P. Flanigan Modernization

Our journey began in our first class period of freshman year at the Maryland Institute College of Art (MICA).  We all decided to sit with each other & eventually formed a group for our Field Guide project.  We spent approximately an hour venturing out into the streets of the campus.  We collected “artifacts,” thinking we were on our way to a yard sale, when we were a day late; the yard sale took place on Sunday, & it’s Monday.  Another idea for one of our destinations was the Joseph Meyerhoff Symphony Hall, but we weren’t willing to get on public transportation considering we didn’t have quite enough time to pay for a ticket or pass & only an hour to work with.  The exact structure we chose to research wasn’t exact at all.  In fact, it’s MICA’s vicinity.  We were allowed to stick with the area we explored today & create something interactive for our peers to dissect.  So, we created a Tumblr based on what we have & what we’re going to capture by September 10th!

We collected items that people wanted to leave behind as a result of moving upward in their social classes.  We grabbed the yard sale sign which we didn’t read properly at first.  We found a piece of tangled CAUTION tape on a cone near the construction site closest to MICA.  We saw an empty, partially crushed can on the steps leading to the Howard Street Bridge.  We saw a decent-sized feather.  A broken piece of concrete also piqued our interests in relation to construction.  A small, red flag reading, “BURIED ELECTRIC,” a chunk of wood, & a yellow dodge ball were our other findings.

People don’t get rid of everything they own, but when they get tired of things they found replacements for, may have grown out of (in a physical & mature sense), or whatever may be the reasons, they undoubtedly are doing better in their lives, primarily financially.  There are always organizations that help enforce modernization, whether it be ethically or industrially.  Tearing down something dormant people as a whole feel is in the way of creating something efficient is a positive outlook on today’s construction.  Bulldozing something everyone thought could’ve had a chance to uplift & motivate people is a negative perception of construction.  Each individual has insight on altruism differently; what one may think is good, the other may think is bad.  Some may mediate, perhaps lie with both thoughts...introvert at one moment & extrovert at another.  Non-judgmental hearts & minds wouldn’t call these individuals “wishy-washy,” but will respect the notion & dig deeper into that kind of understanding.  It’s a choice & it doesn’t have to be definite.