A Final Thought
Creativity. Any form of it, for me, somehow seems to involve community. There are always viewers alongside it, working with it- learning from it. The entire process fascinates me, and through this class I have gained a better understanding of it. I can only hope that in years to come I will not only witness this more often, but constantly and consistently build upon my defining of the word.
While I haven’t discussed Peckham up until this point, the above photo is my plan to bring a little more creativity to an already creative space. Peckham is a place where those who are new to the United States, and have barriers to employment, can come for job training and pay. The program is built up by various amounts of nationalities, all with the ability to communicate through translators, and has benefits including an art room, fitness center and career service center.
My idea for this space is to build a massive tree branch, out of what I’m thinking to be either metal wiring or some sort of tubing, with hundreds of fruits growing from it. Each fruit would symbolize a worker. Every year, that worker would place another fruit of a different color on a branch. As time progresses, and workers leave for other careers, the fruits put up will fall, and in place a golden-seed-plaque would be put on the wall. On it, their name, how many years they worked at Peckham, and where they are off to. The idea behind the seed is to show that leaving Peckham allows for those individuals to grow their own branch, starting something for themselves.
I love roof gardens. Everything about them. The way they look, the fact that in many cases they help to regenerate old buildings and train tracks, how they help save on energy and give back to the earth, their ability to take city dwellers to more green spaces. One in particular is the High Line in New York City, above. Art helps to revive, and to me Green roofs and parks are a masterpiece.
I really, really love looking at Maya Lin’s work. Much of it is very simple, but carries with it deep messages in regards to the environment. In an exhibition she did called Systematic Landscapes, she shows audiences three ways in which to look at the earth. The picture above is her example of the ocean floor. Her attempt was to direct one’s attention to the floor surface of the ocean, rather than what most see as the “surface”. Its extremely topographical and to be emerged in something like that, I think, would be fascinating.
Maya Lin, still known for her Vietnam Memorial, makes attempts every day to transform herself. Why do I like art? It is an outlet to express yourself, in all different ways. You don’t need to follow any sort of guidelines - just learn about what you want to learn, and create some sort of visual masterpiece from your findings. Art takes research, in some cases - but I think that makes it all the more interesting.
Next semester I swear to myself that I will take classes that interest me. More like this, less like Honors Micro Econ.
Penobscot Building, Detroit, Michigan.
I am going to open up a Land Art Museum. Anything that has to do with the land, natural or unnatural, can be exhibited in it. Maybe more like the Gallery of Spaces, where different spaces, like forms of architecture, pictures of various landscapes around the world, installations and beyond can be stored and on view to the public. That sounds shoddy, but the details can be ironed out - I have the majority of my life to figure that out. All of it fascinates me though - doesn’t matter the medium. Above is a piece by Mark Weaver, click for more info.
