For my project I went with a group of fellow classmates around the City Tech area. Our initial objective was to explore around the DUMBO area but in the interest of time we decided to head to Court St instead. As we passed by the court houses I saw the divide of Fulton St and Court St and how different both of these areas are and what experiences I have with each of them. It made me reflect back to Colson Whitehead’s “City Limits” where he talks about everyone having a different life in New York City and how the area affects those lives. I began thinking of the ‘New Yorks” that the people of Fulton St experience and the ones that the ones on Court St do. From observation and a familiarity with the streets, Fulton St has more small businesses, fast food restaurants and a couple shopping areas. Court Street has more upper middle class stores and business people, as well as hipsters due to the Cobble Hill neighborhood being a few blocks down. The contrast of these streets made me think of the socio-economic differences between the two areas.
Monthly Archives: September 2014
Project #2 Research: Visualizing Sounds
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XdIw6tEjyEg[/embed] (Details in the Fabric)
Viva La Vida
Details in the Fabric
The soft Legato
The Sharp Staccato
Our Trip, Center For Book Arts.
On our last course, we had a field trip which was really cool. Especially the Center for Book Arts! I really like the 30 feet long comic painting called Accretion Scroll, by Mike Estabrook which is super genius! It caught my attention at all. I’ve “read” it from the left to the right and I was trying to find out the order of his painting, but that was so hard. Standing in front of the work with a distance, the picture shows a clear contrast between black and white. When I stepped in, there’s really a mass!But when I watched it much closer, I noticed there are plenty of stories which are connected! It was like people are on the way working, or a corner of a supermarket, or a super great war place of a star war! This painting is so fabulous which makes me think of thousands of ideas, they just jump out of my mind!
Art works are always a good communicating tool to express what you want to say!
Project 2 Research: Location
I think everyone is familiar with this place. The Brooklyn Bridge which starts from Jay St, ends in Chambers St. About 5989 feet long and 85 feet in width. It takes about 45mins walking through the bridge. I only walked through this bridge three times. The first time was in the first month I came to New York City. Everything was strange, for me that was just a bridge. The second time was in my first summer in NYC. That was a volunteer project. The third time was more meaningful for me. That was on the first day of my college life. I walked with my parents.
When I stood on the bridge, my view was much wider. The sky is blue and close to me. The wind blows gently from the Easter River. Everything at that moment was just like in a picture. Under the tower of the Bridge, I was looking towards Manhattan, lots of grand buildings, cars looked like very tiny, people were like ants, but the only feeling I have is peaceful.
The Brooklyn Bridge is an important part of New York City. The Bridge was built in 1867 and opened to the public in 1883. At first it was used to connect two different countries, not the two boroughs like today. Time flies, the Brooklyn Bridge not only becomes one of the famous landmarks of New York City, but also be shot in various TV programs to represent the New York City.
Aural Topographies: Pattern Mashup
Staccato Sketches
Variety Sketches
Finally the MASHUP
So, at the end i made a little sketch of how the mashup will look like, and its really interesting seeing staccato and legato combined. I found it fun and really brain confused but its awesome.
Overlapping New Yorks (Describing Location)
I choose my final destination in DeKalb Avenue, because this is the last stop before I went into college. I never do any walking at Brooklyn Downtown before, only by car, so I didn’t know any significant location for me. While I walking through from City Tech to DeKalb Avenue, I didn’t expect there are many stores around this location. In addition, there are always cars and buses passing through that make the street kind of noisy. There are many people sitting or walking through the course that I’m walking, and I didn’t except either. During the walking, I have discovered many juxtapositions. There are many new modern buildings stick next to the old classical buildings. While some stores inside looks fresh and new, however, they are built inside of these old classical buildings. When I continue walking through my course, I discover that is very special old classical building, and this building call “The Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn”. In addition, I continue discovering behind this bank, some workers are constructing a new building for “Chase Bank”. I believe this is the symbol of overlapping, because this place is being replacing by the new building. In addition, that can also be the symbol of juxtaposition, because while there is an old classical structure, workers are constructing a new modern buildings. I did not know the relationship between “Chase Bank” and “The Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn”, but I do want to predict that “The Dime Savings Bank of Brooklyn” will soon be part of “Chase Bank”. A flag or banner of “Chase Bank” will be put on top of it. I believe I will still remember this bank, even if one day its name has been changed to “Chase Bank“.
