Extending my space
This week's reading influenced my thinking about space a lot. It made me think about the role of "life" (I see it more as energy) in a space -- though I have some issues with his photos: are we judging the space or the photo? I was thinking about the feeling a space gives me, and I really feel best when I am feel some connection with nature. Every summer my family goes sailing, and the experience of living on a sailboat, which is so well integrated into the natural environment, is extremely relaxing and energizing at the same time. I feel connected with nature, like I am becoming a part of the space that I am in.
In New York City on the other hand, I feel very disconnected from the surrounding/natural environment. From inside my apartment I can never tell if it's sunny of cloudy out. There is a tall apartment building across from my building that blocks all the sun and the view, and as a result it always feels the same in my apartment, even if it's the most beautiful day out. This really bothers me, because I would like to spend time in my apartment, but I hate to be missing out on nice weather, and I feel like I really need all the contact with nature (and the sun) that I can get.
So for this week's assignment I decided to intervene in my space and try to bring a sample of what's going on outside to my apartment, thereby transforming the tiny disconnected space of my apartment to a space that is more cohesively bound with the outside world. I am lucky to have a fire escape on one of my windows, and (though I never thought this before) even luckier that there is a broken swivel chair on it (left by the previous tenant I suppose). I took a full length mirror and used the chair and a milk carton to place it so that it leans diagonally on the chair, right outside the window, so that it reflects the sky but faces my apartment. As a result, I can finally see what the sky looks like from my window! It is still not a big change, but it helps. The extra light that comes into my apartment this way is also a big plus. I want to find more discrete ways of doing this, also for people who don't have a fire-escape.
I found that someone else has made a very clever version of this using suction cups and metal wires to keep a mirror in place, but that might not be very practical with the sliding windows that are on most New York apartments. I will try to design something, possibly using the ledge that most windows have.
the view
the mirror on the chair
the view in the mirror (finally! sky and clouds!)
the whole window
the reflected light that comes into my apartment
