Eng 1101 Project #2: reflection

For this project we had to take a fifteen minute walk around city tech. Once we found areas that were interesting we recorded all the thing we saw, heard, smell our overall experience there. Then think about Colson Whitehead and his ideas about overlapping New Yorks. Figure out the two New Yorks you would want to compare: Natural vs. Man made, Old vs. New, Under construction vs. Newly constructed ….etc.  Then in the essay compare and contrast the two New Yorks and make a reference back to Whitehead and the reading done in class.

This project was a good chance to get a lay of the land around City Tech and get used to the area. It was also a chance to think about how we see New York and how we experience it as compared to someone else’s. What I learned about myself as a writer was that I don’t really go to much into detail and in this project detail is very necessary especially if you want to make the word count. I did like the fact the walking around aspect of this project. It’s definitely different from any English essay I’ve done before.

Eng1101 project #2: Final

We live in New York one of the greatest cities in the world. We have Broadway, the Empire State building, Madison Square Garden and much more. There’s also crowded side walks, packed buses, subways and elevators you can’t walk down the block without smelling exhaust fumes. That’s one example of the multiple New Yorks Colson Whitehead talks about in “City Limits” it’s a New York we’ve all seen and experienced. So what’s the overlapping New York? Throughout all the madness we encounter in the concrete jungle there are peaceful places we can relax and catch our breath. One of those places is a park. A little bit of nature to counter the industrial. A calm and serene New York we can go to to get away from the chaotic one that is my juxtaposition.

Now my walk around City Tech didn’t take long and it wasn’t very far. To be honest I was tired from class and was just looking for someplace I could sit down and relax. First place I went to was Columbus park. It’s right around the corner from City Tech and besides I pass by it every day on my way to class so why not check it out right. Though it is called a park I didn’t get that easy going relaxing atmosphere I was looking for. So I kept on walking and found myself in Metro Tech Center while looking for some place to eat. It was pretty nice so I decided to stay a while relax. It was a really nice place somewhere you could sit down and unwind. There were plenty of people; joggers people from other near by colleges all just hanging out. They had these lawn chairs on a rocky, gravel like lawn. You could smell food from nearby fast food joints like five guys. You could hear and see the pigeons as they landed near your feet. You could also hear the sound of dogs barking as they were being walked by their owners. Even though it’s in the middle of a shopping center it still felt like a nice place to just go and chill out.

In comparison to the plaza we have the busy Jay st. located directly in front of it. Walking up Jay street you’ll probably see a few things. Cars pulling in and out of parking lots. All different kinds of people walking around. Some people in suites on their way to the court house. People on their way to or from class. People walking to their job or having a smoke. Some getting out of the train station. It’s just like any other street in New York you could probably see all the same things in Manhattan. This is the chaotic New York we’re all used to. Always got somewhere to be something to do not time to take it easy or smell the roses just going on with our seemingly endless list of to-dos. Granted we’re New Yorkers we live this everyday we’ve grown an immunity to it all. Even still sometimes we need a break of all the constant moving we do.

The juxtaposition of these two places is simply amazing. For instance you could have a guy who got out of class late who’s running to the subway to catch his train so he can make his way to work and just a few feet away from him you have some old friends sitting on a bench and catching up with each other and just enjoying the beautiful day. This example isn’t limited to Metro Tech Center. After you take a walk through Central Park and it’s seemingly vast ocean of trees and you step out into the street; your view changes from green grass to yellow taxis. People lounging around enjoying the day are replaced with executives on their way to a business meeting. I know comparing a tiny little plaza to the vast Central Park is a bit of a stretch but they both serve the same purpose; an island in a constantly moving see of people. The calm eye in the center of the storm that is daily life.

In Colson Whiteheads “City Limits” he talks about people “haunting the streets of his or her own New York”. Keeping that in mind I can’t help but wondering what used to be there before. Maybe an actual park used to be there and then they built the plaza on top of it. What stores used to be on Jay street before. How many people actually know what used to be there or even remember what was there. Who lost a part of their New York and how many new ones were formed? It really makes me curious. Who knows maybe in simpler times there were more places to catch your breath, maybe there has been and always will be on the go.

