the porches and if it’s day people are walking their dogs, if it’s winter half the people are walking in the street—- LE LEMON GRASS that old restaurant in a constant state of grand opening once-quirky colors on the signs faded what is that, who cared or didn’t care enough, this restaurant was someone’s dream I bet they’re bartending now now— now i don’t know maybe the hill, no, more houses and then the wilson farms so many black and milds on the ground and the worst bar ever across the street, old drunk guys with missing teeth who are shockingly helpful in assisting my search for a bathroom— now the bridge and if it’s night people are standing there bellowing queries on the location of drugs if it’s day people are biking, the cars are rushing below and beyond that the ymca and it’s yellow and concrete and looks perpetually closed or at least unapproachable then the thai restaurant and across the street from that the old hollywood video that’s now a hollywood liquor store, then an intersection—- the streets coming off of here are filled with old trees from the days where people built houses around nature rather than the other way around and they have bay windows and columns and not one of them doesn’t have a porch and I love porches I love them— then various quirky stores, selling incense, selling posters, selling time, and if it’s summer it’s hot and i’m here with a shirtless kid and we’re idiots and we’re stumbling and we’re smoking so many cigarettes and drinking so many energy drinks and thinking about our lives silently and we’re verbally absent but together and maybe my bike hasn’t been stolen yet this street drags through the city on both sides this street goes to the erie canal— this street is rochester in the 1920s the buildings have molding on the tops of them and the windows are big, at one time this city was a city, a metropolis– if it’s winter it’s after school and we’re stomping and we finished taking tests and we’re just here to relax but we’re on edge and we’re here to search for something