etch.

This proposal focuses heavily on the idea of seeing but not really seeing, an altered view if you will. With the amount of multi-tasking and schedule that many people go through on a daily basis, we hardly take notice of what is really going on around us. This would give a "reward" to having viewers slow own enough to realize what is before them.

In this style, have a photography of KC and edit the image so that it's not noticeable right away, but eventually becomes recognizable. This can either be a set of images of Kansas City to go within the building or could scale the side of the Levee Shed.


An installation that would go along with this would be a reflecting pool/giant mirror. Creating a pattern of smaller mirror pieces, a giant mirror will be laid out on the ground on the corner of 43rd and Main Street, in the middle of the corner park. 2 benches will be placed near the giant mirror, for the viewer to reflect into.

euphoria dream.

euphoria: a feeling of well-being or elation; one that is groundless, disproportionate to its cause, or inappropriate to one's life situation—compare.

dream: series of thoughts, images, and/or emotions occurring during sleep; an experience of waking life that gives the characteristics of a dream.

inspiration.

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proposal.

A rotating set of similar images on the Levee Shed. The backgrounds would be different well-known Kansas City or Missouri places. The same set of individuals would be in each of the photographs and they would all be wearing some form of a play mask, be that of an animal or something; basically their identity would not be fully known…developing this idea of being part of a group without losing yourself.

Another similar idea would be to have photographs of the dreams from post 8 up on the Levee Shed.

The third option is a brief installation at the corner of 43rd and Main Street of euphoria dream images via various levels. This would be a flat structure of about 20 by 20 feet. The top most layer would be of glass bricks. Right under that layer would be a video screen/projection screen that plays a collection of videos. The videos would be shot of different parts of Kansas City. There would be video of various points of the day of the city skyline, from different major attractions, from different viewpoints. This would follow the idea of dreams pulling from things that we see everyday, not only showing off points of the city, but also allowing any memories associated with those places to sprout up in the viewers. Viewers have the ability to stand on top of this videoscreen to feel as if they are experiencing and seeing these scenes first hand.

begets.

dream begets dream.

dream: series of thoughts, images, and/or emotions occurring during sleep; an experience of waking life that gives the characteristics of a dream.
begets: to bring into existence; give rise to; bring about.

inspiration came from:

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The focus for this would be an overall theme of dreams + dreaming. Through various medias, the idea of dreams and dreaming will be explored in the physical installation out in the park on the corner of 43rd Street and Main Street as well as within in the building via photographs and other manipulated photograph work.

The photographs  in the building would be representative of different kinds of dreams that people often have: living in the city, flying/superhero, magic, etc in similar styles of the images below. These photographs would be around the main area on the walls. Above the lobby teller on the wood would be imagery of Kansas City from a dreamers aspect.







 

Installation in the park at the corner of 43rd + Main Street would be a larger than life umbrella either well-worn or brand new. There would be a bench under the umbrella for people to sit and converse or simply think. The umbrella would be angled to appear as if it was flying towards Main Street. The idea is going a bit with Mary Poppins -esk with an umbrella about to take off...just like our dreams, brimming with potential. The main way that we often know that we are dreaming is that there is one thing that is slightly different, be that the way someone/something/somewhere or the story, something is at least slightly off balance. So, if the rest of the corner/park looked as a regular park with grass, benches, and just a larger than life umbrella, then people may pretend or start to dream of the impossible.

interactive board.

Interaction, the key element in bringing together individuals. I’m interested in the idea of bringing people together that would not normally interact from introverts to people that just don’t know each other yet. What better way to do that then to use what many of us already own and put it to better use.

The idea is to create a system that allows users to effect what is displayed on the screens based on data sent from their cellphones most likely this will be in the form of an app. I was recently reading an article talking about how high the number of individuals that have smart phones or will have smart phones is extremely high, plus adding in how Google chose Kansas City as one of the first places to install Google Fiber, KC citizens will becoming tech savvy soon, if they are not already.

video sources of inspiration for this is: interactive wall + digital street signs + interactive art


**specifics to come.

something like history.

