Category: Achievements


After Completing Project Number 5, our final project in this semester,  I’ve learned a lot about writing and essay in a different format and perspective. I would have to say that this project was both one of the easiest and hardest projects i had to work on, mainly due to what i said earlier about writing in a different format and perspective. Although writing in a different perspective isn’t too difficult, writing an essay in a form of a Museum catalog was. It was something that i never attempted before, so naturally, i looked more into it and found a source on the internet that helped me organize my ideas when I was writing it. With the help of the outside source, it made the project a little bit more clear and easier. Overall i thought it was a rather interesting experience having to write a essay in such a format, also the fact that the final project was combined with the final project for our Adv1100 course, It has definitely improved my writing skills and showed me something new that was somewhat entertaining to do and think about.

Now that we have reached the end of the semester, i can look back on the writing i did from point A, and compare it to now, seeing that my writing skills have improved one assignment at at time. But there will always be room for improvement in the future, as i continue my route of understanding English writing and its various forms. I have to thank my amazing professor, Ms.Rosen for guiding our class for the first year, helping us understand these new techniques and ideas, along with the rest of the learning community. I really do believe that first year students can learn a lot from her and will move on to succeed in college just like the rest of us.

Building New York, a Humument created by Kevin J. Ayala is a Piece that was inspired by Tom Phillips’s rendering of text from the original Humument. In this Humument, We are shown of Ayala’s expression for New York and  his love for it explained by this short Humument. Complemented by the drawing of what seems to be an interpretation of New York during a night time setting, it reads, ” I’m Here because i was born here, Building private New York, All worldly possessions in hand, Look, there is the first brick in your city”. The text that Ayala creates this Humument from was from Colson Whitehead’s “City Limits”, a Essay describing people first encounters with New York and how its settings begin to change overtime, but not the person’s Interpretation of “Their own New York”. The piece was made in Brooklyn, N.Y in December of the year 2014, Being displayed in the Brooklyn Gallery of Art and Poetry.

This piece seems to be made from an actual document (Or a possible copy) that contains part of Colson’s Whitehead’s essay, “City Limits”. The document was painted over with what seems to be gouache paint, using cool, dark colors to compliment the Night setting of what seems to be drawn as Ayala’s Small interpretation of what New York looks like in a small window, With Buildings Painted on both sides of the page, along with a small view of a bridge in the middle of the buildings (what seems to be Brooklyn Bridge). The one red rectangle on one of the buildings that surrounds the word “Brick” in the humument really gives diversity into the work, also passing the message of seeing “The first brick in your city”

By Using Whitehead’s Text, Ayala wanted to give a short but meaningful message of experiencing New York for the first time, and what it has to offer to that person’s experiences in life. For all his life, Ayala has lived in New York, surrounded by influences and inspiration. To capture those small moments in life, he decided to study in an artistic major. This way, he can draw out those small moments in his mind and be able to transfer that idea in a creative way, either be by poetry or a drawing, painting, etc. For his whole life, he always had a thing with music and drawing, the music part being an influence into poetry. Originally when he created his Humument, it was a project in his freshman year at City Tech College located in Brooklyn, New York.  For his whole English 101 class, the writing that was done was mainly revolved around the New York area and its influences towards the student.

Ayala’s influence to make this humument was once again, his love for the New York state and its appealing moments, areas, etc. The picture drawn for the humument was inspired by the Brooklyn area, and its plentiful buildings along with a sight of the Brooklyn Bridge. The area was new to him during the time and it was something he wanted to explore with his free time, thus came the idea of the picture for the Humument. Ayala was so fascinated and intrigued by the surrounding Brooklyn area, he wanted to capture that scene with both a drawing and a type of poetry. Since his situation fits the theme of Whitehead’s “City Limit”, Ayala thought it would be the perfect essay to use to describe the experience of his first time on Brooklyn when he attended college.

Ayala’s Piece has earned its place in our museum due to its artistic look and excellent use of poetry within a text as a normal Humument would do. He really did capture the meaning of coming to an area for the first time, beginning a new map of your personal New York and your experiences that are to come in the future.

 

 

50 Word Note:

Building New York, a Humument created by Kevin J. Ayala is a Piece that was inspired by Tom Phillips’s rendering of text from the original Humument. With Text Taken from Colson Whiteheads “City Limits”, the Humument shows a single red Brick (Over “Brick”) to show the ” First brick in your city”

KAyalaPoster1 - Copy (2)

Throughout the time of completing this project, i feel that i have learned a lot from it. In completing this project, ive learned that when you are writing a paper, no matter the topic or subject, you should always take the time to think about what to write in it, and organize those idea’s in a draft, giving an even better idea for your final draft. Probably the one aspect im proud of when it comes to my work is the amount of detail i put into my work, although i still think it could use a bit more detail. As to points where i can use work on, i could work on using a more complex vocabulary, rather than break everything down into simple words. Another aspect i could woork on is trying not to explain a main point so breifly, when it comes to writing about a important event, you should take your time and add all the important details, so the reader can get a better scence of the situation and why that specific event was so important. Probably my number one aspect that needs work is gettimg my work in on time, since that is probably the number one aspect everyone needs when they apply a job and are under a time limit with a project or report.

Throughout the whole process of this project, I can’t say it was that easy to do. I would say this project was not only a way for students to see what’s coming along the way, but also to see exactly how long and how hard you have to work to have a final piece of work that comes out to your satisfaction. Part one didn’t matter too much, but when the inking and paper came along, it really puts your precision and handling to the test, since the task was to refine your work as best as you can. If I were to have any regrets, it would be how my final product for the paper piece came out. Regardless of if I took my time, it came out rather rough and inaccurate. I would guess if I had used an actual exacto knife, it would have came out better, but I still think the blade I used would have replicated my actions on the exacto knife as well. The inking part I did twice, since the first time I did not really grasp the understanding of stable and ambiguity. on my second attempt, I took more time to review with my classmates and professor to get a better idea what I could have done better. Overall, the first inked project took me around one hour, while the refined one took me about two. I’m sure if I were to go back to the paper piece, it would take me another hour to refine it, making it from the initial three hours, to four. overall, this project took me about six hours and twenty minutes to complete as a whole. I’m sure for my next project, ill start taking more examples from the classwork and applying the same effort to my work as well, regardless of how long it might take to do so.