A Treatise on Window Art
by Evan Midwood
A staple of the experience of those living on campus (or those unlucky enough to walk past such residences) is the appearance of window art.
This can range from Actual Art (such as a pixelated Stormtrooper), to Identity Expression (a flag or an image of a personal idol), to Everything Is Art To Someone, I Guess (a large image of Will Smith with comically altered facial features), to, perhaps most importantly, A Bunch Of Words.
While the first two are definitely important, their purpose is simple: genuine expression of the self. It is indicative of a huge ego, an inferiority complex, or (in rare cases) tempered, reasonable, and genuine personal pride. They have something they want to share with the world, or, at the very least, the passerby walking through Revelle. It’s a wonderful thing to behold. This needs no more analysis here today from me.
It is the latter two, and their combinations, which I wish to discuss here today.
Perhaps the most famous window art in Revelle this quarter was a decree that took up half of a floor on the east side of Argo: “RESPECT WOMEN !”
A unified act by multiple suites spanning fifteen windows, such a display of feminism is not just an action of activism, but an action of unity. The effects of this group effort cannot be understated. In a new environment, where a bunch of confused freshmen are thrown together, sometimes the only thing you and your new friends have to hold onto is a meme, plastered across the side of a building, sometimes taken too seriously, the work of a community you are now part of.
Of course, memes have emerged elsewhere. On the other side of Argo, a competing group, with less space and less spelling ability, orders, “RESPEC MEN.” A window in Keeling suggests that viewers “SEND BOYS.” Atlantis Hall, in addition to the aforementioned depiction of Will Smith, gives window space to dozens of Sword Art Online posters, and, on a different floor, a poorly sketched Mr. Skeltal and the words “DOOT DOOT.”
Art does often evolve over time. One window has changed thrice this quarter, from “HELLO, IT’S ME” to “WUBBA LUBBA DUB DUB” and then to the directive to viewers, “BEND THE KNEE!” Other art appears halfway through the quarter, and spawns dozens of people every night shouting up to your window the words that are displayed there: “OY OY OY.” Of course, this art changes with the seasons, and for now one can find many pumpkins, spiders, witches, ghosts, and the remnants of Halloween wishes still displayed. Some, with no respect for turkey day, are already wishing a Merry Christmas. For some, “seasons” means shows, and one window provides minor spoilers for the latest season of Stranger Things (you’ve been warned).
While some ponder “SLEEP WYA?”, others suggest that passerby should go up and visit “the Discokage.” Some take their memes very seriously and display a blown-up Mocking Spongebob meme declaring that “tHe TeSt WiLl NoT bE cUrVeD.”
Some use their windows to make serious political statements. “F!CK TRUMP” is proclaimed by one window, while another, displayed with a flag, reads, “FREE PALESTINE.”
The interplay between windows can also be interesting. One asking “PARTY?” was answered by a window a couple floors up responding, with an arrow indicating the question, “YES!” This may have backfired, as the initial askers changed their query to “FARTY?”, and then they simply wondered whether or not it is “FAR?” The current iteration of their window is not fit to print.
Some make more existentialist musings, putting up an image of a skull accompanied by “HELLA WEED”, while some rage against their neighbors and lament that people should “STFU IT’S QUIET HRS,” or, in one of the more terrifying Halloween decorations, make the personal affirmation that “I DECLARE BANKRUPTCY.” And one, spawning a short-lived renaming of the unofficial meme page, shows the iconic words giving our school a radical rebranding, “UC SCAM DIEGO.”
I propose that this window art is one way to make sense of the world. Plunged into an unfamiliar situation, residents must find some sense of normalcy. For some, displaying their personal taste in memes, drugs, or anime is their way to assert that they have a place in this new environment. It feels like home, and it makes people feel important. In this way, Window Art is here to stay. It’s not just terrible memes, it’s terrible memes for the sake of feeling good about oneself.
Window Art isn’t just a spur of the moment idea to create quality content using sticky notes. It is a mechanism that unifies students in cross-window demonstrations, a way to bond and to make a suite-wide statement for the whole college to see. It’s a statement of power, of personal and interpersonal importance. It is integral to the Revelle experience, to the resident experience, and to the experience of a student Revelleing in the ability to have their own space to do the amazing things they want to.
Also, maybe it’s just fun.
If there is nothing else in the world, and the void of social media offers no solace, you can always post a meme in your window.
