Performance

Today I continued working on removing staples from the ultility pole I selected yesterday. This particular pole was covered in staples that probably have been accumulated from years gone by. The process of plucking them out was slow, but this one was different...instead of privately working in my studio, this was a performance with people walking down the sidewalk and cars passing by me. I did get several responses today while I was working. One guy commented if I was getting paid by the staple, while another said something like "one million two hundred fifty one, one million two hundred fifty two..." Another man said "that's a day's work"! Total amount of time it took to complete the main section of the pole was four hours. It was grueling, because the staples are a thick gage that were embedded into the wood. I used two tools: pliers and a flat head screwdriver. Some of the wood actually came off with some of the staples. I collected the staples and will make a sculptural form with those. I documented the pole before and after. I haven't come up with a title yet, but my idea is to write a title on a sheet of paper-like a flyer-and post it on the pole. It would be interesting to see if people would comment on it and by so doing, put staples back into the pole. Of course, the pole will eventually be covered with staples again, but for now it is rather unique I would like to think!

Kurt Schwitters' Merz picture with Rainbow

Today at class we met and walked to the Yale Art Gallery to give a 5 minute presentation on an artist and piece we chose. I presented on Kurt Schwitters' Merz picture with Rainbow. After our talks we went back to the sculpture room. I worked a little on taking the gold stitch thread out of a pair of blue jeans for my third piece. I then worked on my final project......when me and Michael and Rachel were walking back from a store we passed by a telephone pole that had hundreds if not thousands of staples from flyers that were posted. I mentioned taking the staples out jokingly, but at the same time seriously. (I showed Michael my previous staple sculpture). He thought it was a brilliant idea. I found a pole on a sidewalk and street that didn't have any flyers posted to it, but was covered in thousands of staples. I started plucking away with some needlenose-like pliers and made good progress. I worked for about an hour and a half. What is unique about this piece is that it goes along with my past processes, but this time it is an actual perfomance out in public instead of privately in my studio. Most people casually just walked by and didn't say anything (probably thinking I had lost my mind). I did get about three responses though. One older man asked what I had done to deserve doing that. That was funny. Another guy asked "every single one"? I'm going to go back and finish the rest of the pole. I'm over halfway. I'm keeping the staples to make a sculpture out of them, and I am taking pictures before and after of the pole.

The Encounter

Ok, this morning I had an encounter with a woman from the post office who caught me off guard by the way she acted (and by the way I acted) . I bought two postcard stamps and she handed them to me, one of which was peeled ready for me to apply to the postcard. I however did not think much about it and put the 60 cents on the counter area, which is where I made the mistake. She got very upset and said to me "Did you see how I handed you the stamps and you put the change down"? I was shocked at how quickly her mood changed and didn't really know what to say. She went slow giving me change back and put the change on the counter as I did. I think she wanted me to say something, but I couldn't get over how mad she was, and didn't feel like saying anything that would upset her more. Of course, I did not mean to be rude by putting the change down-it happened fast. I'm pretty sure she wasn't holding her hand out waiting for me. And I did want to apologize to her, but I was kind of frozen in speech. I learned my lesson to not place money on the counter, but rather hand it to the person. It's something so small, but makes a big difference in the eyes of some people.

Puddle of Water

Today in class we finished our second project and at the end of class we had short critiques. Along with our piece, a video accompanied it. We were to document an action by video and then create a container to house the remnants of the action. I videotaped myself cutting out lakes from state maps and rolling them into tiny balls. I decided that my container would be to place the rolled up balls onto a stone. Actual puddles of water are left on rocks and roads after a rain. My idea was that these lakes could serve as a tiny "puddle of water" on a stone where water would get trapped. Had really good critiques. There are only three more class days!

