Project Assignment 2: Inside/Outside the "Scene"

Option 2: Tag or Burn
On Tuesday, May 25th, we were told to walk around in an urban space and to re-read the surface of that space using one specific social scene as our lens. The scene I chose to document was the sub-culture revolving around the Chicago Cubs baseball team in Wrigleyville, Illinois.

Artist Statement:

Anyone who lives in or near the city of Chicago knows about the infamous crosstown rivalry between the Cubs (North side) and the White Sox (South side) baseball teams. This tension has created a very interesting dynamic in the city when baseball season comes around. While the residents of most cities are usually fans of the same team, Chicago is split right down the middle. My own family is even separated into Cubs and Sox fans.

When it came to producing a tag in my chosen place, I couldn't help but use this crosstown rivalry as inspiration. It is generally known that Cubs fans don't care for Sox fans, and Sox fans don't care for Cubs fans. This combined with the fact that I noticed as I walked through Wrigleyville that many Cubs fans display team flags outside their homes, it made sense to me that a tag such as the one pictured below would appear in my social scene.

Week 2, Walk 4: Cocooned vs. Engaged (5.27.10)

Cocooned
Once I arrived at the Schaumburg town square, I put on my sunglasses, placed my ear buds firmly in my ears, set my Microsoft Zune on shuffle mode, and began to wander around the public space.

I could hear the sound of water, but could not place exactly where it was coming from. I knew there were buildings around me, but I was not paying attention to their exact orientation in relation to mine. I was also aware of the fact that there were lots of people in the area, but I had no idea what they were doing there. By the time I had established all of this (which did not take long), I was fully engulfed in my music and securely situated in my cocoon.

The first song I listened to was "Call Me" by Shinedown. The sad, slowness of this song caused me to walk with my head down. As a result of looking down, I noticed trash strewn about the space, orange spray paint on the cement marking sites of future construction, and puddles left over from the rain we had earlier that day. The song made everything around me seem more somber; almost as if it were moving in slow motion. Since this is one of my favorite songs, it was difficult for me to notice anything else in the space.

As the next song, "The Way I Are" by Timbaland, began to play, the aesthetics of the atmosphere changed dramatically. I lifted my head a bit as the exciting hip-hop beats filled my head and noticed that the water of the pond in the center of the space seemed to be dancing with the music. I then happened to glance down again and took note of the intriguing geometric pattern made of the cement tiles upon which I was standing. Everything around me seemed to come to life during this song and as a result, my mood slightly improved.

My mood improvement was maintained during the following song by Trick Daddy titled "Sugar (Gimme Some)". After being engulfed in this kind of music for a second song in a row, I discovered that my walking (as well as the environment around me) was in sync with the hip-hop beats. I even saw a linear spill of what appeared to be soda whose shape seemed to match that of one of the synthesized sounds in the song. I was starting to really enjoy how in tune parts of the space were with my music.

I unfortunately could not say the same for the song I would hear next, "Call Your Name" by Daughtry. While I normally love this band's songs, this one did not seem to fit after the two I had just heard. Much like the first song, it was very sad and slow. I ended up skipping to the next song on the list.

Although the harsh and somewhat somber "Going Under" by Evanescence was next, it caused me to notice certain details about the space that I would not have seen during the previous songs. These details include the cracks and imperfections in the sidewalks and the looming shadows created by the bushes and trees I failed to notice before. This proves that different kinds of music allow you to notice different aspects of any given space.

Next up was "Knockin' on Heaven's Door" by Guns 'N' Roses. The melody of this song caused me to slow my pace, listen to the music, and fully enjoy my cocoon. I was completely engaged in my privatized listening by this time and didn't record much after this point. After another handful of songs, I decided I wanted to be fully engaged with the environment I had spent so much time in thus far.

Throughout my cocooned experience in this public place, I hardly took note of any of the people I was sharing it with. I knew they were there, but did not know how many of them there were, what they were doing, or what they looked like. The few things I did notice in the environment were as a result of the music and are mapped below.




Engaged
As soon as I took the ear buds out of my ears and removed the sunglasses from my eyes, the place in its entirety started coming to life. The space began to engage me almost immediately, for as the ear buds were coming out of my ears the nearby clock tower chimed five times. I began to notice aspects of the environment which I did not pick up on when I was in my cocooned state.

I found myself taking note of all the greenery in the area, the colors of the flowers, and the kinds of businesses enclosing the square. I could clearly hear now that the water sounds I had picked up on before were coming from giant fountains in the middle of the central pond. I even came to notice that there was a smaller fountain off to the side where some children were playing in its waters; I hadn't noticed before due to the high volume of my music.

