The F train is the local route through Queens, Manhattan, and then Brooklyn but after Delancey in the lower east side, Jay street is only three stops away. Some graffiti can be a sign that the neighborhood is home to a graffiti artist or violence in the community. Even something that is beautiful can be apart of that and share effects of the same morals. The effects from the art can inspire and enlightening someone’s days or wake up the oblivious.
On a regular day people occupy the trains, buses, cabs , or ferries and they schedule their commute for their mode of transport to be on time for work and or class. Sometimes a day can be affected by the start simple by a delay on the train or a crowded walk to the destination. Therefore an area or just a pathway of excitement to walk while on the way to work or school can change their mood for the day. Art is a great way to influence creative skills and relieve stress. This is because the emotion forced onto the art and the viewers reaction.
On a Monday or Wednesday my classes begins at 8:00am in the Namm building so I have to wake up around 5 o’clock and get ready. So I could wake up a bit on the cranky side. Starting with my train ride and on my walk to the Namm building. I get off the F train on Jay street and Willioughby St at the Jay Street-MetroTech exit and walk up jay street for a few minutes where there is NYU Tandon School of Engineering on the opposing side of the street. Many people are on the way to their school or office building at this time so it’s usually loud but my headphones are on to block out any conversations or horns from the street. There are two food carts on my side of the street where I walk and the Rocco’s Tacos And Tequila Bar that gives off a smell from around the corner by the Metrotech Walk. Across the street there is a Starbucks where the coffee lovers make there stop or at the street carts. Across from the main building there is the construction and maintenance of the new City tech sport facility/ health building. The walk is only about 3-5 minutes because the family court is the only building on the street that you have to cross and that’s where most people are going and coming out of. Court officers usually are outside smoking cigarettes or on their regular post. I usually get the two smells that make me sick;the smell of cigarettes and onions especially in the morning and in front of the court building. Then there is our City tech building that has scaffolding so the walk way to the inside of the building is narrow.
On a Tuesday or Thursday my time to get off the train and on the train in the afternoon is less hasty so I can take the York Street exit and walk under the bqe. The only difference is the direction I’m coming from because the next stop on that F train at Willougbhy street is York street. So I have to walk back towards the building. That walk to the Namm building or the Voorhess building is less crowded and frustrating because there is more space to walk the sidewalk. A crowd always causes confrontation and that’s what I try to avoid.
Then there is the feeling of a complete school day when you have no more classes on the schedule . Complete as in no more classroom work and you can go home unless there is more school activities for you. Most students are tuned in with after class activities and some are the first out the building rushing to get on their train or bus ride home. I am one of those who think like that and once I can exit the building and go on with my evening I don’t focus on the art and true beauty on the path to home. My focus is different but my first route is missing the beauty on the other end of Jay street.
Now that I found a way to stay in the area for a little while longer and enjoy the walk I believe that graffiti has an effect on me.There are murals that have an effect on calmness and anxiety during your commute. The “Yes” murals I’m referring to are on jay street along the bqe underpass. After I walk under that underpass I feel more excited than I did on the train and wonder if the other murals or graffiti walls along the bqe and in the dumbo area can inspire me. The department of transportation commissioned many artists to create murals along the bqe as a project in dumbo Art work can influence creativity and be a good coping strategy for stressing. Graffiti gets credited as street art when it has permission or when an artist is given the assignment. Art has many benefits for people whether the day was slow, boring or it was stressful. “The experience of viewing awe-inspiring art has a positive effect on the physical body and mental state”(Phillips). A sense of fulfillment and the route where the mural is has a better physical routine.From the underpass to the Voorhess building the sound of trains and cars passing by is the most common thing to hear and the smell from the bakery is always strong on Sand street. After you have passed the Brooklyn and Manhattan Bridge the glass building is called the Voorhess building where the engineering majors are held and then there is more carts along the walk to Tillary. That street alone takes up about 5 minutes if you missed the lights or the crossing guard is letting through traffic. Then after that 5 minute stretch from York street to Jay street you have arrived .
According to a blog from Huffington Post, street art is a tool for change. “The streets as a canvas gives the artist the ability to directly communicate and comment, expressing opinions, thoughts and aspirations”. To me it’s a better feeling to see words of encouragement at the beginning of the day to give that extra boost of inspiration to handle the days business. Sometimes it’s just words presenting no difficulty and creative art intertwined that plays an effective role on that persons day.
http://www.columbia.edu/~sl3731/graffitiART/
