Category: BLOG POST 7

For my STEAM project, my idea was to combine bookbinding and “media” pertaining to New York. After visiting the Center for Book Arts, I was fascinated with making books and wanted to do my own, admittedly amateur, bookbinding. My idea was to create a book celebrating New York. I wanted to include either erasure poems created from works written about New York, photographs/pictures of different neighborhoods in New York, or a mixture of both.

If I were to do a mixture of both photos/pictures of different neighborhoods and poems about New York, I would do collages combining lines from poems relating to certain neighborhoods with pictures of these specific neighborhoods. I’m not entirely sure what kind of book I’m going to make just yet, but I was thinking about doing a hardcover book, a book with exposed threads, or an accordion book. For the cover of the book, I was imagining either a subway map of NYC, a New York state license plate, a MetroCard, or a silhouetted New York skyline. It would be something iconic and, sort of, unique to New York. The cover would immediately tip off the readers that my book was about and inspired by New York City and its neighborhoods.

I feel that this project idea relates to the theme of celebrating New York; it incorporates bookbinding, erasure poetry and photographs of New York. It would be a book about New York, created using different kinds of media and art celebrating aspects of New York. My idea would take bits and pieces from different readings and assignments we’ve had throughout the semester and, hopefully, capture the essence of New York City.

I would display my project either on a table with the cover showing or open to a random page leaning against a stand. I would also put a placard near it that would give a basic synopsis of what my project was about. In order to complete my project, I would need to get cardboard, bookbinding thread, fabric covering (possibly), PVA glue (possibly), awls (possibly), paint, subway map (possibly) and paper. During preliminary searching for supplies, I found that Blick Art Supplies sells prepackaged kits for many different kinds of books, as well as separate bookbinding art supplies.

Through the Eyes of New York 

Group Members: James, Jen, Raiyan

Our group decided to demonstrate three different styles of photography on our display for the STEAM Festival. In honor of New York City’s diversity, we want to examine every corner of it using different methods of photography for our project.

Jen will be using a Fujifilm – Instax Mini 9 Instant Film Camera to take pictures that will be unedited and instantaneous (a polaroid). In contrast to the usual behavior of taking multiple pictures and choosing one to beautify and fix, the pictures will illustrate the raw beauty of New York City and capture a moment that can’t be replaced (one shot per film). An inspiration for this idea is from Henri Cartier-Bresson and his concept of decisive moment. It refers to capturing a moment in time that is spontaneous and short-lived. It would hold the essence of the event in itself. The photographs would include scenic perspectives of nature and the architecture of New York City. The main elements I am looking for in the pictures are the vivid colors and the underlying beauty of the surroundings. 

James will be using an EOS 70D Canon Camera to take two different types of pictures. The first seeks to tell a story. In Street Photography, Valérie Jardin discusses the concept of how all street photography must include the human element. We intend to be Jardin’s version of street photographers, wandering around NYC looking for powerful images that capture stories. Unlike the polaroids, however, we will be taking multiple photos of the same instance to best represent the feelings we are trying to convey. The second focuses on the concept of “punctum,” as described by Roland Barthes. In Camera Lucida, Barthes maintains the fact that the “punctum” of a photograph is often different for everyone. While we intend to honor this assertion, we also want to challenge it because in some ways, we believe the creator of the photo can influence the viewer. Some of the photos will have a clearly defined punctum that we hope will be universal to all of our viewers.

Raiyan will be using an iPhone 7plus to conveniently take pictures that will be comprised of specific subjects related to the people of New York. Throughout our project, we are using photography as a medium of capturing different aspects of New York City. Similarly as James, I will be focussing on the human element of photography as Valerie Jardin as mentioned. I will be focussing on taking pictures of humans and catching human behaviors throughout the city. These types of pictures will consist of candid pictures of people sitting down at parks, or even taking pictures of performers throughout the city. The point of breaking photography into different sections is to capture the city in different angles and perspectives. Having images consisting of nature, street life, and the people, will allow one to see the holistic view of New York. That is essentially, what the main goal of our project is, allowing viewers to see the beauty of New York, through a multifaceted approach.    

