Here It Is!

Here is my very final piece. What an exciting process this was. It's kind of unbelievable that I'm all done. It's a bittersweet feeling.

My Berlin: Last Week

I apologize for not posting the following image sooner in the week. I had the best of intentions but you know what they say...

(Better image to come)

Anyway, Janie, Erica, Amanda, Chrissy, Betsy and Alyssa came to my apartment today and had really positive things to say about my project (which, at this point, is really what I want to hear!). There are a few alterations I am going to make after receiving some feedback about specific [minor] problem areas:

1. Change smoke cloud--totally agree and my solution to this is using only one layer of vellum to create a smaller smoke cloud that has a more "smoke-like" shape.

2. Glue the fan card (near my signature in the bottom left corner) back a little bit so that it's not leaning so far away.

3. Put an itty bitty tree/trash can/something in the green area under the bridge in the bottom right corner just to break up the space a little bit.

4. Make one more person to stand in the hot dog line and a little kid peeking over the fruit stand (these suggestions were not made to me but this is something I want to do).

Thanks again to all who came today! I'm really excited for everyone to see the completed work in *hopefully* Slusser. I am going to attach it to the wall with square L hooks.

Week Ten--Second Semester

The countdown begins: 1 more week + 2 more weekends until work is due, and I'm not freaking out. I've been working like a crazy person to make sure my Berlin gets done on time. I am so run-down from working on it though that I am actually going home this weekend. It's my mom's birthday and I really miss her and I want to just get away from my project. As people are aware, it occupies the better part of my apartment so I literally have to look at it every time I go into the room, and just looking at it makes me feel exhausted.

My mama!!

I have stuff being weighed down right now and while, technically, I could continue to do work on it, I really need to force myself to take a break. I know this may seem counter-productive given how soon our work is due but it's not. I will finish it and it will look great.

Because I have been weighing a lot of things down the past week, I have not been permitted to constantly work with my surface. This is nice, in that I have been able to take a little break from the very technical and stressful act of attaching things to making again. This past week I made some more people, which was SO enjoyable. Some are already glued down but here are some that aren't:


I hope to make more if time permits because I think they add so much and convey such narrative.

I also cut a paper signature, which I really like. It is subtle yet noticeable (in the bottom left corner). Signatures provide authenticity to a work and I like the playful nature of a cut paper signature instead of a signed signature.

I glued down my bridge, which was a nerve-wracking and technically very difficult feat that required dexterity, incredibly awkward maneuvering and quickness. I'm glad that's done. That is one of the many things being weighed down by books and a 25-pound weight (imagine, if you will, the aforementioned awkward maneuvering to which I referred, involving squatting, quickly applying glue and reaching for a 25-pound weight to plop on top of books). My being gone this weekend will be good because I will not be tempted to peek at the bridge, thereby moving the books. Sunday or Monday evening I am going to take a picture of my work to post. I can't do it before then because I don't want to remove books/weights prematurely.

Amanda suggested too that I look at the work of Elizabeth Murray for inspiration for my compositional arrangement, namely cutting areas away and gluing those same island-like pieces in different areas. While this would be cool, I cannot envision how this would look and I honestly do not think this is the route my project needs to take. Another time, another place, maybe.

One thing I'm unsure about is what I should prepare for Tuesday's class. Could someone please advise me what they would like me to do?

Okay, that's all she wrote. Stay tuned for a Sunday/Monday evening post showing the work in its near entirety.

Utilization of Time:
Making people: 14 hours
Gluing stuff to board: 16 hours
Miscellaneous, tedious little map details: 8 hours

SIDE NOTE: I can do headstands now!!!!

Zach Kanin is my favorite New Yorker cartoonist. Funny shit.

Week Nine--Second Semester

This post is going to be short and sweet. Also, there will be no pictures because everything is currently being weighed down by books.

