statement on When I'm Alone

Emplacement is an extremely broad and compelling idea. In this video i am specifically focusing on an environment where one feels completely comfortable, where there are no pressures to put yourself in any particular "place", other than your own. A place where you know where everything goes and you are in control of where it belongs. And living in a world where we feel overwhelmed by the idea of emplacement and putting one's self or other's in a place or category to seek some sort of order, it is empowering to know that you have a level of control over your own surroundings.

I am concentrating on one's personal living space or bedroom. This space can reflect on their personality, tell about their cultural background, and what kind of people they are. The way that people keep their environment reflects on who they are. In my bedroom i know i am the empress of my domain, it is my kingdom, my sanctuary. It is where i can do no wrong. It is where i keep all my relics and clothing. Being a sentimental and nostalgic person i tend to hold onto things to preserve memories. i have a wall of envelopes collected over the years from dozens of different people in my life. I have maps of my favorite places that i've collected and cut up to create my own maps. I have drawings, records, masks and encyclopedias. i have my accordions and cameras that i've acquired. My room is for me to be free to do what i want in it, i change clothes, i cry, i sleep, i try to decide on which shoes to where, i listen to records, i play my instruments, and i dream there.

I intend to expose my tendencies to be a slightly neurotic and indecisive dreamer. I constantly find myself, going back to things and doing them over again, or drifting off and starting to do something else. I find comfort in looking at certain things in my room. My room is personal, but ready at all times to be public. The things i have are not entirely for me, but partially for the public, for guests when they visit my room to elicit another idea of who i am, by the things i own. Don't get me wrong, these things do not make me who i am, but certainly do contribute to my life through stories and memories.

When I'm Alone from Marcella Simien on Vimeo.

Free writer'n For Freud

1. Place? Freewrite in your blog or on paper a min of 5 minutes. If you use paper scan in and post to your blog.
What is freewriting? A writing technique where the author simply writes down whatever thought comes into mind.
Free Association is a psychoanalytical technique developed by Sigmund Freud based on the technique of free writing. Freud would analyze patient's thoughts and dreams by having patients speak freely, often rambling on, about any thoughts that would come to mind.

HERE GOES....


Honeycomb kindness
Every Sunday we sing
our spiritual
our cyclic ritual
You come on strong
for the first few bombs,
but now we ain't talkin bout nuthin
Straight trippin daddy-o,
Skit skat skiddaddle
I can sho nuff do that well,
damn good & gone well

I'm sick, not well

I'm just another Surreal Housewife of Memphis, TN
whatchu know bout me?
I Bissell while i twurk
I rebel from your southern Baptist boy Bible beatin needs
beatin meats
butcher'n shit
beatin meat
just for fun
on your mind i'll forever be
my southern pout, Creole broken French callin out your name
broken wench
oui oui!
mais oui!
may we
be re-introduced ?
maybe this could be prettier than it has become?

You told me how you wanted to draw me

Has it been five minutes of free writing yet?
Sheesh, i never looked at the clock in the first place.
exercise one, Digital Cinema: FAILED

F+

2. Look up the dictionary definition and etymology of the word place – respond to the information - blog further


Place: In a particular position or point in space. Used to refer to an area already identified. A particular point on a larger object or area. A building or area used for specified purpose or activity. A point in a book or other text reached by a reader at a particular time. A portion of space occupied by someone. A portion of space available or designated for someone. a vacancy or available position. the regular or proper position of something. somewhere where it is appropriate or prudent for someone to be or for something to occur. a chance to be accepted or to be of use. a person's rank or status. a right or priviledge resulting from someone's role or position. the role played by or importance attached to someone or something in a particular context. a position in a sequence, in particular. a position in a contest. the second position, esp. in a horse race. any of the first three or sometimes four positions in a race. the degree of priority given to somethinG. the position of a figure in a series indicated in decimal or similar notation, esp. one after the decimal point. a square or a short street. a country house with its grounds.



EACH OF THESE DEFINTIONS EVOKED SOME VERY CLEAR IMAGERY TO ME AS I TYPED EACH OF THESE SENTENCES.

