First Year Learning Community
(Adjective)
My Experience of he first few at city tech was quite a mess but very liberal. The very first day at city tech August 28, 2018 had started very messy because according to my schedule, it said that I have English class at the Midway building and as soon as I got there, I didn’t have a city tech ID to enter the building with ease so I had to carry my schedule and the city tech map around my hand including my personal ID. As I was in the Midway building, I had to ask the officer for directions to get to my class and she told me to take the stairs to the second floor. By the time I was in the midway building, I was already 15-30 minutes late to class and I rush to find my class. But somehow I confused myself for finding the stairs. It took my around 3-4 minutes to try find the stairs leading to the second floor because when I took the stairs I first found, there was more stairs that I had to climb and I thought I was taking the wrong stairs. Little did I know, I was taking the correct stairs leading to the second floor, I just needed to climb further and when I reached for the classroom, suddenly there’s a note telling me that the class was moved back to the Name building on the 6th floor. I was frustrated but what choice did I have so I’d headed back to the Name building and I had to take the stairs to get to the 6th floor because I knew I had no time waiting for the elevator. I was very tired of taking stair and as soon as I reached for the 6th floor. I was stuck at a situation of which side was the class. I first took the right hall was and I was trying to find my class and I was looking at every class number on top of the door. I thought I was taking the right directions because the numbers were following up to my classroom but I ended up into a dead end and I checked my schedule twice or more and realize that took the wrong hallway. So I took the left hallway, on my way the class numbers were listed on the left wall and I didn’t noticed it and finally I’d made it almost an hour late and professor Rosen apologies for the sudden change. That day was one of the worst and messiest day I had, that was just not my day.
The first and second image was taken in the Korean War Veterans Park (address: 277 Cadman Plz , Brooklyn, NY 11201) and it’s a 5 minutes walk from City Tech to this park. To get to this destination from City Tech is first it’s recommend exiting from the Pearl Building, next make a left until reaching Johnson St then make a right to Cadman Plz W and the park is on your right. This is a memorial park for the veterans that fought during the Korean War and pretty much there’s trees covering from the sun, pigeons everywhere on the grass land and people sitting on the benches. It’s pretty empty because since it’s a ceremony for the veterans, it deserves to have some space and respect. In the first image, it is a pole that has a sign on the bottom saying “To Honor All Who Served Korean War 1950-1953.” The second image is similar to the previous image and it’s a sign that pretty much says the same quote with more details which is actually right in front of each other from a close distance. I decided to choose these two images and identify them as a juxtaposition because both images are signs that relate to the atmosphere of the park and share the same perspective.
In open lab, I’d uploaded one of my favorite sketched anime character as my avatar because I’m proving that I have a lot of passion and potential to draw what I am great with fine details. I’m proving that I want to learn and improve more than I am now and I’m seeking for perfection to make a difference of my drawing. My style of drawing is related to Japanese cartoon art (anime) and for my personal philosophy and aesthetic, I think that my interest of anime is what drove me into their art of style.
Besides my interest in anime, I’m also very interested about the Japanese culture and I would like to travel there one day because I want to experience the reality of Japan, its lifestyle (compare in the anime/ manga) and get to know its people (would be nice to make some friends). Most of all, Japan seem to be very familiar with anime and I think I’ll have the advantage to find more opportunities rather than the United State because there are lots of jobs that require experiences in animation design and other, therefore I believe that my career will be well fitting for these jobs in Japan.
My interest of anime comes along with the major I’m taking as well as my avatar. I want to show and share at the same time of what people might think about me and demonstrate what I am capable of doing to reach to the future. I choose this picture of a anime female figure holding some type of food because I want to compare and see what makes me different compare to the other avatar from other classmates in my perspective and maybe if someone have that same interest as mine, he/she can reach up to me and we can share our comparisons and differences between each other. You’ll never know what other people may have that same interest and I can possibly meet many people and this can help me move on during my college year. Sharing our interest is great feedback to learn from it and make differences than what we were before.
