Reading #4

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In “Nothing to Lose: Interview with Gretchen Berg” by Andy Warhol, he discusses his feelings and thoughts towards his work and his life as a creative person.

1) How is Warhol able to turn it off and based upon the article does he not care about his work?

Warhol stated that he turns it off by not feeling. He chooses not to care deeply about things in life because he feels that it doesn’t really matter. He states, “I’m very passive. I accept things. I’m just watching, observing the world.” Warhol doesn’t like to dwell on things.

I don’t think it’s that he doesn’t care about his work, it’s that he chooses not to give meaning to his work. He cares about what it looks like on the surface, but there is no message to his pieces. Warhol states, “There’s nothing really to understand in my work.” He does art because he enjoys it and likes the aesthetic of it, but he is not sending out of mass message to society. He is just making pretty.

2) Why is this article relevant to the last project?

This article is related to the shelter project for one reason. When a shelter is a just a shelter, there is no meaning to it. It’s a structure to block wind, rain and other elements. That’s kind of like Andy Warhol’s work; he did not assign any meaning to his paintings so it’s just a painting. But the minute you give meaning to the shelter, thats when it becomes a home. The minute you give meaning to a painting, it becomes a message.

Personal Reflection:

1) I absolutely become self conscious of my ideas. I’m constantly comparing my thoughts to others and judging myself.

2)I think that the nothing-to-lose attitude can be helpful. I feel like with that attitude, it gives a person a freedom to do whatever they want without worrying of others judgement. A con to this attitude could be you might not be sensitive to other people or groups in terms of how you are presenting your piece of work.

 

Shelter Project Reflection #2

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After reading about Maslow’s Hierarchy, I was extremely intrigued. The article discusses deficiency needs and how if you don’t have those needs then you can feel anxious and stressed out. Once you meet the needs of the first tier then you can move up the next one. I think that the shelter that we are building in class needs to address at least the first two tiers of the pyramid. The third tear, the love and belonging tier, could be added into the aesthetics of the shelter by putting personal touches around it.

Shigeru Ban discussed how he came up with the idea to make cheap housing for tsunami disaster relief. He stated that he wanted to use his skills to help people of disaster relief rather than using his skills to represent the wealth of rich people. I’ve never realized that when we think of architects as a society, they are usually identified as people building grand structures. Architects are almost glorified because we only hear about the ones who make huge skyscrapers or modern buildings. Ban should get much more credit for his work for disaster relief. Have I ever heard of him? No. He has saved many many lives with his engineering just by using simple materials. Not only did he create a physical space for a person to live in, but a sanctuary and a place to call their own. That is so important when your life is literally and figuratively destroyed.

“Now this fundamentally changes the way we respond to disasters, because gone are the horrid conditions inside a sports arena or a gymnasium, where people are crammed on these cots inside. Now we have instant neighborhoods outside.” Michael McDaniel discusses how he built light weight pods, called Exo Housing Unit, that can be virtually placed anywhere. I included the quote because he mentioned the word neighborhood. In the period after a natural disaster when your home is damaged and/or destroyed, the sense of community is often destroyed with it. In times of hardship, community can literally save a persons life. McDaniel thought of the ingenuous idea to create his pods so that little neighborhoods can be created. The more you feel like you belong, the safer you will feel in a period of high stress. 

Shelter Group Reflection

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Taylor and I joined Savannah to create her vision of an American house made out of found objects, much like the structures constructed in Skid Row. We approached the idea of a shelter as some place to call home; a location to feel that it is yours and that you feel safe in. Our structure, which mimicked shanty from the outside but comfy on the inside, accomplished this goal of home. Our personal touches such as potted plants, shelving inside, a colorful wall collage and comfy seating gave the shelter a sense of homeyness. These touches contributed to the feeling of permanence, which is important to create a safe place to call one’s own.

Initially, the group budget was around $11, because we were going to use mostly found object. As we realized that our shelter was going to need waterproofing, our expenses rose. All of our cardboard, plants and newspaper were found, but the seating and cloth on the inside was bought for about $20. Taylor graciously donated her large amount of cardboard for our shelter and my parents donated the newspaper. We went to Home Depot for the pipes, trash bags, waterproofing spray, duct tape and glue. For the inside, Taylor went to a thrift shop for the pillows and sheets. The plants were also from Taylor’s garden.

The workload was pretty dead even. We all contributed to each part of building the structure and put in equal hours. Savannah, Taylor and I were very compatible and worked as an efficient team.

The strength I added to the group was making sure we got to working. I felt that I did a good job of getting the group together and also making sure craft was up to par. My weakness was understanding and formulating how the structure was going to be built. The measurements were hard for me to understand and how everything was going to fit together.

I found that I played a little bit of the recorder and the webmaster. I took pictures every time we worked to document our progress and posted onto the google document occasionally.

The advice I would give to the next group is, DO NOT PROCRASTINATE. I’m so glad our group didn’t procrastinate because it took many hours to complete our structure. Also, when building your shelter, think practically. The shelter is OUTSIDE, which means thinking about wind, rain and overall dirtiness.