I also found it much easier to make eye contact and interact with the people I had been avoiding before. The pink stars on the map below indicate where either eye contact or interaction took place.

Throughout this portion of the walk, the warm sun on my skin and the light breeze in my hair became more apparent without the distraction of my personal stereo device. Once I was able to map my engaged experience, this notion became visually clear.

Week 2, Walk 3: Mapping Social Territory in Place (5.25.10)

As I mentioned in one of my previous posts, I live in a suburb which is just outside the city of Chicago. Even in my small suburb, there is a large sub-culture dedicated to the following of the Chicago Cubs baseball team (more fondly known as the "Cubbies"). This fact has always intrigued me, because it's not like the Cubs are that outstanding; they have not won the world series in over 100 years, they have not played in the world series for over 60 years, and (to be honest) when they do make it to the playoffs, they tend not to do very well. However, this sub-culture of die-hard Cubs fans still exists and even continues to grow. They all like to use the phrase "this year is our year!", yet it never seems to be.

So for this walk, I decided to wander around Wrigleyville, particularly near Wrigley Field which is the Cubs' home stadium. My goal was to investigate this unique sub-culture in the place which is at the very heart of it.


Luckily for me, there was a game against the Los Angeles Dodgers on the afternoon I decided to walk around. This gave me the opportunity to see what it is like when an immense number of people belonging to the Cubbie culture come together in one place.

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The first thing I noticed was all the vendors stationed around all sides of the stadium. It is because of these vendors that Cubs fans can wear their team's colors and visually show that they are proud supporters of the team and members of the culture formed as a result of the existence of the team. The vendors serve to visually unite this social scene, no matter how different its individual members may look otherwise.

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As I continued to look at my surroundings, I took notice of the residences which were immediately across the street from the stadium. I kept thinking to myself that the people who live there must be active members of this social scene, otherwise how would they be able to stand the constant commotion the Cubs games bring about? It turns out I was correct. I saw many windows displaying Cubs flags. I even saw a few buildings named after the famous ivy which covers the outfield walls within the stadium.


However, the most interesting and clever characteristic I found about most of these residences is that they have bleachers on the rooftops where they can sit and see the games just as well as if they were in the stadium. I'm sure some people make very good money selling those seats off to fans eager to watch the game at a lower ticket price. It occurred to me that someone would have to be greatly supportive of this culture if they are willing to alter their residence in such a dramatic way.

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As I walked around the stadium for a second time, I began noticing that many of the official sign postings in the area have something to do with the Cubs. For example, there are "no parking" signs posted all along the outside perimeter of the stadium which pertain specifically to baseball game days. These restrictions are obviously needed in order for the culture to thrive more comfortably in their surroundings on days when games take place.

I also saw that the multitude of recycling receptacles in the area had Cubs emblems on them below where it reads "recycle here". Perhaps members of the Cubs culture are more likely to recycle if the team itself encourages it.

Another posting I came across was a billboard advertising the Bank of America which was aimed at Cubs fans. It insinuates that real fans use Bank of America and includes a Cubs emblem on the picture of the featured credit card and on the bottom right of the billboard. The advertisers obviously know how to target specific social scenes and get their attention. I would not be surprised if majority of the members of this sub-culture belonged to the Bank of America after seeing this ad.

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Something else I couldn't help but take notice of as I wandered around Wrigleyville was how even the big fast food franchises have assimilated themselves into the social scene revolving around the Cubs. There are giant baseball pillars surrounding the McDonald's across the road from the stadium, and there is a giant Cubs cap hanging from the sign of the Taco Bell down the street. I would have to imagine that the massive amounts of members of the Cubs sub-culture would provide these corporations with very good business both before and after games. It would be silly for these locations to not be visually Cubs friendly.

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As I walked back to my sister's apartment (which is a few blocks away from Cubs stadium), I looked up and saw that the El sign indicating the Addison Avenue stop had Cubs emblems on it. This, and all my other findings of the day, made me come to the conclusion that a social scene is defined by anything and everything that suggests it; even the seemingly unimportant details. Sub-cultures are embodied by many factors which must all be considered in order to fully understand them and their inner workings.

Analysis: Michael Bull's "Sounding Out the City"

I found the excerpts from Dr. Michael Bull’s Sounding Out the City to be very fascinating just based on the fact that he brings up observations and ideas which I have never really thought about before.

“The World of Personal-Stereo Users”

I am aware that most people in this day and age own some form of gadget which offers them privatized listening, be it a Walkman, a portable CD player, or (more recently) a cell phone or mp3 player. However I never really considered how someone’s dependence upon such a device has the potential to completely alter how they interact with the world around them. This made complete sense to me when he stated that personal stereos are “a private experience with interpersonal resonance.” Although I may be listening to my own music which nobody else can hear, that music will still affect both my mood and how I personally interact with the people in my immediate social space.

