Mode of Attention

Walking the streets of Tucson near the university over the summer is like walking completely different streets than when school is in session. When school is in session there is more hustle and bustle, there are students speeding around in cars blasting music, college boys throwing footballs in the street, and an ever constant stream of people moving around creating a buzz around the area. Walking the streets near my house now that it is summer, things are calmer, more peaceful, the buzz is nearly gone.

What seems more evident to me now are the sounds of children playing. I didn’t even know that elementary aged children lived in my neighborhood until now. It is unusual to hear the laugher of children since I have been so used to hearing the rowdy horse play of adult boys. I hear the barking of dogs and the jingle of dog collars. Cars seem to pass less frequently with the slight whisssh that they seem to make as they go. Every once in a while, passes with the same base I am used to hearing during the school year. I can hear myself walking. My flip flops snap as I walk, and the ground makes crunching noises as I go.

I brought my dog with me on this walk. He stops every few feet, and I wonder what it is that he can smell. To me it smells hot. I find it hard to explain the smell of heat. It is almost as though the sidewalk and the asphalt are producing a smell that rise as they get hotter. It also smells like dirt. It hasn’t rained in a while, and as I walk the dust gets stirred up and fills my nostrils. Then my dog pees, and the heat makes the smell of dog urine reach my nostrils sooner. There are garbage cans along the way. Some smell like stale beer, others of rotting food. The heat seems to speed up the process of rotting, and it makes the smells stronger and more putrid.

The weather has not yet reached 100 degrees, to my knowledge. It feels hotter though. I think this is probably because this area has so much concrete and asphalt. My flip flops heat up as I walk. There is a gritty feeling under my feet as I walk due to the sand that gets in my shoes when the sidewalk disappears. There is a warm breeze that is almost unnoticeablebut it starts to pick up as I walk, and clouds start to roll in. It is a dry heat. My shoulders feel like they are burning and they probably are. I feel like I am sweating in my underarms, in the creases of my knees and arms, and most uncomfortable in my cleavage. I find this to be one of the more annoying things about being a girl. There is a tug at the leash in my hand as my dog tries to get closer to something that smells interesting to him. The leash feels hard and plastic, and I push the little button on the top that makes the leash stop releasing.

I always do this walk alone. Just me and my dog. It gives me time to think, and it gives my dog much needed exercise. I connect this walk with time to think. Time to be by myself. Living in a house with four other people and two other dogs, this is a usually needed escape. The sun starts to set as I get home, and it is another beautiful arizona sunset.

Mapping the Grocery Deit Fad Scene

I am what you might consider a yoyo dieter. I have bought into a lot of diet fads. I buy anti-oxidant, super fruit chews that say they help you lose weight because they rid your body of free radicals. I drink “Lean Shakes”, a protein based, meal replacement shake that is supposed to help you lose weight in a “healthy way.” And most recently, I joined Weight Watchers.

For this walk, I spent a few hours walking around the grocery store trying to map the Weight Watchers fad that seems to have taken over Frys and probably most other grocery stores. It seems to me that a least one third of the aisles could be deemed the scene of the Weight Watchers member.

In one of the frozen food aisles, a whole side has Weight Watchers friendly food. It hasn’t been put out by Weight Watchers, but the Lean Cuisines, Healthy Choice, Smart Balance, and other microwavable meals have a circle on them that contains their Weight Watchers point value. (For those who don’t know what a Weight Watchers point is here is a quick overview: each member gets a certain amount of points per day, usually somewhere between 20 and 30. Every food and drink has a point value assigned to it. These microwavable meals tend to be worth 5 or 6 points.)

In the soup aisle, at least half of the soups also have the same circle showing their point value. Progresso Light Soups seem to range from 0 to 2 points. The ones that are only broth and vegetables are 0. This is interesting to me because it seems to me that all food should be worth something. How can a food not have any food value? I also found that all the vegetable in the produce section are worth 0 points. They don’t have a circle point sticker on them, but my Weight Watchers point pamphlet tells me this.

In the dairy section, I found individual cream cheese packets and yogurt that have the Weight Watchers logo on them. In the drink aisle, I found Weight Watchers smoothies. In the bread aisle, I found Weight Watchers bread and muffins and cookies.

While mapping the grocery store, it seems like diet fads have over taken the aisles, but the fad that seems to be the most prevalent is Weight Watchers.

Infernal Noise

What I found most intriguing about the concept of infernal noise and art/music as a political statement was that the people who are performing the music and the people who are originally the onlookers often seem to become one in the same. At first, the performers are a separate entity, but when the onlookers start to dance to the music that is being preformed, they too became part of the spectacle. I thought that it was interesting that onlookers can become part of something larger without knowing it and without having practiced as the performers had for weeks.

