Update Source Statement

Another week has past us by and my project has not changed much. Because my form will be planes intersecting, and progressively erecting to and upright-standing sculpture, it may appear to be simple in its abstracted sequence from base to top. It's simplicity is meant to not distract from its overall goal, which is to have the following elements:

Flat, steps, adjacent slabs, squares, triangles, circles, color - all together gaining mass as I add elements to shape the sculptural piece. The steps represent hierarchy; this specific element I feel represents the different steps children take in their own walk through ambient noise - the further up they travel, the more noise, hence the gaining of mass in elements.

The upright slabs represent the different spaces they transition through (imagine doorways leading to a different type of exposure); a gaining of mass will be present to indicate this specific thought.

The open physical form altogether represents how noise infiltrates regardless of the when, where, why, and how the ambient noise is created; my specific goal here is to show that it does not matter how you want to address the noise, but that noise captures your attention - creating distractions everywhere you go.

The geometric shapes will represent the detail in my sequence that in essence are the tools instructors provide the kids to move forward in dealing with the ambience. As the tools become a greater mass, that will be representative in the complexity and preparedness in which kids are equipped with to deal with ambient noise.

Primary colors will be applied to the tools uniformly so as not confuse the different geometry and to support the simplicity of this built form.

Updated Photo's of Final Project

Updaed Source Statement

Ambient Noise:

In the past week I have had time to sit on sculptural ideas to assist/morph my thoughts into a built form. While my sketches show lines and direction, I thought to incorporate some of the things that they all had in common and/or unique from each other to give expression to my form.

I expect to have the forms layout to be built with consideration to represent something that starts with simple numbers - I will add density in color and material (that will show a start and end point; time base element), in which case at end point, a vertical form will be erected. I plan on showing how a mixture of door frame-like formations, steps, and shapes with color, will represent the steps, levels, and tools children are provided to be prepared to deal with the noise that we live in every day.

Site Photos, Tobin Montessori Community School, Cambridge, MA

BILIOGRAPHY

Gary W. Evans

Design and Environmental Analysis, Human Developments, Cornell University,

Ithaca, New York 14853-4401

Evans, G. W., Lepore, S. J., Shejwal, B. R., and Palsane, M.N. 1998b.

“Chronic residential crowding and children’s well being: An Ecological perspective,” Child Dev. 69, 1514-1523.

Kryter, K. 1994. The Handbook of Hearing and the effects of Noise, Academic, New York.

Regecova, V., and Kllerova, E. 1995. Effects of urban noise pollution on blood pressure and heart rate in preschool children,” J. Hypertens. 3, 405-412.

VISUAL COMMUNICATION

The title of my piece will be AMBIENT NOISE

I will be using wood and paint to create a bah relief that morphs into a 3 dimensional for. There will be flat overlapping shapes in a series which, signifies a direction. There will be some curvilinear pieces which overlap in some areas with additional vertical pieces of varying color and value as the piece moves from flat to sculptural.

The increasing density of units from flat to sculpture will show a movement that represents the accumulation of time. The way the viewer perceives the piece will invite that they view it from 360 degrees and it will be displayed on the ground.

The flat areas, bah relief, will represent the simplistic infiltration of noise and the increase of layers to a more complex form will depict an increase in ambient/environmental noise.

There may be some variations that occur in the process of creating the form. It is important to me to be open during the process to any organic evolutions that may improve the success of the piece, both visually and conceptually. It may include materials – perhaps metal will be incorporated. And the display of my form may change from floor to table for example.

BIBLIOGHRAPHY

WHITE NOISE

Christian Marclay, 1994

(Artstor)

WHITE NOISE

Joseph Grigley, 2000

SOUNDLY THROUGH THE NOISE

Charles Long, 2003

Severo Covian

Visual Language 2

Lana Caplan

SOURCE STATEMENT

My source this semester has been about ambient noise. For my final project I’d like to create a statement that is in regards to children and the effects that ambient noise has on them in the learning process. Since I work with kids in an afterschool program I have witnessed the effects that environmental and ambient noise has on them in the classroom. I would like to be constructive in this project, because as a teacher my goal is to build for them clear guidance and direction, to assist them in understanding the ways of the world and their community and their relationship to their surroundings.