Aural Topographies: Experiments
After I heard the songs for Monotony and Variety, it was two completely different sound and rhythm, so here were the results:
Not so chaos, but its more stable and has a pattern (Variety)
As you can see, its chaos of all different lines. (Monotony)
Aural Topographies: Research
The song I used to research a little of visualizing sound was Unkiss Me, by Maroon 5. The beginning of the song had a sharp sound, almost like you scraping something, maybe steel or so. It had that deep rhythm, then it slowly became to go smoothly, like a straight line just smooth. My favorite part came up, the drums booming to the rhythm and the tone was deep but then high and low waves. If you can imagine the beat of the drums, its like from small balls then drastically to big balls, then back to small and it goes to a pattern. It’s a sharp pattern with high and low tones.
You would get confused in a way with so much sound in the background and when you have the pencil on the paper you just don’t want to let go it just keeps on going without stopping. It was great researching this song, you could feel and hear the rhythm, it’s very obvious and it was really fun to go deep into sound.
Project #2: Location
My location was about a 15 minute walk from city tech. Once you exit from the main building on Jay Street take a left, then I walked along Adam Street and crossed around the food store Shake Shack and walked into Cadman Plaza Park. I eventually ended up at Court street, although I did make a circle and took the longer way there. On Court street is where I saw a juxtaposition of two New Yorks. On one side there was the NY Supreme Court area and if you walk further down there’s several stores which kind of reminds me of walking in Manhattan. I can also see how the area down the block with all of the stores could have been many different New York’s for some people. Those stores must have changed a lot of times.
Sketch of the walk path
Project 2
My Trip after school on my way home. Well my location is pretty far but for most of the time my location is either at home or at work. Where i work is probably a few miles away maybe like 3-4 miles away. As I leave school i walk out of the main entrance where almost everyone enters City Tech. Then I walk to the right where i believe is the court building pass jay street and walk pass the food stand and keep walking straight pass the Starbucks, pass the art store and keep walking straight and skip the train and just keep walking all the way straight until you reach Fulton mall. Where there’s a lot of stores. You see another Starbucks, i think a models, and right before you see those stores right when your walking towards Jay street and Fulton mall there’s a pizza shop right on the corner. From the pizza shop i make a turn on my right and walk down pearl street,  then walk like two blocks until you get to Boerum PL. Then make a left on Boerum PL and cross the street and stay on the left side. When i see a building with a painting on it that looks sort of like a map that shows the stops means im going the right way even though i wont get lost because i always walk that way.  So i keep walking along Boerum Pl and i see building that is under construction and it is the New York Transit Authority and in front of it is a bus stop its the B62 bus.  SO i keep walking straight like 3 block past this like daycare playground where i see little kids sometimes. On the last block before i make another turn there’s this really wide building i think that’s connect to another building. Its on Boerum PL and Atlantic Ave. So as i reach the end of Boerum PL and see Atlantic Ave i make another turn to the left and stay on the same side where the really wide building is at and its the Brooklyn Detention Complex. And right across the street from it there constructing another building. I walk the block till i reach the other end of the building and i now arrive to Smith street and Atlantic avenue. i cross the street where there’s a hotel and FedEx Office and cross the street so i can be on the opposite side of the FedEx office and walk just few steps and wait for the bus at the buss top that’s in front of  house and on the bottom is a science lab where little kids go and on the other side of the steps to the door of the house is a restaurant. Meanwhile i wait for the bus to get to work i just stand there waiting and watch the chaos of the traffic. once my bus arrives i get on and the bus goes all of Atlantic Ave and makes a turn on to 5th ave and i get off on Union street and 5th ave and walk to my job. which is not so far from my the bus stop i just walk a little.