Another thing that interested me about this idea was the power that music has to move people. It has an effect that inspires people in a way that speeches and rallies cannot. Depending on the music, people are moved in a different way. This was shown when the musicians that were at the WTO protest ended up playing a tribal warrior song, This act in some way triggered the police to tear gas them. It was interesting that there was probably a connection between the music that was being played and the reaction that the police had. Other music that was played provoked onlookers to start dancing, thus making the onlookers part of the spectacle.

The idea of performance just being something that is conducted in the sphere of a theater was pushed aside with these acts. I thought it was interesting that people could conduct an act of political protest without saying a word about the actual thing that they are protesting. I didn’t previously know that groups like the Infernal Noise Brigade existed. Music is something that can get past barriers that often keep people from understanding the same message. Often, a message can be lost due to language or cultural barriers, but when the message is being transmitted through music, many of those barriers disappear. People were able to know that at the WTO protest the music was a form of showing their opposition, even though no one said anything about being opposed to what was happening.

I thought that the idea of a political art movement was very interesting, especially when it was compared to actual political movements like Marxism. Performing music being compared to a political movement had never crossed my mind before. I was surprised that such a thing could cause such an impact.

Cacooned

Living in Tucson in the summer, it is nearly impossible to jog during the day. The heat keeps me from jogging until later in the evening, usually 9 or 10 at night. I have no misconceptions about this being safe. For some reason, however, I feel safer jogging at night when I have my ipod with me. I listen to fast paced music, and I run for about an hour. This is not becuase I run a far distance, but becuase I walk for a large part of my "run."

For this walking excercise, I made my excursion about twice as long. I traveled my usual path twice. For the fisrt half, I preformed my usual routine. I ran and walked and listened to fast paced, motivational music. For the most part, I felt safe. I know that not being able to hear my surrounding is actual less safe than not listening to music, but the cacoon of my music provides me with a sense of security (even if deep down I know it is a false sense of security.) I get lost in the music, it helps me find my thoughts, and before I know it I am home.

I then repeated this routine without my ipod. Much like the article I had read about the Personal Stereo, I found myself feeling much less secure in my surroundings. I also found that I was much less motivated to go as far as I had before. This may have also been a result of how much I had previously exerted myself, but I also found that I was more prone to look at the people that were around me and wonder what they were doing. I no longer felt like I was in my own world, but I felt like my surroundings were more foreign.

I thought it was very interesting that my ipod provided me with such a different feeling, but reflecting on it, I also realized that I do the same thing when I am walking on campus. When I have my ipod I feel more empowered. I feel like I am more in control of my environment. I think in a large part this is becuase I am in control of the music that I am choosing to listen to. I had never realized before that my ipod gave me such a cacoon until I participated in this excercise.

A Performance as Experimentation

For this walking excercise, I decided that I would elaborate something that generally happens in my everday life. I have a tendency to trip. I don't usually fall all the way over, but if I don't trip once a day it's a miracle. I saw an episode of a show that introduced the concept of "surprise trust falls." In high school, I participated in a Ropes Course, an event that tried to build team work among each grade of the High School through team building excercises. One of which was a "trust fall", when you turn your back to a crowd, cross your arms over your chest and fall backward in the belief that the people behind you will catch you. "Surprise trust falls" have basically the same premise other than the people behind you knowing that they are participating in the excercise.

I decided it would be interesting to do something similar. Nearly all the people who hang out with me know that I am a tripper, but I decided that I would come closer to falling than I usually would in hopes that I could be caught after performing my "surprise trust fall." To my extreme delight, I only fell all the way down once. Most of the people around me began to wonder if I was drunk, due to my extreme lack of balance and general poor walking capabilities. At first, they seemed to be caught off gaurd that I had actually fallen, but after the first time they seemed prepared to catch me.

I did this at home and around town for a few hours, and the only people who seemed to be concerned for my well being were strangers. I thought that it was very funny that my friends, roommates, and boyfriend all seemed to think that it was completely normal that I didn't seem to be able to walk more than more than 100 yards without falling over or almost falling over. It showed me that it seems nearly impossible to phase the people I spend most of my time with unless I do something completely outrageous.

Desire Lines

Desire lines are defined as: an informal path that pedestrians prefer to take to get from one location to another rather than using a sidewalk or another official route. The paths in the photos I included are trails that have been created due to constant though not designated usage. The trails have been created by people who wish to get to the top of a hill, Duey Hill, in order to look out over the small town of Spring Lake, MI. It is a way to pass the time, but I thought it was interesting that these desire lines support a desire to create entertainment for ones self, as well as serving as a path created to quench that desire.

