Ways of Seeing

Commit (Week 10/4~9)

Verb

To do (something that is illegal or harmful)

To decide to use (a person, money, etc.) for some particular purpose or use

To say that (someone or something) will definitely do something : to make (someone or something) obligated to do something

Source: Merriam-Webster

I knew this word already but I am posting it here, because I recently started using this word again. I cannot say “at what moment” I used this word, because it is personal. However, I used this word to describe something that I recently committed on. This word is a strong word that determines what you are doing, which I need for my life. I should keep using this word, because I makes me motivated and can understand the feeling of what I accomplished.

Project #2: Draft 1

For this project, the location I choose is U.S. Post Office which is just one block away from City Tech. I didn’t notice there is one, until I took my sixteen minus of work. To get to the U.S. Post Office with my path, first you need to walk left after get out of Namm hall, at the first block on your right hand side across the street, you can see a park, people are playing hand ball in there. As you keep walking, at the same block on your left hand side, there is another building of City Tech. In front of that building cross the street, there is a church which is right next to the park. Keep walking about 5 minus, you can see the third building of City Tech. On the right hand side, you can see a little garden where you can take a break. Keep walking straight to the next block until reach to the road turn right and look up, you can see a bridge that connects two building, which is for people to walk from building to building. Walking straight to the next block, you can see a parking lot and also, you can see the Brooklyn bridge is not far away from here. Now turn right because that’s the only way to move forward which is also walking back to Namm Hall. This is Adams Street, as you can see on this block its all apartments, until you reach to the end of the block, you can see a restaurant called. Celeste Cafe & Grill. Now look diagonally across the street. There we go, The U.S. Post Office.

This U.S. Post Office is just one street away, behind the Namm Hall building. The building took over the whole block. The post office is not the only part of the building, US Passport Agency, US Attorney’s Office, and US District Bankruptcy Court are also in the same building. The architecture feels like 19th centuries, because of its appearance. The whole building appears in white, it contains many features of the Romanesque Revival style. The building has seven stories tall. I took this photo at a small park which is at the junction between Johnson St. and Cadman Plaza. In the photo, you can see the square corner tower rise above the roof line. Each level was distinguished with different belt courses around the building. In order to capture angle in the photo of the building, you must stand on the right hand side of the statue in the park I was talking about earlier.

From the article “City Limits” by Colson Whitehead, it states that “Go back to your old haunts in your old neighborhoods and what do you find: they remain and have disappeared.” Even though, we didn’t have the opportunity to see the changes of the post office, however the history would like to tell us about what part of the building have change. The building was built in 1885, after the almost fifty years later, in 1930, as the population continued to grow, officials determined more space of the building was needed, the addition extended to the north. The article also mentioned “Our old buildings still stand because we saw them, moved in and out of their long shadows, were lucky enough to know them for a time.” the statement have shown that it was luck enough that people can still see those old buildings as they walking through their long and short shadows.

Project #2: Homework

I choose U.S. Post Office as the location for this project because when I first arrive to that location, it attracts me with its bright white appearance. The architecture feels like in the past centuries , because of the special design of the building. What I thought about of the building is it must has some stories or it may be a very important building back in time, for some reason the origin purpose of the building is gone, however people don’t want take down the building and make a new architecture. They probably think this building is part of the history, its priceless, so they make the building to a post office. From what I learned about this building is this building was build for both a post office and courthouse, designed the building in the Romanesque Revival style of architecture in 1885. From the article “City Limits” by Colson Whitehead, it states that “Go back to your old haunts in your old neighborhoods and what do you find: they remain and have disappeared.” Even though, we didn’t have the opportunity to see the changes of the post office, however the history would like to tell us about what part of the building have change. The building was built in 1885, after the almost fifty years later, in 1930, as the population continued to grow, officials determined more space of the building was needed, the addition extended to the north. The article also mentioned “Our old buildings still stand because we saw them, moved in and out of their long shadows, were lucky enough to know them for a time.” the statement have shown that it was luck enough that people can still see those old buildings as they walking through their long and short shadows.

Infamy

Noun

1: evil reputation brought about by something grossly criminal, shocking, or brutal

2a: an extreme and publicly known criminal or evil act

b: the state of being infamous

Source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/infamy

I came across this word from the article, “A Literary Visitor Strolls in From the Airport”. It is in the fourth paragraph and found in the sentence, “During Britain’s general selection of 1997, he set a new standard for journalistic infamy by getting himself bounced off John Major’s campaign plane for snorting heroin in the bathroom.” From learning this word, I understand that William Self set a new standard in evil reputation for journalism.