Brooklyn Bridge, Governors Island

Saturday I took the 8:55am train to Grand Central. Beautiful day to be outdoors for what I had planned! I arrived in Grand Central and got off to hop onto a subway for my first time to ride alone. I found the green route (asked a police officer how to find it), and it took me right in front of the Brooklyn Bridge when I walked up from underground. I walked the length of the bridge one way and then went back. They have a specially made walking/running/biking wooden walkway that is very safe. It is above the two roads that the traffic is on. A lot of people were excercising while others were busy taking pictures of the incredible views. You can see the Statue of Liberty and a lot of boats on the water. The Manhattan Bridge is also very close to the Brooklyn Bridge. I took quite a few pictures. The bridge is massive with miles of cable lines. I then headed down to Battery Park where I've been previously with my teacher. I walked around for a while trying to locate the Battery Maritime Building where the ferry for Governors Island departs from. Many people were standing in line for what I believe was the Statue of Liberty. The ferry for Governors Island leaves every 30 minutes to take people across. I didn't have to wait long at all to board up on a really big ferry boat because of the amount of people it holds. Landed at the Island about 1:45pm. I walked around the paved road on the edge and soaked in the views of Manhattan, the Statue of Liberty, bridges, boats, helicopters, birds, and waves. Based on the brochure I got for Governors Island it says that "it was one of the longest continuously active military posts in the United States....The history includes the experience of Confederate prisoners crowded into Castle Williams during the Civil War, and their 20th-century counterparts incarcerated in the old fort, which had become part of the army prison system". Lot of military history here including Fort Jay! I saw a film called Isle of the Dead at a theater. There are buildings to see art in and one really neat piece was in darkness with haze machines and light projectors that looked 3D. I saw the most bizarre and wackiest putt-putt golf courses I've ever seen. Very creative! One picture down below. The island is very peaceful and is the perfect getaway place if you want to escape the city. I rode back on the ferry at 6:00pm. The island is only open to the public Fri.-Sunday, and they close off the island in the evening. Got back to New Haven about 9:15pm.

Beautiful East Rock Park, Eli Whitney

This morning I took Patty's laptop computer to the ITS location in the Bass Library to have them try to fix the virus that the computer picked up. They are keeping it overnight, and possibly tomorrow it will be fixed. On the first day I came to New Haven when Dr. Ian Maddock was driving me in the town, I saw a tower on a mountain that looked very interesting and was definitely worth checking out. I researched more about it and found the route to go there. It is called East Rock Park, where the summit of the mountain rises over 350ft high. It worked out to where I could actually walk to the park from my dorm room, which was about two miles one way. I left after lunch at 1:00pm sharp. It was an overcast day, and I was afraid it may start raining when I was up there on the mountain. During the afternoon there was only a very light rain, which made it pleasant walking through the lush forests and trails. At first I didn't know how to make my accent up the mountain until I finally saw a trail on the side of the road. I started climbing up, and I believe I went up the route that was more straight up and vertical. I for sure got some exercise! I reached the top and what a view it was seeing the monument and the spectacular view of the city of New Haven. I could actually see the New Haven Harbor and Long Island Sound (it was a little hazy however because of the cloudy day). The Soldiers and Sailors Monument honors the men of New Haven who died in the Revolutionary War, the War of 1812, the Mexican War, and the Civil War. It was erected in 1887 and stands 112ft tall, and can be seen from nearly all over the city. I made my way back down another way on the road and by more trails. At the bottom I came to Eli Whitney's Museum and there were some small shops. I went in and there were a lot of school children working with wooden crafts such as building boats. These were wood shops were I suppose kids go to work on projects. It was very neat to see these little kids working with tools at their age. There was a beautiful dam nearby with water rushing over it (pictures below) and a lake from above. There was also a beautiful forging house. I continued on a trail beside the house and ended up where I first came into the park. So I decided to head back to the dorm since I didn't want to get caught if it did start raining hard. What a great day to get out and hike up some trails and see some more amazing sights!

Learning Chinese

This morning I attended church at Trinity Baptist. While I was walking there, I took a wrong turn and ended up being far from it. Probably after 30 minutes of walking I finally found it. Talked to Dr. Ian and Mr. Bob who helped me out the first day I came to New Haven. The streets in New Haven can be tricky. I feel like I have to be on my guard more so in New Haven than in NY (not because of the streets though). On several occasions people in New Haven will straight up ask you for spare change. That doesn't sound bad, but it's the feeling you get around those type of people that makes you uncomfortable. In NY it is not as bad because so many people are around you. After lunch at the dining hall, I went to the cemetery to take some pictures of Eli Whitney's grave and enjoy the quietness and beauty of the environment. I've become really good friends with my room mates. The two Chinese students names are Shuai Dang and Sun Hao. The one Korean student name is T.J. Park. I enjoy eating with Sunny (Sun Hao) and Shuai's Chinese friends at the dining hall. I've played some ping pong, and Friday a big group of us played Ultimate Frisbee. I am trying to learn some Chinese words and phrases. It is one of the harder languages to learn. They are very, very friendly students and enjoy having a good time, but working hard. I'm so glad to have this opporunity to get to know them better and vice versa!

