Art in Progress

...for those curious about my free time artwork...here are two shots of my work in progress. I'm back to cutting glass...my meditation with sharp objects and repetitive motions. And words from a scrap of paper that I have been carting around to my various apartments in a cigar box full of other scraps of paper for the last seven years. I think I scribbled this one down seven or eight years ago. I'm not sure if I actually dreamed this or read it somewhere and liked it. If I'm plagiarizing someone by all means, let me know! I'll postscript it! See you in the studio soon! B






cut glass on glass

The Party

Hey all. I promised a little visual aid to the party we had a while back and here they are. The first players on the scene are (from left to right)


Mario, Theo, Naomi, and Olga. Somehow, and I don't know how, upbeat music with a shake and shimmy rolled out of the speakers and this is what happened. Mario started the shenanigans with Theo....

Then moved onto Olga...

and Naomi...






...who felt super clean afterwards.



But over on the couch the boys had their own idea of fun. Comparing muscles...














That's my boy on the left. And yes, Theo has some big guns...but I'll take my baby's biking arms any day.

What do you think Mario? Who's guns do you prefer?



Bring it home girls...


And THAT'S how it's done at 93 Underhill. B

Post school

Hi ho! It's your long lost friend Brittan back on the blogging duties. I know you may be wondering what I have been doing since I got back from Harvard and it falls into many categories. First and foremost, I relaxed. I took two weeks and had a summer. And man, did I enjoy it. Franklin and I settled into a real apartment (with a real bed, kitchen and even a bathroom that didn't require a key and a walk down a flight of stairs) and we took advantage of the weather and all that Brooklyn/NY has to offer. Do you want to know about the Red Hook swimming pool? We can tell you. Do you need information about the Circle Line cruises? We've got the 411. Are you debating which summer releases to go see? We'll offer our recommendations. And let me point something out in those last sentences. "We, We've, We'll". Yes, Franklin and I are "going steady" and cohabitating in NY. A month after our return from Boston his bags no longer reside on my living room and/or bedroom floor. Look in the second drawer of my dresser and you will see boy things. Slide back the medicine cabinet door and you will see his mouthwash and shaving cream rubbing shoulders with my deodorant and hair products. And while this is not his permanent residence (he lives in Orlando folks...I know...we'll talk about that one another time) he has a space with me between gigs and visits to Orlando.

On other fronts, I believe last I wrote I wasn't sure what I was going to do with my new found skills in clay modeling and section drawing. As of right now I am not planning to go back to school for Landscape Architecture. I came to the decision for some practical reasons (after three expensive school years I would be in debt beyond my means...assuming a starting salary of 40K a year once I got out) and some not so practical reasons (I really love making things but what I love making the most is art). I am opting to find a different route. I don't know what it is yet but find a route I shall. Because while I am very lucky to freelance in my industry...well, real fulfillment lies elsewhere for me. And I plan to unearth the sleeping fish and make it swim. Look for water to be a prominent theme in the search. Fountains anyone? In the meantime, I am back to art making (pictures to follow soon) and considering other job options to tide me over till the jump is made. I'll let you know what pops up.

There is much more to tell but I'll be back for the rest. If for no other reason than to post photos of an impromptu party that swept through my apartment a couple of weeks ago. Mario, beware the photos I upload! Till then...peace. Brittan

The end....sniff, sniff....

Hi y'all! So guess where I am?! Brooklyn, baby! And man, am I happy to be back. Don't get me wrong. I wouldn't trade my Harvard experience for anything (well, 50K a year for the rest of my life for free....maybe) but it's time had come to an end. Naturally. And really, with a dorm room that looked like this by the time I left....






...can you blame me?









I didn't think so.

Many of you have asked how my final crit went. Well, it was a good crit...a mixed review of accurate assessment which boiled down to...they loved the hill...they yawned at the courtyard....and that was pretty much how I felt too. Who needs that courtyard. My favorite comment was "I think you let the boundaries of the building limit your thinking in the courtyard. I want to see the corten steel supporting your hillside land forms move through the building and into the courtyard. Forget the building. Break it apart." Which is pretty indicative of how the design program at Harvard approaches all challenges. Forget reality. If you can think it, do it. User needs? Fuck 'em. If the design is cool then usage is secondary. Hmmmm....I think I'll digest that one a little further.

Which brings us to the other question y'all have on the tips of your tongues. What am I going to do with all of this information I have gathered over the last six weeks? Well, for the immediate future I am going to relax in Brooklyn and bask in the joys of normalcy. No grueling schedule, no clay, no superglue, no pink panty hose. Just blue skies, yoga, pedicures, and seeing all of you again. After the dust settles a bit I'll see what I think of next steps. But watch out if I show up your house with a little corten steel.

