"Fragments in Time and Space" at the Smithsonian

An exhibit about the use of time and space in art at the Smithsonian. The description reads: "since the beginnings of Modernism, issues of time and space have been central to art in all media, from the fragmentation of space in Cubism and the depiction of speed in Futurism to the manipulation of these elements made possible through cinematic techniques. ...Using a range of both direct and indirect approaches, all of these works encourage viewers to focus on and reconsider the way they perceive and experience the world — from a single moment in time to a vast idea of the infinite."
Fragments in Time and Space | Exhibitions | Smithsonian
 

"Zen in the Art of Travel Behavior"

"How do people perceive and understand their transit journeys?... This project used visual data, specifically photographs, to examine people's experiences as they navigate the public transit networks of Los Angeles. We asked participants to gather pictures of the things most important to them on their transit trips using their own, and now nearly ubiquitous, digital cameras, smart phones, or camera phones." Check out the full description of "Zen in the Art of Travel Behavior: 
Using Visual Ethnography to Understand the Transit Experience" from the minds of UCLA here: http://www.its.ucla.edu/uclatransitphotos/ProjDescription.html


And check out the product (photographs) here:
http://www.its.ucla.edu/uclatransitphotos/gallery_index.cfm

Who else looks up at the same sky?

Think on this.

Stars

(A poem by me, sjhuber, originally part of a poetry assignment way back in 9th grade-- please do not share without asking me permission first)

It’s hard to think of violence when you are on a blanket under the stars.

Your head is full of happiness and your stomach is full of roasted marshmallows.

The stars flicker up above and that is all your sugar-coated mind cares to follow.

But, think.

Who else is looking up at the same stars?
Who else sees them flicker?

Who else sees them dance?

Is her mind caramelized or are her thoughts sinking into pits of waste?

Is her stomach satisfied or is it hollow?

Is she with loved ones or is she watching her loved ones being taken away?

Think while on a blanket under the stars.

Even though the calming embers of the fire spread warmth,

Not everyone feels the warmth, instead some may be charred.

"Inviting The World To Dinner"

Oh how I would love to live like this!


"Every week for the past 30 years, I've hosted a Sunday dinner in my home in Paris. People, including total strangers, call or e-mail to book a spot. I hold the salon in my atelier, which used to be a sculpture studio. The first 50 or 60 people who call may come, and twice that many when the weather is nice and we can overflow into the garden." A story from NPR in 2009, give it a listen.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=99172304&sc=emaf

Developing a blog

As I start this blog I have the challenge of figuring out what I should post here and what I should post elsewhere and what I should just keep to myself. I come across so many interesting articles that I want to share it's hard to just keep this blog for issues of space and place. So I will begin to post other things as well. We'll see how it goes. After all, I'm not supposed to know where this blog is going... a blog is not a book with a defined ending.

Different angles

Here are several different photos that I took of a stairwell. It is amazing how many different ways the same space can be viewed, or in this case defined by a camera.

What does the place you sleep in say about you?

Check out this NY Times story on children and their environments titled "Where Children Sleep."

http://lens.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/04/where-children-sleep/

Think about the room where you sleep. Does it represent you? Your identity? Personality? Social class? Geographic region? Culture? Your lifestyle?

Why I am here

When I have the internet open on my lap top, I feel like the whole world is sitting there waiting for me, like the world is sitting on my lap. So, when I go to use word processing software to record my thoughts, I close my internet browser. The portal is closed and the world disappears.

What is an appropriate space to share my thoughts? Is the most appropriate space the air around my lips, so I can exhale my thoughts, and let them float around the room until they settle in a pile of clothes or books? Or is a tangible piece of paper the appropriate space? I can leave my thoughts in ink or graphite. But no one else will ever see the paper. The paper either gets lost in the mess around me, or it is filed into a folder of other thoughts quietly awaiting…Awaiting what? I don’t know. Or should I let my thoughts sit on my computer in electronic code, let them sit in a file accessible only through the clicking of buttons? And still, I am my only audience.. Or is a blog the appropriate space? Should I share my thoughts with strangers? Share them with the world…the very world that I cut myself off from so that I could write the thoughts down? What is an appropriate space? Then again, what is space? Scholars spend their lives answering that question. I hope to use this blog to informally explore the relationship between people and their environments.

With this first blog entry, I am seeing what it feels like to leave the portal open and allow my words to travel where they may. After I post my thoughts, instead of feeling like the world is waiting for me, I get to sit here waiting for the world. So please, World, leave kind comments, and send interesting observations and thoughts my way.