Urban Artifacts: Phase 1: Discover

My  Discovery

The three artifacts I found are a piece of wood, a flower, and a beer cap.

The first artifact I found is a piece of wood at a corner of the street, its dirty, broken, and brown. It has a rectangular shape with some spikes on it. I guess its part of a chair or table. It breaks off somehow, maybe someone was moving the  chair or table and it bump into something, a piece dropped on the street.

The second artifact I found is a flower in a small garden at the middle of a street. Its small, fresh and pink with five petal. It fell off from its branch not long ago.

The third artifact I found is a beer cap next to a car. Its dirty, rusty, and old. It must be dropped few years ago, and it has been stomp or roll so much times,s o it seems so flat. I think someone drank a beer on the street, he dropped the cap and never picked up.

These three artifacts are all found on the street. The difference between these three things are that, the piece of wood is “wood”, the flower is living thing, and the beer cap is a metal.

Sketches: all sketches took an hour to draw/each sketch took around 5-10 minus to draw.

Ambiguous:

ambiguous 1

ambiguous 3

ambiguous 4

ambiguous 5

ambiguous 6

ambiguous 2

 

Stable:

Stable 6

Stable 5

Stable 3

Stable 2

Stable 1

Urban Artifacts: Phase 1: Discover

My Discovery

The three artifacts I discovered are a nail, a soda can and a tree twig. The first artifact is a rusty nail. It is a long cylinder with a point at the end and a flat spare at the other end. It is very old, rusty, and solid. It is more geometric but can also be organic. I found this nail on the street near a construction site. It was probably dropped their by a construction worker.

The second artifact I found is a soda can. It has been stepped on and now it is flat. The soda can is organic, I see lines and curves. I found this can on the side walk. I imagine someone drinking out of the can and when the soda finished, they just dropped it on the street, then walked away.

The third artifact I found is a tree twig. The twig is organic since it was created by nature. I can see a lot of lines and curves. I found this twig on the side walk also, I imagine it fell from a tree and was left on the ground.

All these artifacts are completely different. The nail, soda can, and twig all have different properties such as shapes and forms. They are all created and made by something different. They all serves a different purpose.

Sketches: Each one consisted of approximately 5-10 minutes each/ an hour overall.

Ambiguous:

Stable:

Discovery: Avatar

Person Avatar: Jingyi

What I Observe:

  • Calico Cat
  • Humor
  • Anime
  • Pushing its face on a Glass

Interpretation:

  • Comical action
  • Who does stupid things
  • Making trouble
  • This is a fictional character

Paragraph:

The avatar that I picked was an animated Calico Cat who behaves in a humorous way. By pushing its face on a glass surface, it makes the viewer chuckle to the cat’s reaction I believe that this cat makes these faces, because he/she is a trouble maker. By making this type of expression, it makes the viewer catch its attention to this adorable, humorous and trouble making cat. Another way to interpret this avatar is how this Calico Cat can make a smile on everyone’s face. Whenever someone is sad or angry, this image of a cat can bring a laughter to cheer and make everyone happy. In addition, the cat looking through the glass can be a hit, that it is curious what is behind it.

Connection to the member:

The avatar does represent Jingyi, because when we introduced ourselves to the class, her humorous personality brought the class into laughter. Making our heavy nervous tension into more comfortable atmosphere. Also, she can be curious about knowledge that she haven’t encountered yet, just like the cat looking through the glass

Jingyi's Profile Picture
Jingyi’s Profile Picture

Aesthetic

noun
a set of principles underlying and guiding the work of a particular artist or artistic movement.
(SOURCE- Google dictionary)
I encountered this word while reading the task for Project #1 on September 4th, 2015. “Include in your bio a description of what you are passionate about, what you see as your design aesthetic,”
Now by knowing what aesthetic means I now understand that it is asking me about what I see as my design style and how I go about creating my works.
[Glossary Entry 1]

Discovery: Avatars

Person Avatar – Ruky

List of what I observe:

  • Boy that hiding or covering his mouth
  • Have a halo on his head
  • Have a angel wing and a devil wing

Interpretations:

  • By hiding or covering his mouth, he looks shy, and keeping to himself.
  • The halo to me means he is a good person.
  • The angel wing and devil wing could mean even thou he is a good person, he can also be bad if he needs to be.