In all honesty not everyone has same the time to go out to the park or like to go. Maybe some people don’t like the outdoors or don’t have the time in their schedule, but we all have some place we go to at the end of the day we’re we catch our breath. Maybe it’s your bedroom, your backyard or porch swing ,but we all have some place in this concrete jungle were we can feel at ease. Everyone’s New York should have “park” a place where you’re at peace and away from the hectic day to day.

Work Cited:

Whitehead,Colson.  “City Limits”. The Colossus of New York

Re: Eng1101 Project #1

Hi my name is Tevin. I am a student at New York City College of Technology. I love to do two things draw and play video games. When I was younger I always loved to watch cartoons, I still do to this day. In fact you could say that cartoons are the very reason that I got into art in the first place. I remember I used to draw my favorite characters over and over again. As I entered high school I had no idea what I wanted to be or what I was gonna go to college for, but did I know that I definitely wanted to be in art. When I took an animation class in my junior year i found exactly what I wanted to do.

I love to draw and the feeling I get after I finish a sketch. It gives me a sense of pride, a feeling of accomplishment, knowing that I created something amazing with my own hands. I also like looking at art seeing what inspires others and what they like to create and the stories that their art can tell. I think that’s why I love things like anime or video games they literally tell a story and sometimes they can do it without words just like a painting.

How do describe my design aesthetic? I really just draw what comes to mind. I don’t usually put a lot of thought into what I’m drawing at first. I just do what comes naturally I guess you could say my process is go with the flow. You could say that I’m a big picture kind of guy. I like to get my overall drawing done first and then put in the details later. When I’m finished I like to make sure of two things: my drawing looks neat and it looks really cool. You could say that’s my aesthetic I like to draw cool things like dragons, ninjas or anything that really peaks my interest like graffiti.

The avatar I chose is a line from one of my favorite anime the symbol above it was a banner that they used in the anime. It’s meant to represent brotherhood. The main character felt that any thing could be done no matter how outrageous or impossible it may seem. I chose it because I really like that way of thinking. The only limits you have are the ones you place on yourself. You’ll never know you can do something unless you try; you’ll never get what you want if your too scared or too lazy to get it. You’re the only thing stopping you. It’s a good source of inspiration if I find myself in a difficult situation.

My avatar could be interpreted in a few different ways. Maybe I like the “keep calm and carry on” meme. to be honest I’m really not. People could see the red skull and think I’m into punk rock or something. You could see it and think I like to make those motivational posters. I guess you could look at it and think a lot of things everything’s open to interpretation just depends on how you look at things.

I think  that my profile will convey a bit of who I am as an artist and a person. I think that it’s a good idea to let people know a little bit about yourself. Being social is apart of being human we all want to communicate and feel like we belong ;maybe if you see a profile picture that interests you you could find out that you and that person could have something in common. I hope that my profile and ePortfolio will get peoples interest and maybe just maybe we could be friends.

Field trip!!!

Last week Wednesday our class took a field trip to Bric for their biennial celebration. I enjoyed our first field trip and thought I would enjoy this one as well, and I did. The art works we saw were cool and interesting. I thought sitting in the “inside outhouse” was really cool and calming. I also enjoyed the tour we got of all the cool  facilities they had like the broadcasting area and the editing room. I think it’s awesome that we have a place like that so close to school if I ever have some free time between classes I would definitely go there to hang out.

 

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“Inside Outhouse”

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ADV1101 Project #2

Music-Mashup-animation-X

without music

With music:

Reflection: I really enjoyed doing this project. When I listen to music I don’t really put pictures or images to it; which was the whole point of this project. I like to think I did a good job of drawing what I heard and I think the final mash-up looks pretty cool. Animation is one of my favorite things to do so I felt right at home. This was however the first time I animated using photoshop. It took some getting used to but after awhile it was pretty easy. Bottom line is I liked doing this project from start to finish.

