VISA 0120 Foundations Media: Computation + Art

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Script for Faunce Arch Day Tours (Historical, Present, Future):

HISTORICAL – Diana Friedman
Today we celebrate Faunce Arch for its contribution to brown’s history since it was built in 1904.
Faunce House was originally named Rockefeller Hall when the west end of the present building was erected in 1904. At Commencement 1930, John D. Rockefeller, Jr. gave $600,000 for the enlargement of Rockefeller Hall, requesting that the building be renamed Faunce House as a memorial to President Faunce who had died in January.

In the early 1980s changes began to return the building to its purpose as a student center, as Faunce House underwent a major renovation, designed by architects Goody, Clancy and Associates.

Faunce Arch has seen many historical events that occurred at Brown University. For example, when the news of Japan’s surrender came in 1942, the ringing of the University Hall bell brought students out of their dormitories to unite with an impromptu band in a parade to the Pembroke campus, where the women joined the procession which went down Thayer Street and stopped at the flagpole for the singing of the “Star-Spangled Banner.” The students proceeded underneath Faunce Arch. Classes were suspended and a convocation called in Sayles Hall, at which Bruce Bigelow delivered a moving speech citing Brown’s contribution and honoring those who had died.

Furthermore, during the general unrest of the 1960s, during the Vietnam War, a student strike in May of 1970 followed upon the announcement on April 30 that Unites States troops had entered Cambodia, and on May 4 of the unfortunate death of four students shot by National Guardsmen during a demonstration at Kent State University. On the evening of May 4, after a speech by Senator Jacob Javits of New York, a mass meeting on the Green was held to vote on a strike in protest of the war. The next day a rally of 1,500 students in Meehan Auditorium demanded that the University take a stand against the action in Cambodia. The procession went through this very arch. This event was exactly 39 years ago today

PRESENT – Rhianna Shaw
Even though the Van Wickle Gates are the official entrance to Brown University, Faunce Arch sees a lot more activity throughout the year.  In fact, when I first visited Brown over three years ago the first piece of Brown property I stepped onto was right here.  I’m sure I’m not alone in that.  If one considers the ends of the Brown campus Pembroke and Wriston (sorry Perkins!), Faunce Arch is pretty central in connecting them.
Today the arch is occasionally used for arch-sings by various a capella groups, particularly at ‘First Friday at Faunce’, a student-run activity that happens on the first Friday of each month.  On the 4th November last year the arch saw masses of students flood through it as they all paraded onto the Main Green to celebrate Obama’s victory and then proceeded to march through it and around campus.
Faunce Arch is also a focal point on campus, with a giant, detailed campus map and bulletin boards displaying posters of events to come and photos of events past.  The airport shuttle runs from it, everyone arranges meetings under it; people even take shelter under it!  Our celebration today is just a way to give something back to Faunce Arch.  Thank you Faunce, and thank you all for coming!

FUTURE – Jina Park
There are currently a lot of new plans for renovations at Brown University. One of the upcoming renovations include renovating Faunce House to create the Stephen Robert ‘62 Campus Center at Faunce House.
A Boston-based architectural firm, Schwartz/Silver has been selected to design and execute the $15-million renovation. The firm specializes in two types of projects – renovation of historically significant structures and construction of modern buildings. Schwartz/Silver designed Princeton’s Andlinger Center for the Humanities, which required dramatic interior renovations of two 19th-century buildings while maintaining their outer facades. Andlinger was hailed as a major success when it opened in 2004.
Together with the student resources and services center located in J. Walter Wilson which was also recently renovated, the new Campus Center will represent the realization of key objectives in the Plan for Academic Enrichment:  fostering a greater sense of community at Brown and more effectively integrating the academic and co-curricular lives of students. The campus center’s construction could result in Faunce being closed for all of the 2009-10 academic year, and, with a host of other projects set to be completed in coming years, will change the daily lives of most Brown students.

When asked about the Faunce House, Schatz said he has been drawn to the building’s iconic arch. “Almost every student who takes a class during the day has to walk through the archway at some point,” Schatz said. “It’s both a gateway into the green and also a focal point for visitors.” Director of Student Activities Ricky Gresh has put together a planning committee composed of administrators, faculty, undergrads and students from the Graduate and Medical schools. Their first meeting included a tour of Faunce. “I’d never realized how broken up the building was,” said Eleanor Cutler ‘10, campus life chair for the Undergraduate Council of Students and a member of the committee. If you take a look around and begin to notice how separated Faunce Arch is to the Faunce house of which it is a part of, you might not be very surprised to hear that, to make the building more connected and accessible, there are plans to make entrances through the Faunce Arch, which will make it a even more public and active space at Brown. Whereas now it is just a passageway that connects the main green with waterman street, it will also become an entrance way into the newly renovated student center after the renovation.
Therefore, Faunce Arch Day is also an attempt for us to recognize and appreciate Faunce Arch as the way it is now, as it will undergo changes starting next academic year. We hope that by having this tour, you have had a chance to think more about and appreciate Faunce Arch. Thank you very much and happy Faunce Arch day!