I made a JFK figure this week, a hot dog vendor man, a bus stop sign thing and another U-Bahn entrance; I glued down my TV tower, some of the area under the bridge and some more grassy areas.

I had the reassuring moment this past week that *shock* I am going to finish my project. It's not because "things just turned out that way" either. It's because I've been working around the clock, literally working on my project every day to ensure it gets done, and this hard work has paid off. Thank God.

Utilization of time:
Cutting, assembling and gluing things: 30ish hours *I also found a really interesting pattern from a magazine that I am going to use for one grass area that I scanned, finessed in Photoshop and printed. This took about an hour or so.

Week Eight--Second Semester

Well, I basically had no life over spring break. I worked nearly non-stop on my Berlin but I feel I need to work at this pace in order to finish it in time for the show! Right now my main goal is covering every foam core area with paper and attaching my buildings so that then I can go back in and fill areas with things I could do without (like fences, recycle bins, potted flowers, street signs) but that I really want to include because I think they are crucial to my city.

As for my next plan of attack, I am going to Hollanders today to buy some paper and then apply it to as many areas as I can. I experimented in Photoshop last night with layers of different paper patterns from the Hollander's website and after 3 hours of experimenting I settled on papers that I like. The only two areas I am not sure about are the area behind Kaiser's (the red grocery store on the right) and Konditorei Krautzig (the white bakery near the top left).

Below is my composite:
Seth again addressed the issue of the "rectangle with a bump" shape of my city and to do something else with the perimeter. I agree that this shape is odd but I'm kind of struggling with what I should do. One possibility I came up with was to have a title (made out of foam core) attached to the space between the hills and the building top (on the left) but I don't know if I really like this idea. Thoughts?

My list of things I still need to do are:
1. Make the Döner Kebab shop to go in the bald area near the top left of the composition.
2. Make a second U-Bahn station entrance in the area above or next to Galeria Kaufhof.
3. Build up the area under the bridge.
4. Make tree bases/stands for trees in the sidewalks.
5. Make trash cans and recycle bins to sprinkle throughout the city.
6. Make street signs.
7. Make more PEOPLE!!!!!!!!!! (bicyclists, babies...)

Breakdown of time:
Spring break + this week = 70 hours at least

HOLY CRAP. THAT'S BIG.

Oh my gosh, okay, so I attached the two foam core pieces and taped up the elements that would stick (some are too heavy) and here is what it looks like:
It's pretty overpowering, I think...which is good...but dang! It's really large! Looking at it on the floor is VASTLY different than seeing it propped up.

Week Seven--Second Semester

Well, I finally purchased my road paper and glued it down and I am not switching!!! Actually, though, I'm happy with it and hope others will be too. Though this image below can't totally do it justice, the paper is a kind of lavender with gold and white flecks, making it look kind of concrete-y.
Here is my actual piece with the roads. I also attached the two pieces of foam core together and THAT was an ordeal. It should stay, though. As I proceed and begin gluing down large areas of paper (specifically grass) I think I'm going to have to glue something of equal size (maybe newspaper) on the reverse side to prevent serious warping, which is one thing I'm concerned about.


My sister, who is studying in Germany right now, surprised me with a package in the mail containing tons of papers for me to use in my collage. With my dwindling stash these will really help out! (Sorry for the bad photo--all of my photos, actually, are kind of bad. I think I need a better camera : /
I worked on the bridge for the subway cars, gluing together two pieces of foam core and lining the edges with the same paper as the bridge. Here is a close-up:

And lastly, as I promised from last week, here are images of the *new* sowohl als auch cafe with cutaways to reveal the cake lady pouring tea/coffee. Again, I apologize for the less than wonderful photos.



Utilization of Time:
Honestly, I don't know. LOTS of time--cutting out, arranging and gluing my roads, gluing my pieces of foam core together, removing the old road I had (which took forever) and creating my bridge. Probably 30 hours or so???

Here is my roommate with her teeth: