Monday, September 6, 2010

six places

1) The ARC

It's actually very hard for me to think of this place in an artistic way. I guess I can say the meaning of facilities like the ARC, a stadium, a school’s gym, etc. has been construed by my personal experience; I have developed a bias against sports... The ARC -though I will go there to exercise- is almost something I wish to avoid. The arena is cool though, when you are alone. Its vast emptiness is interesting, it takes on a whole new meaning, as if it is a void. There is no past, present, or future there… Just a strange feeling of nothing.


2) The Shoe Tree

I remember the first time I saw the shoe tree a couple of years ago. It was so amazing to me; it looked so heavy with the weight of shoes, it seemed like a miracle that the tree was still standing under so many shoes. (I actually think there were more shoes on it then than there are now… Either my memory is false, or I think that a lot of shoes have been removed.) I felt like it had so much energy I could practically see it like smoke, coming off of the shoes and into the sky. How it looks now has changed since I learned why kids throw their shoes up there... It’s almost as if it’s been a little degraded. This isn’t because the reason why kids throw shoes up there is silly (even though it IS silly) but simply because it’s no longer a mystery to me anymore. It just goes to show, that sometimes something is more interesting when it is unknown.


3) The Campus Center

I love the campus center, there’s always something happening there. The longer I stay here, the more meaning it has for me. It is slowly starting to feel like home to me and I can feel it carving a place into my heart, though it isn’t quite there yet. Unlike the shoe tree, or historic St. Mary’s, I don’t feel and see the past but instead the present and the future. The fact that it is unknown is quite exciting, and although I am not consciously considering all of this while I’m visiting the campus center, I am certainly feeling it.


4) Historic St. Mary's

How the historic city is portrayed to us is ENTIRELY dependant on its history. You don’t just look at it and see frames of houses, you imagine the houses built up completely, with the wooden walls, roof, and brick fire place. You imagine who might of lived in those houses, went to the church, the coffee house. You might even create, in your mind, the roads/paths on which they walked on… This is a place that is completely in your own mind. Before I knew it was the historic St. Mary’s, I thought it was just some sheds that people were building. It wasn’t very interesting to me until I found out what it was.


5) The Grave

What a beautiful spot to be buried. Graveyards have never been really depressing for me, I enjoy going through them and looking at how old the graves are and imagining the people. Like the shoe tree, each grave is the nametag for a different person, who lived at a different time that I did. I think the same why about cars when I’m driving on the highway… Each car represents at least one different person, who lives a completely different life than I do and here our lives briefly meet on the road. Graves have been tacked on with sadness for the lost, especially at this particular grave. A student, just like I, who drowned at the point, a place I enjoy visiting. That all gives this grave very significant meaning and changes it’s entire appearance. I wonder if his shoes are in the shoe tree…


6) St. Mary's Hall

This is just like the arena in the ARC, that vast emptiness. It feels kind of heavy being that quiet. Though this space isn’t as big as the ARC’s arena… It’s filled with seats. On stage it is kind of frightening though, to be on stage with empty seats staring at you. You feel like people should be sitting in those seats, but no one is there. It sends shivers down my spine. It seems all of these places I have listed are connected with people, people who aren’t there, have been there, are there, or should be there. Without people, all of these places take on very different meanings.

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