When he began to throw around the word “aesthetic”, I really began to grasp his message. I think that music has the ability to change how you see the things around you as you are listening to it. As I am sitting in my dining room writing this response, I am listening to the music on my computer on shuffle mode. As the songs change, I look out at the rainy, gloomy day we are having and how its aesthetic changes with that of the different songs.

As mentioned before, Bull discusses how many people are dependent upon privatized listening devices when it comes to going through with their daily routines. I can definitely relate to this because I felt weird not being able to listen to my music while I was reading these excerpts. I knew that I couldn’t because I would get lost in the lyrics and not pay as much attention to the text. I can also relate to the people who use their music to avoid talking to others because I do this all the time on campus.

“Reconfiguring the Site and Horizon of Experience”

The portion of this section which resonated with me the most was when one of the interviewees talked about how when listening to music, the environment experienced is a part of their desire. This allows them to get more out of their surrounding environment.

I can relate to this when I go to the gym. When I listen to my music there, I can have a peaceful, motivating workout without hearing the loud conversations of others, the tedious droning of the cardio machines, or the conflicting ramblings of the multiple televisions stationed throughout the space. As discussed before, it even allows me to avoid conversation with others. My mp3 player, which I don’t leave the house with unless it’s fully charged, allows me to have the positive experience I want from this particular environment.

“Empowering the ‘Gaze’: Personal Stereos and the Hidden Look”

I concluded through reading this section that looking at someone is different from gazing at them. Looking involves active attention, usually done without the use of a personal stereo system. Gazing, however, commonly occurs when someone is using a personal stereo system and is one step removed from the situation. They are primarily engulfed in their music and therefore not paying as much attention to where their eyes may rest. In this sense, gazing is less penetrating or intrusive than looking.

Analysis: Style Wars

These hip-hop kids are changing the face of the city through their graffiti. Underneath these tags, the general aesthetic of the city is plain, basic, streamlined, and as these kids might tend to think, rather boring. Their graffiti adds exciting color, vibrancy, and a visually more dynamic face to the city of New York. This new face is interpreted in one of two ways: It either communicates that the city is completely losing control, or it sheds light on the practice of tagging as an increasingly legitimate form of art and self expression. In either case, these kids succeed in re-imaging and reconstructing the aesthetic and face of the city.

Hip-hop culture “bombs” the city by spreading itself as far and wide as it can possibly go. This ability gives an otherwise powerless demographic a sense of strength and control, making it impossible for them to be ignored by society. The general forms of media utilized in the hip-hop culture (graffiti, rap music, and break dancing) all play into the language of freedom by providing the culture’s members with ways to express themselves which belong only to them and allow them to develop a personal sense of style. These methods of expression hold great meaning to them and thereby enable the members of this demographic to use them in any way they please in order to create something of significance.

I believe that graffiti and tagging is an attempt at ownership and notoriety when it is employed in a demographic that owns virtually nothing and does not have much to lose if they were to be caught in the act. However, I do not feel that Banksy is striving for ownership with his graffiti. I think that he either wants to send specific messages, as in his work on the Israel/Palestine security wall, or he attempts to make people laugh, giving them something more interesting and dynamic to look at on the streets as they make their mundane daily commutes. I feel the corporate world is boring to him so he injects humor into it in an attempt to lighten it up.

I feel tagging/defacing public/private property is in fact a means for exercising power, even though it may not be a legal one. Graffiti redefines and in a way rebels against the meaning of owning by promoting the idea of “finders keepers”. For example, even if a man and his wife own a convenience store, if a graffiti artist finds it and covers its outside walls with his art, he now owns that place as far as the street culture is concerned. If this is the case, anything in the world which is able to be defaced is up for grabs.

The imaging of hip-hop culture defies societal expectations and stereotypes of social scales by including not only the expected minorities, but the affluent white kids. In other words, the entire spectrum of the social scale is equally included in this sub-culture. The fact that the white kids are not expected to be involved in these activities only makes it easier for them to participate, for law enforcement figures are less suspicious of their public behaviors.

I think that the prosperous white kids are attracted to graffiti because it is a way for them to break free from their strict, scheduled lives and gain credit in a culture that intrigues and has meaning to them. They want to get their names out there just like the minority members of hip-hop culture. And, as mentioned before, the fact that they are not suspects of these activities makes it extremely easy for them to enter into this culture.

