:Culture Bridge

Culture Bridge

For years, the COA undergraduate program structured the Senior studio in such a way that the students could choose which studio they took depending on their interests. Fall 2009 Senior Studio had a fresh add to the studio options! An installation studio was added and it was to be taught by the in-house artist/photographer; Ruth Dusseault. The installations were temporarily placed around different sites on campus.
I was so fortunate to be part of this amazing experience. No one, including I, knew exactly what we would be required, so the experience was quite new and challenging for all 12 of us. Throughout the semester we investigated various ways of visual representations of ideas, especially abstract ideas. We also worked in teams amongst ourselves and with a greater body; the entire school, to birth our ideas.
In my opinion it was a great success for the first of such a unique studio. It challenged us to think beyond the box, to investigate all types of circumstances and the ability to work and ask for help from others in different fields. It also made the campus more aware of certain issues, and buildings as well as the College of Architecture at GaTech.
My project was titled the Culture Bridge and it investigated the issue of cultures on Tech’s campus and how their presence is felt. For a better understanding of the project read my Artist and Visual Statement.

Artist Statement: Georgia Institute of Technology is considered a diverse school, with 31% foreign students in 2009. We also see different cultures at GaTech through daily interactions, but we never really hear their voices or learn their stories about how they came here. With the Culture Bridge Project, I wanted to reveal their views about their own cultures and ask how they thought Americans viewed their native countries. Cherry street bridge, between Savant and Swann buildings, symbolizes a connection between international students and America. Knowledge was to be conveyed in the form of video and written words.

Visual Statement: The culture Bridge showcased an interview that were carried out on select students of the GaTech institute of Technology; five to be precise. The interview asked two questions. They were: “How do you feel about your country?” and “How do you feel America feels about your country?”
The window panes of the bridge were used as canvas to display the information through texts on paper and video images projected on the board. I imagined the panels as pieces to a puzzle and thus I wanted to create a puzzle of information in the space. I chose to use text on plotted paper because of its ability to transform between day and night: transparent at night and semi-transparent in the day. The text was a combination of languages asking the two main questions mentioned previously, data on the combination of foreign student and American students on Tech’s campus and Images with maps of some of the countries interviewed.
The video that was projected on two screens were accompanied with audio from two separate speakers to add to the texture and blend of the puzzle effect.
Colors were used to enhance the atmosphere in the room. The color added a nice glow on the faces of the viewers of the installation as they observed. Sometimes their shadows would also glow on the video and parts of the text installation, creating another kind of texture and feel.

Though I feel the project carries much more potential, I also feel that it conveyed an important message and also had interesting results. I was stopped by people on campus who had seen me carrying the camera equipment from one point of campus to another. From there, I would start conversations with strangers, often GaTech students. I once met someone who was a friend of mine on facebook but had never met in person. People were also more aware of the architecture department on campus through this awareness project.