The Shadow

Nick Blue runs quickly from a mob of bullies late Friday afternoon. His quick legs carry him far from his predators as he runs along the graffiti tagged concrete walls. He doesn’t know that his chasers have now dropped off, but what scared them were not Nick’s quick legs. The lowering sun has cast a sinister shadow behind him. Four times as large as Blue, the shadow’s pointy ears and teeth relate to Nick’s scared reaction and hidden feelings deep inside himself. The bottle and cigarette his shadow carries show the taunting he undergoes daily, and the struggle to refuse every time.

This shadow is what scares the bullies away, this alter character inside Blue that wants to come out, but is kept at bay by his running away. The grayscale coloration also enhances the aura of the dark and light battling against each other amidst the grays of life. But the lurking shadow is the center and focal point, not Nick. Its sheer size, devilish look and contrasting pure ebony color blares out of the photo. At the same time, Nick is feeling this shadow lurking over him, urging him to turn around and give in, for he is a force to be reckoned with.

Even in the brightness of day, the darkness still abides in the shadows waiting for night to fall. Nick is never free of the burden and must carry his shadow with him till he finds a way to leave it on someone else, someone without a shadow that will take it off his back.

Why Not Art?

“We make money not art” is the sarcastic title to a blog written primarily by Regime Debatty, a European involved with art. At first glance, this title made me think that this blog was focused on business or some other field that deals with money. My second glance disproved my first assumption and gave me a new impression. The writer, Regime, must have a sense of humor to have named the title what she did, and she must really love art. But looking at her profile from the About Us tab, I saw that a couple others contribute to the blog of articles and interactive links.

In some of the blogs, which occasionally seem more like article to me, I have noticed the subject matter is not based on a person’s day or even random topics put in here or there. The
focal point is artwork of all kinds, like paintings, pictures, and sculptures. But the artwork also extends to other genres and medium. The blog titled “Interview with Angelo Vermeulen” is an interview, obviously, with a video game designer. It focuses on the artistic point of view for how rooms and towns should be viewed, where to work in the 3D aspects, etc… Other entries consist of one or two pictures, usually very unusual and eye-catching, and a caption. An interesting one is of two models wearing strange, furry animal masks in “Next winter you won’t see me without.”

All these artistic blogs can be accessed or found in the hot pink search bar containing the site’s title. Like our blogs, this one exhibits a two column format with the entries on the left side and links in addition to various other items on the right side. The entries contain a vast amount of pictures, with would be characteristic of an artsy blog, and many internal links to relating information and sites. The tabs at the beginning have the typical date and author, but it also has a button for the category that the entry would be classified as. Also, the blog uses a light, textured background with dark colored text for good readability.

The right side contains a conglomerate of items. A link is connected to the profile instead of having a picture up front. An add for new sponsors and add by Google hanging along the right side. Other small, mini sections include “Latest Interviews”, “Coverage”, “From the Cellar” (old blogs), and other random links that don’t have a title. Finally, the “Categories” section consists of all the different subjects that the blogs fit into.

My blog is quite different in many aspects. Besides pictures in the entries, a centered blog and profile section, nothing else is there. But I think that a plain, clean-cut look is refreshing since we are bombarded with all types of advertisements daily. The entries are what people want to see, at least for my blog, and that’s what they get, nothing extra. However, a few additions could be made. Links to the top would be useful as well as a Share button. I think the only other thing I would add are some links to sites that I like and want others to enjoy as well.

Observational Essay: Tiling Through History

A block away from the intersection of Auraria Pkwy and Speer Blvd. stands a historical six story building dating back to the 1920’s. Though once a warehouse, it now contains residential lofts in its upper floors, and after its final restoration, the bottom floor will hold luxury offices. It’s now 7:00 a.m. and the construction inside has slowly begun for the day.