Phantom of the Opera

Earlier this week I signed up for the Phantom of the Opera show at my dorm. Because a lot of students sign up for trips like this one, they have a lottery system that randomly selects a certain amount of people that the bus can hold. I was one of the ones chosen to go along with 45-50 other students. Each person only had to pay $35 that included transportation and a ticket to see the Phantom of the Opera-great deal for a famous Broadway show! We met at 10:45am at the Gym to wait for the charter bus to arrive. The show began at 2:00pm. We arrived in NY and g0t off at 1:00pm. We had a short amount of time to grab lunch. I walked through Times Square again and took some pictures of the huge screens and advertisements. Inside the theater we found our seats. My seat was three rows down from the very top of the theater, but the view was still descent....may could of used some binoculars. The musical was really good-2 1/2 hours with a short intermission. They actually had a few small pyrotechnic effects (fire spuds/smoke). The singing was top notch although it was difficult to understand everything they were speaking and singing. Very good stage props/backgrounds that changed with different scenes. We boarded back onto the bus right after the show to come back to New Haven-just in time to eat at the dining hall before they closed. This evening I walked to the cemetery to take some pictures of Eli Whitney's burial grave, but it was closed. Its been another great week that has come to an end.

The Whitney, Met, and Empire St. Building

Thursday I took the Metro North Train to NY at 9:30am. The first thing I needed to do in NY was to buy a digital camera since the previous camera cracked. I went back to Best Buy and picked a good quality 10 Megapixel Nikon Coolpix camera for a good price. Fortunately the battery worked for the duration of the day without charging it any. After my purchase, I headed toward the Whitney Museum of American Art near Central Park. Made good time walking. At the museum I saw a Sadie Benning video piece, Dan Graham's glass sculptures that you can walk into, and the Music Room by Claes Oldenburg. My favorite piece in the Music Room was a bent clarinet sculpture that was painted blue and silver that rose around 10ft high. The Whitney is a not a huge museum so it was very manageable to experience it without rushing so much. After the Whitney I made my way up Madison and 5th Avenue to visit the Metropolitan. This is a massive art museum! Incredible displays of all kinds of artifacts from all over the world and various cultures. I saw the Burghers of Calais by August Rodin. The original cast is in Calais, but there have been other original casts and this is one of them at the Met. After taking art history with Dr. Wadley last fall and studying about Caravaggio and the Italian Ren., it was very special to see some of these paintings in person. After the Met. I decided to take a rest at Central Park. I found a good rock to lay on and relaxed for awhile! Then I headed back down 5th Avenue straight for the Empire State Building. Along the way, I stopped at an Italian restaurant and had a big piece of pizza and a $2.29 bottle water! Bottled water is very expensive in NY. It worked out good going to see the Empire Building later in the day when the sun was setting. Cost $18 for students. I didn't have to wait really long, but they do a security check on you and your belongings like at an airport. One elevator takes you up 80 floors and then another elevator takes you up 6 more. What an unbelievable sight to see Manhattan at 1,454 feet in the air when the city lights are beginning to shimmer. Of course, you can see East, West, North, and South, but it was very crowded and people were standing all along the fence railings. I was able to get some good shots with the camera. The price of paying to go up there was well worth it, and that was the highest I've ever been on a building. I left the top around 8:40pm. I took the train back to New Haven at 9:37pm. It was raining when I got off so I had to take my first taxi ride back to my dorm. It was another exhausting, but fun day in NY. Enjoy some of the pictures down below!

