The Focus

For my final project I have had to adjust my original idea from what it was to something that I had never planned for. My original idea was to make a reflection pool on the line, like I did, and document the shine from beer cans found on the line over and in the water of the reflection pool at night. But when I went to float the can at night I found that my camera couldn’t focus on the object that I wanted it to and just captured the shines on the water. So I started messing around with my camera and found a setting for night and then put my camera on a long exposure. The cold made it hard to keep my hand still and then I ended up capturing light movement and the movement of shine.

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After this I took what I had collected to Michelle and at her suggestion I decided to make a musical sideshow of the shines that I had collected to the music of The Nutcracker. For every new beat I assigned a picture with the brightness of the photo representing the strength the of note being played.

The Focus: Day 1

Today for exploring the word shine for the final project I worked on creating a reflection pool. To do this I planned on the water to be flowing fast but not too fast. So it would just happen to be when I got the stream behind Cohen would be running fast, so fast in fact that I almost fell over a couple of times. Now it would just be my luck that the rain boots that I was wears would have a hole in the side; needless to say my feet wore soaked by the end of the day. I started by finding where the line would cross the stream; then I began to place my rocks. I placed the rock in a fairly straight, U shape.

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Leaving a space for the water to escape, depend and intensified the water forced into the space that I created. The sound that happens after the water was focused into one spot a loud, deep sound that can be heard from the back door of Cohen.

The shines that the refection pools creates are amazing. As you can see from the photos there is a still, shine created as well as a moving shine, under the waterfalls the rock wall I made creates.

The Word: Shine in Motion

There are parts of The Line that constantly have motion going over and through, changing the dynamic of the line. So in these places where cars, water or animals move through you have intense of intense brilliance or shine, that moves through the area know as the line. One of these areas in behind Cohen in the stream that travel through campus and also through the line. The shine that is capture there, even on a rainy day, is intense. The movement of the water combined with the light of the sun coming through the leaves of the trees makes patterns on the water. These patterns dance as the torrent of the moving water rushes over the rocks and the falling slope of the stream. The sound that the water makes also adds to the experience of the shine; it’s almost as if you are adding a sound to a description that usually doesn’t have one.

Moving water
Tickle my toes
Cool and crisp
The light shines through

Careful now
Be quite
Noiseless radiance
Kisses the ear

In silent bliss
Watch the shine of the sun
Slipping away
Ground cold

Returning
The fear is gone
The shine comes back
In morning sun

The Word: Shine in Cohen

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In Cohen there is always some light coming into through the windows of the building; casting shadows, creating reflections, making the photo paper the line is printed on, shine. In the stream behind Cohen the water moves quickly over the rocks, collecting light, making the rushing surface look glossy in the dim sunlight after a rain storm. The metallic shine of the chrome parts for a bike also shine behind Cohen in the space of the line.

The constant influence of light in the space of the line helps you in different ways to see the shine that is so often hidden from view. People have a tendency to think of shine on an object only, but forget about what makes people special and the shine that individuals can have.

 

Word Definition

The word that I choose to define was shine.
The dictionary definition of shine is

1) give off or cause to give off light
2) be outstanding
3) polish~ brilliance

When I think of shine, it’s the morning dew on the grass and the rays coming through the clouds from the sun. Shine is the brilliance in the little thing in life that add a sparkle to your day.

Shine is that special person who is always bright and knows how to light up a room with only their smile.

Exploring the Line: The Line in Motion

For my exploration of the line I documented my movement through the space of the line. I took pictures every couple of feet as I moved through the line that travels through Alfred. On the way Shahane and myself got lost a number of time, as the line was not clearly marked in some areas. When we did get lost, for the sake of the video, we retraced our steps and found where we went off. Th lighting at the time really helped to capture the forest floor and the rest of the line in a very beautiful coloring. This project was made over two days around the time of 3 to 5 in the afternoon to get the lighting just right. I hope you enjoy.

