Views From my Workplaces on 1/22/19

On January 22nd, I had to go to the 16th floor of 980 N. Michigan for a meeting between the executives of my company and one of our partner companies. Between breaks in a high-level, creative conversation about our brand strategy for 2019, I’d find myself oddly relaxed despite having to take vigorous notes while sharing my input on the plans we were putting into place. When we broke for lunch, I thought about exactly why that might be. Perhaps it was the subject matter; maybe I wasn't too stressed because I wasn’t in the spotlight — contributing rather than presenting. Maybe it was the jug of coffee in the center of the table that got me the caffeine I so desperately need to perform in such a setting. Maybe it was the serene view that looked out across Lake Shore Drive onto Lake Michigan. In reality, it was a combination of all of these factors, but most notably, the stunning view.

Seeing the flow of traffic and the calmness of the break from such an elevated perspective made my mind go blank. I would look out during some of the more long-winded portions of conversation and just listen.

After that meeting finished, I went back to our office in Wicker Park to work through my emails and catch up on school work (like this assignment). However, even though I was completely solitary in an office with my own thoughts I felt a tenseness that I didn’t at the meeting.

The two views were drastically different. Our office is on the 2nd floor (instead of 16th), the lake is replaced by a McDonalds, and the traffic is at an intersection, which is inherently far less smooth than the cars on the Drive. Seeing pedestrians rush across the intersection made me feel vastly different (and far less soothing) energy than seeing the waves break on the snow-covered beach.

I think about how my experience relates to my surroundings every day. It informs how I feel and, therefore, what I make. My spatially oriented artwork seeks to make viewers leave the outside world behind and feel what I feel by bringing them into a space of my own creation. Getting to “think by doing” is work that I love to do, especially for class.