Rolling up lakes

Went to the Yale Center for British Art this morning and saw some paintings worth noting by John Constable and J.M.W. Turner. Saw a variety of paintings of landscapes, seascapes, men of war ships, animals, and portraits. Solid collection! In class we finished the first project and showed them in a gallery space. Each person (4) had a short critique. Part of my piece was cutting out the lakes from a Connecticut state map and rolling them into balls and placing them in a ziploc bag. The concept is that the lakes of water can be contained in a small bag. I plan on cutting out all the lakes at least from all the States in the U.S. and rolling them into tiny balls. May do all the lakes in the world. Tonight, I'm washing and drying clothes. I found out by email tonight that I was selected to go to the Phantom of the Opera show on Saturday in NY!

Parmelee 2082-2105

Class at 1:30pm. We took a field trip walk to the historic Grove Street Cemetery on campus. Very old tombstones. We saw Eli Whitney's burial place where a large obelisk form marked his grave. Alongside, his descendants were also buried. Michael wanted to show us a grave marker a student had made and that he sneaked in the cemetery. The stone read PARMELEE 2082- 2105. The stone has remained there for about five years. Very beautiful cemetery. I am going to try to go back and spend more time there. In class we turned in the exercise drawings and worked on finishing the first project. After class, Michael ate at the Saybrook dining hall with me and another student in the class. I'll use this evening to work and think about my artwork.

MOMA, Amer. Museum of Natural History, Guggenheim

Saturday I took the Metro North train at 8:32am and arrived at Grand Central about 10:15am. The first art musuem on my list to see was the MOMA-Museum of Modern Art, which opens at 10:30am. Made good time and arrived there shortly after they opened. I made my way through the museum at a relatively steady pace because i had a lot to see the rest of the day. Some of the pieces that I was really impressed with was a Jim Hodges piece with colored pencils, a Jim Lambie wall piece that had black tape and eyes, a Tom Friedman wall piece, Jasper Johns Map (painting of the United States), a Joseph Cornell box, and a Frank Gehry cardboard chair piece. Very crowded on a Saturday morning, which was typical. I had lunch at the Pizza Villagio, good place with low prices, enjoyed it a lot. I then walked to Central Park and headed to Central Park West to go see the American Museum of Natural History. The park was filled with people tanning in the sun, playing frisbee, jogging, riding bicycles, and enjoying the perfect weather. Also, there were a lot of carriage horse rides. The Natural History Museum was voted the #1 attraction in NYC by Zagat Survey U.S. Family Travel Guide. This was one of the largest museums I have ever seen. Two big dinosaur skeletons are in the entrace on the inside of the musuem. I had to wait in line awhile because so many people were there. The museum has four floors, and I think a person could spend an entire day on just one floor. They had everything you can imagine there. I finally decided I had seen enough, because my legs were starting to get tired. My plan was to visit the Met. for the third museum. I walked by it and saw how huge this one was also. I knew I needed to do it when I was fresh so instead I chose the Guggenheim Museum, which was smaller. The walk in the museum was a neat experience as the grand ramp curves from the ground to the dome. Frank Lloyd Wright's drawings were incredible designs along with the detail of some miniature models of structures. I'm glad it worked to do this one b/c they closed in the evening at 8:00pm. After this museum my legs were dead tired. I should of taken the subway, but I enjoyed walking by Central Park. I think it was about 40 streets one way to walk. I think I walked at least 10 miles total on Sat. I took the train back that evening and arrived in New Haven about 9:50pm. It was an overwhelming experience to see all the pieces in one day. The first week at New Haven and NY has been a tremendous opportunity to see new things, and there are four more weeks to go....