Here it is

Moving through the line can be stressful at times when you lose your way

Turning this way and that, it’s had to find where you turned astray

Tree intertwine, changing, becoming one, something that you can’t pass

Then you follow the light, sloping hill underfoot

The path is clean ahead, you found your way out of the brink

and into the line

Personal Territory Tour Part 4

The Tour Guild

Starting from the Cohen Center take a right on Main Street

Pass the Uni-Mart, Panda and the empty lot before the bus station

Cross the street and take a left on to Saxon Drive

There should be a green way on your right follow it until you reach what is called the Village Bandstand

This is a Asia styled structure that sits on the edge of a stream that cuts through campus

Walk into to the left side of the structure, sit in the first square section made by the posts

Position yourself so that you are facing the stream

Sit, Breath, Hear

Tilt your head up, look at the leaves over head, breath

Don’t say anything for at least a minute

Feel the boards underneath you

Hear the sound of the water moving

Hear the passing of car, notice they don’t see you

Be invisible

Personal Teritory Tour Part 3

Exploration # 6

The exploration was about collecting things that remind you of childhood, but I changed it to writing about things that remind me of childhood instead of collecting.

Stream

• going camping in Vermont with my family
• playing in the stream with my sister
• watching the water dance over your feet
• the cold water
• the sound
• imaginary otters collecting food
• leaf races

Maple Trees

• climbing in the front yard
• falling out of
• playing with dolls around the base
• forgetting where you were
• the hiding
• the secrets between sisters

Fallen leaves

• gnome home building at camp
• raking up, in the fall
• jumping in
• the season of fall
• the beginning of the school year
• the forgetting of school for a few minutes

 

Exploration #37

Time Observation

I watched time pass with the shadows on the water of the stream for the duration of my time observing my territory

• They keep getting longer slimming out, being less apparent
• Fading light of the afternoon sun
• The gentle flicker of the changing light

Personal Territory Tour Part 2

50 things

1. Notice the moving water
2. Notice the passing cars
3. Sound of the wind
4. Sand paper fell of the boards of the walk way under me
5. Debris in between the cracks of the boards
6. The green scale that has formed of the boards
7. Collection of fallen leaves on the floor
8. Smell of clean air
9. The glisten of the rocks with the water moving over them
10. The perspective of the structure (going inward)
11. The sagging of the ground/ boards
12. Ants moving across the boards
13. The filtered light on the ground
14. The changing of the leaves over head
15. The metal supports of the structure, rusted but not old
16. The knots of the posts (how many branches were there?)
17. The bubbles formed by the little water fall
18. The graffiti on the boards (black and faded)
19. The braking up of concrete (decomposition)
20. A pipe with no apparent purpose
21. (Looking through the cracks) years of fallen leaves
22. A metal loop underneath a side railing (bent nail)
23. Secondary supports for side railings (screws and bolts)
24. Old lights at the end of the top of the posts
25. Replacement of rotten piece in the roof
26. The fact that people driving by don’t see you
27. The fact that people walking by choose not to see you
28. The fact that I choose not to see the people going by
29. The weird pump house thing across from the brook
30. The fact that when the wind blows nothing moves but the trees
31. There is that appearance of broken brick outside my territory
32. The liter that can be seen in the stream
33. The spider on my back . . . jumps
34. The broken brake on the slotted roof
35. The fact that the spider likes me (move)
36. The broken beer bottle bottom covered by dirt
37. The scratches in the boards of the floor
38. Why does this spider-like me so much?
39. The smell of old wood
40. The quietness in its dead state
41. The squeaks of the trees
42. The fact that this will be a dark place when the lights go out
43. The shine of new metal
44. The splintering of rock (sedimentary rock)
45. The mixer of man-made and mother earth made
46. A man trying to teach his dog
47.  the people behind me that I just noticed
48. They don’t see me, maybe, . . . never mind
49. The stillness of movement
50. The quiet of sound

Personal Territory Tour Part 1

This gallery contains 5 photos.

Personal Territory Boundaries It is the first square section of the Asian styled theater thingy by the stream when you are heading towards the Brick and Herrick library. The area is about 4 by 5 feet square and looks out and includes the stream next to it on the left side when you look into [...]