remains of a dead cat

"pine tree" air freshner

pink paint splotch on road

 photograph of day four sketchbook writings

front of broken car side-view mirror

back of mirror

Day Four Findings

On today's walk I was very aware of how my body was reacting to the walk, or more precisely, how it was reacting to the act of collecting "trash".   Maybe because I had been reading about the MS-13 gang, one of the most dangerous gangs in the country centered in LA but also has a presence in Langley Park.  I could really feel how tense and nervous I was.   I put my head down and searched trying not to make eye contact or let anyone see me picking up stuff.    I had this sense that I did not belong there.   It's not a new awareness, I've felt this since the first time I walked through Langley Park.   It's funny how it's only a few miles from Takoma Park but feels like a different country.    Then again, I don't really fit in Takoma Park either, hence, the day three "word of the day" DISPLACEMENT.   I think a big part of it is that I'm picking up trash.   I can't help wondering what people are thinking of me as they pass by in their cars or follow behind me on the sidewalk.  Probably no one cares, but it does make me think about the concepts of value and power and how it reflects in the way we identify with ourselves and others.   I feel uncomfortable because I subconciously identify the act of picking up other people's trash with homelessness or "poorness".   In a way, my art is part of that conversation, the sacred and the profane, value and non value.   I'm interested in the things we as a society throw away.   It reflects what our society deems "valuable" and "invaluable".  I've always wanted to be an Archeologist since I was little, funny how life works.  

Today was a good collecting day.  I found a big shiny smashed aluminum tray, a couple more flare wires, another 7/11 neon orange pizza box, a great smashed side view car mirror with a cool black pattern on the back, a silver soup spoon, two wood pieces with white and brown paint on them, a broken wood umbrella handle, a couple of lead tire weights to add to the growing collection, a black rubber flip flop sole, some odds and ends plastic pieces, one lonely blue puzzle piece that made me think of my Grandma, she loved putting puzzles together, as well as good metaphor for displacement.  

On my walk today, I saw a lot of those "pine" scented, pine tree shaped, car air fresheners, in varying degrees of decay, along the sidewalks.   I thought how ironic it is that these "pine tree" "air fresheners" are tossed into nature and pollute the very thing that they are meant to fondly remind us of.   So I thought wouldn't it be interesting to photograph each one and then do a large photo montage of all of them.  But then I thought there is so much of that going on these days in the art world.   Do I really need to bring more irony to the art world?  It's very tempting though and once again that word "displacement" comes to mind.  

I took a photo of a pile of decayed cat on the sidewalk in front of Value Village.   All that was left was a pile of bones and black fur.    I had seen this cat the day it was killed, about three weeks or so ago, it was lying along the road, it looked like it had just been hit, it was pure black lying on the pure black tar of the road.   I remember thinking how weird it was to see a dead kitten just lying there in full view as people walked and drove by.   It's something you see all the time in your car and don't really think much of it, but it's different when you walk, there's nothing to "protect" you from it, it's right there in your face.   When I walked home that afternoon, it had been run over again and it's bright pink guts were lying there alongside it.   The colors were shocking and strangely beautiful.  The bright pink contrasting with the black fur and the black tar on the road.  I remember thinking that I wish I would have taken a photograph of it "before" and "after" but I didn't because I thought the person walking behind me and the people in the cars passing by would think I was weird.   I think this project will be good for me.   My dad use to say, "You care too much about what other people think"; I guess I'm still working through that one.

Day Three assemblages and some painter's tape words to ponder and think about

two found wire forms combined

three sense observations on day three and the word of the day is Displacement, a good word to describe the immigrant population of Langley Park, the objects I find as well as my own feelings of displacement.  

10" x 4.5" found cardboard block and found black rubber object

Mobile from found objects (lead weight, rubber hose, flare wires, tin can tops and hubcap wire

"Fledgling"  found feather, plastic fork, and flare wire 15" x 12"

stuffed animal road kill

Day Three Findings

Today it was 9 degrees out, the coldest day so far.   It was sunny and still out so it didn't feel as bad as it could have.   It actually was a beautiful walk.   The crisp air felt good; I felt alive!    

I found a bunch of flare wires, six lead wheel weights, a couple of hubcap rings, a Ford hubcap, some assorted black rubber objects, some shiny objects to add to my collection, a bent up metal muffler shield? a metal pin, a five sided wire object, a sunglass lens, a thin copper bar, a cool green stemmed wire flower like object, some more Botanica cards including a nice big one with Sra. Esperanza on the front, a bracelet with fake gems, and a brown plastic hair beret thing.   Took a photograph of a dead red teddy bear lying along the road as well.  

A little background on Sra. Esperanza curtesy of Wikipedia. 