Glossary entry

Perspective (noun)

definition: the technique or process of representing on a plane or curved surface the spatial relation of objects as they might appear to the eye; specifically :  representation in a drawing or painting of parallel lines as converging in order to give the illusion of depth and distance

source: http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/perspective

encounter: I’ve been reading this book called spoiler alert: “John Dies at the End” by David Wong. I wont’ go too much into detail in case anyone else wants to read it ,but the main character and his friend John end up taking a drug called “soy sauce” and it lets them see and do things no normal human being  should be able to. Their whole view or perspective on life mainly theirs takes a huge shift.

I’m sure we’ve all heard, read and seen this word before and have a pretty good idea of what it means without looking it up in the dictionary. As an artist perspective is very important not only yours but other peoples perspective of your work.

Eng1101 project #2 draft

I live in New York one of the greatest cities in the world. We have Broadway, the Empire State building, Madison Square Garden and much more. I love the city a lot but sometimes you want a break from the crowded subways, buses and sidewalks. Sometimes you just want to go somewhere sit down and relax for a while and when I feel like that I go to the park.  In “City Limits” Coleson Whitehead talks about how everyone has their own personal New York and I think that parks should be part of everyone’s personal New York.

Almost every neighborhood has a park. A place where you can go with your friends to play basketball or hand ball or to just hang out. When I go to the park I go to the park I like go for a jog or just lay out on the grass. I like the little slice of nature inside our concrete jungle. On my walk near City Tech I went to two parks: Columbus park which I walk past every day and Metro Tech center a little outdoor plaza that you wouldn’t consider a park in the traditional sense.

Eng1101 project #2 location

Project #2 location

The location for this project that I chose was the metro tech center. I know it's not to far from city tech but I just instantly felt interested in it. Some of the things I saw were obviously a lot of people just walking around and hanging out. I could smell a lot food places like five guys or coffee from Starbucks. There were a lot of benches and also there were these like lawn chairs set out on a gravel like lawn. Like normally in a park where you would expect grass they just had like a lot of little bits of rock.

As I sat down in a chair on the rocky lawn I begun doing America's second favorite past time: people watching. I saw a lot of joggers and people walking dogs. Some people were with there kids who jumping and playing on statues. I saw some other students from other near by schools just hanging out talking about what they were gonna do later. There were also a lot of pigeons but that's to be expected.

What I realized was that the shopping center felt more like a park to me some place you could just go and relax. I visited it again later in the day and saw all the same stuff I guess it's a very popular area. I could definitely see myself going back to hang out there again.

City Limits summary

“City Limits” summary

 

In “City Limits” the author talks a lot about how everyone has their own personal New York. He talks about how someone who just got here and sees the met life building while he still remember it as the Pan-Am building. He then goes on to explain that both of them are both right and wrong. He’s lived here for years so his New York is different from someone just moved here.

 

Another theme is a feeling of loss after one of your favorite hangouts (haunts) is replaced by something new. He says that the change must have happened over and he’s right sometimes it feels that way. He also says that when that happens you wish you could go back and say goodbye to that restaurant or deli or pharmacy.

 

Field Trip

Last week Monday our class took a field trip to the center for book arts. I honestly had no idea what to expect, but I kept an open mind. I found that the center was very interesting. All the zines were super cool and interesting. The comic book style zines were my personal favorites. All the comics were interesting and some were very funny. Another cool thing I saw a drawing across the wall on a long piece of paper. All the characters in the drawing were connected in someway and they were all doing something weird and different I thought it was so cool.

The Ruben museum was also a cool place to visit. Although I didn’t get the chance to stick around after class I did enjoy the exhibit we saw as a class. There was a lot of variety in the types of work we saw and how the artist was influenced by Indian culture.

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A City Tech OpenLab ePortfolio