“The important thing is to wear rubber globes when dealing with the mud or else the moisture will be sucked out of your hands and won’t come off for a week,” said Joe, one of the workers showing me the details of laying tile inside the future break room. I noticed clumpy, white mud-stained jeans hanging off his thin frame. He looked to be around twenty years old with dark stubble, a little shorter than his hair, filling in around his face. Laying tile is a lot more complicated than simply slapping tiles in some mud on the ground. This was an art, or so he said. It all begins with the look you want. This particular construction site would be high class, and no cheap tile could be laid in a fancy business loft. That’s why they chose travertine, an expensive, half in thick stone tile with a marbled cream color that felt rough and porous to my fingers. “The more expensive they are, the easier they can break,” Joe said to me, “and also the harder to lay.” His young brow wrinkled in concentration as he surveyed the slope of the floor and angles of the walls where the final tiles would lay running up to the ragged carpet covered hard wood floors. Only the early morning glare from a couple of nearby windows lit the smallish, rectangular room. It wasn’t dark enough for the make-shift work lamp hanging from the ceiling pipes to be plugged in.

Cross-legged on the floor, I turned my attention back on Joe, who was rising up off his knees. From his mouth came a strange sound like he was calling to someone, “Jooorgeee.” I heard a return call just barely over the Spanish music playing from the mud splattered boom box beneath the window. Whistling an unrecognizable tune, Jorge, or abuelo (grandpa) Jorge as Joe liked to call him, stomped through the hallway toward us carrying more 12”x 12” tiles fitted in a box. “Hola!” he called to me as his aged brown eyes crinkled up into smile. Apparently, Jorge could speak no English, but by the waving of hands toward a bucket and a few Spanish words interspersed, I gathered Joe had run out of mud and needed to make more.

While Joe and Abuelo Jorge concoct the mud, a mixture of dry concrete and water, in a white bucket and cut the remaining tile to fit the edges, another worker tiles in the men’s bathroom. Deciding to watch him, I walked down the long hallway surrounded by unfinished offices and noticed square support beams twice the size of my waist cinched by metal clamps and long copper pipes protruding from the newly painted drywall. They must have been an original part of the building and necessary for the restoration. I could feel the air of a portable fan blowing away dust and smell wiffs of paint as I headed away from the hall and to the bathroom. A large, light skinned man with dark curly hair crouched on his heals laying smaller, 31/2 square inch travertine tiles on the wall. Little pieces of cardboard and plastic cross spacers stick between the tile, keeping them from sliding out of place. “Mornings are generally the slowest time of day, we’re all kinda asleep still, but that changes after our nine o’clock break time,” Byron shouts my way, his goatee full of white dust. “But here’s a lesson on this tile. It came from those floor tiles from where you were just at, but these have been tumbled. Not fast mind you, but slow so the edges can smooth out and dents form on the surface without breaking the tile into pieces. It gives them character.” It looked as though his short tile lesson was over, and he hunched over his work again.

But the low down on tile came from Joe as he returned to his former room. “You see, we have to clean the floor good before smoothing down the tile, and this trowel here with the prongs on two sides and flat bottom spreads the mud. The prongs form cornrows in the mud to keep the air and moisture from breaking the tile once it’s set. And there’s a secret term rarely used I’m going to share with you. It’s called surfing. When the tile too high above the others, stand gently on the tile to push it down and level. It’s still wet, so you have to be careful” said Joe.

After explaining the process to me, Byron yelled through the maze of walls and offices announcing that it was 9:00 a.m. and time for a break. Their supervisor, Mike Neary finally showed up for the day bringing his usual snacks of sprinkled cake doughnuts, milk and coffee. He stood about 6’3”, jean overalls encasing his paunch. While a couple others kept working, most workers, including myself, walked through the hallway, around the messy reception area filled with brushes and trash cans, and up the stairs to his office. Not the typical office, an unfinished bathroom stood to the right side of the stairs and a black refrigerator filled with week old leftovers to the other. Straight ahead his desk held family vacation photos and adjacent to it was his floor planning. Byron and Joe cracked jokes about how Mike spends all his time on useless drawings and claims he has to slave over them night and day. They all just laugh about it as if this happens every day.

Though it’s time for the guys to head back to work, Mike agrees to talk with me about the history and restoration of this building they’ve been working on. I’ve heard from Byron and Joe that Mike actually loves to talk about the history because he has been researching it for the past year. Sure enough, his eyes light behind his square glasses as he tells me about how this building was involved in a feud in the 20’s, and now how important it is to keep the building’s spirit among the new construction. Between the original green and white speckled brick, the protruding infrastructure, beautiful tiling and dedication, he will definitely reach his goal.

