'Real' Chicago

In If These Walls Could Talk, Unit 2, we learned about revolt murals, different types of mediums and techniques. Artists who were inspiring that we studied are JR, who uses different media - mostly wheat pasting - in each country he visits, and Banksy, who uses spray paint and the trompe l'oeil technique. We practiced the mediums and techniques of watercolor, block-printing, wheat pasting, gels, acrylic paint, and more which helped in deciding what to use in the action project. For the action project we were put into a group of five to sketch a mural idea, and then each member chose a media to use to recreate two parts of the mural on swatches. My medium, watercolor wash, was fun to use but became difficult when it came down to small details. Another problem I faced was with my group when we had to come up with a finalized sketch. Eventually we were successful and with the help of our teacher we were able to create a mural conveying the message we wanted. It was a lot of fun experimenting with different mediums and techniques and to create a mural of our own. I'm definitely looking forward to creating this mural full-scale. Please enjoy our sketch, my swatches, and my artist statement below.

TS
'Real' Chicago
12/15
11" x 3.5" and 11" x 3.5"
Watercolor Wash

AJ, JM, MS, TS, TC. Sketch. 12/15

In our groups sketch you see the skyline of Chicago and five tears with something different inside, burning money, the CTA train map, gang signs, the bean, and signs/flags. This is meant to be what people see as the 'real' Chicago and what actually is the real Chicago. Each tear has a different meaning, three good and two bad. The two negatives are the one with burning money, which is supposed to be a representation of the corrupt politics and brutality, and the one with gang signs, which represents the gangs and violence that is present in the city. The three positives are the one with the CTA train map, showing the great public transportation system we have, the one with the bean, proving we have more beautiful architect and culture then what is popular, and the one with many signs/flags, representing the acceptance our city has regardless of race, religion, or sexuality. We were strongly inspired by Banksy and his use of trompe l'oeil and our unit 1 action projects. The aspects that had been taken from our previous action project had been the skyline, trompe l'oeil, and CTA train lines. It took a long time to finalize our sketch since there had been so many aspects we wanted to cram in. The only idea that we originally wanted that ended up not incorporating had been the use of chains AJ used in her previous action project. It was a really great concept, holding Chicago down to what outsiders want it to look like, but was unable to fit in the piece in a fluid way. We did love the skyline and the trompe l'oeil like tears. Since there had been five tears we gave one to each individual to come up with something to represent the tear. It gave us the freedom to include something each of us wanted adding a unique touch to it. This mural is both a revolt mural against the steriotypical view of Chicago from an outsiders perspective, and tribute mural of the true essence of Chicago and who we are as a city.

TS. Swatch One. 12/15

TS. Swatch Two. 12/15

The material I chose was watercolor wash because I have past experience with it and I've seen beautiful watercolor paintings. It gives bright vibrant colors and adds depth, very important to our piece, to the image. In class we learned how water colors are best for giving a painting or drawing depth and texture, also its ease to mix is a great asset. It helps convey the message through its depth which shows we are more than what is on the surface and the colors that blend show we are one. The swatches ended up looking messy and with smudges in places that had lots of detail. It was very difficult to control my medium because of how easy it is to blend and I did not have a small enough brush for the small details. In the end the swatches did not turn out how I hoped because the colors weren't as bright as I hoped and the details were far to difficult to paint. I believe if I had a smaller finer brush I think it would have worked. We will not be using this in our final mural because of the lack of bright colors and difficulties with the detail, which is a major part of our mural. It also didn't present the realistic look we were going for with the skyline.

JM. Swatch One. 12/15

JM. Swatch Two. 12/15

AJ. Swatch One. 12/15

AJ. Swatch Two. 12/15

My group decided on using wheat pasting with a laser print image and stencils with sharpie oil based markers as the final medium because those seemed to of worked best out of all the mediums chosen. We are still doing the trompe l'oeil technique because we believe it is the best way to get our message out. The wheat paste will give the realistic feel we were going for and would be used for the entire skyline and water. Since the image would be laser print the colors would already be there bright though slightly matte. Stencils would then be used for the small details that were too difficult to do with watercolor, pumice gel, or acrylic paint. It would create a clean cut images for our representations and tears with eye catching hues. We highlight the city for what it is with the skyline and positive traits in bright and vibrant colors while the negative traits will be in darker more matte like colors.