My final piece was on display from Wednesday May 6 to Monday May 11 outside of List Art Center. I chose this site because it is a more quiet and more private space that would allow for a better appreciation of the bottles’ music.

Despite the bad weather people got to interact with it.

I included a sign that would invite everyone to play.

I wrote clear instruction with two sample songs to encourage people to play with confidence. I also invited the public to write instructions for songs of their choice.

The bottles were numbered to facilitate people’s interaction.

I was able to receive responses from three people.

Here is the firs song someone wrote. It is titled “Stairway to Heaven” :

A second person wrote a song called “A Vous Dirais Je Maman”:

A third person found one of my bottles to be off-tune. The note says: “The 5 doesn’t sound quite right in the Ave Maria but perhaps it’s just me.”

Here is a video of how my second sample song, “Cielito Lindo” is supposed to sound:

Here is another video of people interacting with the bottles:

The structure was able to withstand three rainy days. Unfortunately it could not withstand the windstorm from Sunday May 10.

Sadly, the structure had to be disassembled and recycled

It was a great pleasure to see people enjoying the musical qualities of my piece. Although I was not present to see all the people who played with the bottles, it was exciting to read the comments and collaborations that people made despite the unfavorable weather.

I also noticed that people struggled to read the numbers for the sample songs. Perhaps bigger numbers and an indication of meter would make the songs easier to play. Additionally, I noticed that the bottles are loud enough and could possibly be installed in a more public space in order to receive more responses.

Life in the urban environment is stressful. A multitude of problems like pandemic outbreaks, examinations and deadlines, succeeding in the working world and many, many more are constantly putting a strain on our minds and bodies. Without proper care and relaxation, it would leave us exhausted and drained of the zest for life. Han-soap is specially designed to provide soothing relief, a source of detoxification and de-stressing. With a unique DIY kit packed with all-natural, lush and edible ingredients; the recipe for refreshment is up to you. The ingredients combine to make a wide array of body scrubs, facial masks or exfoliate to suit your tastes. Han-soap will alleviate the tension from your hectic life and do it with delicious fragrances and a little pizzazz.
It truly is food for the senses.

My project strives to be a bastion of support to the students at Brown; to lighten the mood through the public engagement of therapeutic art. The idea is to create a source of relaxation that is safe, fun, non-toxic and just the smell alone is enough to soothe a burdened shoulder or two.
The audience makes the soap themselves using easy-to-follow recipes and I would provide any assistance if need be; or there may be some convenient take-home kits too. The end result is then conveniently packaged and portable to be shared and enjoyed.

Here is the link to the slideshow of the project – a step by step process of setting up my booth and of people experiencing the project!
Han-Soap Slideshow

Here is the video documentation of my final project. I’ve uploaded it to youtube since the file size exceeds the maximum file size for the blog (if i were to compress it to a size small enough to fit on here it would look terrible, it’s about 9 minutes long). Thanks to Daniel for acting as camera operator for the project.
This experimental performance took place on Sunday May 2nd in Manning Chapel (without permission) at 10:30 pm. The performance is meant to be an exploration of the absurdities of religion, particularly Catholicism, and the effects of religious indoctrination.
Please leave comments on the video to let me know what you thought of it.
For more information about the project see the pdf I posted previously.

watch here

Wish Forest Documentation (link to pdf file)

By installing the wish tree in a space that people come for solely practical reasons I tried to offer the public an opportunity for a more personal connection to the space and also to alter the public space by changing people’s mood from being stressed out and worried about everyday hassle to being able to look at the bigger picture, i.e., the future and the bigger world surrounding them.

On Monday, April 27th, 2009 at 12-2 p.m., Jina, Rhianna and I had 50 surveys completed regarding Faunce Arch Day (FAD).

The questions were:

1. On average, how often do you pass through Faunce Arch in a week?

never rarely once a few times daily multiple times a day

2. Do you ever stop to think about the arch as you pass through it?

Yes No

3. Do you think of Faunce Arch as a public space?

Yes No

4. Do you think Faunce Arch is underappreciated?

Yes No

5. Do you like the idea of ‘Faunce Arch Day’ to celebrate the arch?

Love it Sounds Fun That’d Be Okay Erm, what? No That’s ridiculous I hate it

6. Would you come to ‘Faunce Arch Day’?

Yes No

The Results of our Survey

According to our experiment of doing a survey under and nearby Faunce arch, most of the people tended to pass by the arch at least few times a week, most of them passing through the arch daily or even multiple times a day. More people never stopped to think about the arch as they passed through it. (31 didn’t and 19 did) A pretty surprising result as we were not expecting any people at all to have thought about the arch. Approximately 4 out of 5 people thought of Faunce Arch as a public space, and thought that the Faunce Arch is underappreciated. According to some people, doing our experiment(the survey), actually helped them rethink about and appreciate Faunce Arch more. Most people were either excited for or confused about the idea of ‘Faunce Arch Day’ to celebrate the arch, but no one hated the idea. 70% of the people who filled out the survey said they would or might come to ‘Faunce Arch Day’.