"Bianchini was the mother of seven children and grandmother of 20 children.[4]

Believers claim that, while at one point Maria Esperanza considered becoming a nun, it was revealed to her in a vision on October 3, 1954 that her calling was to the married life,[2] It is said that in this vision of St. John Bosco, the saint told her she would first encounter her spouse on November 1, 1955, which she reportedly did.[2] She was particularly devoted to St Thérèse of Lisieux – the “Little Flower”. Believers hold that, from her youth, she lived a life of virtue and fidelity to God and received the gifts of supernatural knowledge, healing, visions, discernment of spirits, locution, ecstasy, levitation, the odor of sanctity, the stigmata, and the ability to read the hearts of others.[5]Witnesses claim to have seen her levitating during mass and engaging in bilocation.[6] Her legend also recounts that Maria received the spiritual direction and the mantle ofSaint Padre Pio,[2] and received in the presence of her husband a bilocated visitation from the saint the day before he died.[7]

In 1979 she created the Betania Foundation, a lay movement designed to evangelize, educate and develop the well-being of society and family life and promote social justice. Her family continues the mission of the foundation.[4] " (Wikipedia) "Her full name is Maria Esperanza de Bianchini (November 22, 1928 - August 7, 2004) also known as Servant of God Maria Esperanza.   She was a Venezuelan mystic born on the feast of Saint Cecilia in Barrancas Venezuela.   The reason she is called "Servant of God" and not saint is because while her Marian Apparitions were approved at the local level by the bishop, they were not by the Congregation for the Doctrine of Faith, which has only approved 12 apparitions to date. " 

Wow, she had seven children and did all this!?   It's hard enough with one let alone seven.   This woman deserves to be a saint.  She's got my vote!  

Photographs and Assemblages from day two

bundled up for the arctic walk

dead starling in front of gas station

five of clubs

found duct tape 

close up of duct tape backing.  interesting pattern

Balloon knot

knife found near scary dude's photo

Scary looking dude

"Spike" found iron railroad spike, found "bolt", found metal block 7"x 6"

brightly colored kids shoe

neon orange construction paint on tree root

Day Two Findings

Brrrrr! It was super cold today, 15 degrees and breezy!  It was great though;I enjoyed the challenge.
Found a bunch of good stuff.   The highlight was a small photograph of a scary looking dude found lying face up on the side of the road.   The weird thing is that only a few steps away I found a black handled knife...hmmm....coincidence?   I found four more lead wheel weights, some more road flare wire's, a five of clubs playing card, a curiously bent railroad spike, a smashed rusty muffler like piece of metal, some great black rubber pieces, a few shiny objects to add to my shiny object collection, a neon orange Seven Eleven pizza box, a tattered yellow and green balloon tied together, a piece of duct tape, a little green and white plastic piece, a San Lazaro (yes,the same guy that Jesus supposedly rose from the dead) Botanica card and the best find of the day, a little shiny metal pendant with an image of Mary that says "Immaculate Heart of Mary Pray For Us"  

Hair, Lead and a Clementine

found hair extension and comb

lead wheel weights

close up view

found clementine in the snow

Day One Findings

Today it was sunny and 30 degrees.   Lots of snow along the edge of the road but still found some good stuff.  found ten lead wheel weights, two metal wire hub cap rings, a couple of bent up road flare wires, an "ancient" looking reed "bow-like" thing with black string attached to it, an interesting shaped piece of cardboard, a piece of bright pink yarn, a big black rubber object with a hole in it, a great "switch" comb that looks like a menacing mouth full of teeth, some little rubber and plastic odds and ends and a bunch of really great advertising cards for a Botanica in Langley Park with various Christian saints and other figures on the front and Spanish text on the back advertising consultations for everything from  impotence to money problems and it's advertised as 100% effective, can't beat that!   These cards are interesting to me, they remind me of my undergrad body of work that touched on Catholicism, rituals and the wishbone.  

Langley Park has a large immigrant population from 120 different countries.   As of the 2010 census, 76% were Latino with a large percentage being Salvadorian.   I did a little research and found that these cards are from the "Santeria (Way of the Saints) religion which is an Afro-Caribbean religion based on Yoruba beliefs and traditions, with some Roman Catholic elements added."   "The religion is also known as La Regla Lucumi and the Rule of Osha.   Santeria is a syncretic religion that grew out of the slave trade in Cuba."  (www.bbc.co.uk/religion/religions/santeria/)   

Introduction

I am an MFA graduate student at the University of Maryland.  This project came about in response to occasional walks to and from the University of Maryland, College Park from my home in Takoma Park.    The walk is about 4.5 miles and follows mostly along Rt. 193/University Blvd. through Langley Park, MD.

I noticed that when I walked was when I felt most "alive".   All of my senses seemed to be engaged.   My eyes were constantly processing all the hustle and bustle around me as well as searching for discarded objects along the sidewalks and roads.  I could smell the chicken broiling at Pollo Campero and the acrid scent of exhaust fumes from cars as I walked along the street.   I could feel the concrete sidewalk beneath my feet and the cold air smacking me in the face as the cars and buses, inches from my head, whizzed by on 193.   I could hear the sounds of honking horns, screeching brakes, police cars, fire engines and ambulances, muffled songs coming from the insides of cars idling at stop lights and bits and pieces of conversations from people standing at bus stops as I made my way along University Blvd.  

This project, simply titled "From Here to There", is a more focused continuation of those earlier walks.   I will be walking at least two days a week the entire semester.   My plan is to collect objects I find along the roads and sidewalks for use in or as inspiration for works in my studio.   I will be posting, on this blog, photographs and or video as well as writing about my thoughts and ideas that manifest on my walks.