Finale

 

Focus (continued…)

For my Line project I have decided to film a friend journey across the Line, observing and interacting with it’s different components, and as she progresses, become more bird-like, until she emerges from the forest at the end of the Line to fly away as a bird, as a result of reaching ultimate elevation. She starts out her journey walking only to end the trek in a brisk jog/run.

Symbols of elevation:

color of bird = white = elevated above sin/pure

transition from walk to a run

always shooting from below so she appears to be elevated.

 

Opposing ideas:

video vs. stop motion picturesssssss

normal vs. playing in reverse

day vs. night

Focus

Project Planning:

 

ELEVATE

 

1. short film

• person running The Line with crazy, exhilarating but simple music playing.
• Perspective: bug’s eye view
• once the person running emerges from the woods at the finish, they “fly” away, possibly transforming into some sort of bird

2. Installation

• on the lowest point of The Line
• (across from Cohen Studio on grass before parking lot)
• hang found objects from The Line on trees, elevating them above the ground

Materials:

        a. Trees

        b. found objects

        c. twine

        d. hot glue?

Issues:

• Public land…. Who do I talk to to acquire permissible use of this land?

3. Elevation of Self: Collecting garbage

Instead of adding to the trash and pollution on The Line, I will elevate myself above every other person walking The Line and instead pick up every piece of garbage I find along the way.

• Rise above natural human tendencies…
• Do not give into temptation… Rise above sin.

Elevate

Word: Elevate

Definition (as aroused from the words and minds of others):

“to lift up” / “to rise to a higher state, position, place, or rank” / “to rise above sin” / “to increase in potential” / “an elevator… and elephants!” / “to bring up” / “to transcend” / “flying” / “elevated moods” / “drugs” / “planes / birds” / “lifted” / “high” / “in Young Frankenstein when he tells his young, attractive assistant, Inga, ‘Elevate me’.” /

While traipsing across the Line I came across many things that were naturally elevated, and only few things that were elevated by other means.. For example, there were pieces of wood nailed very high up in some trees, as if to form the base of a tree house. Also there are trail markings posted on trees.

Some things that were naturally elevated would include the leaves on trees and the animals living in them. This made me think of birds, which I heard quite a few chirping that afternoon as I crossed the line, which led to my idea for the Line project. (See later posts).

The Alfred Line

Exploration #49

Found Words

 

Sitting in my territory, these are some of the words that I can find:

 

1. Faith

2. Leadership

3. Scholarship

4. King

5. Saxons

6. Alfred

7. Great!

8. Generosity

9. Dedicated

10. Remembrance

11. Heritage

12. Memorial

13. President

14. Trustees

15. “Education King”

16. Statue

Exploration #31

Sounds

 

Sitting in my territory, these are the sounds that I hear:

 

1. Voices

2. Footsteps

3. Keys jingling

4. Wind blowing through the trees

5. Laughter

6. Someone reciting a poem

7. Flickering lights

8. Cars

9. A biker

10. My pen against paper

11. Sniffles

12. Someone banging on a binder?

13. Flip flops

14. Conversation

15. Music being played in a nearby car

16. My stomach growling

17. Doors opening

18. Doors closing

19. Shouting

20. Music from someone’s headphones

21. Breathing

22. Jogger

23. Exclamations!

24. The flick of a lighter

25. A person blowing out smoke

26. Police siren

27. Cricket

28. Coughing

29. A bus coming to a hault

30. Bird tweeting

 

My territory

To reach my territory from Cohen Studio turn right onto Main Street. Walk until you come to Saxon Boulevard and take a left. Walk straight towards the middle of the quad and you will have arrived at my territory. You can see many important buildings from sitting in my territory. You can also observe many different things.

Here are some of them:

1. There are 3 different types of bricks.

2. there are 4 lamps.

3. The two lamps on the left side are lit up.

4. The two lamps on my right side are not functioning.

5. There are 8 steps in front of me.

6. Brick benches are on either side of steps.

7. Red railings are on either side of steps.

8. My territory is surrounded by grass!

9. There are 6 different paths leading to this space.

10. KING ALFRED LIVES HERE!

11. Each step is composed of 6 brick components.

12. People litter here.

13. There is no garbage can.

14. King Alfred stood for faith.

15. He is also known as the “Education King”.

16. Alfred believed in Scholarship.

17. Alfred holds a shield and a book.

18. There are cracks in the platform he stands on.

19. Pine needles scatter the ground.

20. The King’s platform is soiled with splotches.

21. Alfred has been here since 1990.

22. Many surrounding lamps light up this area.

23. Dirt and gravel surround the base of the statue.

24. Alfred stood for leadership.

25. There is a dried up piece of gum stuck to the 5th step.

26. 48 bricks compose these steps.

27. Only 4 of these steps are chipped in some way.

28. Weeds are growing between the bricks in the ground.

29. There are 2 plants growing to the right of the steps.

30. There are 3 plants growing to the left of the steps.

31. There are no flowers growing in the grass.

32. There is gravel along the grass edges.

33. There is gravel in front of the benches.

34. Alfred is King of the Saxons.

35. Many people walk through this area.

36. There is a noticeable gap between each brick in the ground.

37. There are no trees in my territory.

38. There are plenty of trees surrounding my territory.

39. Bugs are drawn to the light the lamps give off here.

40. The lamps glow a yellow orange.

41. There are no stars twinkling in the sky above my territory.

42. No leaves are blocking my view of the sky.

43. The light fixtures are painted black.

44. Alfred is standing on concrete.

45. Alfred is made out of metal.

46. He was sculpted by William Underhill.

47. One of the lights on my right side keeps flickering on and off.

48. The backside of the concrete is the dirtiest.

49. Cigarette butts litter the ground.

50. The grass was formed to have very rough, severe edges.

Exploration #37

Time observation:

For this exploration I was instructed to sit in one spot and come up with several  different ways of documenting the passage of time, based on where I was sitting. Again, I was sitting on the bench outside of my dorm as I completed this task.

 

1. Movement of the clouds.

2. How many cars/people go by.

3. The changing leaves.

4. Amount of light at different points in the day.

5. Songs that play (in my head).

6. Number of dandelions growing in the grass.

7. How many cigarette butts are on the ground.

8. …How many cigarettes I’ve smoked. :/

9. Moods I experience.

10. Number of texts I receive.

11. How many people recross my path (are headed back to where they came from).

Exploration #1

“How to be an Explorer of the World!” written by Keri Smith

As homework for my Foundations class, we were required to read this book and complete 3 explorations in the book. The first assignment I had to work on consisted of sitting somewhere and noticing 10 things you may not have noticed previously. I sat down on the bench outside of my dorm and immediately began observing. Below are 10 “new” observations that I noticed yesterday.

1. The fly buzzing around me.

2. Fire hydrant (yellow and teal).

3. The bench I sat on said, “Alfred University”.

4. A sewer in the grass…

5. Trees are beginning to change colors.

6. Paint on the bench is fading away.

7. My bike seat is finally not wet anymore!

8. Dark skies are rolling in.

9. Speed limit = 15 mph

10. Strangers… friends.

 

…every where I go, the fire hydrants there are different colors. When I was a kid, I used to think every fire hydrant would look the same (blue and red where I’m from), but recently I discovered they are all very different depending on where you find yourself. Some towns even have alternating colors for their fire hydrants so that they are not all the same. How strange.