Meeting Michael in NY

On Thursday I took the Metro North Train at 9:30am to Grand Central Station in NY. Train ride is about 1 hr 45min. Got off the train underground and walked up to ground level and experienced the crowds of people for the first time in NY. Grand Central is a large Station, but it is not hard to figure out where you need to go. Exited the Station and there I was in the middle of Manhattan with towering buildings surrounding me!! The sights, smells, and speed of NY are quite spectacular and takes your breath away. I met my sculpture teacher Michael Stickrod in NY with his wife Erin and their son Oscar. (Oscar was in a stroller and Michael pushed him). We saw Times Square and Broadway St. and the massive advertisements of movies, shows, and plays. We went by Ripley's Believe It or Not and saw a lady blow a fireball, and we also saw a wax model of Morgan Freeman and Nicholas Cage. We walked up to Central Park where a small carnival was going on. Later we ate at Johnny Utah's...i had a monster burger that cost $9 with water. (They should rename the burger b/c it was on the small side)! We took the underground subway to go see Ground Zero where the twin towers stood. Very powerful sight. At Battery Park we saw the harbor, boats, the Statue of Liberty from a distance, the Brooklyn Bridge, helicopters flying, and a huge cruise ship passing by. One of the greatest sights I have ever seen! We then made our way back to the subways to go back home. I took the 7:05pm train back to New Haven and arrived about 9pm. Tiring day of walking and traveling, but the experience and sights I will never forget. Plan to go back Saturday to start seeing the art museums.

Security

The security on campus at Yale is very tight and obviously that is a good thing. One bad thing though is that the building our sculpture class is located in, the students cannot go in and work outside of class time. The building is locked. Interestingly, we found out that there are no electrical outlets in the walls in our class to plug into. Later we found them in the ceiling. We went upstairs for a screening, but Michael's ID could not open the doors, which were supposed to. We did get to watch some clips, but were kind of interrupted by a janitor man who said he needed to clean the floor in the space we were in. He started in another place. I worked on three shapes with clay; fin/keel-like forms. It looks like we are down to the Final Four. There are supposed to be 7 students in the class. Monday five were present, but today only four were there. Tomorrow I'm heading to Union Station to catch a train to NY!!!

1st day of Class

Had Sculpture class on Monday July 6th from 1:30pm-6:30pm. Watched some video clips and began thinking of ideas for the first project working with clay. *Went to the Sterling Memorial Library.Tuesday, worked on some drawing exercises, went to the Yale University Art Gallery, walked around the campus more and picked up some maps. Also, played some table tennis with some international students. Plan on going to NY Thursday or this weekend. Rained on July 7th and the weather all week has been very cool. This is a spectacular campus with gorgeous old buildings mixed in with the New Haven city life with all kinds of street stores and people traveling on the roads. This is an amazing place to be!

*Sterling Memorial Library is the 2nd largest university library in North America.

Church, Picnic, Check-In at Dorm

Sunday-I attended Trinity Baptist Church at 10:00am. For lunch Dr. Ian Maddock and I went to an Italian market store and picked up some sandwiches (I had chicken parmesan), and then drove to a nearby park. Some other students came and ate in the shade of a pine tree on a beautiful green lawn. After lunch, Dr. Ian drove me to register and check in for the summer course. Waited in line for awhile, but soon received the Yale ID card. Carried four of my bags at the same time up to Saybrook College, which was my exercise for the day. Moved into Saybrook on the third floor in a spacious room. There are three other International students who have their own room close to mine. In the afternoon I walked around a went to the Yale Bookstore. That evening I ate at the dining hall for the first time-good meal. At 8:00pm all the students in the three dorms had an orientation meeting and then a small counsel meeting. Later, TJ and I worked on getting Internet access on our laptops.

**Notes- Digital camera cracked on the inside of the viewing screen :(

July 4th Airplane Ride

I flew out from DFW at 12:55pm and landed in Hartford, CN around 5:15pm et. Altitude: 37,000ft- 39,000ft. Beautiful warm day for flying. Not much turbulence. Didn't eat lunch today, but had some of Patty's trail mix for a snack before takeoff and some orange juice and a pepsi on the plane. Dr. Ian Maddock picked me up at the airport and drove me to New Haven, CN. Met his family and had some delicious lasagna for supper! Later that evening after supper he took me to Mr. Bob's home to spend the night. Didn't get to see any fireworks, but heard them. The evening air was nice and coolish. Great first day on the semester away!!

Eve of the Semester Away

I am flying out tomorrow at 12:55 pm on American Airlines and landing in Hartford, CN. Flight a little over three hours. Hope to see some fireworks that night and see the town of New Haven!

Getting Ready

Jeremy is flying to New Haven, Connecticut on July 4th to take a summer sculpture class for five weeks at Yale.