I thought that it was interesting that there was not simply one path to get to the top. There were paths through areas that were dense with vegitation and trees, and then there were paths that were closer to the road (like the one pictured above). I also thought it was interesting that some of the paths were formed becuase there was no where else to walk. Some went straight through trees, but others seemed to be curvy for the simple purpose of wandering the area. In the photo pictured above, it seems as though the path is curvy not becuase of obsticels, but becuase of some other reason. Perhaps people were simple too wrapped up in the veiw to realize they weren't walking in a straight line.

It seems to me that sometimes desire lines are created out of a convenience that is not provided with sidewalks. Sometimes a sidewalk does not provide the fastest way to get somewhere. However, what I enjoyed more about my exploration of desire lines was the fact that they seem to also commonly represent a desire for freedom. A desire to explore. A desire to venture a way from the conformity that sidewalks provide and explore the unknown. A desire to walk in a line that is not straight. That is what I liked about desire lines, the fact that they don't seem to always have to serve as a means to an end, but can sometimes simply represent a desire to be freed from the conformity that life often presents us with.

I Walk in Your Name

For this walk, I went on a walk in the name of my boyfriend. In the name of getting to know eachother better. It was the first time I had been to his Hometown, and we walked together in the name of teaching me where he came from.

Over the course of this walk, we talked about what he did during his childhood. He showed me how to create a whistle out of the top of an acorn or a blade of grass. Being from Tucson, I had never really seen the top of an acorn, so not surprisingly, I also had never known one could make a whistle out of one.

We then walked a little further, and he picked a leaf off of a bush and told me to chew on it. At first, I was hesitant, but I was walking in the name of learning more about the man I love, so I chewed on it. It was called Sassafras. I thought it tasted like aromatherapy. I didn't really like it, but it was a flavor of his childhood.

We then walked for a while longer, and came across a group of children who had nets and were catching frogs. This is apparently something that most kids do in Michigan. I had never tried to catch a frog, but the kids let me try. We caught frogs with them for a little while. I was interested to find small groups of children along our walk all doing the same thing.

We talked about our childhoods. We talked about how the landscape had changed. We walked in the name of learning about one another. We walked in the name of our relationship.

Personal Stereo

I thought that the writing on the personal stereo was interesting because most of the writing was talking about walkmans. Since the day of the walkman, the personal stereo has changed and evolved quite a bit. They have changed in terms of size, shape, and capacity to hold music. They have gone from tape, to cd, to mp3. Somehow, in light of all the changes, the usage and the way people seem to escape into them seems to remain the same.

I thought that there were a variety of interesting points that emerged from this piece. I had already known that people often chose their music based on their mood, there are a diverse group of users, and personal stereos often help people “get going” in their day or with exercise, etc. What I found interesting was The idea that the music that someone is listening to can change their relationship to the environment around them. Once I read this, however, it made perfect sense. Music does have a large impact on how I feel, and I don’t see any reason why the music that I am listening to wouldn’t have the same effect on how I feel about where I am when I am listening to it. I also found that idea of a dysfunctional environment based on incorrect music to be interesting. This too makes sense. If the music I am listening to doesn’t match my mood or my surroundings, I do see that causing a confusion of feelings.

I have been known to listen to my music loud. I have also found myself listening to a song repeatedly until I become tired of it. I never took much more notice of this than the fact that I did it. I thought that it was very interesting when I read that one possible reason that people listen to music on repeat is so that they can remain static within the flow of time and place. I had never thought about it this way, but looking back on the days that I did this, I had remained stuck in my thought/mood until the music changed. I also thought I just liked loud music, but thinking about it in the sense that the volume drowns out other sounds that could be mood altering also makes a lot of sense. I was relieved to know that I am not the only person that had gotten lost in the music and arrived at a destination without quite remembering how they got there.

I thought that the idea that before the train was invented people never had a reason to stare at one another for longer than a few minutes much less hours was intriguing. I know that eye contact with strangers often makes people uncomfortable. I thought that it was interesting that it is easier for some people to make eye contact when listening to a personal stereo, because they are listening to someone else. The idea that listening to yet another stranger could make it easier to engage in what I see as a personal act easier was very interesting and a little unnerving to me.

Personal Spectacle

In the power points, the artists were trying to create a profound message. They were creating a public performance through spectacle in order to produce a meaningful message that caused contemplation. I don’t think that my “public performance” was profound or meaningful, but I think it caused contemplation. Contemplation more on my part than those around me probably.

In Tucson, there is a bar scene that at times, seems like it serves more of a function of being seen than it does enjoying yourself. What you wear matters, who sees you at a certain bar on a certain night matters, how many other people you know that are also there to be seen matters. For about the first year of my drinking career, I too go wrapped up in the seeing and being seen scene. That all ended after a few drunk driving accidents where friends of mine died, my perspective changed, and most of the people who have been being seen at the same bars as these people who are now dead seemed to take little notice of their absence.