These hip-hop artists are able to activate, penetrate, and shift the physical, social, and political space of the city through the use of their own bodies. They completely alter the physical space by adding their own visual elements, mostly in the form of graffiti and tagging. Although it may not seem as such, their bodies are very important tools in accomplishing this task. In order to make their marks on the trains, they must hop fences, scale walls, and move swiftly among the tracks and trains in order to gain access to their canvases. They need their bodies to complete these maneuvers in order for their graffiti to come to life.

They activate social spaces by using their bodies to break dance on the sidewalks of New York. If their dancing were not meant to engage the public and make them stop to watch, they would practice their moves in a more secluded and private place. They use their dancing as a way to break up the usual, mundane social space of the city and therefore stimulate new kinds of interactions between people which do not usually take place. Rap music also plays into the social scene, since they either use the music to dance to, or they freestyle on the streets for everyone to hear.

The hip-hop kids penetrate the political space through all of their chosen forms of expression (graffiti, break-dancing, and rap music) by getting a rise out of the political figures of the city. They obviously got the mayor’s attention because he launched an entire propaganda movement, celebrity endorsements and all, which encouraged these kids to stop leaving their art all over the city. In a way, the fact that they had such a significant effect on the most powerful members of the city only gives them more drive and determination to keep using their bodies to create their art.

The graffiti artist makes a good point when he states, “yeah, I vandalism (sic), but I did something to make your eyes open up, right?” What he means is that while he does commit illegal acts of vandalism, he creates something that catches people’s attention in the process; something that gets them talking. The illegalness of the activity is a means to an end. While I cannot say that I agree with the illegal tagging of property, I do agree with the point he is trying to make. It is not the act of his creation which is significant but the creation itself. If he had been caught, the graffiti in question would not even exist. But he did not get caught, so he wants people to stop focusing on how it came to be.

The war going on between artists and bombers entails the discrepancy between putting well thought out, meaningful tags in a close knit cluster of social spaces and putting multiple tags which are not as well thought out in social spaces all across the city. This is a war of quality versus quantity. I feel that quality is more important because I believe that the general public would be more likely to keep my art where I put it if it were visually, aesthetically, and even conceptually appealing.

I feel that the graffiti in the gallery does still have an intensity, but not necessarily the same intensity. The taggers put the graffiti on the trains for the specific purpose of it having the ability to travel across the city and be seen by large amounts of people. When in a gallery, only a select number of people (the types of people who visit galleries) will see their work. While it is a great way to lend credibility, notoriety, and legitimacy to their chosen forms of self expression, I feel it takes away from the fact that this graffiti originated as street art. The art can exist successfully in both the gallery and on the street; however it lacks a certain edge and rawness when it is not illegal and its purpose is not to claim public/private spaces.

These street artists are able to claim the public spaces by leaving a mark in them which reflects personal style; a style which nobody else can copy. It is this uniqueness which allows them to successfully claim these spaces for themselves.

While these artists would most likely do an exceptional job reinterpreting how the city looks and who it reflects, the law says that they don’t have a right to employ the techniques (graffiti) which allow them to do so. If the city were to permit anyone to take on this task, my vote would be for the hip-hop kids; for they are common people with the creative edge our society needs and would definitely grow to appreciate.

Project Assignment 1: Ephemeral/Site

Artist Statement:

After spending a week in Palm Springs, California, I have finally returned to my hometown: Schaumburg, Illinois. Although I live in close proximity to the city of Chicago, my neighborhood is suburban with an abundance of parks, gardens, and forest preserves. It is because of these surroundings that I chose to utilize natural materials during my ephemeral exploration.

Although I have previously seen Andy Goldsworthy's Rivers and Tides, I never grow tired of watching it. I love watching him work and I have great respect for his methods. Consequently, I wanted to produce a piece very similar to something he, himself, might create.

I chose to work in the environment of my own backyard; the backyard of the house I have lived in for 21 years. My reasoning for this was because I wanted to create in a place I was personally attached to, much like how Goldsworthy tends to choose sites he feels connected to for his ephemeral pieces.

The materials I utilized consisted of the tiny clover flowers which grow on our lawn each Spring, and my favorite tree on our property. I'm not sure what kind of tree it is, but I do know that ever since I was little, I have always referred to it as "my tree". My dad has wanted to cut the tree down for years on account of the fact that it gets in the way of the backyard ice rink he installs every winter. However, I have somehow always been able to convince him not to do so.

The clover flowers are banding together to embrace and protect the tree; the tree which has so much significance in my life. It represents home, a place which I hold very near and dear to my heart.

The flowers will eventually fall out of place and blow away in the summer breeze, but I will always remember the image of my favorite tree in the world rooted and protected in my favorite place in the world.