As you can see this avatar has a surprise expression (telling from the stars shining through her eyes) and a combination of curiosity. It’s very fitting for me to use this character because curiosity is also part of my personality and I like to experience something new and never done or seen before. For instance, I like experimenting with music on my piano and I though of play a different instrument that I never get to play and I had my thoughts of playing a guitar so I decided to get myself a electric guitar and test it out. Before I got the guitar, I had this app on my phone that can play many different instrument (Garage Band) and it had a guitar solo play and bass guitar. I didn’t know a lot about the mechanism or how does it work or play it, so I decided to try it on my phone with the app and try to compare it with the piano. Musicians says that mastering the piano can give up the advantage of playing others. instruments and I absolutely agree on that. As soon, as I got my guitar, little by little I started to learn and understand the mechanism of the guitar and with practice I finally had the hang of it, I’m still currently learning and I manage to play some parts of a song that I listen and play on piano. My curiosity is what describes me most ( depending of my personality) and I think is very fitting to put an anime character with a curious expression as my avatar.
Futile: (adjective) That serves no useful purpose, effortless or worthless.
At first point, I wasn’t very familiar with the word Futile and therefore I didn’t understand what the first sentence was try to say until I looked up on a Dictionary and by knowing its definition, reading it once more with knowing the word “Futile” it now make sense and I get the message of the first sentence.
Website (dictionary): https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/futile
So far, I understand that the story is talking about a prediction of technology in the future, and the author point out that it would be futile to create a new technology when we will have to confront something chaotic for an advance technology. It would be all for nothing if we create something that it won’t benefit us and harm us in a devastated way. Something futile can’t help us and technology evolve in a better way than just doing nothing.
The first design that I think I found it compelling was the Tactile Orchestra 2017-2018 designed by Roos Meerman because it was a wall made out of black fur and as you are feeling it and moving your hands around it make this sound of a playing string instrument and depending the motion of your arms it plays it how smooth or fast you’re moving. Roos Meerman is the designer for the tactile orchestra and was founded in 2014. This art work was made from man made black fur and a sensor behind it that plays string instruments orchestra.
Another design that I think it was compelling as well and I don’t think many people had the chance to see it or understand what is was meant for is the ostrich pillow, 2012 deigned by studio Banana because first of all, it’s a pillow for people who often sleep on desks (which I might be interested of getting one for myself) and second it has this funny cubic shape form. It’s an unusual pillow that I don’t get to see it every day and the way it is properly use is you literally have to wear the pillow on your head and face. There are four hole in this pillow, the bottom is to insert your head into the pillow, the front has a big hole that exposes the mouth and nose for breathing comfort and both left and right are for your hand where your head will be resting on. It’s a very cool accessory for everyone to have and I think it will be a good use for college student who likes sleeping on tables. Ostrichpillow was design by Studio Banana and founded in 2007.
For this project, I decided to choose one of my favorite J-pop (Japanese) songs called “Ninelie” (with Chelly), by Aimer, her breathy vocal that stands out among J-pop. This song start with a very calm atmosphere, then the piano playing along following with a guitar and Aimer voices. It keeps this very kind sad melody that makes you feel lonely but as it continues, the bass guitar follows the flow and little by little it starts building up like there’s hope and makes you want to get back on your feet and rise. It’s like see light of hope rising to the sky to its stars. Another way that I can describe is like seeing the sky finally cracking into a triangular geometric shape and see the True Tone of light lurking out of the cracks and at last the triangular shape rising into the sky starts fading into sparking lights and see the beauty beyond the sky .
Song: “Ninelie”
Artist: Aimer (feat. Chelly)
Duration (time): (4:20 mins)
Gerne: J-pop (Japanese)
It’s wasn’t the most challenging project that I’ve done nor I didn’t take it very serious, but I did have a bit of fun and I’ve learned a lot besides drawing such as describing the part of a drawing and understand its meaning of a figure. I could’ve done better if I added a little more for my ambiguous sketch by taking that small figure, converted into a larger figure and draw it on the extra space that I had left. If I have done it, then my perspective of my drawing would’ve been better and consider that as a challenge.
The first image is a stable sketch because the only figure in this image is the dots on the top, bottom, left and two in the right. For some, people think that it’s a Ambiguous image because the dots are moving around at different directions but I say it’s still stable because the dots are just very calm and just staying in one position to another. The second image is a ambiguous sketch because we see this very large object on the top right corner that doesn’t show where it starts or ends. It just crosses the whole image on a side. Unfortunately, I do not have the original picture that is only draw with black market because I’ve already hand it out the original picture to the professor and that is because I’m only showing the sketch version.
Update (October 11, 2018):
The two images on the top are the complete and ink figures.
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.