Ή τάν ή επι τάς (Either We Win or We Die)

In If These Walls Could Talk, Unit 1, we learned about murals from Prehistory to the Renaissance. We observed the changing styles throughout time and identified the reason each culture had for creating murals. For our FE we went on a tour of the Pilsen murals to both tie together what we learned and to see how murals still affect people today. This lead us to our first action project, pick a neighborhood in Chicago and create a sketch for a mural addressing an issue of that neighborhood. I choose Greektown which has, like many other neighborhoods, been a victim of gentrification. Originally I planned on doing a neighborhood in the south side, but wasn't inspired causing me to bounce from neighborhood to neighborhood forcing me to rush to complete the action project. I am very satisfied with the neighborhood I chose and my mural portraying their problems. Please enjoy my mural and artist statement below.

TS
Ή τάν ή επι τάς, 11/20/15
11" x 14"
Digital Image

 
The first Greeks in Chicago arrived during the 1840s becoming food peddlers, and naturally became restaurant owners. Around the turn of the century many Greeks were found in, what was originally named, Deltaîbut which was defined by Harrison, Blue Island and Halsted areas. It was later renamed to Greektown and during the 1960s was moved north a few blocks in order for University of Illinois and the Eisenhower Expressway to be built, shrinking the size of the neighborhood. In 1968 gyros and saganaki were introduced instantly becoming a big hit; starting a chain of success for the neighborhood. Most businesses and restaurants opened from 1970 to 1990, and the summer festival, Taste of Greece, became a tradition. The city of Chicago finally recognized Greektown's contributions to the city in 1996 and, with the Democratic National Convention being hosted in Chicago, poured millions of dollars into renovations for the streets and to create a traditional Greek temples and pavilions.

Today, Greektown sustains many old world traditions, prevalent in the establishments throughout the neighborhood. The language is still heard, and the people of the community have strong pride for their heritage, coming out full force during the annual Greek Independence Day parade, the Taste of Greece and the days around Greek Easter. Chicago's Greektown has grown into a renowned attraction, being the place to go for authentic food and culture outside of Greece. Though I don't want to focus on positive of Greektown's outstanding success, but rather the gentrification of the residents of the neighborhood it has caused. Due to the rising popularity it became extremely expensive to live in and many residents left and have spread out across Chicago and the suburbs. This issue is apparent and seen not only in Greektown, but across the city.

People should not be forced to move from their neighborhoods just because they can not afford the growing rate to live there. I wanted the mural as a revolt against gentrification. In the sketch I drew an outline of the city of Chicago with a Greek soldier holding a spear fighting a businessman holding a one hundred dollar bill. The businessman represents the success places has that cause the higher cost for living in an area. They hold the one hundred dollar bill as a weapon showing that in order to still live in the neighborhood they must pay. You then see a traditional Greek soldier who represents Greektown and the want to lower the house fees so they can remain in the neighborhood. Underneath these two people a silhouette of the city can be seen to show that this is a problem around Chicago. The main color theme of blues and golds was inspired by ancient Greek murals; the colors are meant to bring in a reference to water since it is such an important part of their culture.

This mural would be located in the heart of Greektown's businesses, the place with the highest influx of people guaranteeing that a large amount of people, both Greek and non-Greek, would see it. For this mural I want people to realize that we can fix this gentrification, whether it be by talking to the mayor to lower living costs in these business dominate areas or by extending neighborhoods by a few blocks to get back that missing residential factor. People will be able to live comfortably in a community that supports them, that is my hope.

Double Decker

     In Design and Engineering, Unit 2, we learned about gear ratios, inertia, power rule, area and volume, and more calculus and trigonometry. We also learned about different types of bikes, and how each part has a job to make it easier for a rider. Going off of that, I learned that smaller wheels help make people go faster but larger wheels make a ride smoother. Then there's the fact that I've also learned how each type of bike has a different way to handle it; road bikes are designed to go fast, however aren't very good relaxing rides. To better understand how bikes work we went to a bike shop, and had Dyson, Divvy, and Alan visit. This gave us a better comprehension on the history of bikes and the process of creating something new. This brought us to our final action project: designing a bike with a partner to fit the needs of an assigned persona. 

     My partner and I received Vanessa, a seventeen year old girl, that lives near the United Center that's 4 miles away from school and has to drop her brother off at daycare every morning before school. Vanessa has to deal with pothole filled roads as she travels on the roads during her regular commute, but since there's not enough space at home, she also has to deal with the struggle of keeping her bike safe from getting stolen. After coming up with a design we had to create an actual 3D model of our bike that would Vanessa's needs for her biking experience. I had a difficult time in constructing the 3D model prototype and making a way for her to travel with her brother. Plus, the idea of adding to what's already invented is fairly difficult, since there have been child-transporting centric bikes before. Though I did like the final product and figuring out the calculations. Please enjoy our design below.

