A Summary of the Project Description Drafts (as of Feb 18)

As you review your descriptions, remember to look for ways that you can:

* Identify additional specific materials you plan to include in this artwork

* Explain the specific purpose or symbolism of every component of the artwork (including the vessel, the found objects, and the other materials/colors/textures used to create it)

* Explain how the artwork is situated in our discussions of cultures, subcultures, urban renewal, mythologized places, etc. You will need to be able to present (as well as defend) this context when you do your presentations on Feb 29th.


PAM
Since I work at OCU and we have so many Asian international students, my project will center around what we have learned, explored and discovered in class in regard to the Chinese underground and fast forwarded to the Chinese New Year we experienced last weekend. I know fresh fruit is usually the traditional dessert served after a traditional Chinese meal so my project begins with a fruit box I found at the Chinese supermarket that I would like to halfway cover with pictures of the Chinese underground and with information from the articles we have read. I would then like to post some type of sign or poster coming out of the vessel which will represent the Asian district by OCU. I want to incorporate the Chinese people climbing from the vessel up to the sign which will signify their relocation to what we know of know as the Asian district by OCU. I also want to incorporate my found objects on the sign and some of the pictures I have taken to depict the Asian district area as it is now.


JEFF
I was thinking about using a large book, cutting out the inside but leaving the edges of the pages. Creating a view of OKC on the cover of the book and creating something small inside the area i have cut out. Which will show okc's "hidden areas" when the book is opened.I was thinking about using legos to erect the city on the cover and still unsure about the inside as to what materials i'll be using but they will be very small. The inside will be focused on deep deuce.



PAM & CARMEN
Carmen and myself are working together on our project. It is important to Carmen because the African American culture is part of her son's culture. So for me that makes it fun and interesting. Of course there is so many things that are interesting to me! We are focusing on Deep Duece for our project and we will be incorporating the past with the present. It will be dimensional with artifacts we found on our mapping of the area and also we will make it artistic in form. Carmen had the wonderful idea and I totally agree with it. I am having a great time exploring and helping her preserve a part of "heritage" for her own family. It will be colorful, historical, it will tell a story and I believe beautiful to look at.

. . . Here is a little more detail of our project. Our vessel is an old book, we will be placing items inside of the book and around the book. We will be using bricks, glass, metal, wood, material, and pictures. The whole thing will end up in a frame. We need to figure out how to make all of these items stick to our vessel. This gives all of the items that we will be using please let me know if you need more details.


JOHN
I was pretty sure that I was going to focus on the Chinese, but after I walked around Deep Deuce on Thursday I changed my mind. I know that it's going to be much more difficult, but I think it will be more fulfilling.
My ideas are pretty vague. I only decided what area I would focus on on Thursday. This is what I have so far.
I was pretty intrigued by the zoning restrictions for blacks in Oklahoma City. What caught my eye was the irony. They were forced to live in a certain small area, but that area was one of the most happening places in the city.
For my project I was thinking of a cage for my vessel. Inside the cage would be bright, colorful, sorta bluessy things. Culture would be a better word. The outside of the cage would be adorned with plain, boring, maybe newspapers or something else monotonous.
I'll probably change a bunch before it's finished, but that is what I have so far.


DEBBIE
For my artwork project, I am going to create a puzzle of sorts that combines maps with Deep Deuce history, heritage and culture, learning from the past to create the future, and defining why urban renewal can remove our physical past but not the archives or memories that we hold so dear to us. A puzzle represents many things to me. When parts are missing, the picture is not clear and may vary by interpretation. On the other hand, the areas that are unknown can be enhanced by our imagination and ability to create a picture that goes beyond anything that we may have thought to be included. For example: when you read a book, the imagery helps to create a time and place with a series of events dictated by the author. As we read the document, we continue to build a picture in our mind of what the outcome will be. When a book is turned into a movie, the images that are presented are from the interpretations of the producer and the director. The basic elements may be the same but the details will vary greatly. This is the same with our memories. No two people are alike so no two memories are remembered in the exact same way. Our perspectives, beliefs, experiences and intellect help to shape our interpretation of the past and of the future.

With this in mind, I am trying to create a puzzle map that will bring the past, present and future together in such a way that it creates a tapestry of life in Deep Deuce.

More specifically, I would like to establish how urban renewal has created new life in old surroundings. I would appreciate any feedback or suggestions on how to accomplish this task. Will I need to narrow it down more specifically or will this evolve as I continue to conduct my research?


