GPS Drawing

We drove through every drive-thru on North Ave, from the intersection on North and Oakland to North and 67th. This is what we ate, so what?

Doors Open Milwaukee

For the Doors Open Milwaukee event this past weekend, I decided to go National Ace Hardware seeing that I needed to pick up a few things for other classes. I also stopped by the Blue Dress Park just above the Holton Street footbridge we visited earlier this semester for class. As I consider my time spent at these two places, I suppose I was intrigued to visit these two because of their seemingly normal or accessible locations. Leaving me to wonder why they were included in Doors Open Milwaukee. Most of the sites listed were places that you would normally either have to pay or wouldn't be allowed everyday access, yet National Ace Hardware and the Blue Dress Park are both very public and open nearly everyday. So I ventured out to find something unique within these very common,often marginalized spaces in downtown Milwaukee. Yet when I arrived at these places, I didn't seem to find what I was looking for. While the weather may have put a bit of a damper on the festivities, I never really felt as though I was had been granted access to anything out of the ordinary.

Macro/Micro

The place I chose to consider that reminds me of an object is the corner of Humboldt and Brady. I feel quite connected to this corner, as this is where I would wait to take the bus to school last semester. Brady street has always been one of my favorite places in Milwaukee, between the various restaurants and bars to the eclectic shops that line the streets, there really is no other place like it in Milwaukee. The object I chose to represent this place is a metal tipped dart. One early morning last semester, I was waiting for the bus when I looked down to find a metal tipped dart between the cracks of the sidewalk. In regards to proximity, Im going to assume this was from Art Smarts Dart Mart as the bus stop directly next to the store. The ironic part of this story is that this metal tipped dart seemed to have been destined for my possession. I had lost my needle tool somewhere in studio the day before so I needed to pick up another one, yet now I was able to replace the needle tool with a FREE metal tipped dart that I still use today.

The object I chose to represent Milwaukee is my Milwaukee Brewers Ryan Braun T Shirt. While it is quite easy to see the connection here, I chose this T-shirt as an object because of the Brewers Mentality on a game day. No matter where you go around the city of Milwaukee, the streets, classrooms, and stores are littered with people representing their favorite player. There is an undeniable feeling of excitement that can be felt throughout the city. Uniting under a common goal, the success of the Brewers, connections between people who might otherwise not acknowledge each other or by any means have a fluid conversation are made all because of one simple blue t shirt. Now if you're a Cub's fan we obviously wont be uniting under this common goal but then my question is, Why do you live in MILWAUKEE?!

For my Public Art Intervention I collaborated with fellow UWM student Catherine Kassouf. Using chalk we commented on Milwaukee's Beer culture, drawing illustrations off of N Farwell Avenue near Kenilworth. Our idea was to challenge peoples choices and the reasoning behind these as they left North Avenue, the major bar scene on the eastside. Pictures are listed below under Catherine's post.

Public/Personal

43.075126, -89.384143

A place that is public but very personal to me is the State Capitol. I was born and raised in Madison, moving to Milwaukee only after high school graduation to attend school. Although not all of my feeling are positive regarding Madison, the Capitol Square is where I can recall some of my fondest memories growing up. Every Saturday morning throughout the summer, the Capitol Square closes down to traffic as farmers from around the area fill the streets with vegetable stands and others goods. When I was younger my Mom would drag us out of bed, which I of course hated at the time, and downtown for the Farmers Market. Although I may have despised getting up so early on a Saturday when I was younger, I can even begin to count how many games of tag I played with my brothers on the Capitol Lawn. These you're more likely to see me protesting Walker on the Capitol Lawn creating new memories than playing tag. Yet none the less, every time I'm there I feel like that same kid running circles around the Capitol with my brothers not a care in the world.

3 days, 3 ways.

1. For my first journey to the Holton Street Pedestrian Bridge, I decided to take the 15 bus which follows my original path quite closely, only having to exit and enter the bus again once to continue my route. This experience was very different from my first walk to the bridge. Almost immediately upon entering the bus, I took notice to the cool air pumping through the vehicle as the temperature remained warm outside. While riding the bus you are forced to interact with other commuters along the same route going about their day. I was reminded this as I sat and watched with entertainment an older woman, clearly not in her right mind, berate the bus driver for his "bumpy" driving skills.

2. For the second day I chose to travel by car as opposed to public transportation. Although this is not my typical mode of transportation, I thought it would be interesting to understand the experience as we have a large portion of commuting students attending UWM from all around Milwaukee. My first observation as I began to drive was how utterly disconnected I felt to the outside world around me. Although I was still perceiving the same surrounding as the day before something felt completely different. While riding the bus you act as a passenger, so you are given an extraordinary amount of freedom during the ride that the driver is unable to experience for obvious reasons. While I spent most of my time examining my surroundings as a passenger, one is almost too flooded with information and distractions to take anything other than that from this experience.

3. For my final journey in transportation, I borrow a bike from a friend to complete my trek. By bike, just as by car, I was able to follow my exact path from the original walk on Thursday. It has been some time since I have rode a bike as mine has been in dis immediate repair since last winter, so it really felt nice once I got going. Although I was still restricted d by the traffic flows and rules of the road, I felt a much greater connection to my surroundings while biking. Unlike transportation by motor vehicle, I was able to feel the wind in my face and the sweet smells of Italian baked goods waft down Brady St. as I made my way to the bridge.

"We make he world and, in turn, the world makes us."

As I consider the Nato Thompson reading and my experiences over the past three days, I found this quote to be quite eye opening. I had never really thought about the way others might be experiencing the walk down the very same sidewalk, look over a bridge, or as they take in the same smell. This is something important to keep in consideration as we make art regarding physical or geographical locations, as the non-artist or viewer might see what we see or think as a complete abstraction totally disconnected from their world or vice versa.