Elijah Pittman Blog

  An idea that resonated with me from the course material presented was the idea that listening to music on daily walks to places can be a detriment. The idea that you can tailor the sounds you hear around you to exactly what you want, giving you the exact experience you are looking for being bad for you is an interesting thought. It is like giving you instant gratification somewhat like what a drug does. It gives you what you want, not what you need. It takes you out of your current environment. As people now we always seem to be looking for ways to displace ourselves from nature when we are still a part of that and listening to music instead of your environment is just another way to do this.  Maybe this is why it is stated that ipod users often struggle to reach a level of autonomy overtime because you are dulling your senses in a way.     In Style Wars graffiti artist try to assert there claim and be noticed and recognized. they Fight for there art and ...

 The site chosen for my first project was this strange playground by my house. I simply placed rocks on top of the varying structures because if the structures were to be used the rocks would have to be taken off. Everything was easily found in the area and when moved the piece will return to being part of the environment that it came from again.  

       For my cocooned and engaged walk I started at my house at 1332 N highland Ave. and walked around campus eventually ending by the mathematics building. For my cocooned walk I put on a baseball hat, ,my smith shades and I listened to Jykl & Hydes 2023 lost lands set which is 5 seconds short of being an hour.  below is the route I walked.      I walked this route for both walks the the first one being cocooned and walking away from north University and the second retracing my steps and walking towards north University. When I was cocooned I definitely felt like I was missing a lot more of what was going on around me. I could not hear cars drive by or the birds. The glasses also limited my field of vision.  It was hard to think outside of what i was listening to because i wanted to actively pay attention to the set i was listening to. I remember from my cocooned walk as well that I did not notice to many other people. It was hot out bu...

    A scene that I am a part of is the skateboard community. While I do not skate as much as I used to I still go out around campus and find some spots to ride every now and then. Across campus there is many great places to skate and many of those places have been skate stopped and capped. Despite this there is still a lot of great places to ride around campus.  Henry Koffler building - Right out side of this building it is almost like a little skate park. There is plenty of ledges, stairs and flat ground to skate. There is almost always a people skating here when it is not to hot as well.  Two stair and ledge  three stair and flat ground  Ledge      Another spot that used to be good to skate on campus was the ground in front of Old Main. It is the best flat ground on campus. Except now it heavily patrolled and the curbs have been capped. This spot is still great flat ground spot and used to have skaters there all the time getting some tricks...

     One of the ideas of that really stuck with me from this unit is how walking and going for walks is far more than just walking. As walking is no longer our primary mode of transportation and there is many other ways to move and get around now. Walking from place to place has in a way become a thing of the past but it is still something we do everyday. In walking the line it is discussed that  walking in the physical world can help us navigate our mental plane as well. It is used as a form of mediation and prayer and is something that many cultures share.  This idea that walking is so much more than just a thing to do physically is very interesting to me. As it is simply something we all do everyday and to think of it as something that is so much more than just what it is a interesting concept to think about.  It can be a way to move through both space and through thought allowing for two means of navigation.      I mostly agree with this ...

      For this Walk I simply took a walk around campus keeping my eyes open for these lines of desire. I figured many students would be taking them or creating them to avoid the crowds and get to wherever they where heading faster. I started my walk by my house at 1332 N highland avenue then started walking towards the Eller building once there I went towards old main then towards the Koffler building. I then started walking towards the student union and eventually headed back to 1332 N highland Ave. On my walk I found 8 desire lines some more obvious to see then others.  Path 1 - Was about 4 steps long and it took me 17 steps to not use it and arrive in the same place Path 2 - Was about 12 steps long and it took me 50 steps to not use it and arrive in the same place Path 3 - Was about 10 steps long and it took me 32 steps to not use it and arrive in the same place Path 4 - Was about 24 steps long and it took me 60 steps to not use it and arrive in the same plac...

       For both my walks I followed the same path Starting at my House at 1332 N Highland Ave and walking to just past the Biological Sciences West Building. I took the Same Route for both of my walks. the map below shows the way that I walked.     For my first walk I focused on the noises that heard that were loud and attention grabbing. Sound is something that often turns my head and i find many noises that most find unpleasant to be interesting to listen to. So I decided to follow my ears for this first walk. Many of these noises were not natural and often turned my head during my walk often making wonder where the noise was coming from.  Below is a youtube video containing all of the videos of the noises I heard on my first walk. Every recording is in the one video.      For my second walk I decided to take a more visual approach and document every spot or obstacle i walked by that would be fun to skate on so when doing my walk I kep...