Randomly Selected Words

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Saved to Last

Going to school in Downtown Denver exposes students, especially those from small town, to new and historical types of buildings and atmospheres. Some might not know the historical background of this town or in particular, how the old buildings are restored and modernized to fit their new purposes. All over Downtown, restaurants and businesses show the character of their history, and my observational essay will be focusing on the new construction of a commercial loft inside a historical building, once a manufacturing plant.

While I can’t actually see the whole process of the restoration and new construction, the contractor there can give background information on what it was like and how they go about constructing the new with the old. I will be specifically watching how they lay tile and the process that goes into it. This may not sound exciting, but tile has a great history in the arts and are still great contributors to the beauty of the buildings and homes we live in from roofs to elaborate mosaic colors, ceiling, and bathrooms. Maybe I will acquire some ideas in the event that I should have to lay my own tile.

The activity related to tiling is, of course, construction. Some people have maybe volunteered for Habit for Humanity so they would have some experience in that area, but I am sure many don’t. I wish to delve into the type of work force that constructs buildings and what that environment is really like. On the scene construction workers will be working, but more is involved than just carrying out orders. Plans and decisions must be made by architects and designers who must find a balance between layout and eye appeal. Finally, these elements must join to fit the character of the building already in place. A lot of work must go in to reach a satisfactory product that will hopefully last for another historical period.

I love to learn how things work, and seeing first hand what is involved with the restoring and rebuilding process would be very interesting to me and hopefully to you, the reader. This kind of construction is different than new construction in that the infrastructure has already been built and the workers must work around it. The building I will be observing is additionally different as it is a commercial loft with residential lofts in the upper stories. To learn more about loft construction go here.

Apartments and lofts are similar in some aspects, but lofts are usually much larger, more expensive, and were originally developed from historical buildings with high ceilings. They have a certain feel and character that make them unique. I wish to learn more about the layouts and other details that distinguish the commercial and residential lofts from other historical buildings in the area, and even the history of this particular loft building.

A Dog's Opinion

Before You Tube existed, my brothers would love to try out their movie making abilities. Back then, we still had the full video cassette camcorders; its bulky and heavy handling not quite reaching the smoothness of today's digital camcorders. They loved to make spoofs on current or classic movies. The movie the Blair Witch Project became the Tunnel Rat Project. Scary movies like Jason were a given as well as the art of clay animation. Our whole family loved watching them, but I am sure other people's opinions would have been appreciated. Now, websites like You Tube exist where anyone can post videos and have others critique them. This website and others like it have created a nation/worldwide platform for the everyday citizen to contribute their opinions and beliefs.

A person's beliefs don't always have to be portrayed as something serious or religious. It can be also about what one enjoys doing, their passions and cultures to name a few. The video "Scottie Tails: My Date with Barney, the First Dog" from You Tube for example, is a comedic portrayal of Kenzie, a Scottie dog trying to set up a date with the First dog, with most of the clip occurring at his home table. While totally fictional, this video clip reveals the creator’s passion for their dog and perhaps leaning toward a political view since the date is with the First dog, George Bush’s dog in the clip.

Looking deeper into the making of the clip reveals how the message and comedy came across as it did. Being completely fictional, the clip was heavily edited. Scottie barked through the whole story with subtitles providing the translation. In certain parts Scottie was made to look as if he was typing and talking on the phone. But the fact that Scottie can’t do those things made the clip even more entertaining. Even for those who are not dog nor animal lovers this clip would be entertaining because the dog was personified as a human and relatable.

A big part in movies and clips on You Tube in general is making the impossible possible. With the editing that can be done on standard PC’s, making videos has become much easier for many people. That these videos can be posted on the web by anyone makes it a genre completely separate from T.V. or movies. Having videos made by average people provides a level relatable to others while still allowing anonymity. And these clips don’t have to be good or long, which makes it easy to share with others.

In a way, You Tube videos can be thought of as kind of communication. They are free, accessible and universal depending on the video. People are able to share their personal voice to the world or just to the few who choose to view the video. The viewers also contribute to this communication by posting comments and critiques with an intimacy not available with T.V. or movies. Overall, every voice can be heard with a view or a post.