Our Final Conclusions:

It is important to note that the blue bars are from the surveys taken under Faunce Arch, whilst the red bars are the ones taken on the Main Green. Conclusions drawn from this survey:
• The majority of students pass through Faunce Arch with some degree of frequency.
• Although most don’t stop to think about the arch as they pass through, more than a third of them do.
• There is general consensus that it is a public space, although interestingly the fraction of students asked under Faunce Arch who see it as private (~1/3) is significantly larger than that of those who were asked on the Main Green (~1/6).
• The majority of students (78%) think Faunce Arch is underappreciated.
• There were mixed reactions to the idea of Faunce Arch Day, but the two most frequent responses were ‘Sounds fun’ and ‘Erm, what?’, suggesting that most people saw it either as a good event or else were just confused by the idea. There were also a fair number of people who thought it would be ‘okay’.
• Nearly twice as many people said they’d come to Faunce Arch Day as those who said they wouldn’t.
• Those who took the survey under Faunce Arch were significantly more willing to attend Faunce Arch Day.

After making some correlations between two of the questions, further conclusions were drawn:
• The majority of people who think it is underappreciated would come to Faunce Arch Day (and vice versa). There is no correlation between those who don’t think it’s underappreciated and wouldn’t come to Faunce Arch Day.
• The majority of students asked under Faunce Arch who think that Faunce Arch Day ‘sounds fun’ pass through it multiple times a day.
• There is no relation between those who think of this as a public space and those who think it is underappreciated.
• All of the students asked under Faunce Arch who pass through it daily think that it is underappreciated.
• Except the points stated above, there was no clear correlation between the frequency with which students passed through the arch and there answers on any of the other questions.

Here are some photos from the experiment:

Make Your Own Soap Click for PDF

For my project I wanted to focus on the process of therapy or the feel-good-emotions of the audience while engaging in my art piece. Being a period of high stress and anxiety for everyone in Brown (exams, projects, graduation, post-graduation-no-job-in-bad-economy worries) I feel it would be an effective concept to soothe the mood of students here.

My initial experiment was a punching stand where people could vent out their frustrations. The surface was drawable and people could write or draw whatever is causing them so much stress and be the focus of attack. It would be placed in the Science Library where people would be cooped up for hours frantically studying and worrying, hence an apt location to stress relieve.

However, it wasn’t practical to build such a huge structure (due to fire safety reasons) and my lack of skills in building a stable and strong enough stand to withstand the force. Here was a mock-up I did which actually functioned pretty well as a knock-around punching bag on a bed, made of bubble wrap, a gallon of water and some tape.

My other experiment was a projection of a message to the seniors to reflect their time remaining in Brown and to cherish the last few weeks in college. A projector would be mounted on a window facing Thayer Street from the Science Library. It would be hooked up to a laptop would be able to customize a projected message. However, some of the messages could be misinterpreted as bomb threats or some similar security scare, hence it may not be the most wise of public art experiment.

My final experiment for the week was portable therapeutic art pieces. This was a take on the stress ball, where the comforting squishy feeling of kneading the object helps to relieve stress. I used the glove as the object, as the shape of the hand is familiar and act as a literal source of support through the tough exam period.
The objects used:
And the extremely satisfying and tactile outcome:

The Tree of Knowledge

Thus far I have (re)investigated the space of the rock in which I will be working, finalized my locations, starting conceptualizing the piece, and recorded images (see below).

The piece will start by me handing out catalogue cards with a poem / cryptic message, ultimately leading readers to the rock lobby’s computers where they will type in “An Analysis of Knowledge and Valuation” — and be lead to its location on Floor A. This first stretch of the ‘discovery’ will occur on the periphery of the rock (as in, near the top, in an area that is well lit, etc.):

this is the aisle:

the 1st book and it’s surroundings (the book will contain and OBVIOUSLY PLACED catalogue card with the next message/poem on it, leading participants to next piece). The page in which the poem will be placed has already been selected, and I will have photocopied it, pasted it over the actual page, and “edited it” to adhere to my personal vision of knowledge)

here’s the next placement (4th floor)–> the ascent to knowledge, an upward growth rooted in theory but branching upwards to tangible fact, “The Secret Life of Plants.”

this is the aisle, one that is far harder to reach/find, though not impossible. This struggle captures the final push for knowledge one must pursue:

the book:

the final location, where one will ‘find the knowledge’ ( a video of a tree, morphing and moving, a symbol of the tree of knowledge and the growth to understanding ) will be here, next to a book titled “The River of Life”. This book, a ‘river’, will lie next to my ‘tree’, a clear connection between an element that sustains another: water and nature.

I will have a card-catalogue- comment book placed next to the monitor: