Place Process Portfolio 2015

Questions, reflections and discoveries about the land, water and people of Marin County and San Francisco.

[jessehimself]

[placeprocessportfolio]

Yoga, My Newfound Escape.

As this semester carries on, I find myself searching for ways to keep my soul calm. Trying my best to stay afloat, and not allow the stresses of school to get the best of me. I guess, in a sense, I’ve been searching for an escape. Not a permanent escape, maybe for just an hour or so. During this period, I wish for a moment in time to forget about all of my worries and just be one with myself and the world. Often this seems like a dream, something unobtainable. Recently, I was imagining this scenario and it hit me, I’ve reached this place before! Just once, but it was an experience I’ll never forget. On that day in Marin County at the hostel, when I tried yoga for the first time in my life, I was there. It was everything I explained above. It was magical.

I don’t believe all yoga can take you to the place Dia took us that morning. What everyone including myself experienced that morning was an escape. A chance to look deep within ourselves and allow some healing to occur. This was evident by the many tears and embracing moments that occurred immediately after the yoga session ended. So hopefully one day when I have some free time, I’ll make my way back to San Francisco and find this wonderful escape once more.

(Elijah Hawkins)

[placeprocessportfolio]

"If it flies, it dies." 

"19 year olds don't have the ability to differentiate cause and effect."

"Dad, I like to blow shit up."

"Do you think there's irony in a 'defensive weapon?'."

When visiting the Nike Missile site all three of the men who showed us around seemed to be of the same mentality.

While it was informative to know about the mentality behind the missile site in the past we as a class, and the veterans who volunteered at the site, had a hard time connecting that old mentality to NOW. Knowing the mutual destruction a "Defensive weapon" can cause it was hard to dismiss, as the desensitized former veterans did, the fact that the same 19 year old who likes to "Blow shit up" also knows that a weapon causes death, and permanent damage to the people who had the misfortune of pushing the button to fire one.

I have been exploring the question: How do people's experience in a place change over time? As these men demonstrated to me, in some cases I believe that experience in place over time, sometimes remains unchanged to cope with the horror and pain the change itself would bring about. I think this tells us something about the defensive weapon institution these men may, unknowingly, represent. 

Nike in Greek means victory. 

If a sense of victory was ever felt, I believe the tone with which the tour was given would sound more like remorse and less like nostalgia. 

(Squeek)

[placeprocessportfolio]

"Alcatraz was built to keep all the bad eggs in one basket." 

"Man, this is the rock, they don’t want you doing anything here but time."

The previous quotes are among the most famous from Clint Eastwood’s Escape From Alcatraz. When visiting Alcatraz I attempted, on three different occasions, to learn more about Frank Morris, and John and Clarence Anglin. I wanted to find out more about who these three men actually were but when I inquired about the character and personalities of these three men I was, all three times, refereed to their cells that gave short clippings on the famous ‘inmates that used their criminal skills to escape the prison’. There was nothing about them personally. It was as if these men were not even viewed as people. As if they had no life before the prison. Their reputation had become part of a legend…they had not.  

I had to go elsewhere to look at the personalities and prior lives of these men. As inmates there was a wealth of knowledge. As people? There was next to no information. It makes me think that our actions can’t possibly dictate WHO we are. Actions depend on experiences. Experience is WHY action is taken.

Are we the sum of our experiences? 

If so, these men were nothing more than criminals. 

Can we condemn all criminals based on their experiences? Based on who they are? I wonder. 

(Squeek)

[placeprocessportfolio]

The day before we left San Francisco some of us went to go experience the nature one last time and we took a little detour on the way up to Mt Tamalpais. While I was exploring I stumbled upon this little banana slug. I stayed there observing it for a while because it was really interesting to watch the way it moved and maneuvered its way around certain obstacles. It used its upper tentacles called “eyestalks” to detect light or movement, and its lower tentacles to detect chemicals. I was really interested in them because they can retract and extend them to avoid damage and I watched them in use to realize that it couldn’t fit under a branch and had to find a new path. I was glad I got to experience this creature and how it behaved in its environment, realizing that some times you have to take a different way than you intended to get where you want.

(Cassidy)

[placeprocessportfolio]

Project Open Hand

Volunteering at Project Open Hand was a really great experience that we got to have while in San Francisco. While most of the time there was spent crying while chopping over 100 pounds of onions, it was great to know that we were volunteering for an organization that does so much for the community and to know that we were able to be a part of that. I wish we could have volunteered longer and maybe have been able to meet some of the people that the organization is helping but it was just great to even know that the few hours we were there we had a part in helping these people. 

(Cassidy)

[placeprocessportfolio]

Interview at Saint Bonita Lighthouse

Stefan and Andrea

Sadly, I could not upload the photo I have of these two wonderful San Francisco natives because my camera converted them to the wrong format. 

What's the culture here?

Stefan: Well, we have a lot of great food. So a lot of things kind of circulate around that. But, the people are easily approachable. Folks are easy to make friends with and talk to out of nowhere. Like, you hear about the Seattle Freeze- people can't talk. It's hard to make new friends, but out here you can kind of just meet new people randomly. It's great for outdoorsy people because you have the mountains a short ride away, you have Marin Wildlife in your backyard, big surges down the coast. I don't know, it's very laid back and liberal. I love Marin. 

Andrea: I mean I agree with Stefan in a lot of ways. San Francisco is very Liberal, but it's also rather segregated. There's a lot of clicks, sort of like in those cheesy high school movies, but when you do find a good group of friends here, they'll stick by you no matter what. 

I found it interesting that they both had similar yet completely different perspectives on the place they grew up. They both find San Fran to be rather laid back, but unlike Stefan, Andrea seems to have had a bit more of a negative experience with the place. It's crazy how two people form the same place can see things in two completely different ways. 

(Jenna Rayne Johnson)

[placeprocessportfolio]

While at the Bay Model, Linda Holmes told us about how it has been a sacred place for thousands of years, obtaining visits from the Dali Lama and multiple other spiritual leaders and groups.  Tamalpais was home to the Coastal Indian tribes for 5,000 years and it is said that it was called the "Sleeping Maiden" for the Indian Princess that is supposedly seen lying at the top from the northside. Many tribes have a legend that we all live on the back of a great turtle which forms the North American Continent.The tail of the Great Turtle is Florida, the mouth is the San Francisco Bay, and The holy right eye is Mt. Tamalpais.

On our last day in California a group of us spent a chunk of time on Mt.  Tamalpais. On our way up to the mountain we stopped at it's Ampetheatre. With the mountain holding a rather enigmatic vibe, I found myself exploring my surroundings with a new perspective. Delaney and I had some fun with my macro lens by holding it out in front of our cameras instead of putting it on them. Through this new lens I was able to see more than I would have originally. 

After we had left the Ampetheatre, we were all in awe as we drove up to the point where we had to hike to the top of the mountain. In a moment of silence we all stared over the bay and although I wasn't sure why, I truly began to understand why this place has been considered sacred for so many years. 

(Jenna Rayne Johnson)

[placeprocessportfolio]

Yoga and the Spirit

I've been practicing yoga on and off now for a couple years. I learned that yoga was a combination of exercise and spiritual meditation, I always refused to attend a Bikram yoga class because it negated every spiritual aspect of this ancient ritual. 

On our last full day in Marin County a yoga teacher and dear friend of one of our teachers came to lead a yoga class. Almost 20 people took up the living room, dining room, and entryway of our home away from home. 

Dia led us through breathing exercises and asked us to set an intention. Only it was like every other yoga course where I've set an intention for the practice. This time, Dia asked us to think of something we wanted to let go, something that we needed to process and work through. 

Throughout the practice Dia kept having us return to this central problem or question or struggle that we needed to work through. She reminded us that yoga is so often about finding the balance between discomfort and serenity...channeling our struggle into the aches. Then, at the end of the hour one long practice we released all the tension we had been carrying, internally and externally, subconsciously and consciously...

After there were hugs and tears and a connection was formed between each other and Dia and, sappy as it may sound, the universe. 

Practices like this remind us to continually ask questions, to always seek to find the balance between discomfort and serenity, and to find a way to sometimes, leave our past in the middle of the woods. 

[placeprocessportfolio]

"To Fall In Love With Anyone"

Earlier today Lance sent me a link to an article about "falling in love with anyone". 

The author outlined a series of questions and activities that led her to fall in love with her current partner. The article was prompted by a study done almost 20 years ago where two strangers were brought into a room and had a structured dialogue based off  pre set questions. These questions ranged from "Would you like to be famous? Why" to "When did you last cry in front of a person? To yourself?". After the questions has been asked and answered, the two subjects were instructed to gaze into each other's eyes for 4 minutes. 

Every couple who has completed this exercise has gone on to fall in love with their partner. I couldn't help but link this experiment to the activities we did on the first day of class and then throughout our time in San Francisco. 

On the plane ride home, Lance, Janelle, and I talked about how we felt deeply and intimately connected to everyone on the trip yet we barely knew anything about each other's lives. The standard "where are you from?" and "what's your favorite artist?" questions weren't necessary because we had found ways to become a family, to love one another. 

Because of this course I've become closer with those I already knew; we've unpacked our love languages and formed stronger, deeper connections. Because of this course I've found people that I call family, who I love. 

(Dana)

[placeprocessportfolio]

Throughout our journey in San Francisco Alcatraz was almost always in sight, looming in the bay. For most people living their life on the mainland I think that’s the point, this island (that was once a high security prison) just becomes part of the background noise of life. The day we visited Alcatraz though that all ended.

Today, Alcatraz is run by the national parks service and it has become their Disneyland of sorts; it’s a tourist trap. But once we were standing in its buildings looking at the mainland through broken windows, I think the true horror of Alcatraz became clear. There is so much life, so close, on all sides. The men who were locked up here were constantly aware of the outside world. They could watch neighborhoods change, the tide come in, boats pass by—but they had no part in that world. And that, to me at least, seems to be the true hell of Alcatraz. (Janelle)

[placeprocessportfolio]

On Tuesday, we went to Alcatraz Island, a historic prison and a national park.

For a lot of us (myself included), prison is a tough topic--going to one can be even tougher. Among the tourism and the people drawn to the prison's legacy, there were pockets of beauty and art. In Ai Weiwei's Alcatraz installation, @Large, viewers were asked to engage with the ever present issue of political imprisonment. Navigating through Alcatraz Island, visitors found Ai Weiwei's work. From Lego portraits of political prisoners to glowing flour bouquets in the sinks, toilets, and bathtubs of the hospital wing, Ai Weiwei asks the viewer to think about freedom, about isolation.

There were two pieces that really stuck out to me the most, though. The first was in the Cellhouse, where twelve cells were open, inviting the viewer to step in and sit down on a stool made by Ai Weiwei in China. Here, clips of audio-based art by political prisoners were played--from Pussy Riot in Russia to Martin Luther King, Jr. and beyond, you were asked to sit in a cell, isolated, and hear a cry for a better world. The second piece that really struck me, was the last one I entered. In the dining hall, visitors were invited to write pre-addressed post cards to political prisoners--the same prisoners whose Lego portraits were seen moments before. Writing to incarcerated folks is one of the most important ways, in my opinion, to break down the isolation that prisons cause. Many of us wrote letters to people who inspired us, people whose stories and lives ought to be uplifted--not caged.

(Lance)

[placeprocessportfolio]

Greg. 

We are all still referring to this wonderful spirit-creature of the night. Other then our experience as a whole in San Francisco, I think it will serve us all well to remember that that experience was possible because of each other.

Greg is a shining example of the elusive experience within an experience in that, we will all always recall how close we all were in California just as we will always be remembering Greg and the, rather unusual yet looking back perfect and well-timed, night hike we went on.

We all seemed to heal and grow with one another on this extraordinary collaborative trip.

