Echoes of the Olmsted Elm Assignment Three

The demands of public spaces in a democratic society have been fraught with turmoil since our country’s founding. Public usage of public spaces does not always conform to the expectations of society nor necessarily adhere to the laws of a given time. Pick a period and explore this issue through an object.

Megaphone by Tina Xu

Frederick Law Olmsted was a man who advocated for the availability of democratic places, venues for people of all class, age, and race to converse and learn from each other. Unfortunately, he inadvertently created the platform, both physically and ideologically for citizens who want change and want their voices to be heard. The ability to generate noise evokes fear and poses a threat to the American government, causing police to view this noise as a weapon. Recent arrests and permit regulations over the use of a megaphone in public spaces, especially in the Occupy protests, are merely an attempt to silence the movement. Some see noise as a freedom; others see it as a crime. With this wavering boundary between the two, the megaphone, which bears several physical resemblances to a handgun such as its “trigger,” and its “barrel” for tangible or vocal bullets to be fired, now bears social and legal resemblances to it too. This sculpture highlights both the blurring boundary between the two real objects and between First Amendment rights and “disturbance of the peace” crimes. With citizens and police enforcement both employing noise to try and gain control, the very parks Olmsted designed for unity, relaxation, and democracy have now become the arenas for a growing national noise war

Bonus Army Box by Karl Sippel

The occupation of public space and its effects on public access have interested me for a long time. I used this opportunity to explore the issues surrounding the Bonus Army’s occupation and demonstration on public land. I approached the issue from both sides of the argument. For my object I sought to try and understand through my research and through the construction of the object the plight of the bonus marchers who were out of work and essentially homeless. I modeled my object off of a WWI ammo box, which was the war that these veterans served in. These ammo boxes often made their way home with soldiers after the war and given that many of the marchers only had with them a few minor possessions and frequently these were objects related to their service, I felt that it would have seemed like a natural choice to repurpose the ammo boxes that they carried with them in the trenches into an object to aid them in their march once again. It was designed to be carried by a single soldier and was built to last a war. I took the other side of the argument in my paper, trying to understand the negative effects these demonstrators had on D.C. during their occupation. The main issue that arose was that even though they were here to make their opinions known to the government they were doing it in a way that prevented access to public space to others. This effectively destroyed it as public space. The loss of public space is a major issue when that loss was decided by a select few individuals and not the public as a whole.

4x5 Camera and Tripod by Jonah Willcox-Healy

Often we look at a photo and long to go to that far off destination to travel and explore a distant land or situation that is new to us. Through the rise of photography mainly that of large format in the late 1800s to early 1900s newly explored areas such as Yellowstone and Yosemite Valley were able to be brought to the public with the emphasis of preserving these natural wonders. Without the aid of photography the vast public would not have seen the importance of preserving and learning from these natural landmarks.

The process for the camera and tripod began by figuring out a modular system for the tripod that could be used to create all the sections of the legs. The structure of the camera is built around a central beam with the ability to have both ends of the camera body pivot on multiple planes. Brass beams were then inserted into the central beam to provide an area for the set screws to push against. The camera is finished with a weather resistant oil and is in complete working condition.

Camera Obscura by August Lehrecke

Olmsted sought to create a contemplative intimacy between the people who visited his parks and nature. This was an idea made in light of a drastic increase in urbanization and technological advancement throughout the 19th century. With the increase in technology, people were beginning to be able to get things faster, with less work, making it possible to do more things with the time they had. This condensing of time was something that Olmsted contended with in his park designs, providing a space in which city dwellers could break away from their schedules and relax. In my object design I chose to look at this concept of condensed time through the evolution of photography, the act of transferring an image of one’s surroundings on to a surface. The camera obscura was the first instrument that was able to do this. Developed in the early 17th century, it was used to help artists and astronomers to better understand their surroundings by transferring that information on to paper through tracing or just as a tool of observation.

Today, one can take a picture with relative ease, more often than not it merely acts as a means of remembering something that does not require you to make the effort to actually observe it. By making a camera that is possible to draw from, I draw attention to the amount of time one would have to spend with an image to get it on to paper, emphasizing the intimacy between the viewer and their surroundings. The more time it takes you to relate something on to a page, the more you notice the constants, you are unable to capture the fast moving pace of vehicles or people, only the slow pace of nature and the permanence of buildings. This notion of time in perspective speaks to the values that Olmsted wanted to convey in his parks, an escape from urban chaos and the fast moving pace of the city. The camera obscura speaks to a time where one had to truly look at something before they could come away with an image.

Bench by Mikyung Park

Public orders were set to educate the public on the importance of recognizing differences. People not understanding differences can cause conflicts and conflicts lead to public disorder in a public environment. To improve the social and cultural conditions, it is necessary to work through obstacles. Public policy acts as a guideline for this to happen in proper manner.

To symbolize the role of public order in emphasizing the awareness of cultural differences, I decided to design a bench. Social and cultural conflicts come from the lack of awareness of others. The need to recognize others and willingness to compromise for better is essential in resolving conflicts. Having public order is important in order to control public spaces and controlling a public space means understanding differences. I wanted to represent the importance of awareness in social difference in the need of cultural improvement by designing a bench that has two seats facing each other. The seating of the bench is suggestive in direction. It is directing people to sit in a certain way to evoke conversation. It is impossible for people to ignore each other’s presence. The bench itself represents a controlled environment but it is really up to the users to utilize it well. I believe that Olmsted probably had a similar idea about how his parks should be used. He provided the open-ended environment for people but still desired to control the behaviors to guide them to the right path.