interesting things
might be about quietly working, listening, re-reading, reviewing.
2nd and 3rd sketches
sketches over sketches
single drawings
graphic novels
book making, collecting, testing
moving backwards to move forwards
outside things
then inside.
3 questions
then reflections
a track, uncertain
CNY Regional Market, Syracuse NY
Tracing
Today I thought a little bit about dissonance, and nature in urban contexts.
flowers in single use plastics
symbols of beauty and symbols of toxic material systems
one bound in, and often by the other.
This is a complicated image (II) for me
here it is bright
but I think there could be images elsewhere
that might be very dark.
These dark places (I), where synthetic materials are born
might ask us to consider
what those sites (III) continue to expererience.
_
Below is an image of a quote, which I continue to read, again and again.
An image (II) of a passage.
Anuradha Mathur. "Recovering Ground: The Shifting Landscape of Dacca"
Landscape Transformed
Quote Transcribed
I am interested in challenging the
professional ‘viewing’ of landscapes
from those enclaves of specialization on
the one hand, and the hermetic
theoretical discourse on the other, that
are so prevalent today. I strive to
recover through design inquiry and
practice, landscapes that bring together
rather than polarize scientific, imaginative
and experiential dimensions. This
does not necessarily call for an
‘interdisciplinary approach’ where the
outcome can be described as comprehensive,
collaborative or a compromise.
Instead, it is a transdisciplinary one,
Where the act of ‘seeing’ landscapes in
new and alternate ways is constituted
Through artistic investigation.
Landscape architects often have
little tractile engagement with exploring
the real grounds of their intervention in
the process of design. Instead, the site is
Represented in other mediums – words,
Numbers, images and, primarily drawing.
How a medium is used depends on and
is affected by what landscape design is
perceived to be. The making of landscape
requires an engagement with
one’s ground, be it a drawing, a terrain
or a discourse which allows one to
explore and reveal – processes in process.
integrating writing drawing
Value, in knowing that there is so much to learn and deconstruct.
not knowing where to begin, in the way that is most effective
doing so with like minded and curious people
constructing knowledge
Sometimes I think People are like Places
Seemingly complex, with many different moving parts
But actually, when understood in time, very easily explained.
Perception is an interesting thing
alarming to some, subltle to others
and in reverse
It's the juxtaposition I think when we begin to get a better sense of our own reality
There are few moments in time, when everything is simple
I had a moment like that,
the other day
in the midst of chaos
a moment
an interview
a site visit
that turned into learning
about history
the history of ideas
of landscape
of people
a moment to question
to engage
discuss
consider
an uncomplicated moment
to think about landscape
why landscape is the way it is
the reasons and the influences
questioning the world, in the landscape today, connecting the history of ideas
This to me, is so interesting
why aren't there more of these moments
it is one, of few things, in my experience, is not up to choice
humility, kindness. that's all there is
ideas, can be, so simple, and so interesting
I forgot, what it was, to learn in uncomplicated ways
[Under construction]
A huge opportunity, and learning experience in more ways than one, and for that I have a great deal of appreciation.
I think all of us as students do things a little differently, and value different practices and methods in landscape. I really enjoy that about school.
I tended to stray to the alternative end, spending more of my time in the field, or tinkering with models, than on graphic standards. I do really like to use softwares, especially dynamic ones, namely GIS and Rhino. I do really beleive that drawing is a way of knowing, and I tried to do a lot of that, and spent most of my time in a sketch book and on trace paper. There are things I would have done differently, I wish I had given myself more time to really make a set of formal and professional looking drawings, that's one of my biggest regrets.
My guiding principle though was always to work really hard to study sites, and the complexities embodied within, both physical and social. Landscape really isn't like architecture, where you start from a clean slate. Initially, the race to make photoshop drawings never really felt like studying landscape to me, but I see more clearly now the value in really powerful and immaculate graphics. In the beginning however I was really trying to get a grip on what it meant to design a landscape, and there was so much that was coming on hard and fast. I really liked the flexibility of drawing on trace, and I drew a lot by hand, and tried to replicate the design processes, namely those of Katherine Gustafason and her use of clay, as well as Gunther Vogt and in his practice of working with materials and models. Richard T. Forhman was hugely influential in a regionally focused studio. Kevin Lynch as well, in urban realms, always seemed to make his way and influence the circulatory skeleton of places I was drawing. Nigel Dunnet's work on plants, in particular the "modern naturalism" he writes about, the Piet Oudolf Highline style places enveloped in grasses. The work of Michele Desvignes, and his obsession with mechanisms, both built and natural, I also really spent time getting lost in. I don't think this always came through, and undoubtedly this is what I'm most guilty of, trying to rush through drawings after taking too much time on site and in books. I'm trying to grow from this.
What I think is probably the most upsetting thing, is not to have had a full and engaged body of faculty and students. Everyone was working hard, and doing the best they could, but no one really worked in the studio, and there was so much learning that went on when people were together.
This field is incredibly fascinating and engaging, which I think is the only reason why I'm constantly burning the candle at both ends, TAing 3 out of 4 semesters, and trying to finish the curriculum in two years. I'd be lucky, and enthusiatic to be paid to do this for the rest of my life. What I'm also realizing though is that I feel more strongly about teaching and learning, than I do about performance. I think there's a lot of authenticity in learning....