Mapping Coummunity & Public Transit Refelctions

This week I am launching a youth art project, Special Spots, that will engage youth in mapping their personal transit routes and destinations. Hopefully the resulting art will inform the design for 11 new bus stops along the Santa Clara/Alum Rock BRT bus route in San Jose, California.

Here is the project site that I am building as we journey through the project: http://specialspots.weebly.com/

Using Tiny Planet Mobile App for Teen Art Project

Tiny Planet Japantown, San Jose

Tiny Planet Cupertino

Mayfair Community, San Jose Tiny Planet

Recently I have been exploring the mobile app Tiny Planet and, while it is kind of a novelty app, I think it can be used to engaging students in a discussion about the boundaries of neighborhoods and communities. Are these boundaries hard and fast? Are they blurred? In what contexts are neighborhood bounding lines fixed and in what ways are they blurry and moving? By taking photos of key landscapes in their communities and then taking the photos into the Tiny Planet app, students see their photos of neighborhood transformed into little planets, detailed swirly marbles floating in the sky. The resulting images speak to the notion of neighborhoods as worlds onto themselves.

A collage of these "neighborhood planets" in a public transit setting would playfully engage the viewer in questioning the existence of distinct edges to communities. These little planets are intriguing distortions of our environments. Perhaps this twisted lens can playfully highlight that we move through many communities in our daily lives and that our neighborhoods really are not islands or worlds onto themselves.

A wall of these planet would engage the viewer (waiting for the train or bus) in trying to identify the locations of the photos. The installation would invite the viewer to think about issues of community isolation, community openness, the youth perspective (as pictures are taken by teens), about the preciousness of neighborhoods, and perhaps can in some way engage the viewer to think about how we move through these spaces and connect them. We connect these dots. 

Concept Sketches for Reserch Center

Recently, I had the opportunity to submit design sketches for the creation of a large art installation to hang in the atrium of a new neurological research center. It will be exciting if this project comes to life. I would welcome the opportunity to reflect on cellular level forms in a large scale installation. A few years back I created an abstract Neuron Kimono that also reflected on neuron cells.

The wire frame of this new project would be covered with a mixture of old kimono fabrics, rice bags, recycled denim and Asian food wrappers. Layers of colored organza fabric would be stitched over the first layer of collage materials. The layered organza will reveal, in varying opacity, the textured materials below. I will also explore integrating Japanese sashiko stitching and Chinese knot cording to represent enzymes and electric impulses.

Below is the beginnings of a small scale model. Each banners will be 7 ft x 3 ft.

Japantown Mural Project Dedication

I am finally posting a few images from the dedication of the Japantown Mural project. Here is my mural, Noodle Sipper. My daughter was my model and she poses here in front of the digitally printed fence mural during the Obon Festival. The Japantown Mural Project was coordinated by Tamiko Rast of Rasteriods Design. There are around 60 panels and 30 artists involved.

A Keepsy book was created to celebrate the dedication and you can see it here: http://www.keepsy.com/hnztEOZr

Here is an earlier posting on the development of this mural panel, Noodle Sipper.

The Seeking Shelter Public Art Installation!

This past weekend the Seeking Shelter bus stop shelter came to life as a public art installation at the ZERO1 Biennial Art & Technology Biennial. Below are some images of the project.

Installation set up on Friday Sept 12, 2012

Solar lights illuminate the roof of the structure at night.

Hanging wall garden and youth designed patterns reflecting on local community. QR codes link to website pages with student statements about their designs.

listening to the Seeking Shelter Design Challenge SoundCloud set

Playing on the "Mr. Potato Head" side of the bus stop shelter. People used MakeDo components to add shelves and vases.

Above: de-installation of the roof. It takes a village!

Instagram and Wall Garden

Experimenting with window decals and Instagram and Printsgram for the Seeking Shelter installation walls. Below is the decal film I bought at Staples with a Printsgram set printed on it. I envision people sharing Instagram images of Silicon Valley and printing them on window decal film at the ZERO1 Biennial. Visitors will stick them to the bus stop shelter installation.

Below is the back side of a polygal wall with images showing through.

Can on a string phones & wall gardens

I am very excited that Monkey Wrench Design is donating two cans on a sting phones to be used into the Seeking Shelter installation at the ZERO1 Biennial.

1. The public will be invited to plug in their mobile devices and search specific tags in SoundCloud and listen to the audio there.
2. The public will be invited to submit audio recordings of what they would like to see in a bus shelter (these statements they will tag with "seeking shelter"). I am so jazzed about this integration. I am beginning to sketch out how this set up will look. Here is my first concept sketch below. 

Below is a sketch of the back side of the bus stop installation. It will have various interactive components:

1. The bus stop will have a herb wall garden of recycled plastic bottles. There will be a QR code link to a google form for people to submit recipes.
2. Youth designed radial patterns reflecting on community as well as and instagram image will be made into window decals. Visitors will submit the instagram images and I will print on window decal film for them to place up on the walls. These will light up like stained glass at night.

Wall garden test using polygal, Makedo parts and water bottles.

Above, starter plugs bought from Glow Hydroponics. The goal of the installation is to inspire youth to think outside the box and envision what they would add to a bus shelter.  The bulk of the project is the Seeking Shelter Youth Design Challenge that will launch in the fall.

Above is the structure so far. It will be painted soon.