Weekly Post January 14, 2010

This week was necessary because it kicked me into gear- after talking to Hannah and Stephanie, I realized what is practical to accomplish in 81 days.  Yes, 81 days.  Hahaha.

This week I went to SOS to meet with the woman who overcame homelessness.  She never showed up to the meeting, but I was able to speak with Chelsea, the PR director.  She showed me a story that this particular woman wrote; it was about three pages discussing how she overcame such obstacles.  Chelsea is going to ask the woman if I can read her story.  Maybe I can weave her story into my project somehow.  I followed up with Chelsea today and I am waiting to hear back.

As far as this time spent this week, 5 hours was dedicated to finishing up the first camera’s black/white images.  This week I tried to put together realistic goals for Tuesday’s critique.  My goal is to complete the black/white series of Jay.  So far I have completed half of the series (one camera), and this weekend I am going to work on the second camera so I can complete the series.  I want to show the class the series as a whole (about 35 images) so I can get feedback.  Cutting down a series of about 10-12 will also allow me to focus more intently on those images and work on editing/playing with light/contrast in Photoshop.  I also want to print one image on nice, Epson Luster Paper in the printing studio so I can see what the images look like when printed in high quality conditions.  I also want to print one out very large and see what happens to the quality of the image.  I want to play with how text/image is displayed in a variety of ways.

I spent about an hour at SOS talking with Chelsea.  Another two hours was spent writing down realistic goals and thinking about what is possible to accomplish.  This was good because it allowed me to refresh my mind and I feel better knowing what I need to accomplish day by day.  I also spent another hour reaching out and sending follow up e-mails to various organizations.

I will share some interesting images that emerged when putting together the series:

Stephanie also suggested I take down everything on one wall of my studio and hang up the entire series to see what it looks like as a whole.  This is a good idea; I will definitely do that in the upcoming days. 

Although the series with Jay is strong, after talking with Hannah I realized I need to move on and create something else.  I need to create at least two more additional projects.  And although putting on an art exhibit of homeless individual’s work is a possibility, it is probably not realistic to achieve in two and a half months.  I might be able to create a show over the summer, but I need to focus on what I want to achieve for IP.  This weekend I am going to create a sound piece that includes my voice and Jay’s.  Since I have over two hours of recording, I feel it would be interesting to piece this together.  Stephanie told me about this great opportunity, the Homeless Marathon, which is a 14-hour national radio broadcast showcasing homeless people’s stories.  In order to submit, I need to put together a 4-minute sound piece by February 14^th.  I think this is a great opportunity and will add another element (sound) to my IP project.  I am thinking of recording my reflection of the interviews (like in the writing pieces) and weaving that with Jay's words.  I am very interested in how images are created in one's mind when listening to sound.

I also want to combine my photographs/Jay’s images with this sound piece to see what comes of it, even if I just test it out in iMovie.

I also wanted to mention another area of interest I am thinking about for the senior IP show.  The idea of an installation is one that I keep thinking about.  What if an actual space was created to look like a homeless person’s space (tent)?  I could place the voices of Jay inside the tent.  Having a tent or suggestion of a tent in a gallery space needs to be well done.  I don’t want it to look like a boy scout camper’s tent.  I would have to have the tent represent that these are the new homes we are creating.  I could play on the issue of irony.  A tent with a white picket fence around it.  Or have the tent be entirely constructed out of foreclosure signs and newspaper headlines. 

Hannah and I also talked about the possibility of a book.  It could include my reflections as well as all of the images I have collected thus far.  This book doesn’t not have to take up much time- it would consist of very simple design - maybe 20 images or so – and my reflections or expressive typography. 

What to do next:

I am going to finish the black/white series, talk about them at critique, and then put them aside.  I want to spend a lot of time working on my sound piece!

Also- Erica just told me about this awesome program "Arduino" that is basically a mini computer that can sense movements.  This would be awesome for my installation- the sound can go off when someone walks by.  There are a few workshops for the grad students on how to use it, and I am very excited to see if I can sit in the workshop!