Perilous

adjective

full of danger

Source:http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perilous

I’ve come across this word in the reading excerpt “A Literary Visitor Strolls in From the Airport”. This word can be found in the sentence “Upon arriving in New York, he walked from Kennedy Airport to the nearby Crowne Plaza Hotel- a journey more perilous than he expected, because it involved a nighttime traverse of expressways with no curbs”. From learning what perilous meant, the journey for the protagonist Mr.Self wasn’t an easy one as he came across tough roads. Also Mr.self’s journey from the airport to the hotel is in a post-apocalyptic setting.

coherent

Source: Merriam-Webster

Adjective

: logical and well-organized : easy to understand
: able to talk or express yourself in a clear way that can be easily understood
: working closely and well together

I found this word in the reading “A Literary Visitor Strolls in From the Airport”. It’s in the fourth paragraph which says: “ Smoking is Mr. Self’s only remaining vice. He used to be a prodigious drinker and drug-taker, famous for late-night altercations, not always coherent public appearances and marathon hours at trendy spots like the Groucho Club…”

humument book black and white

Project#2 (Final)

Our world is made with many different pieces. New York is one piece of the world, Brooklyn is one piece of New York, and the two locations I choose are pieces of Brooklyn. The two locations are Adams street and the part of Jay street that between Tillary street and Sand street.

It is Jay street when you walk out of the Namm building of city tech. Turn left and on your right hand side, it’s the Amalgamated bank. Go across the Tillary street. There is a park called McLaughlin park. You can see people playing basketball and handball there. Next to the park, you can see the Cathedral Basilica of St. James, the the cathedral church of the Diocese of Brooklyn. Keep going straight on Jay street, there is another building of city tech. If you look forward, you will see the Manhattan bright. A lots of people walking on it. Turn right on the Sand street. There is an eyes catching long aisle between two buildings. Keep going down on Sand street, it is Brooklyn bright! And you can see the buildings in Manhattan from there. I think it would be awesome if you look at them at night. Turn left at the end of Sand street, it is the Adams street. There are many cars parking on that street. Keep going forward, there is a big park on the other side called Whitman park. But it is covered by a few buildings. Also you can see some government buildings like US Post Office, Surrogates Court, and Kings Country Supreme Court.

The route I chose to walk from city tech was joyful for me. Before I started the walk, I didn’t know what I would meet and experience. I didn’t carefully look at the map. So everything on the route were new for me. And I was really looking forward to it. But when I went across the Tillary street and looked all the way down along the Jay street. I felt like that was nothing special. I could see those surroundings anywhere in Brooklyn. And that made me a little disappointed. But after I kept walking for a while, I realized that there is Brooklyn, that is how it looks like. This route I chose is piece of Brooklyn. And many of these pieces made up Brooklyn. Every day I am on the same route from home to school. It keeps repeating and that almost makes me forget the name of the place I live. But when I carefully looked at the buildings, the parks, and the people on the route I chose, I felt like that they were reminding me that there is Brooklyn, the place I am living in. Then I walked on the Adams street. And it surprised me. The buildings were different from the Jay street’s. The buildings looked more Modernized. And I felt like I saw a new face of Brooklyn. These two street’s buildings create a juxtaposition. The buildings on Jay street look plain. The buildings on Adams street look majesty, such as the US Post Office, the Surrogates Court, and the Kings Country Supreme Court.

The reason I chose these two subjects is that they look different. The buildings on Adams street are tall and complex. The US Post Office, the Surrogates Court, and the Kings Country Supreme Court all look solemn. The buildings on Jay street between Tillary street and Sand street are shorter and simpler. What strikes me the most is the St James Cathedral. And I want to know when is it built? why did they choose this location? what is the concept of this building?

In the reading “City Limits”, Colson Whitehead once said, “The New York City you live in is not my New York City; how could it be? This place multiplies when you’re not looking. We move over here, we move over there. Over a life time, that adds up to a lot of neighborhoods.” I said that the buildings on Jay street between Tillary street and Sand street seem like nothing special. I can see those surroundings anywhere in Brooklyn. The surroundings look like the same but actually they are different because of the neighborhoods. Whitehead also said, “All our old places are proof that we were here.” Even we live in a same street, the street can be different because it has different meanings for different people live in here. And those meanings are also pieces of the street. Like I said at the beginning, “Our world is made with many different pieces.”

Sound Visualizations: Phase 2

took about 2-3 hours

Project #2: Including senses

I took this photo at a small park which is at the junction between Johnson St. and Cadman Plaza. In the photo, you can see the square corner tower rise above the roof line. Each level was distinguished with different belt courses around the building. In order to capture angle in the photo of the building, you must stand on the right hand side of the statue in the park I was talking about earlier.

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