Paragraph

So I have chosen the avatar of Ruky to write about because it seems interesting to me. In his avatar I see a boy hiding or putting his hand over his mouth, by covering his mouth, I think he is a very shy person, and he keeping his feelings to himself. I also saw a halo on his head meaning he is a good person. He does what is right just like an angel. I also saw an angel wing and a devil wing on the avatar. The angel wing and devil wing could mean even thou he is a good person, he can also be bad if he needs to be.

After reading Ruky’s profile I cannot confirm or correct any of my interpretations because he did not write enough so that I can know much about him.

Ruky's Avatar
Ruky’s Avatar

Urban Artifacts: Phase 1: Discover

Writing:

The three artifacts I discovered seem to have kind of a relationship, as each one has a relevancy to the life of a New Yorker, or a “City Person” so to speak.  These three items consist of a Metro card, a Starbucks coffee sleeve, and piece of concrete. Considered, all of these have a connection to the lifestyle of the individual living in the big city. When it comes to shape, the Metro card and the sleeve are of a geometric shape, having corners, edges, and clear, distinguishable straight lines. The piece of concrete however, has an organic shape, having jagged edges, and no distinguishable lines or edges or precise measurements. The concrete definitely stands out more compared to the other two items, as it is a much more detailed and complicated shape. The Metro card and the sleeve were obviously man-made, which is usually the case with most objects with geometric contours. The piece of concrete on the other hand, most likely broke off of a sidewalk (more than likely on the very street i found it), which of course, gives it its organic properties, as it was not intentionally “created” so to speak.

 

Sketches: Each one consisted of approximately 6-7 minutes work time each/ 30 minutes overall

Ambiguous: 

IMG_0011            IMG_0008           IMG_0010

 

 

 

Stable:

IMG_0009IMG_0013IMG_0012

ENG 1101 Project #1 Discovery: Avatars

 

To prepare for writing Project #1:

  • If you haven’t already, register for an OpenLab account and join our Learning Community site, Ways of Seeing (Fall 2015).
  • From the OpenLab home page, click on People to see OpenLab members
  • Browse through, looking at the avatars.
  • Without reading anything about the person, choose an avatar of a member of the OpenLab that you think says something about the person.
  • Still without reading anything about the person, what do you understand about them based on their avatar? If you click on the avatar, you will see a larger version—but be careful not to read the member’s details yet!
  • In a post:
    • Make a list of what you observe when you look at the avatar.
    • Make a list of the interpretations you make about the details you observe.
    • Write a paragraph about how you interpret the avatar.
    • Now finally read about the member. Can you confirm or correct any of your interpretations or inferences? Do you think that the avatar does not represent them accurately? Add a few sentences to answer these questions.
  • Submit your post by Monday, 9/7.
  • Reply to at least 3 classmates’ posts by Wednesday, 9/9 at 9:00am, offering feedback about the avatars they have chosen to write about—do you see an alternative reading they haven’t thought of? Are their details they haven’t contemplated enough?
  • Choose your avatar if you haven’t already before Wednesday, 9/9, so you can write about it in your brainstorm and outline.
  • Bring your brainstorm and outline to class on Wednesday, 9/9. It can be printed or handwritten.

COMD Class 2 | Figure Ground & Design Process

September 2, 2015 Materials needed for THIS CLASS (see Supply List for details): the 3+ artifacts you found on your walk (or new ones if your prefer) used/found book (this can be any book of your choosing!) sketch book for COMD1100 only (9″x12″ or similar) Pad of Bristol board (9”x12” 2-ply smooth plate finish) roll of tracing […]

COMD1100 Homework Reminder

Homework for COMD1100 is always found at the bottom of the previous class outline.

For Wednesday’s class:

  1. Become a member of our OpenLab course:
  2. Explore the class website: profspevack.com/designcolor

Materials needed for WEDNESDAY’S CLASS:

** Note: if you are unable to afford these items due to financial aid delays, please make arrangements with a classmate to borrow or share supplies next class.

The OpenLab at City Tech:A place to learn, work, and share

The OpenLab is an open-source, digital platform designed to support teaching and learning at City Tech (New York City College of Technology), and to promote student and faculty engagement in the intellectual and social life of the college community.

Support

Help | Contact Us | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Credits

Accessibility

Our goal is to make the OpenLab accessible for all users.

Learn more about accessibility on the OpenLab

Copyright

Creative Commons

  • - Attribution
  • - NonCommercial
  • - ShareAlike
Creative Commons

top