TS & KIS. Sketch. 2015

     Now to start things off, we're going to go into the math and design aspects that most bikes share.
To talk about the tires, our bike's tires would have a diameter of 28in if it were a life-sized model, with our cardboard one being 14 times smaller as the wheels are only 2 inches across. That 28in would give us a circumference of 87.92in, and we get that circumference by multiplying the diameter (28) by pi (π). Using 87.92 inches as a reference point, it would take the life sized bike 2882 wheel rotations to cover the distance of 4 miles that she travels on her route to school. Keeping those 4 miles in mind, it takes Vanessa 23 minutes to actually get to school. Assuming it was a straight distance, Vanessa would be traveling at 10.43mph (miles per hour) or 4.66m/s (meters per second). Going to the gears, they're are obviously essential, making the wheels turn, but depending on how many teeth and how many gears a bike has, that can determine how fast or efficient it is. That's why our bike has the driver gear at 60 teeth and the driven gear, which is in the back, has 30 teeth. This provides a gear ratio that's 2:1 as it takes that driven gear back there on the wheel 2 full rotations to match the single rotation made up front by pedaling that driver gear. Now in general, if we talk about energy, Vanessa would have potential energy right before she's about to go down a slope, as gravity is about to apply going that would pull the bike down the hill. When gravity does begin pulling the bike down, that potential energy will have become kinetic, as it is in motion.

TS & KIS. Double Decker. 2015

TS & KIS. Structure. 2015

TS & KIS. Rear View. 2015 

     This bike has improved on several different aspects. As me and my partner have thought of them, you can see a unique seat in the back designed for younger children or toddlers, as it's a secure, comfortable seat that sports a firm seatbelt, and has a noise reducing, plastic-like, bubble. This is so that any young child in the seat does't have to worry about loud noises, which could possibly scare them, especially since the regular route has to intersect underneath a bridge of railroad tracks. The bubble cover of the seat does indeed have ventilation, and it's also detachable, so it's not permanent. Babies' ears are sensitive, so that's why there's only a bubble around the back seat meant for infants. This was also so the bike didn't seem to much like a car. Our bike also has a basket up front so Vanessa has a place to keep her book bag while riding, as not to interfere with the baby seat behind her. One more thing to note are those mountain bike tires, which are specifically there to make her ride a more comfortable one, since the roads she takes almost every day are filled with potholes. Now if you find a bike that provides protection to babies that may ride in the back while also making a comfortable ride with some convenient options for temporary storage in the front, you've just found our one and only Double Decker!

Survival of the Fittest

In Rhetoric, Unit 3, we learned how to use our voices to gather for a cause. To understand how this is done we studied multiple forms of artwork that expressed messages about different topics. This brought us to our final action project: to create a piece of art that would "break the sound barrier" on an issue that we found important. My issue is war, however I took an uncommon stance on it. I believe in anti-glorification, not anti-war, meaning that we shouldn't hate war, but dislike how its perceived. It was difficult to express everything I wanted in my drawing. It was also quite strenuous to display logos and ethos into an image. Originally I wanted to create a song or poem, but due to last minute personal problems this was not feasible. Despite these setbacks I am very proud of my artistical representation of war. Please enjoy seeing and reading about my piece below.

War - a state of armed conflict between two groups. War - used to build up an audience in movies. War - a term we've grown up with and have seen in theaters. We sit in our seats shocked at the graphic scenes oh-ing and ah-ing, then leave to talk about how "wicked that was", or how "that was so cool", or "there should have been more bloodshed". People don't seem to realize that, despite being raised around war and violence, war is actually, literally and completely real. This means that real, living, breathing people die in pointless conflicts everyday. Government officials sit back and watch as their twisted chess game come to life. They are not afraid to start a war because they remain safe while others go out to die for their WANTS. For example when President Bush started a war with Iraq for oil. There were 4,475 American soldiers that died and 32,220 were wounded (Wihbey)because one man behind a desk desired oil. People all around the world must realize that war is not some game or event on a movie screen.

We must pay attention to how war affects not only our countries, but also the families of those who were lost. When I say "lost" I don't just mean physically - I mean mentally. There are many soldiers who come back from war with no physical alterations; however, their minds are never the same. I have a grandfather who served two terms in the Vietnam War for the Navy. He left fine,but came home with a severe case of PTSD. Almost 31% of Vietnam veterans have PTSD and this can be from multiple different stressors - the most predominate was being shot at and seeing dead bodies("PTSD: A Growing Epidemic" 10-14).