Since Kansas City has a historical connection to trains and trains are often a symbol for growth, transportation, connection, or a foundation, when used as a reference. The idea is to create a life-size engine car. The West Bottoms, is a historical part of town where the trains used to end, right where there used to be lots of farms and cattle. The focus is to make history more ingrained in current culture with the action of a train engine car busting through the wall of the Levee Shed.


This is a historical image of train in Kansas and the main inspiration for how the engine car should look.


Quick basic mock up of train engine car on the Levee Shed. 

These are ideas for the materials to create the train. The thoughts are to create the sculpture by bringing together via a range of smaller materials such as those shown above. The actual color of the materials may be used or I may settle on one color and make everything the same.

Train tracks to be angled to appear as if train coming through the Levee Shed is headed to the track in the middle of the grassy lawn.

circularly sculpted rectangular prisms.

On the corner of 43rd + Main Street, I propose installing a circularly sculpted rectangular prism structure. The materials for the rectangular prisms could be wood or fiberglass or ceramic; whichever material will last longer. This sculpture would be an abstracted visualization of a community. It would capture the attention of people driving, as well as work as a landmark. People will be able to walk under it and gaze up at it.

Bird's eye of site with sculpture.

The physical structure would have a diameter of 30 feet. Support beams/poles and wire would be needed to help keep the structure in the air.

Bird's-eye view sketch of the base layer for other rectangular blocks.

Colors codes (possibility for the blocks to glow-in-the-dark). CMYK is to be used for its direct connection to design and print based work. Although it is a lesser known color format, it should still be known outside of the direct print world.

This showcases the idea of multiple rectangular prisms coming at different angles after the base layer depicted in the sketch.

anna thirds.

The main issue that I was addressing was an abstract visual display of connecting. This theme is focused around the idea of circles representing connecting, community, unity, life, everything, cycle, etc. I wanted to shift current society’s focus on the here and now, moving more so to address the then, now and future; the world and all of its cycles that we go through: seasons, life to death, phases, trends, and whatever else have you.

Painted on the parking lot and sidewalk would be a collection of PMS300 circles that started out sparse but came together at all intersections of human interaction between bank and customer/family member. Following the idea that an individual comes into the parking lot, but joins the community while at the bank and then continues on with their drive, becoming the individual again. The specific paint that would be used would have a glow-in-the-dark feature that would then light up the lot at night, continuing the idea of always being there or your “north star.”

Sometimes, when I am out, even though I am with a group of people or simply with others, I still feel alone. I wanted to try to comfort the individual that feels alone by adding in the circular bench in the middle of the lawn area at the corner of 43rd and Main Street. The idea of sitting and reflecting is a favorite past time of mine and by giving a place to sit to not only enjoy the grassy lawn around the bench, the community mural on the Levee Shed and statues of faceless sculptures in the little park.

Faceless sculptures are just that, sculptures that do not have a face, simply a body. This could be a good photo moment, or place to dream of whom we could be like. It could be of famous people who are from the community or area, or it could simply be creatures or people from the minds of the artists who will sculpt these statues to be of woods, metals or other easily accessible durable materials.

aside(s) to myself.

word focus: 
Community. Unity. Strength. Stability. Consistency. Reliability. Trust. Encouragement. Positivity. Intelligent. Design for Good. Growth.

locations for art:
Levee Shed. Windows facing Main Street. Pedestals inside bank. Drive thru. Grass area/corner of 43rd + Main Street.

questions to ponder:
How do you create community without establishing leaders/individuals/people as icons/people as the voice of the community?

How do you add work/art but not give one interpretation of what the area is? 

How do you define but not exclude those that create the community? 

How do you define the community? + How do you define community?

How do you define + design for a demographic that isn’t fully known?

Where do you draw the line between business + community + individual?

What am I overlooking?

What will the work be first defined as/labeled/what connotations do I want to focus on?

the anna seconds.

I've been looking around on the Internet to see what kinds of art people are creating. I know that art is this field that does not have a definitive definition and many simply leave it up to the idea that art is that which expresses, plain and simple.

this is some of what I've found + have been inspired by.

