Verde Smoke

[10/20/07] This week’s ruminations extend the discussion of significant detail from vocabulary to the grammar of the language of landscape in Lawrence (and Austin actually). Basically, grammar refers here to the rules or formulas employed to communicate meaning using land vocabulary elements such as materials, forms, paths, and processes. And like any good sentence, the meaning is all in how you construct it – its order, its relations, its context in time and space. I see multiple grammars at play in Lawrence: creation, immigration, exodus and reluctant residence.

This week I got into the meat of the work in Lawrence, in that I finally met some residents in a context of social change, at a community meeting and a cultural celebration. As I described last week, I’ve previously tried to taste the context of Lawrence’s landscapes and people by just showing up and walking around.

This week we’re transitioning a bit away from the daily light observations, into some deeper observations based on our readings, primarily from Anne Spirn’s Language of Landscape. This week, we delved deep into discussion of the vocabulary used by language: processes, matter, form, and performance spaces.

Week 3 - 9/24 Monday – 9am – Student Holiday (really?) I’m on campus even though it’s supposedly a student holiday, and I’m hit with the unique feel of campus when not as many students are on it. It’s very subtle how the inhabitants affect the physical feel of an institutional building. And, it’s interesting how more relaxed I feel and act when the throng of students is breathing through the walls or moving through the hallways. Obviously the light has more freedom too. The light not blocked by human bodies or professors putting down the shades or closing doors.

9/23 Saturday - 11am – I’m sleeping in a bit today, taking advantage of the last days in my orange bedroom before I move next weekend. I’m enjoying the play of the light off the ivy outside my window through the blinds, because it’s about the hint of a nice outside. I can be lazy inside but still enjoy the sunshine this way.

Week 2 [9/17-9/22] - 9/17 Monday - 9am - I’m walking from my ridiculously far away spot in the Westgate lot on the MIT campus, but I try to not begrudge my fate and observe some light on the way. When I walk by the Briggs athletic field, I notice an almost invisible layer of fog of humidity over the grass. I don’t find this entirely surprising because we’re close to the Charles River at this point but you can’t necessarily see it from the road I’m walking on.

[I’m taking a great class this semester called Sensing Place: Photography as Inquiry, taught by Anne Spirn. I’m supposed to keep a journal every week as I start doing explorations of photography, architecture and urban planning. The first couple weeks are focused on noting light.

Last year, I did a presentation in the Tactical Media class, based on research I did for Fred Johnson on citizen journalism.  Here’s my notes…cleaned up considerably!

I just finished a digital storytelling and mapping workshop that included over 10 youth who stayed creative and excited to share their stories even in 90 degree heat without AC!

Wondering what fellow CTC VISTA Jessica McCoy and I have been collaborating on since September? Check out the launch of a new online project, StoriesForChange.net, sponsored by both of our host organizations!