Greg, during the hike, seemed to be partial to eucalyptus trees and he may be on to something there according to recent studies involving eucalyptus leaves (quoted below). I would like to believe that Greg was sent to us for healing. His unintentional humorous personality seemed the perfect remedy for the previous events of the day.

On a personal level, I will never forget the connection I couldn’t help but make between Greg and the healing properties of Eucalyptus trees. 

"The Eucalyptus leaf contains chemicals that help control blood sugar. It also contains chemicals that might have activity against bacteria and fungi. Eucalyptus oil contains chemicals that might help pain and inflammation. It might also block chemicals that cause asthma”

  (Squeek) 

[post-scarcity]

Why do police have quotas? If a doctor went around intentionally sneezing on people to get more patients, that would be seen as a travesty to their profession. But police, can sit around and wait for someone to turn on a red light or commit other mundane ‘offenses’ because they have quotas to meet. Quotas are all the proof we need that policing is not a public service vocation; it’s a business and a subsidiary of Wall Street.

Enrique Molina

This yahoo answer from a retired officer will add further insight

(via blackgirlsinlove)

(Aaliyah)

[placeprocessportfolio]

During our time in San Francisco we had the pleasure of helping out at Project Open Hand. Project Open Hand is an organization that takes pride in not only feeding the homeless, disabled and AIDS infected people of the city of San Francisco, but also feeding them well. Just on the verge of retirement, the founder of Project Open Hand, Ruth Brinker, along with the rest of the city of San Francisco was hit with the AIDS epidemic of the early 1980's. Deciding to not stand for the degrading way that those infected were treated, especially while eating in restaurants, Ruth decided to open Project Open Hand, a place where the less fortune are treated with respect, no questions asked. I enjoyed my time there immensely. The volunteers were friendly, the staff were great, and we all got along famously knowing that we were making a difference to someone in need. (Shelby)

[placeprocessportfolio]

This is Adam.

I like Adam.

At Alcatraz "National Park," he works.

With his heart, he cares.

In his mind, he knows. 

With my mind, I know.

In my heart, I appreciate him.

Like my brother, he is special.

Underneath the water, he shined like a gem.

His gleeful interactions and willfulness for conversation sparked comfort and warmth in my sad, bleeding heart. He knew the honeymoon capital of Iran. He knew about the Girl & the Goat in Chicago. He knew that I could possibly be missing my Dunkin' Donuts coffee in the small town of Waldorf, MD. All of this little trivias' that were spouting off the top of his head amazed me and -- I'm sure -- many others who spoke with him. Presences such as his reminds me that we're all human. There's always light at the end of the tunnel.

(Aaliyah)

[placeprocessportfolio]

"What a system! What a system! What a system!

 What a crime! 

 We can't mend it, we must end it

 End it now and for all time"

-- What a System (What a Crime) by Robben Island Singers

This being my first time in the Bay Area, I've been captivated by the panoramic views of the city, ocean and hills. So, naturally, when I looked out the dirty windows at Alcatraz, it was hard for me to imagine what it would've been like to have been confined to such a little island in such a huge and diverse area — and to know that. To look out the barred windows and see the Golden Gate bridge, and beyond that, the Pacific Ocean, seems like the ultimate tease. The island's placement in the Bay and surrounding ocean is sorrowfully ironic: there is no more wide open a space than the ocean. The fact that prisoners had no freedom but were so close would've been driven into their minds every day.

The main guiding word with which I went into the Alcatraz trip was freedom. It may seem overly simplistic, but there are many different dimensions of freedom. Physical freedom from confinement, political freedom, artistic freedom, and the freedom of conscience that can never be stripped from anyone. I found the juxtaposition of Ai Weiwei's work, a grandiose expression of artistic and ideological freedom, and the prison itself to be more powerful than I had expected. While I viewed his exhibition, I couldn't stop thinking about the realization that such concentrated, powerful work was displayed in a space designed to crush freedom. What would the inmates who spent whole sections of their lives there think? What would those who died there think?

(Jack)