Research:
The goal for this project was to learn how to engage in ‘slow looking,’ or deeper observation, and record our findings in the ultimate form of a map. The journey was required to start at Hayes Hall and end at a destination of our choice. Research for this assignment largely included writing, photography, and practicing drawing techniques. We also viewed a variety of maps in class.
As a long distance participation activity, I was asked to engage with my space using slow looking techniques from Slow Looking: The Art and Practice of Learning Through Observation by Shari Tishman. Then I was asked to write two haikus, one describing more straightforward observations of my surroundings, and the other diving deeper into the meaning or symbolism.
Haiku 1
Four barren walls stand
Protecting toxic house plants
Holding unkempt things
Haiku 2
Warmed by family
Unsettled communal space
Multifunctional
Another activity I did to explore concepts for this project was photographing a simple object in my house. First I took a picture without any intentional composition. Then I took two more pictures using compositional techniques we talked about in class.
To practice shading techniques, I made a sheet with 6 sections exploring simple shading, cross hatching, stipiling, shapes, free form line, and the use of initials.
Exercises-
Exercise 1
Pragmatic or written directions vs. poetic description of journey.
Pragmatic
1) Standing at the front entrance to Hayes Hall facing the oval, turn to face the back wall and go down the hallway straight forward and slightly to your left near the elevator.
2) Stop when you see a doorway on your left, this is a handicap accessible enterence.
3) Exit through the stairwell on your left
4) Turn left and wall towards Hopkins Hall
5) Turn left again and walk towards the oval
6) Stop where the side walks meet and turn right.
7) Stop at the sidewalk intersection between Hopkins and Derby hall. Turn right
8) Stop at the cross walk
9) Cross the cross walk only when it is clear of traffic
10) Walk straight until the sidewalk branches into 3 parts. Trake the leftmost sidewalk.
11) Continue straight until you reach a bench on your right hand side. Congratulations you have reached your destination!
Poetic
Standing at the front entrance of Hayes Hall, overlooking the windswept oval, I turn my back on the exit, remaining in the cool building. Feeling the air conditioning dry out my airways I mosey my way back through the posterior hallway of the building to a back exit: dimly lit, and hidden in a stairwell with a glowing sign right above it; but there is no step down on the way out. Crossing over the threshold and into the brisk fall air I make my way towards Hopkins, basking it little patches of sunshine yet relieved by the cool breeze drifting under heavy limbed trees. I take a left toward the Oval, bustling with students making a breeze of their own as we pass one another. Reaching the front of the building I finally turn away from where I started and head right, toward Derby hall. Clutching my belongings to shelter them from the weather I hunch my shoulders and appreciate the chill of a cold front on the tip of my nose. At the next intersection I take another right into the tunnel between Hopkins and Derby. Here people sit, sheltered from the wind, engaged in community, resting at one of many stops along their journey. I continue on to the cross walk where passing cars obey their own rules and few pedestrians look twice. I look twice. Three times. I cross amongst a blur of skateboards and backpacks only to carry on straight forward. Along the way it is easy to observe the sudden warmth from an absence of shade only to be immersed again as I pass under the shadow of Denney hall. I come to a 3 way split in the sidewalk and take the leftmost path into a green, heavily shaded area behind Denny hall, separated from the world and kept cool by the dense branches hanging above. I continue on passing picnic tables on my left until I reach a secluded bench on my right, perfect for a calm and convenient rest place as a weary traveler.
Exercise 2
A digital photographic presentation of my journey using compositional techniques.
Hallway through Hayes Hall to the posterior exit.
Doorway to stairwell in Hayes Hall where a handicap accessible entrance and exit is located.
Iterations:
Production:
In setting out to find a destination for my project, my options were limited due to being physically disabled. With this in mind, my first step was to pull up Google Maps, search for Hayes Hall, and see what was in the immediate vicinity. One of the first things I noticed was that aside from the Oval, there was another green space across the street from Derby Hall. I tried to look up pictures, but there really weren’t any, which made this feel like a less populated space then the oval.
I was only able to physically go on my excursion twice, but during each of those times I both photographed and videotaped the journey for exercise two and reviewing purposes respectively. I originally chose the most straight forward path from the front entrance of Hayes to the Hansford Quadrangle as seen in my iterations, but after reflection, I decided to emphasize accessibility in my project, and take a wheelchair accessible and otherwise physical disability friendly route with no stairs.
In order to depict the path through Hayes to the back doorway, I had too alter my map. Rather than rearrange the entire section of the map, I chose to cut out a chunk of the ceiling and top two floors to reveal the hallway and doorway relevant to my path. Before including this in my final composition I did a practice sketch.
After my practice sketching, I dove right in to approximating my base map on Bristol for my final project. I used an 01 micron pen for my base line work, which included roads, side walks, and the most basic outlines of building. I then primarily used an 05 micron pen for the outlines of my three 3D buildings to make them stand out. For the texture and shading I used 01, 05 and 08 micron pens to give a variety of line thicknesses for the different textures I was depicting. I also used a 10 micron pen for the outline of my zoomed in bubble and similarly to my more detailed buildings, used a variety of sized pens for the cross walk image. My trees were done using 05 and 08 pens, and my grass was done through stippling with an 03 pen. All labeling was done using a 05 pen, and my handicap symbols were originally done with a 10 pen.
After completing the black and white portion of my map, I used Navy blue Guache to add color to my map. I painted my step markers as well as straight lines for the path in an almost entirely opaque blue so they would stand out. I also used the opaque blue to paint over and redo my handicap symbols. Then using more water to fade my color, I used the blue guache to depict temperature along my path because temperature is something that impacts my mobility. The darker the blue was, the cooler the area, mostly influenced air conditioning and the shade from trees and buildings.
Reflection-
This project was in many ways a pivotal point of learning how to accommodate for my own disabilities when it comes to school work or other projects. The requirements and expectations for this assignment seemed impossible at first because I wasn’t sure that I would be able to travel any sort of distance on campus by foot and be able to repeat it. I was discouraged by the limitations that my state of being put on this assignment, but after significant amounts of reflection in the first few weeks, I realized the best way to create good work was to simplify it and accommodate myself. This initiated the mindset of zooming in rather than broadening my point of view, and thinking about the kind of map I wish I had. By focusing on accessibility, I could accomplish the same detail and quality of work as my peers by downsizing my path to one more attainable. Wrestling with this project encouraged me to be more engaged in the process of making my map, and to start thinking about the purpose of my work and how it could in theory help other people; or in other words, what felt like downsizing my own point of view could easily become a tool for someone else to expand their own.
Portfolio Post: