Ways of Seeing – FYLC Fall 2018
First Year Learning Community
Perforating -(verb)
To pierce and make a hole or holes in
https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perforated
The word was used in the reading the tool in the 8th paragraph
I understand that the word means to make a hole into something that may not have had one.
Weal (n.)
that which is best for someone or something, the common good.
On Merriam Webster, meaning “a sound, healthy and prosperous state”. I found this word in the passage “the tool, Wind Sand and Stars“, by Antoine de Saint-Exupery.
“to join together for the common weal”.
this sentence now becomes “to join together or the common good”, as weal sounds like a shortening of “well being”,
Noun
“a fore-and-aft rigged boat with one mast and a single jib”- Merriam-Webster Dictionary.
The sentence the word is used in is “The man who assumes that there s an essential difference between sloop and the airplane lacks historic perspective.”
For the word ‘Sloop’ I now understand that it’s actually a name for an object, a type of sail boat to be exact, that has the front and back part of the boat with ropes that help support and move the masts. Along that within the sentence it was use in is to show the comparison between the boat and the airplane not being so different.
Plough is the British spelling of plow
noun
The word was found from Saint-Exupery, Antoine de. “The Tool.” Wind, Sand and Stars. 1939.
The word plough was used to compare to someone believing that machines is the end. But machines are also tools that we will be using just like the plough that is used for farming.
I understand this word now because a plough is a tool that is used to modify soils and are used in farms for farming. Comparing machines to it is just like saying it will be used the same way.
noun
“a loud confused noise”
– Cambridge University
This word was found in a little excerpt that Professor Spevack gave each student, to show each one of us a new word. So, I got the word tumult and the sentence it was used in was, “The element smacks the sides of the hull with a sound like a gong, and the pilot can sense this tumult in the quivering of his body.” In this context the pilot can feel a noise even through his body, and the previous even describe the noise as a “gong”.
noun
“the central body portion of an aircraft designed to accommodate the crew and the passengers or cargo” – Merriam-Webster dictionary
The word was encountered through the reading “Wind Sand and Stars” by Antoine de Saint-Exupéry
The sentence that this word was used in was “It is as if there were a natural law which ordained that to achieve this end, to refine the curve of a piece of furniture, or a ship’s keel, or the fuselage of an airplane, until gradually it partakes of the elementary purity of the curve of ‘a human breast or shoulder, there must be the experimentation of several generations of craftsmen. In anything at all, perfection is finally attained not when there is no longer anything to add, but when there is no longer anything to take away, when a body has been stripped down to its nakedness.”
The author was trying to convey the idea that perfection is only achieved when the object or machine is reduce to its most simplest state. They use the word fuselage to talk about the airplane which they then compare to a human breast or shoulder. This comparison is used to show that when the airplane’s body (the airplane as a whole), ship or furniture is easy to utilize and recognize it has reached perfection. Like for example you wouldn’t image a plane any other than its original shape that looks like a bullet with two wings attached on the sides. And if you did think about a airplane you wouldn’t think that it would do any other function than flying state to state.
What I liked about the portal soundscape was that it really felt authentic. It was as if I was standing there in the real area . I feel like most classmates may have missed this exhibit because it seemed inconspicuous in comparison to most of the other exhibits.
I liked the feather fountain. exhibit because it was very noticeable. It looked as if the air was juggling the feathers. Anyone was able to grasp the feather out of the air as it was floating.
The work I found most compelling was Snow Storm. The reason why I found it most compelling was due to how they were hanging and their color. When I heard the audio I knew the snowballs would be tied up with string to be hanging down from however the size and color was something I imagine differently. Turns out it use a light teal color for the snowballs, that could also be affected by the scent that the snowballs have.
Materials for it: Wool, chimes, ribbon, scent;
The speaker was also an interesting one because it had to do with sound. The screen will show geometric shapes and lyrics of the song being played base on its songs characteristic, whether there’d be a hard or soft sound the lyrics and shapes would go along with it. This was interesting because it would connect with the current project that will be worked on in class.
Materials: galvanized steel, acrylic plate; Courtesy of COTODAMA and Songs, “Number One”; Performed by Portugal. The Man; “Don’t Love Me”; Performed by Janine; “Sticky”; Performed by Ravyn Lenae
I really loved this work, it was called “Portal Soundscapes”. It caught my eye when I was walking towards it because I didn’t really see that it was a speaker, it just looked like a ceiling lamp or something. I really enjoyed this particular piece because I don’t know how but because the speaker was emitting sounds above me I felt like I was really hearing these sounds in person. What I mean by that is each sound was a different place and different sounds so I felt like I was right there witnessing all these sounds, I think if I would’ve closed my eyes I could imagine being in the scenarios they put down and watching all this noise and sounds happening. This piece was made by Shared_Studios, an organization that creates two-way audio/video connections between dozens of cities around the globe. Made in 2018.
I think a lot of people missed this one, it was one of the works that had to do with smell. There were five glass domes that had those little cups that had a particular scent to them. These glass domes had a tiny indented opening that would allow you to sniff, I think a lot of people didn’t really like the smelling pieces, even though there were a lot of them. This piece was made by Ronald Rael and Virginia San Fratello in Oakland, California. Made from 2015–17. Everything was 3D-printed.
Reflecting on “Our Senses”:
1-In a focused free-write that your classmates will read and respond to, write about your experience of visiting the Cooper Hewitt Museum for our field trip. Your response could
2-Comment on the response passed to you. Do this by
3-Comment: did the comment add to your understanding, thoughts, the conversation? Was it helpful?
4-Comment as for Comment 2
5-Comment: what in the initial freewrite worked well, and would have made for a better start to the conversation?
6-Comment: what in the comments worked well, and what would have made for a better continuation to the conversation?
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