3 IDEAS

I will explore three different possibilities – all encompassing potential for an installation; be it a functional or conceptual form.

The first is to take some of the teaching methods described in the above paragraph and show those characteristics in built form. This type of installation will require some sketches and development of form through bah reliefs. Material of choice for the model(s) will be in some type of wood, perhaps foam core, and other architectural modeling materials. The installation will presumably be built within the walls of an outdoor space. The space is approximately 50ft. depth, and 100ft length.

Another possibility is to build a tree house/fort for kids in a neighborhood in Davis Square, Somerville, MA. In effort to provide creative activities to a family who is often busy, maximizing their outdoor space for three kids and three dogs is a must. The flowerbeds are already dead! I will most likely only use wood material and metal joints as needed. As building this structure may incur a great deal of bureaucracy, this may be mostly a model.

The third choice is to volunteer at a veteran’s shelter. I would solely take their stories and transform/morph them into some type of built form. Materials aren’t of great concerns as they can be threads, wood, glass, metal, etc.

Title: AMBIENT NOISE

I teach both as a guide and an observer, with an effort to intervene less and less as the student develops, and to build an atmosphere of calm, order and joy in the classroom. I hope to foster an environment for kids that is stimulating but without unnecessary distraction.

In my research on the topic of ambient noise and its’ effects on children’s learning I found astounding information: that kids who are raised in crowded neighborhoods and near noisy sites like airports and highways have higher levels or the stress hormone cortisol and have poorer concentration, leading to lower classroom performance.

In my final project I will create something that incorporates my source throughout the semester and combine it with something that I feel passionate about, children and education. My piece will reflect this relationship.

Book Project completed

Final Project Source and Proposals

My source statement is to build for a clear guidance and direction, specifically referring to children; children are everything. To assist them in understanding the ways of the world and their community, to share stories of wisdom, to teach lessons, etc. I have always been intrigued to assist others in one way or another; if it’s to babysit, to help perform tasks requiring some handy work around someone’s home, or if it’s to simply assist to cook, and sometimes perhaps to be a listener or someone to lean on in good or bad stages…

Guidance and Direction

To Teach as a guide and an observer, to intervene less and less as the student develops, to build an atmosphere of calm, order and joy in the classroom, to encourage children in all their efforts, to promote self confidence and discipline, to demonstrate the use of materials and presenting activities based on an assessment of a child’s needs, to know when to observe and when, and how much, to intervene is a skill.

I will explore three different possibilities – all encompassing potential for an installation; be it a functional or conceptual form.

The first is to take some of the teaching methods described in the above paragraph and show those characteristics in built form. This type of installation will require some sketches and development of form through bah reliefs. Material of choice for the model(s) will be in some type of wood, perhaps foam core, and other architectural modeling materials. The installation will presumably be built within the walls of an outdoor space. The space is approximately 50ft. depth, and 100ft length.

Another possibility is to build a tree house/fort for kids in a neighborhood in Davis Square, Somerville, MA. In effort to provide creative activities to a family who is often busy, maximizing their outdoor space for three kids and three dogs is a must. The flowerbeds are already dead! I will most likely only use wood material and metal joints as needed. As building this structure may incur a great deal of bureaucracy, this may be mostly a model.

The third choice is to volunteer at a veteran’s shelter. I would solely take their stories and transform/morph them into some type of built form. Materials aren’t of great concerns as they can be threads, wood, glass, metal, etc.­­

Final Book Source Statement

My first iteration of this book project was a bah relief, which has great to analyze - it gave me the base to top vision of creating something that had inner workings, much like how I feel and deal with all noises which later become ambient to me, and it provided a foundation structure for my completed project. A sculpture representing a book, with a cover (the larger form) that encapsulates a time based sequence depicting my daily stroll through the city. The pages can be seen stacked within the larger rim, and rotate out 360 degrees. From base to top page, I tell a story of how I see, hear, and feel the ambient noise I have been discussing all along.

composing my book model

after several organizations of these organic shapes, I decided to keep the larger portion of the structure in a fixed position, while having the swinging parts act as the pages.

crafting good lines and details

book progress