In the meantime, I'm contemplating my next blog. I can't help myself anymore. I'm addicted to blogging. What shall I call it? Back in Brooklyn? Stay tuned.

Peace out Harvard. B

quick and dirty

like me...

Here are some photos of the latest model...now to drawing...but just so Julyne doesn't yell at me again here is the....




before























Here is the after























And here is the "plan" view....or birds eye, top down, whatever you want to call it view.



















At this sleep deprived moment it doesn't matter to me...but please note my lovely flip flop wearing, pedicure needing foot in the lower right hand corner. I think it makes the photo. I tried photographing the model the other day in a skirt and the people in the pod over whistled at the show. All in the line of duty folks. All in the line of duty. One more day to go!!! Yahoo!

B

Crunch time...

Hi all...just wanted to say a quick hello....and not much else. We have final critiques on Thursday and life is pretty much constant model making and drawing from here on out till we present at 2pm that day. Then we will all dribble out of the presentations and drink ourselves to sleep. Which won't take but a sip or two at this point because sleep is not on the agenda for most people. The big game at night is guessing who the security guard will be. Technically everyone gets kicked out at midnight but depending on the security guard and the bribe (I'm not necessarily kidding, though I heard Captain Crunch sufficed for one podmate so we aren't talking rubies here) you might eek out till 1, 2, 3, even 4 am. Some of my more zealous podmates stay until the broom starts brushing their feet away from their desks. Me, I tend to hit the road by 1 am at the latest. So that I can stay till 1 am the next night. Pacing. It's all in the pacing....and right now pacing is telling me to take down my model again and get to work. Today's tasks are replacing some of the plateau I cut away last night and inserting my broom bristle (I mean Bamboo). Ah the tricks of the trade.

I'll try to post photos later. Perhaps of one of the many sleeping figures you come upon at all times of day passed out around the school. Costanza made a cubby under his desk for naps and the GSD is no different. Watch where you step.

See you all soon. B

Kenny Gems

So I couldn't let another day go by without sharing the pearls of wisdom I received from Kenny today. And I quote, "Dude, I am a bad ass! I've been up at 6 every morning until 2 every night for the last four nights! No one is working as hard as I am!" Followed that same evening with this exchange:

ME: Kenny, how did your crit go?

Kenny: (Shaking head) Maybe my schedule wasn't such a good idea after all.

And then the pieste de la resistance:

Kenny: I've been brushing my teeth like six times a day. I catch myself looking in the mirror and thinking, "Dude, you are going crazy!"

What more can I say folks. I did learn what his big issue was with the program. With all of Kenny's energy (did I mention that he likened himself to a Greek god shortly after his morning bad ass pronouncement?) he wanted to construct the final Architecture department project in addition to his own Urban Planning final project and his instructor wouldn't let him. Saying he couldn't focus as it was on the big picture of his own project let alone a second project in a field he hadn't been studying for 5 weeks. Kenny didn't think too highly of his instructors opinion. Now he is obsessively brushing his teeth and watching himself in the mirror. You do the math.

That's it folks. I'm off to bed after my own marathon day in the studio. I will post a new photo of the "mound" I am creating tomorrow. For now, sleep well. Talk soon. B

Twice as Nice

Alright, alright. So now the guilt is really kicking in and I'm going to post twice in one day. Julyne you will make an excellent mother one day.

I realize that I was remiss in my Kenny duties earlier but that is because Kenny has fallen out of my view a bit. My tunnel vision has set in and I have also realized that a little Kenny goes a long way. That being said, here is the latest that I know. He told the old girlfriend not to come visit...god knows what that means for him when he returns to his school of 300 people (total) in the fall and sees her every day (oy!) but that is how he chose to play it. Librarian...god knows. School...I heard rumblings today that he was pissed about something that happened in his program but I don't have details. I can say that Kenny's rumblings, and most anything Kenny related, is heard loud and clear through all of the GSD. A loud crash. Kenny. A sharp peal of laughter followed by "Yea man!". Kenny. A nuclear bomb. Kenny. I will see if some of that exuberance carries details my way soon.

On the home desk front...I've had time to snap the latest in my ode to messiness. Below is the model I was talking about earlier along with a million other things I just can't find the time or desire to clear off my work surface. I'm in hog heaven.

















My butt mate by comparison keeps her desk pristine. Care to comparison shop?