Soldiers with PTSD would often become alcoholics, abusive, and suffer from high anxiety(Price, Jennifer L., PhD. "PTSD: National Center for PTSD."); my grandad was a veteran affected by this. His disorder destroyed my family, forcing my mom and aunt to grow up with basically no parents, since my grandmother had to work three jobs to support them. This is why I chose to sound off artistically on war - it tears apart families causing pain and sadness. My goal is to have people understand that even though war happens - it's human nature - but we shouldn't glorify it. Humans fight for survival and status like any animal it's instinct and we can't help it. Though it is when we desensitize war through glorification that we, as a species, have crossed the line.

The medium i chose to express my viewpoint on war was a drawing. There are two things in this world everyone understands - music and pictures. You have the ability to show others how you feel without words. This image depicts three points of view - the family, the soldier, and the world. The family is seen as gray shadows standing at a funeral watching their loved one being buried. The soldier is being lowered in his casket into a battlefield where he took his dying breath. While all this tragedy and sadness goes on, the world is watching it all play out, seeing every moment the soldier had and every moment the family spent without him.

My piece expresses strong pathos because it shows the death of a soldier and the pain of those attending the funeral. Death is a very sensitive topic that makes people feel an intense turmoil of emotions. You can see an allusion to a war, no specific one, below the casket. Ethos is prevalent since I am the granddaughter of a Navy veteran and close friends with a Marine veteran. I have extensive knowledge on what war is really like due to conversations I've had with these two men. The logos of my piece is unwavering for this is an accurate representation of a battlefield. War happens all the time and people do die because of it. It will be difficult to disagree on anti-glorification of war after seeing these facts.

I want this piece to be posted and painted on sides of buildings all around the city of Chicago. In the age of social media, people will take pictures and post my image causing it to spread like wildfire around the nation and, hopefully, the globe. This way the general public will finally be aware of the reality of war, not some Hollywood version of it that they can walk away from when the movie ends.

Materials:

• iPad
• Drawing App
• Stylist

Works Cited:

"PTSD: A Growing Epidemic." NIH Medline Plus Winter 2009: 10-14. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Wihbey, John. "U.S. Military Casualties and the Costs of War: Iraq, Afghanistan and Post-9/11 Conflicts - Journalist's Resource." Journalists Resource. N.p., 22 Oct. 2013. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Price, Jennifer L., PhD. "PTSD: National Center for PTSD." Findings from the National Vietnam Veterans' Readjustment Study -. N.p., 17 Aug. 2015. Web. 21 Oct. 2015.

Responsible or Not?

In Rhetoric, Unit 2, we learned how language changes everything. When the Europeans started to come to the Americas and colonize native land there was a huge divide between these two groups. The divide grew as Europeans started to enslave natives during this age of ‘discovery’. The Pope, at the time, wrote this document called the Doctrine of Discovery, basically claiming all native land and turning them into slaves. We also learned more rhetorical devices including antithesis, chiasmus, hypophora, and meiosis; some of which were used in the doctrine. This brought us to our second action project, analyzing a speech challenging an injustice in the world; we could decide whether we agreed with the person or not. I decided to disagree with Barbara Hewson on the topic of rape and the victim’s role in it. Even though her facts were great and I fully agree with them, the final conclusion of ‘rape victims are morally responsible’ I highly disagree with. It was challenging to find my preferred person and speech because I wanted to have points with which I both agreed and disagreed. However, I am proud of my prezi and the way it was formatted. This project taught me how to critically analyze a speech or text, but to also see from another person's perspective. Please enjoy my presentation in the link below.

The Ground Hog 2.0

          In Design and Engineering we learned about simple machines and how they form tools. To better understand how tools work we were taught about mathematical notions of forces and leverage. For one of our FEs we went to Home Depot to see current tools, many used by gardeners, and what they were designed to do. On our other FE we had gone to Gravity Tank which help other companies improve their products. Going here had taught us of the design processes. This lead us to our first action project, to improve on a tool and redesign it, with a partner, so an elderly person has less trouble using it. My partner and I had chosen the post hole digger coming up with a design meant to have less difficulty when bringing dirt out of a small hole. There were some difficulties we had along the way, but the biggest one was having to scrap our original design and start from scratch. Though now I am proud that we had overcome this challenge and to of made a better design. I learned that when designing, or redesigning, anything expect a long process that might not succeed every time.

      Empathy, when a person tries to relate to another's situation without experience. This is the basic guideline in coming up with any design, whether your target is young or old. In todays world everything may be designed to be simple and quick to use for everyone, well almost. The elderly were not considered when making the new iPhone or refrigerator. A group of people considered to be outdated when in reality we don't take them into consideration when coming up with a new design. During my interview with a gardener he told me about different types of tools, both good and bad. He went on about how good tools were crucial to any type of job and if they were bad they became stressful to use. However what really struck me was when he said "tools are meant to make a job easier no matter what the job is or the person doing it". So my partner and I decided that we could redesign the post hole digger to make it easier for an elderly person to use. Thus the Ground Hog was born.