For the display of our photographs, we intend to incorporate our methods of photography into a digital presentation and tri-fold board. We currently have two ideas: digitally and physical form. We can present the ideas using digital platforms such as Powerpoint or Google Slides. Within the presentations, we would break down the photographs into the 3 different categories each individual has focussed on. Similarly, we can have an assisted visual aid of a tri-fold board, separating the photos we have taken.  

Materials Needed: 

Fujifilm Instax Mini Twin Pack Instant Film: 

• Around 20-30 films 

• $12.36 per pack of 2 x 10 films
• https://tinyurl.com/sr29c62

(We have already obtained the Fujifilm – Instax Mini 9 Instant Film Camera and EOS 70D Canon Camera)

What are we making? 

First, Kat and I have decided we want to focus on a particular area of the city. Currently, we are thinking that Washington Square Park should be our focus, given that there are many artists trying to sell their work as well as many people interacting with the artists and talking about their art. In this area, we would ask different people, artists and passersby, the following questions: How is New York City defined by art? How is art defined by New York City? Hopefully, these people could share the different perspectives they have in order to answer these questions. We would like to record these answers with our phones so that the tone of people’s actual voices are included. Moreover, the recordings would make the project more interactive in our opinion. With the recordings, we would also take pictures of these people, the artists’ work, and the surrounding area. Then we would take these photos and make a collage on a poster board. From there, we would try to create some kind of collective answer to our questions. In other words, a definition of art in terms of New York City/New York City in terms of art. 

How does our project relate to the themes and readings of the semester? 

This semester is literally about the arts of New York City, and our project would be a representation of the knowledge we have gained about both the arts and New York City. More specifically, this semester we talked about New York City as the subject of art as well as a space of displaying and consuming art. In the second blog post, for instance, we each took pictures of public art we found in the city. This was sort of a preliminary attempt to define this dichotomy of New York City being the art and being the space for art. With Washington Square Park, we have observed how New York City can be both. While we have learned about different artists’ perspectives about New York City and about art in class, we think it would be interesting to include the perspectives of people who are currently and actively engaging with both the arts and New York City. 

How do we imagine (at this point) displaying it at the STEAM festival? 

At the STEAM festival, we plan to create a poster to display along with edited recordings of people’s definitions of art in New York City. The poster would be a collage of all the photos we took of the people, different art, and the area (Washington Square Park). The recordings would be a collage on their own, edited together to give an auditory representation of what can be seen on the poster, which will provide more context to the viewer. Additionally, the poster will give a visual aid to the people interacting with our project. And consequently, the viewer may gain a new perspective on the complexity of New York City in relation to art. 

We would need to have a poster board for the basis of our project. We could print the photos out using the color printers in the library, but we need scissors and glue sticks. Additionally, we will have some collection of words or a literal definition from the answers we receive on the poster board, and we will also be printing that out in the library. The recordings are going to be done on our phones initially, so we may present an edited collage of the recordings from the computer for viewers to listen to. 

1) Diya Vanjani and Hongying Wu are in this group. 

2) We are planning to make a poetry book with about 10 poems based on the theme of love. Love is a broad topic that everyone can relate to. Everyone experiences “love” in one way or another, whether it’s love for their family, partner or even pets. Each poem will be handwritten in ink with some type of visual aid or drawing to go along with it. Each visual art will provide a better understanding of the poetry itself and will add to the color of the poetry book.  The handwriting allows the audience to closely observe our artwork as our own instead of typed ones. Our unique handwriting is hard to mimic and this allows this piece of work to shine even more among others. We were planning to buy a wooden book and just carve the cover with the title and our names. This semester we have read poetry including Walt Whitman’s, and even experimented by writing our own poems based on Walt Whitman’s style. We were introduced to erasure poetry and created our own erasure poetry based on any piece of writing. For this project, Hongying and I have decided to use our creative thinking and freely write about anything under one common theme. We are not using anyone’s styles or poems; we are writing our own and I think this will really allow us to think and also give us a lot of space to creatively write about anything that comes to our minds. 