To create my spectacle I did something that I doubt most would take little mind of. Most of these bars have a strict dress code. Not a dress code that is enforced by the bouncers or the owners of the bar, but one that was created and enforced by the people who are regularly in attendance. I doubt it needs to be said, but sweat pants is not among that approved items. So, for a few of the keys days to attend each bar and dress up in my finest garb, I attended in a pair of sweats, a tank top, and sandals.


I have been going to these bars for years, I have lived in Tucson nearly all my life, so it it hard for me to go to a bar and not see someone that I am acquainted with. What I found interesting about this personal spectacle is that it should not have been a spectacle at all. What I am wearing does not change who I am, I acted as I would had I been wearing the traditional dress and heels, but I was not treated the same. There were whispers, and I was less warmly accepted into the scene as I had been in weeks past. I doubt that any of these people went home and questioned themselves and the materialistic values that they have instilled in themselves and each other when it comes to the bar, but I found it interesting that when it came to things that mattered, i.e. the loss of a human life that had been present in theirs for the past two to three years there was little talk, but if someone is to make the meager fashion no-no of wearing un-approved clothes to the bar, mouths don’t stop moving.

Style Wars

In this video, the idea of the train tunnels under the city being explored as “tombs” was present. It was said that before, graffiti was something that was not done by many. The tunnels under the city have a lot of history to them. They have rooms that were once the first rooms of the train-line. Now, the art that is down there is also becoming a part of the city’s history. It will be part of the city forever, and the graffiti world is growing with the city. What was once the secret of graffiti writing, is now becoming something that a lot of people are doing. Graffiti writers go out into the train yards, and are a small person in the midst of the enormity of the trains. Once they smell the trains however, they become someone among the trains trying to produce something.

The hip-hop culture “bombs” the city by trying to spread their names from one side of the city to the other. They aren’t doing it for the acclaim of the general public but for the recognition they receive from their fellow writers. They are creating an immortality for themselves in their art. They do it for themselves, and in doing so, they are reclaiming a power for themselves and remapping the city with their art. The kids that are break dancing are creating a language of their own. A language that the people around them can understand, a language that allows them to use their creativity in a way that they want, and a language that allows them to do something that they view is productive when a large portion of people that surround them are smoking weed instead.

I was torn when I was asked if tagging was an attempt at ownership. As with most art, I think that different people have different reasons for wanting to produce it. For some people it seems to be away to attempt to claim ownership over the city. To show that this is their city, and like everyone else living their they should be allowed to express themselves. I even thought that the taggers had a good point when the train official spoke out against them saying what they were doing was wrong. They said that their art is constantly being washed off causing it to look bad, but if the officials were to allow them to paint a few cars and leave it, they would see that it is actually an art form. It seems as though others seem to be trying to prove something more than ownership. One man in the video seemed to be trying to prove that he was capable, trying to prove his worth, just because he didn’t have an arm didn’t mean that he was unable to produce an eye opening work.

At one point in the film, the man who was missing his arm was talking about how he lost his arm. He then said, “Yeah I vandalism, but I did something to make your eyes open up, right? So what are you talking about it for?” I think he made a good point. If he can create something that can be seen as beautiful or captivating to an audience why does it matter how he lost his arm, or that he is missing an arm at all. I also thought that it was interesting that he saw a group of TV people filming his art, and when he asked them if they would believe that he created it they said that he couldn’t because he only had one arm. I think that this shows that he was trying to do something more than just create a name for himself. It seems to me that he is trying to show the world, or at least the people that know who his is, that he can create astounding tags. His lack of an arm is of no matter.

I think the fact that the majority of the graffiti writers in this film saw their work as art was shown when they started talking about the man that called himself “Cap.” It was shown here that the idea of layout, color, and style are thought of by these artists. They create a style of their own, not always making straight letters, including arrows of their own (arrows going through the whole word, arrows stemming off a letter), creating camouflage and 3D letters. They see their pieces as art, and Cap had referred to one of the walls as a beautiful wall. What Cap did was try and destroy the beauty of the pieces that had been created because of the name that created them. In a place where most of the artists are focusing on quality, he was focused on quantity. He wasn’t focused on spending time on formatting or color, he was simply focused on destroying the art that people he didn’t like had created. I think that the fact that the majority of the taggers were focused on quality rather than quality (though most of them do create in a large quantity) shows that they are creating a form of art. It isn’t intended as a form of disobedience as much as a form of expression and creation.

When the art is created on a canvas and placed on a canvas, I think that it changes the general aesthetic of the artwork. When it is placed in a public forum, the artists spoke about how they weren’t creating their tags for city wide acclaim but for themselves and the taggers that knew their name. When the work is taken out of that sphere, and people start getting paid for what they create, I think that the lines of why it was being created get blurred. I think that this can often be said of a lot of art. If it was originally being created for nothing more than a personal reason, and then someone starts getting paid to create it, I think the drive to create and the art can often become changed.