But now I must away to dinner. The guilt is in full swing though so keep your eyes peeled. More on the way. BB

in demand

Hey all...so I was not so subtley told by Julyne to update my blog...her exact words were, "ummmm, update your blog lady". And since I'm so accomadating...well. Here I am. But there will be no photos today. Just a down and dirty update.

First of all, I was briefly in NY last weekend. Which rocked. But threw me out of the Boston/school mode a little bit. So let's just call last week a wash as far as school goes. I was here and we all worked but none of us liked the assignment that much and by Friday I was ready for several beers and a long nap. Which I got. This week is much better. It's all about how messy can Brittan get. Today I am making a model for our latest project (model making, I've discovered, is something I love) and it requires a LOT of cardboard and elmers glue. I daily scrub my fingers trying to delete the gummed up mess of paint and glue and god knows what else from my nail beds before heading home. As I've been prone to say, "God made dirt, and Dirt don't hurt." But it doesn't always bode well for eating out at fancy restaurants. Not that I'm partaking of fancy meals while here. But I'm just sayin'.

What else....last night I went to a Boston Red Sox/Kansas City Royals game at Fenway. Franklin is back in town and he and I cheered on our respective teams (I rooted a bit for both, I admit...) but alas, the Royals lost...much to the joy of the rabid fans that packed the stands. I highly recommend a trip to Fenway for anyone visiting Boston. Old School kickin' it baseball style. Way better than any fancy new stadium I've seen in my limited baseball viewing life.

There is a lot more to tell but I need to get back to the model at hand....I promise to be more prolific with the blog in the next week and a half. And then, sniff, it's all over. Crazy!

Talk to you all soon. See many of you soon as well. B

Long train coming...

Ok, ok...I have been remiss in my blogging duties. But I'm here to make up for it. So let's get started, shall we?

First, what day is it? Week? Month? How long have I been here? Two years? Just three weeks you say?! Impossible. Already I am folded into the fabric of this crazy process. A few highlights from school since we spoke last...

I haven't talked too much about Eric, one of my podmates, but he is the oldest in our group....52 for those counting...and Career Discovery is his vision quest. And man is he having a good time. The whole department was invited on a tour of the Mount Auborn Cemetary in Cambridge (yes, they need Landscape Architects too) and Eric was so enamored of the sights that he looked like this....



















for the duration of the field trip. If he could fly from happiness right now I'm sure the Cambridge police would be getting calls from confused and slightly scared residents everywhere.

I should also add that he and Kenny are best buds. Eric says that Kenny reminds him of himself when he was younger. And somehow I believe it.

I don't have too much new to report on Kenton (Kenny's birth name). The librarian might still be in play but it does not stop him from trying to impress other young things in the studio with his committment and zeal. He and Eric are known to pull late nights/early mornings in the studio and should that impress the Santa Barbara blonde in the pod over, well, he's ok with that. The real drama will begin when his old girlfriend visits at the end of July. Will the dust settle on a victor for Kenny's heart? Stay tuned.

And onto the work itself. It's been very rewarding but the hours have been grueling. As most of you know I am not a morning person and well...this program is forcing it out of me come hell or high water...just so I can get everything done. Our latest project required coming up with a temporary (year long) installation at a harbor front property in Boston that for the life of me...well...here is the...




before







and my proposed after...






and the model I worked with to get there...






Again, I know it doesn't look like much...so why did it take so *&$#@! long to get it all together?! We saw the site on a Monday and had two weeks to concept and create the final product before crit this past Friday. I can only say I am humbled, happy, and glad to have made it through.

Speaking of being humbled and happy...Team Franklin visited last week which also contributed to no blogging. He has seen the pod and can attest to all of the craziness of which I write. He even met Kenny! Now you know I'm not making that guy up!

And to end on a Kenny note (because really, you need a thread in these things) my friend Curt back in NY made me extrememly happy when he told me that he had started greeting a select few with "Ca-Caw!" To all of you I say, "Ca-Caw!" And see you soon hopefully. Your podmate. B

Current Chaos

So after my brief foray back into blogging last night I felt remorse that I hadn't kept up with it better so here I am again. I realized that the pics from yesterday were rather "clean". So let's get down to the nitty gritty. First, two of my podmates,



Dave (in red) and David. This pretty much gives you the attitude we strike when summer calls but the studio calls louder.




And then there is me. I call this,





"self portrait". Or the current chaos of my desk.









