Week Two--Second Semester

Okay, everybody, so I just spent like the last three hours arranging my surface and I gotta say, I'm pretty excited looking at it. While the scale doesn't seem quite so daunting, five by six feet (at least) is still a lot of space to fill.
Now, for those of you who do not know what material I am using for my surface, it is ARCHIVAL FOAM CORE. I am attaching the pieces with Jade glue. Thank you, Jane Hammond, for both of the great suggestions. Also, I would like to note that in the above photo, the ONLY things that are attached are the plot of grass and pathway area in the bottom left corner and the large green floral sheet and hills in the top right corner. I think I gave Janie a mini heart-attack in class today when I told her I started gluing but DON'T WORRY--those are the only things.
For the streets, I think I'm going to use that particular paper (with the circle patterns) and possibly use different papers/materials to designate smaller, less significant roads. I really like this paper because it embodies a sense of playfulness but it can also read as disorientation in certain areas. Also, I don't think it's too busy so that it will not read as a road. What are your thoughts, though? Also, I do need to buy more of it so, again, what you see here is just what I have for now.

I do have some specific questions about decisions I need to make. The first is, should the grass in the area where the statues are (the statues will eventually have bases, FYI) be the same as the grass plots surrounding the fountain? I don't think so but I would like to hear other thoughts. Should the area behind the Berlin Cathedral, which will probably just be little strips of green above the water, be the same grass as said area?
My next question is, should the area under the brick subway structure thing be removed altogether (so I would cut out those pieces of foam core) or should I create the outside environment that the "structure" passes over? If I did make an environment, it would be an open area of ground with a fountain in it.
Next question: how do you all feel about the girl leaning away from the board on what looks like a fan and flowers? I know it's bit ambiguous and possibly out of place but I like the idea that it possesses a sort of beauty that I associate with that area (Lustgarten) and that one associates flowers with the sense of smell because the old man sitting in the flowers is the creepy homeless guy who sniffed me. I plan on adding some more trees to this area and more people so this might help integrate the card, which I do like.
Last question: how do you all feel about a yellow tram coming down the main road? This would be a different perspective than what I have in other areas (which are straight on except for the apartment where the viewer can look inside)
but the tram is something I DO want to include and I'm just not sure where or if doing it from an aerial perspective (which is what I mean by "coming down the main road") would look too disconnected from the rest of the piece.
Now, I just want to clarify a couple of in-progress things that might look out of place/confusing right now. The first is that I think I'm going to create some apartments near the top left of the 'map,' which will have window boxes with the baby flowers. I don't want these to look too out of place, though, so I might do some sketching first on top of an image of my map that I print out.

The woman in the somewhat center of the "map" who is holding something (which is a large piece of apple cake) is going to be working at the coffee shop/bakery there that I have yet to make.

The customs brochure, which one can see in the center on the right side is going to be the building of the Post Office (clever, huh?). I placed it there because it will then occupy the space that becomes covered when the apartment next to it is opened up to reveal the interior. I like this idea that when looking inside where I am having a great time, laughing, drinking, eating and chatting with my roommate, I am not thinking about things connected with returning home (of which the Post Office is kind of a symbol).

Okay, okay, I know this is very long but as you can see, I have done A LOT of work and therefore, I have a lot of comments and questions, so I thank you in advance for taking the time to read this and respond.

The very last thing I want to touch on is how I am working. As I said, my piece is about five by six feet and because there is not enough room in my studio for me to set this up and then move around the area around it, I am doing all of the assembly back in my apartment, which is MUCH more conducive to the task.

Although Janie suggested photographing or scanning everything, printing the images and then cutting them out and arranging them on a large sheet of paper in my studio--in sense, making a copy of what I have back in my apartment--this would really be a misuse of my time because it would take a REALLY long time to do and yield me little benefit. Instead, I am going to take a photo every week of what I have back in my apartment so that I can talk with the class about what's there and hear their suggestions regarding my overall composition.

For lack of wanting to depress myself, I am not going to try and figure out how many hours I have spent working . Know, though, that it is A LOT and I can give a list of things I have done since my review:

- Elevated the children's museum at which I worked (a former matchstick factory) with matchstick boxes.
- Made four baby German die-cut flower boxes.

- Made 'dimensional' flowers (which will eventually have pots) in front of the Berlin Cathedral.
- Made smoker/water lady to the left of the Berlin Cathedral.

- Made three statues in this same area (although I think I am only using two and that is what I took a picture of).
- Made and glued together the water in the area in the bottom left corner of my map.
- Arranged my ticket street.
- Created a cigarette smoke cloud above the television tower.
- Created the inside of the apartment I lived in.
- Made a "me" with animated geese earrings, presenting my Berlin to viewers of the map.
- Made a "me" walking around confused/uncertain/disoriented next to the tall church near the center of the map.
- Cut out the brick structure thing below the subway cars.

- Elevated the subway cars and covered the paper that elevated the cars with old subway maps.
- Created raindrops and snowflakes and people/dog in some of the drops.
- Made a movie screen and elevated it.
- Made LOTS of trees.
- Attached the large green sheet of paper and hills (that was an adventure) in the top right of my map.
- Attached the sidewalk and plot of grass in the bottom left corner of my map.

Phew. That is all (I hope). Sorry to the poor soul who has to read my blog this week.

P.S. I apologize for some of the blurry photos. It was SO awkward taking some of these without stepping on the board. It will be easier once pieces are attached and I can hang it up on a wall. I might borrow Maggie's macro lens for certain areas, though...

P.P.S. MRS. BROWE--I DON"T THINK OF YOU AS SOME CREEPY STALKER NEIGHBOR!!!! (that's what Sarah told my mom you said). I would LOVE to get your feedback--general input, comments or suggestions--so PLEASE leave an anonymous comment if you feel so inclined!