3) At this point, we are thinking about leaving the book on the table in the front and allowing people to look through it and feel its texture. Our cover, pages, and writing will all have different textures and fonts and allowing people to interact with this will be an important part of our project. Our poems are obviously the most important part of the book and they will be standing out on the pages, trying to catch the readers’ attention and make them want to thoroughly look through them. We might also make a small poster just to tell spectators what is at our table because a book lying in the front might not be visible to people that are not right in front of it. Another idea for display is a popup poetry book. Each page has its unique design base on the poem and each appeal differently to the audience. As for the paper, we will soak it in tea bags and burn it to add to the aesthetic vintage look. The reason to carve the book cover is adding to the touch for the reader. When picking up a book, the first thing we feel is the cover. Having indents on the cover page adds to the texture. We might or might not bind the book depending on how the book cover fits the pages in the book. If all goes well, there will be no need to bind the book because each poem is unique to itself; however, if the pages will fall out then we will take the last resort to bind the book. 

4) MATERIALS 

• Book cover $6.49 (option 1), $10.99 (option 2)
  • https://www.michaels.com/artminds-unfinished-wood-box/10357774.html
  • https://www.michaels.com/darice-large-rectangular-wood-purse-box/D050919S.html
• Wood carving tools- $8.99(just in case the other one is sold out), ( $5.99 for the second one but only one left in stock) 
  • https://www.amazon.com/Carving-Sculpting-Engraving-Vegetables-Beginners/dp/B07RP7PMLM/ref=sr_1_11?keywords=wood+carving+tools&qid=1573427023&s=arts-crafts&sr=1-11
  • https://www.amazon.com/Poualss-Whetstones-Beginners-Experienced-Handmade/dp/B07GP3H4F4/ref=sr_1_19?keywords=wood+carving+tools&qid=1573427273&refinements=p_36%3A2638326011&rnid=2638325011&s=arts-crafts&sr=1-19
• Ink pen – $4.49( option 1), $7.89( option 2)
  • https://www.staples.com/Pilot-Varsity-Fountain-Pens-Medium-Point-Blue-90011/product_499251?cid=PS:GooglePLAs:499251&ci_src=17588969&ci_sku=499251&KPID=499251&gclid=CjwKCAiAh5_uBRA5EiwASW3Iahv5uIqii32082YXoUzz-PL0kvEDb992Jv1wpOyIRSq–baObCnouhoC8jIQAvD_BwE
  • https://www.google.com/shopping/product/11764640207454167866?lsf=seller:469699,store:781412188744787935&prds=oid:16983405739440173198&q=fountain+pen&hl=en&ei=PpzIXe2pM-m3ggfYn5iIAw&lsft=gclid:CjwKCAiAh5_uBRA5EiwASW3Iarrp-OYMC9hHz2THzSX_sC8YpwqKfo0gR4vPMiUs8D3R-xdiHz7zXhoCwFEQAvD_BwE

NYC Erasure Poem STEAM Proposal

What are you thinking of making?

We would like to create a map of Manhattan that has cut openings in different parts showcasing an erasure poem or a quote about that neighborhood or someone famous twowho lives there. Manhattan is so diverse that within the city, there are dozens of enclaves that are very different from each other.

Some of the neighborhoods that we will illustrate through text will be: Morningside Heights, Spanish Harlem, Upper East Side, Upper West Side, Times Square, Hell’s Kitchen, Midtown, Chelsea, Gramercy, Chinatown, Little Italy, SOHO, and the financial district.

We were thinking about putting images or cardboard cut-outs to cover the text of the erasure poem. This way, the text and the material covering the text will be related to that specific neighborhood that we are trying to embody. For example, in Midtown, we might print a few different images of the Empire State Building to use as scrap paper to cover the erasure poem. In the Upper West Side, we might print images of famous opera tenors or Isaac Bashevis Singer.

We also had an idea to use cardboard pop-outs on the map to “erase” the poem. We could use iconic buildings such as the Freedom Tower or the Chrysler Building to “erase” our poem and symbolize that particular neighborhood. 

How does this project relate to the themes and readings of the semester?

Our project idea relates to the topic of erasure poetry which we recently learned about in our class. We were inspired by the assignment for our previous blog post, which was to create our own erasure poem from an already existing poem or document. In fact, one poem that stood out to us was Walt Whitman’s “Crossing Brooklyn Ferry”, and so we decided to merge erasure poetry with our love and admiration for New York City. Furthermore, this works out perfectly, since this is an Arts of New York City class and thus our artwork is directly related to the neighborhoods and landmarks in our city. 

Although we have not yet decided exactly who will do which tasks, we plan on having two people write the poem and erasing part of it to make it into an erasure poem. Furthermore, those two people will correlate parts of the erasure poem to certain neighborhoods on the map of Manhattan. Meanwhile, the other two people will work on the layout of the map and add visually appealing elements to our project, including pictures of the landmarks and perhaps even realistic elements, such as bus stops or subway stations. 

How do you imagine (at this point) displaying your project at the STEAM festival?

At this point, we are thinking of using a cardboard base for our map of Manhattan. We would attach our poem on top of the cardboard and then print out a map to put over the poem. This would either stand on the STEAM festival table or we thought of hanging it vertically so that the words that are not erased are able to be seen past the pop-ups. In order to make the words and the pop-ups both visible to viewers, we could display our map on an angle, but the pop-ups would have to be firmly attached to the map so they do not fall down. Additionally, we would have a copy of our poem that is not erased next to our map, so viewers can read the original version. 

Write a list of the materials you will need, and where you plan to obtain these materials.

• A large piece of cardboard for the base of the map
• A large map of NYC
• Scissors to cut out certain areas of the poem (https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-1448-Precision-Scissor-8-Inches/dp/)
• Tape (https://www.amazon.com/Scotch-3105-Magic-Tape-Pack/dp)
• Certain pop ups of famous NYC attractions (we may create our own or print them
• White printer paper

Preliminary Proposal

The members of our group are Christian Gonzalez, Dennis Merzlika, Jules Evangelista, Sean Vayser, and Sophia Kobzarenko. Our proposal is to hit on the overall issue of pollution in New York City and show various works of art which highlight this problem. We would like to show multiple subjects and topics that we discussed in class which all relate to the overall theme of pollution in New York City. The way we want to present our art is by creating a big cardboard cutout of the Empire State building and have a different work of art on each side of the skyscraper. We would like to include an erasure poem, photographs, a mimesis of an animal affected, and a Whitman poem on the four sides of the building. Through this work of art, we hope to highlight the issue of pollution and the overall effects it has on our city. Additionally, the project will show pollution’s impact on the overall cleanliness of the city, some of the native species in the city, and the people that live in the city. The Empire State Building hits on the subject of New York City and counts as Art in a place because it occupies a space and does not really have relations to the location it is in. The drawing of an animal that is affected by New York pollution is a mimesis of an animal and would represent the danger pollution can have on New York’s wildlife. The photographs of New York would relate to our photography unit and show the physical effect pollution can have on the city itself and the cleanliness of it. The erasure poem will hit on the erasure unit we had and depict the dangers of pollution on the city environment. Also, the Walt Whitman poem would show the effect pollution would have on the residents of New York City. The way we hope to display the project is by first putting the poems, mimesis, and photographs on the actual structure, then displaying the building on the table. Adding on, from time to time we would rotate the building to show each side. We would also take turns explaining the overall building, what it represents, and the various sides and works of arts on the structure itself. The roles and assignments we chose are that Sophia will work on building the cardboard cutout of the Empire State Building. Dennis will work on the mimesis of one of the animal species affected and how its numbers have decreased because of pollution. Sean will focus on the erasure poem and connect it to the negative change pollution had caused on the city environment. Christian will work on the Walt Whitman style poem, which would once again show how pollution had led to the declining health of many New Yorkers. Furthermore, Jules will work on the photography aspect showing the dirtiness of New York and the uncleanliness pollution leads to. Each of us will work on our own part separately, but will meet periodically to discuss how we are doing and meet up in the end to put all the works together. The supplies we will need are cardboard, scissors, glue, paint, markers, and colored pencils. Most of the supplies can be probably bought at Staples or an art store. The project is not very supply heavy, but we are still very excited to work with the resources we chose and are enthusiastic to start working on this project for the STEAM Festival.