Let's give you a little more info. The smell of wood...though I'm not sure if it is the desk's surface or if someone is burning designs into balsa for a model. Chatter...near and far...ideas being passed around, thrashed, supported, regenerated, revised....you get the picture. Tracing paper rustling as fellow students draw their ideas out over our oversized waterfront plans that comprise the site of our current project. What else, the "sssshhhhhtttt" of scissors splicing through paper as a GSDer prepares boards for tomorrows crit with images of planting choices and color schemes....

The list could go on. And so must I...to all of the verbs I just wrote above.

I'm glad you are all enjoying this as much as I am. Even if laying out in the grass with a bottle of wine and a sweet companion calls to me as well. But for now I am here in the flourescents and not necessarily unhappy about that either. See you soon! And again, come visit!!!! B

Midway to Friday

Hi ho! It's Wednesday and where have I been? In the studio! A poor excuse for not blogging but...well, it's the only one I've got. Speaking of the studio,






puruse the trays going up










and scan the close up of tray one.












I snapped these this morning on my early morning arrival before the masses swarmed in. I really need to capture the teaming beehive that this place becomes starting around 9 am. Perhaps a little time lapse movie. Hmmmm....well, for now these will have to do. And I will have to go to bed. But not before the Kenny Update! He "totally" hooked up with the librarian. Twice. The drama has begun. Catch you all later in the week. B

ps...and since many of you have asked...to "kill" in crit is good.

In Summation

Okay. So how long have I been here? A year? Oh, only a week. Hmmmm. Things happen fast here. Already I've logged 27 hours making two different models of fences made from panty hose. You want to see my contribution to the Atlantic Yards construction sites you say? Done.



This would be the rigid fence.











This would be the flexible fence.










The idea being that you had to use the same material for both. 27 hours you say? They don't look like much. I know. Sad but true. And yet somehow they killed in crit. Who knew?

But you are all wondering about Kenny I know. One of these days he's going to get wind that he is prominent in my blog and then what will happen?! I'm sure we'll find out.

Here's what I can tell you about Kenny this week. First of all, he greeted me one day with a birdcall that sounded like, "Ka-ka! Ka-ka!". The woman unlocking the dorm floor door in front of me was a little confused but I got it. The next day he wore a fedora to lecture and sat in the front row during "Career Day". Afterwards he milled around and questioned each of the professionals who had come to explain their personal experiences as Urban Planners, Landscape Architects, and Architects. The boy is thirsty! Except he doesn't drink.

Last night my "podmate" (more on what that means later) Eric and I commandeered Kenny for a night out on the town. Which led us to the Barking Crab in downtown Boston. I highly recommend it for purposes of cracking crab legs on the water amidst a rowdy crowd of urban professionals and locals.

The upshot of the dinner is that basically I am Kenny's love coach now. Kenny, if you are reading this, dump the girlfriend who can't say she likes you and get busy with the dreadlocked librarian who "facebook friended" you. I don't want to try to get into what that means but it's all the rage with the majority of contestants in the game of under 21 dating.

There is much more to write but I'm too tired to make it happen now. I will say that the schedule is grueling. Sleep...well, I'd like a little more of it. The process takes immense concentration and ingenuity. But the result felt pretty good to present.

Two last things. I want to introduce some of my podmates. Yes. I said podmates. Here at the GSD they split you up into "trays" and "pods". A tray is the floor you are on and it is called a tray because the building has been designed like a football stadium...steps leading up to the top in tiers except the tiers are large enough to accommodate multiple open studios that are grouped in "pods". A pod consists of 8 desks in 4 carrels. Whoever is in your carrel is your "buttmate". I'm not making this up. I just learned that tonight at dinner. My podmates are all of an older descent. The youngest in our ranks is 26...so that means that after the big critique we can....

you guessed it....

drink....













Starting from the left you have me, Elise, David, Sarah, and the afore mentioned Eric. Dave and Ken are missing from the picture as they were missing from the drinking but we like them anyway. I'll give the lo-down on everyone another day when I can do them justice. I will say that we pretty much spend 15 hours a day together at least and so far no one has shot anyone. Stay tuned for dramas to unfold. Nah...we are a good bunch.

And finally, I have to give a shout out to Team Franklin who inspired this blog in the first place. He's got one of his own that is definitely worth the read. Check it out here.

Team Franklin is coming to Boston soon and will hopefully be filling in his peeps about pods and trays in his own special way. Don't just take my word for it. Get a second opinion at http://franklinespinal.blogspot.com/

Okay, enough for now. See you on the morrow. B

Day of few words

Tanner Fountain...one of the inspirations for this crazy endeavor. It's midway between my dorm and the GSD (the Graduate School of Design). Come visit!