TS(2015).Ground Hog

       Before designing the Ground Hog we had to research the original post hole digger. Through this research I found how it's main connecting point was its pivot, which is the base of the entire tool having it open and close. Though I also discovered its two main weaknesses- digging time and strain on the body. Since it is a human powered machine it takes large quantities of time to dig holes deep enough to support posts; causing an extreme amount of strain on the back, arms, hands, and shoulders which often lead to injury. The Ground Hog will be easier upgraded version of this tool that will put less strain on joints and make digging time shrink. This version incorporates horizontal gel handles, one pole, snow blower's arm, charging dock, and buttons to make the process faster. These buttons turn the drill on/off and opens/closes the hatch. The hatch is designed to protect people from the sharp blade of the drill and to hold dirt when lifting it out of the ground. Gel handles are meant for comfort when using this tool this way hands won't become cramped when lifting and pushing the tool. The snow blower arm is meant to toss dirt out of the machine if it becomes too full, this way a person can keep digging if the depth is too hollow.

NOA(2015).Story Board Part1

NOA(2015).Story Board Part 2

      Considering the strain the elderly would have, by driving the tool into the ground and needing to lifting both the tool and dirt up without much force or resistance, the tool we designed would be perfect for them and others. The Ground Hog needs little force going into the ground due to the wedge/incline plane of the drill. Since the incline plane wraps around the cylinder shaped body it allows objects around it to be moved when rotating while the sharp triangle theme of the wedge splits the ground apart so it can do its job. This tool is time efficient because the drill is doing most of the work at a faster pace with higher accuracy. Last but not least it will cause less strain on the joints previously mentioned which results in less injuries.

TS(2015).Ground Hog, Forces

      Throughout this process, like all designers, we encountered challenge after challenge. Our first design had too many errors within the building process even though on paper it was a brilliant solution. We did include some key points from the first design to the current one such as the drill and singular pole instead of two sticks. A problem we ran into with the current design was how dirt would be released from the tool. We came up with the hatch for easy release and the addition of a snow blower's arm for when the container becomes full.

TS(2015).Ground Hog, Arm

The Scars You Don't See

      In Rhetoric we learned how to persuade others through speech. By using the different devices (metaphor, anaphora, allusion, etc.) and appeals (ethos, pathos, logos) that was presented in class in an effective manner you are able to influence the way an audience thinks, feels, and views you. This brought us to our first action project, make a debate on a topic of our choice and defend it; then to make an appealing logo to go along with our debate. I decided on domestic violence because I have experienced it first hand and do not want to sit by watching someone else suffer alone the way I did. It was challenging to film the video since I do not do well in front of the camera - I was a nervous wreck. However I am proud of my speech and having the courage to post my video. This project taught me the ways of a strong compelling speech in order to have a good connection with my audience. Please enjoy my video below.
 

 

      Imagine having a friend or family member that's being abused, but you would never know about it. Most domestic violence incidents are never reported. Now imagine yourself in this situation, you don't want to speak out because you feel that your abuser is right. I would know I've been a victim - no a survivor. I was one of the lucky few to of gotten away from my abuser, to of gotten help, but I still have problems to this day.
      Domestic violence can have many negative long term effects on anyone who has had to deal with it in his or her life. Whether it was a woman, a man, or a child; whether you are Caucasian, Asian, or Black we are all at risk of developing mental disorders due to domestic violence. They might  suffer from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), which can cause nightmares or high anxiety, depression, which causes unexplained feelings of sadness or helplessness; or dissociation, which often means they space out and aren’t very receptive.
      Furthermore, children who are exposed to domestic violence, whether it be by being abused themselves or by seeing one of their parents be abused, can often grow up to become the abusers themselves. Other times, these children might begin to believe they are to blame for what is happening, and they themselves can fall into depression.
      No one should be hurt by the hands of loved ones. No one should hide in fear of pain. No one should suffer the way I did. Notice the signs we share, the invisible scars we wear. For the chances of me coming out to you are about as likely as a cold day in hell. So be aware of those around you and as Dalai Lama said "If you can, help others; if you cannot do that, at least do not harm them".

References:

"Effects of Domestic Violence." Joyful Heart Foundation. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.

"Effects of Domestic Violence on Children." Effects of Domestic Violence on Children. Web. 18 Sept. 2015.