Group Members: Kaven Cao, Ahmad Choudhry, Axel Tolpina

Roles:

• Kaven Cao: Writer of the Erasure Poem
• Ahmad Choudhry: Creator of the Globe on “Fire”
• Axel Tolpina: Main Spokesperson for the Presentation & Writer of a Brief Summary of the Project

What We Might Make:

We want our work of art to outline the horrors of climate change and the impact it can have on the planet. Therefore, we would like to transform a traditional globe to show the many effects caused by climate change. We want to represent how specific regions of the planet will be affected by climate change and we want the overarching theme of the art work to “scream” that the Earth is warming up rapidly/unusually.

We intend to use a hollowed out, preferably metal, globe. We would attach LED light strips inside the globe and would use an Arduino to program it to mimic the light given off by an actual fire. To add a more realistic “vibe” to the artwork, we would bring in a small speaker that would give off the ambient noise that a fire would. The noise might be hard to hear due to the hecticness of the event, but those who will notice it may appreciate our attention to detail. 

Though the globe will serve to be the centerpiece of our STEAM project, we also want to include an erasure poem. The original content of the erasure poem will be of the statement given by President Donald J. Trump on leaving the Paris Climate Accord. The statement can be found on the White House’s website (https://www.whitehouse.gov/briefings-statements/statement-president-trump-paris-climate-accord/). The United States leaving the accord not only puts the planet at risk, but also harms our nation’s ability to adapt to greener and more efficient types of energy.

The  Federal Government will not be playing a supporting role in the move to a non-fossil fueled economy. This is in total contrast to what governments of all other countries plan to do and are already doing. The U.S is in a clear disadvantage when it comes to energy and the environment. Countries like France are heavily advancing footing in the nuclear energy sector and major polluters like India are thinking of ways to become more green. As the world moves forward, we are unfortunately falling behind. Thus, we want our erasure poem to show that. We want to dissect the speech to show its faults and effects on the country and the world. 

The erasure poem will most likely be on a poster paper and the globe will most likely sit on top of the paper. The erasure poem will surround the circumference of the globe but will not overlap with it.

How It Relates to the Themes and Readings of this Semester:

Our STEAM project relates to multiple themes and readings of this semester. Miwon Kwon’s One Place after Another is the primary reading that relates to our project. Her book highlights the three paradigms of public artwork: art in a space, art as a space, and new genre public art. The artwork we intend to create will mostly resonate with the new genre public art paradigm since it inherently has characteristics of activism and its purpose is to deliver a clear message to the audience. Our project also draws inspiration from the erasure poem posts we did on the blog.

Display at the STEAM Festival:

Better to just show a simple model (from our imagination):

Nothing is concrete yet and we are probably going to go through changes before reaching our end goal.

Materials:

• LED
  • Amazon
• Globe
  • Option 1
  • Option 2
• Poster
  • Staples
• Markers
• Pens
• Pencils