->the position of a figure in a series indicated in decimal or similar notation, esp. one after the decimal point.- MRS. STEWART MY PRE-ALGEBRA TEACHER IN 8TH GRADE. APPLE PIES, SOUTHERN ACCENTS, DRAB COLORED SUITS.
->a square or a short street.- AN ANIMATED PHOTOGRAPH IN MY FRENCH BOOK IN 8TH GRADE. MUCH LIKE A "WHERE'S WALDO" ILLUSTRATION
->a country house with its grounds.- LITTLE HOUSE ON THE PRARIE PAPER DOLLS FROM MY CHILDHOOD. ANN OF GREEN GABLES POP UP BOOK.
->A point in a book or other text reached by a reader at a particular time.- FIRST CHAPTER BOOK I EVER READ WAS THE BOXCAR CHILDREN...IT HAD A RED COLORED, PAPER BACK COVER, TORN EDGES, SOFT PAGES, LARGE FONT TYPE
->a vacancy or available position. A FILTHY MOTEL ON THE NORTHSIDE OF MY HOMETOWN, SEEDY, WHERE ALL THE PROSTITUTES GATHERED, POW WOW'D, TOOT TOOT'N HORNS, "PRETTY VACANT"- SEX PITOLS SONG, VACANCY- AIRPLANE BATHROOMS....


ETYMOLOGY OF THE WORD PLACE:
NOUN:
O.E. "open space in a city, market place, square," from O.Fr. place, from M.L. placea "place, spot," from L. platea "courtyard, open space, broad street," from Gk. plateia (hodos) "broad (way)," fem. of platys "broad," from PIE *plat- "to spread" (cf. Skt. prathati "spreads out;" Hitt. palhi "broad;" Lith. platus "broad;" Ger. Fladen "flat cake;" O.Ir. lethan "broad"); extended variant form of base *pele- (see plane (1)). Replaced O.E. stow and stede. Wide application in English, covering meanings that in French require three words: place, lieu, and endroit. Cognate It. piazza and Sp. plaza retain more of the etymological sense. Broad sense of "material space, dimension of defined or indefinite extent" is from mid-13c. Sense of "position on some social scale" is from early 14c. Meaning "group of houses in a town" is from 1580s. Place-kick is from 1845, originally in rugby. All over the place "in disorder" is attested from 1923.

VERB:
1540s, from place (n.). In the horse racing sense of "to achieve a certain position" (usually in the top three finishers; in U.S., specifically second place) it is first attested 1924, from earlier meaning "to state the position of" (among the first three finishers), 1826. Related: Placed; placing. To take place "to happen, be accomplished" (mid-15c., earlier have place, late 14c.), translates Fr. avoir lieu.



3. Things to think about and respond to:
What is "a sense of place?" What does it mean to be a person in a place? How do people shape places, and how are they shaped by them? Can places be in our minds as well as etched in the physical landscape? Are our identities a kind of place, in and of themselves? Blog further

What is a sense of place?
- a feeling of being somewhere, belonging there, feeling a part of something, feeling incorporated, adhered, added, a position

What does it mean to be a person in a place?
- it means different things depending upon the environment one is from, currently in and wants to be. all those factor into how and why the person is who they are, why they identify with certain people, places and things. cultural background and customs effect peoples perspectives and are ultimately drawn to similar or "like" qualities in all aspects of their life because ultimately it is in our nature to seek comfort. and home is comfort and many different places, people and things can either evoke or BE home for you. It is entirely up to the person. you make it what you want.

How do people shape places, and how are they shaped by them?
- I think people connect to places by feelings, memories, nostalgia, and all the five senses. and i think that people make places what they are by building them, altering them and destroying them. we all contribute in obvious more literal ways and in less obvious, more ambiguous, abstract and even subtle ways that we are unaware of, because everyone is effected by things differently. It's finding that common thread and common idea that brings people together.
THE LITERAL WAYS WE SHAPE PLACES:
physically- destroy, litter, poison, walk on things, crush things, drop things, break things, cook things, swallow things neglect things, forget to water your plants, forget to wipe your feet on the rug before walking into your house, we leave things behind for people to find, we leave smells behind us sometimes
THE ABSTRACT WAYS WE SHAPE PLACES:
we look at things differently .....


Can places be in our minds as well as etched in the physical landscape?
-yes definitely

Are our identities a kind of place, in and of themselves?
- ABSOLUTELY. this is one of the greatest questions i've ever heard posed.... very thought provoking. I'm going to try to explore this more next time i sit down at the computer, for now, i've kind of worn my mind out a bit and i don't want to just keep typing mindless, garbage, psycho babble, feelin a lil disillusioned, ma peoples. do forgive me. signing off for now.