Day 1 and 2

Alright, alright...so I'm over the dorm thing. Enough already. I won't be here that much anyway. And frankly, once you get past the...well, the whole thing of it really, it's kind of fun.

Two things. Kenny is going to be a recurring character. Today I saw him on my way into the building and again with the pointing and the bug eyes and the impish smile and the implied "You!". "Get your bike inside!" he threw across the foyer at me. "My bike was stolen last night from outside the dorm". Which is a huge bummer for two reasons. One, who needs that. And who wants to worry about that. And two, Kenny is obviously enamored of his transportation options. Though at our next encounter at lunch he explained that it really wasn't such a bad thing because the bike had been given to him for free and he really didn't like having that many possessions anyway because it meant that other people might want them. And having them meant he was spoiled. Ah Marxism.

On other fronts, today was a much better day. I feel a little more grounded and into the whole program. The car is "disposed of" for the time being at my awesome friend Barbara's house (thanks Barbara!) and the work has begun in earnest. Even if that work is drawing plan views, section views, and elevations of a donut (no, I'm not kidding) and experimenting with materials for a theoretical bridge or fence in an area you know well. For all of you Brooklynites out there I'm creating a construction fence for the Atlantic Yards project. Feel free to send suggestions for the profanity that will be spray painted in tiny letters on the surface.

And last but not least, I had dinner tonight with Ken, a house husband from Chelsea NY whose husband/partner brings home the bacon via lawyering for a bank. We bonded over the craziness of the ice cream social (he is 43) and swapped stories about life in the "real" world. Now I am off to play with panty hose for my fence. And again, I'm not kidding.

Miss you all. B

Arrival

Alright folks. Let's just say it. I live in the dorm again. I sleep in a twin bed and carry my shampoo to the shower a floor down. Unless I decide to give in and just use the men's bathroom on my floor for all purposes. Which I am close to doing.

I arrived yesterday after a whirlwind departure from NY that involved losing my drivers license, credit card, and ATM card. All a day in the life and not so upsetting but very inconvienent. I could go on about the departure but really, let's focus on the arrival. Specifially, the ice cream social. Did I mention that I live in a dorm again? And dorms have meetings when new people arrive. And as a reward afterwards they have ice cream socials. Let me give you one of the highlights from the ICS.

By far my favorite person so far is a young "kid" (a word I put in quotations because he is 20 and I am not) named Kenny. The week before we all arrived here Harvard signed up every new student on a List Serve and duly sent out an email telling everyone of such. Something in the email made people feel the need to send shout outs to the group. Things like, "Hi, my name is Michelle and my email address is michelle@michelle.com. I can't wait to meet everyone next week." Like that. A hundred emails just like that from total strangers. Except one. Kenny's. Kenny's email said, "i think it strange, for i prefer faces-kenny" Which in my opinion is genius but what do I know.

So fast forward to the ICS. The ice cream is melting on the table, students are packed onto the concrete slab underneath one of the dorm overhangs chatting about god knows what and I pass by one little dude with longish brown hair still wet from the shower in disorganized pieces around his head and he is yelling out indiscriminately, "Urban Planning! Anyone! Urban Panning! Am I all alone here? Urban Planning!" And he does it with a smile and abandon. No self conciousness. No worry. Just pure delight and zeal. To be yelling out to strangers with joy. As Mastercard says, priceless. I should add that Urban Planning is one of the smaller subsections of this whole summer thing. Architecture takes up the bulk with Landscape Architecture, Urban Planning, and Urban Design taking up the significant rear with about 90 students total across all three fields. But back to Kenny, not being an Urban Planning student I let the man alone and took my ice cream elsewhere. But Kenny arrived in my little corner and introduced himself around and as soon as he said his name I knew...You! You're the one that wrote the only original thing on that list serve! To which he pointed at me and said...you read it! Ha! Did you write one? To which I had to admit I had...I couldn't resist flooding strangers inboxes.

All of which is to say, Kenny is a one of a kind and he has no idea. I want to shake him and say "Don't change!" Continue to wear two different color socks. Continue to shout into crowds indiscriminately looking for your kindred. Continue!

I think he shall.

As for me...well, I'm taking it in. I have to admit the dorm thing throws me a bit but I think a lot of things are going to throw me. Which I guess is part of the point with this time. Shake it up. See where it all lands.

If I have the time I will keep posting updates but frankly, they've pretty much laid down a rigorous schedule. But who knows. Talking to all of you seems just as, if not perhaps more important than a schedule of assignments. Continue!