Thus, in this scenario though, I would say not that the proposals are for art, but visual representations of community. Community should be defined, not merely as in not only the grouping of individuals, but also including the physical space in which that act takes up. Therefore, the final solution should include both individuals and their world.

So, I’ve been looking online at what Capitol Federal's customer demographics are, based on three miles in each direction from the building's location. I’ve been trying to see what all encompasses that area.

Google Maps map of the are. B is the new location.

My next thoughts have brought me to needing to go wander around those areas and "see the sights," so to speak. I think that images of the community should be brought into the new building. When there is direct connection to an object or place, there is one an attraction to that new object and often two, a need to continue that connection, often meaning a need to share then. As much as some people may deny it, we all have this inner desire to connect to something larger than ourselves. In keeping with that idea, if we are able to connect people to images that relate to their community: people they've seen, places they've been or some place/someone that they've yet to meet + go. Photographs are one of the easiest ways for people to connect to a memory or theme or statement or whatever one would like to explain it as. A photograph has the ability to speak more than words ever can, thus focusing on a rotating image collection of parks, people, streets, events in the demographic area would show a community's memories.

Another option that I have been pushing around is the idea of an exquisite corpse. Specifically, I’ve been thinking about overlaying of different parts of images and logos to create a larger collection of community memories. I'm still working on putting together a better mock up, but what I've put together quickly to attempt to visualize what I'm stating is above.

the anna firsts.

my mind map of information to work from/focus on.

My current focus is heavily on the word community, which also includes the physical surrounding area.

inspiration:

Crown Fountain

Millenium Park, Chicago, IL.

artist/sculptor: Jaume Plensa (Spain, 1955).

interactive wall +reflecting pool. 

video clips from 1,000 Chicago residents with 8 different orders.

see it in action + learn about the fountain here.

Idea for KC: use images of residents, artists, students, events, surrounding areas or photographs of Kansas City projected on the wall of the Levee shed. Capitol Federal is involved with events that happen in the communities, where the buildings are located so photographs from the events could be projected on the wall promoting the community, fun, trust, family, and the area.

images to be projected or shown on the side of the levee shed.

Other than the above projected images, I've mainly been thinking about ways to incorporate the surrounding areas and individuals. I know that Millenium Park is a very touristy and fun place to visit in Chicago with a lot of art. That starts to bring together the idea of making art more fun and interactive, while also educational. The Boeing Galleries in Chicago are modern and contemporary artists that invite viewers to look at their work, while walking through the Park; it also rotates collections(see examples below). Engage and inspire visitors to create is another focus as of now.

anna statement + anna defined.

below is my designer/artist/bio statement.

I am a twenty-something year old documentarian of my world. We are the sum of our experiences, thoughts, people, and hobbies, anything that we come across. All that we do impacts not only ourselves, but also has the potential to impact further individuals and generations; thus, we need to do all that we can to keep positive and focus on helping others in as many ways as we can. Many have come to define me as hardworking, analytical, quiet, sarcastic, honest and inquisitive. Visually, I’m attracted to texture: smooth, rough, visual, verbal, physical, theoretical, and nonexistent. Inspiration comes from all directions, all senses, all parts of our life and it is up to us to grab hold, transform and strategically form all of those aspects into pieces that capture as wide of an audience as possible. If we are not being active individuals in our world, communities, and lives, then we are actively allowing the world to further fall into decay.

gest 350. sponsored studio. capitol federal.

This summer I am taking GEST 350 Sponsored Studio Capitol Federal. I'll be mirror posting from that class onto this blog. Specifically, in the words of Assistant Professor Michael E. Kidwell this class is an:

"interdisciplinary elective, students have the opportunity to develop ideas into proposals for work intended to enhance a significant architectural project (in proximity to kcai) at the intersection of 43rd and main street.

in addition to the exploration of personal and self-initiated themes, this studio provides students a venue for expressing ideas of community, strength, stability and trust—the core values of the studio sponsor.

a range of traditional and time-based work proposals will be developed and may include digital and analog sketches, models, storyboards, schematics, and other trial applications in conjunction with presentation and verbal description."