ASHLEY
Wow, it seems like we are almost all using Deep Deuce as our sites for our projects! I am also using Deep Deuce, and I have decided to go with the idea of the shadow box-ish thing with a mirror. This might be a little complicated to describe, but the main question that I want to ask is, "Does the current image of Deep Deuce reflect an accurate idea of its rich culture, history, and importance?"

I began my morning today with the History Center at 10 (just in case anybody else showed up since we ended up not getting the predicted ice), which led me back to Deep Deuce for an adventure of my own with random people ranging from those who didn't know and didn't care about Deep Deuce's history to people who told rumors about Deep Deuce in the 1980's--apparently, there were holes in the walls of some buildings where you could stick your arm in with cash, and you would get injected with some sort of drug in return for your money. Anyways, I ended up with great artifacts and stories--it was amazing! But that is why my posts are after 5pm--I promise I was working intensely for the class all day and have not stopped even for lunch (I ate at Deep Deuce Grill, and the waiter could not stop talking about Deep Deuce's history--he even gave me a print-out of a write-up of Deep Deuce's history that they are preparing to include on their menu.).

Okay, so my project: It is going to be a box of sorts, but with a lid that extends upward at an angle with a mirror attached to it somehow (I'm not sure how to do the angle yet for an accurate reflection.) We will see the mirror through a sort-of window-looking covering that I will use to extend the front of the box upward. The front of the box will be the commercialized "Deep Deuce at Bricktown" with photos, pamphlets, etc. that can be easily attached. The mirror will reflect the past of Deep Deuce, which will be portrayed on the inside of the box that cannot be seen from the front. There will be some paper or something on the mirror which blocks certain parts from being reflected accurately from the past that is portrayed inside the box--a cleaned-up past. On the sides of the box, I will include pictures and artifacts of I-235 and the segment of run-down 2nd street that was not "reclaimed and redeemed." The back of the box will include another window where one can look through and see the original of the image that was reflected from the front of the box--inluding the elements of the past that were obscured by the bits of paper or something on the mirror. Seeing run-down 2nd street as well as the original image that had been reflected from the front will kind-of symbolize the way that the new buildings look authentic from the front, but their truth as modern-day apartment complexes is not hidden from the back. It will also show that sometimes you have to look from a new angle than the one easily presented or seen to see the truth of a culture's history.

I would love any feedback or ideas. I really am not sure how to put together my box right now, but that will come. I'd love ideas:)



JULIE
“A light shade had been pulled down between the Black community and all things white”

The above quote is from Maya Angelou’s beautiful novel I know Why the Caged Bird Sings and it will provide a frame for my project on Deep Deuce. For my project, I aim to explore the dichotomy between Deep Deuce and the broader (read: white) Oklahoma City community during the early decades of the 20th century. However, I also want to address the dichotomy within “Deep Second” (I use the term “Deep Second” because that was the name residents used. In contrast, Deep Deuce, appears to be a term that emerged due to development and marketing strategies in the 1990s) .

While various social forces (e.g., discriminatory laws, racism, fear) worked to produce the geographic mapping of the black community, it is appears that other factors contributed to the bifurcation within Deep Second. My thoughts currently is that time was a primary factor: By day, it was a thriving business community and by night, a roaring jazz and entertainment district. I still need to explore further though the complexities of this (in many ways it resembles the day/night dichotomy of urban environments). The more conceptual mapping of time fascinates me. (Note: Let’s talk about the social forces and the creation/decline/revitalization of DS/DD this weekend. The processes are quite interesting from a social science perspective). It also strikes me that while we can expose the power relations between whites/blacks and the creation of DS, that it may be more difficult to figure out whether it is a strict dichotomy between the business and jazz subcultures or if something else is going on.

My project thus allows me to explore the inside/outside issue on multiple levels: 1) the “banishing” of Blacks to Deep Deuce thus constructing them as outsiders, 2) the way that boundaries (even those that are forced and socially constructed) are fluid (e.g., young white women visiting jazz clubs in Deep Second while Blacks were unwelcomed at night (or day) in OKC and 3) the way that time shapes what is inside/outside.

Here’s how I envision my project looking:
1) My vessel is a box. On the outside of the box are pictures of Oklahoma City between 1900 and the 1960s. On the inside of the box, half of the box will be photos of Deep Deuce by day (businesses: physicians, restaurants, theaters, etc.) and the other half will be Deep Deuce by night (jazz/entertainment). On the rim of the box, I’ll use Angelou’s quote (unless I find something by Ralph Ellison that I like better). Inside the box, my object will be something that signifies either 1) the “caging” of deep deuce, or 2) the business/jazz dichotomy (e..g, guitar/piano and cash register.