Assignment:
For class, we were supposed to choose a piece of technology that we frequently use, and “turn it off.” We were then asked to reflect upon our experiences in writing, and responding with a creative assignment.
My Project:
For my experiment, I have decided to get away from technology while riding public transportation. I have always found myself looking down at my phone or listening to music during my commute to Teachers College or whenever I am traveling somewhere. Since public transportation is the most popular way to travel around New York City, I found it important to unplug while I am riding it and observe the world around me.
During my experiment, I found that I have been missing so much around me. If I was by myself, and not speaking with a friend, I felt myself eavesdropping on peoples conversations around me, while trying not to make it too obvious. I discovered that the people sitting around me are much more interesting than I realized and that some of them were like me, just trying to get to a destination.
For the people who I found more interesting, they were the homeless, the slightly psychotic, the teenagers who think they know everything, the tourists, the families, the business people, and the talented. Aside from the people that make a scene on public transportation, I did not pay attention to the others while traveling. Now that I have had the opportunity to, snippets of their conversations have resonated in my head. Even though they are probably meaning less words and conversations to them, to me, I have found meaning in them. Because of the nature of the experiment, realizing the world around me, their words contribute to the environment I exist in. Some of the conversations I heard, I could connect with and others I could not. But they all represent the world that I miss while on my device, which makes them important.
The people I observed just trying to get to their destination like I had done in the past, I identified with. I could see the discomfort on their faces while they tried to pay attention to their book, friend, or device when someone made speech about their misfortune or when someone acted rambunctiously in the public scene. I felt as if I should be doing the same thing, ignoring those people, because it would make me feel more comfortable than being victim to their every word. I was envious of their escape. But, when the ride was enjoyable or I was listening in on an entertaining conversation, I felt badly for those who were destination oriented. I almost pitied them for not noticing the incredible energy and life in New York City.
To honor the time I have had watching and listening to the world around me while traveling on public transportation, I decided to create text driven drawings of the peoples words I heard to bring meaning to them outside of where I heard them.
Creative Assignment:
These are the text drawings that I created of things I have heard while riding public transportation. Out of all of the things that I have heard while doing this experiment, I chose these quotes because they resonated with me in a certain way.
Process on Illustrator
I started by using Adobe Illustrator to plan what I wanted to create in my sketchbook. I played with the orientation and placement of fonts. I also payed attention to the kind of tone the font would give the words. It was also important to take into account what I felt was most important in what the person said. Based on the tone of the person speaking and what I heard, I chose fonts that I though fit the word's "personality."
After playing around with fonts on Illustrator, I would print the final product and trace it in my sketch book to then be traced over again in a felt pen. The process to make these text drawings was long and tedious. I felt like this process of making embodied the kind of experience I wanted to create for myself for this project. The purpose was to unplug and see things from another perspective. Going from using digital tools to fine art slowed the process of making down a lot, which is how I felt when riding public transportation, slow. But, by memorializing these words by hand, I was able to put thought into how I received those words. I find that the final product was imperfect, because of human mistakes, but also beautiful, which was the aim of the experiment. In other words, the process of making further proved to me it is worth putting down technology. Below are the images of the text drawings done in my sketchbook.
