Have I really been here this long? It feels like I just got here, and at the same time, as though I’ve been living here for much longer.
This week flew by really fast– my first architecture project was due Wednesday evening, so that’s essentially all I did from Monday to Wednesday.
I did have a couple breaks on Wednesday, though. The first was a field study with my Art, Surveillance, and Culture class to Ørestad to visit the 8 House, an apartment complex notable for its expansive glass window facades. This field trip was the basis for a short paper we had to write by the end of the week. Here’s an except describing my visit:
“When visiting the 8 House, we moved as a group, slowly and contemplatively. As I looked and listened, I tried to absorb as much as possible. I realized I was observing my surroundings with a critical gaze I usually reserve for a museum, rather than for someone’s own home…
…Near the end of the visit, the sunlight finally penetrated through the clouds, activating the reflective quality of the glass facades. Instead of seeing inside, I caught sight of my own reflection looking in. This made me pause. Here, a physical reflection became a psychological one: why am I trying to look into the private homes of others? What does this say about me, asan individual? About our class? About society as a whole? Perhaps it was context of being on a field trip, or maybe the signage outlining specific visiting hours, but without even thinking about it, I felt entitled to these views into people’s private spaces. Even more interesting is that despite this excessive access, I was still very curious about what was not visible to me. With so much access granted to me, the contrast between visible and invisible was moreprominent, and private areas that wereinaccessible stood out in comparison. I wondered what this visit would have been like if more people had been present. Would I have felt more uncomfortable? Would I have tried to better conceal my curiosity, rather than gaping openly? Would I have looked at all?
This was a great assignment. I rarely get the opportunity to write a paper on a work of art that I had experienced first-hand. The focus was more on personal reflection, rather than critical insight, but from the experience, important insights developed naturally. The assignment was designed to be conscious of the process as well as the resulting product, and I really enjoyed both the field trip and writing the paper afterwards.
I made myself take a break from all academics in the afternoon to meet Mads for coffee. There’s never any pressure from him– we’re both pretty busy, but we’re also both very respective of each other’s schedules. But I enjoy making time to see him, and it truly makes me slow down and relax for a little while.
FRIDAY //
Friday I presented my architecture project. It didn’t go as well as I had hoped, or knew it could go, but I got incredibly nervous. I thought I would be presenting to 6 people. but critiques were open, so instead I ended up presenting to about 16. Midway through my presentation, I froze. It ended up okay, and I had a pretty balanced critique and earned a decent grade, but I hope next time goes better.
SATURDAY + SUNDAY // LLC WEEKEND
On Saturday, our coordinator took all 20 of us to The Cisterns, an old underground water reservoir converted into an art exhibition space. The exhibition we saw was a series of projections displayed on the underground walls, some with sound, some without. The acoustics were incredible– some of our group got in trouble for signing a bit too loudly, but all was fine. Afterwards, we played in the grassy field and brainstormed ideas for our collaborative semester project, in which we are competing against all the other LLC groups.
Later that night, we went to The Mix, an “underground” queer club in Warehouse 9 of the meatpacking district. There we watched Dragged, a documentary detailing the successes and struggles of New York City drag queens over the past 25 years. After that, we thought we would be seeing a live drag performance akin to those shown in the documentary, but it turned out as more of a drag-inspired performance art pierce. It was pretty violent, but it was an important critique on gender, especially through performative actions as displayed through drag.
We had planned to go out afterwards, but most of my friends were too tired and decided to go home. Since I was close, I joined Mads at the Warpigs, and actually got to meet some of his friends. He wasn’t working, so it was fun to see him loosen up, and it was great to meet more Danes.
SUNDAY //
Sunday was rainy, but not cold. Sophie set up a scavenger hunt for us to explore Norrebro, a neighborhood north of the inner city that is the most densely populated, and as a result, more diverse. I got to work with Jordan and Joe, who both lived on different floors, so it was nice to get closer to new people! The point of the scavenger hunt was to find green spaces that were created throughout the inner city. We saw goats, chickens, swings, slides, a giant banana, and a ton of graffiti. After 3 hours, we headed back to share what we found.
Exhausted from the week, I headed to bed early to get a good start on the next.