Idea Blog: Shoe and Ladder

Right now, i have been thinking of what means Kenya to me, and i have been thinking of physical things that remind me of differences between Kenya and the U.S. in reference to physical construction of things and objects. The first idea that came to my mind was a thought of a ladder, and its two separate construction types. In Kenya, we still used wooden ladders, and had nothing that is manufactured and processed by a machine, like what the U.S has. Here, ladders are made from metal frames, and are much more sturdy, trustworthy, and reliable, compared to what we had in Kenya.
These differences made me start thinking of other things that are unique to Kenya, that i miss, and remind me of what 'Kenya' is. One thing that is very different between the two cultures is the subject of shoes. Here in the United States people never not wear shoes. From wake to sleep, slippers, socks and shoes, sandals, work boots, etc always fit on feet. The difference in Kenya that even established wealth was if you had nice shoes, or shoes at all. In Kenya i used to never wear shoes and run around outside, inside, and everywhere just on my bare feet, which is a very interesting concept and difference.
How does this pertain to construction? Well, in Kenya, they had what was considered 'poor man's' shoes, called tire sandals. And yes, they were created from parts of used tires, with straps of rubber, and actual slabs of tire for the base. I have these shoes here with me, and it constantly reminds me of Kenya.
I think where i need to start heading is actually constructing something like this, physically, of something that reminds me of Kenya, and sets the U.S apart from Kenya. I will start constructing them, then purchasing the equivalent here in the U.S. and just stay in that environment for a while. From there, i might move onto objects that combine both elements into one, as if they were trying to co-exist with each other, like i am with these two identities.

I even found this photograph of sandals made out of ripped cloth and old plastic soda bottles. This really hits home, and i am looking forward to what i will come up with.


http://neatorama.cachefly.net/images/2006-07/water-bottle-sandal.jpg

http://www.alternativeconsumer.com/wp-content/uploads/Ross/ROSS_JUNE/Silangsandal_1.JPG

http://www.thriftyfun.com/images/articles27/tire_sandals300x187.jpg

Artist Blog: Otto Steinert

Otto Steinert is a German photographer, born in Saarbracken in 1915 and is most famously known for his outstanding personality of German post-war photography. He started, however, as a physician, and graduated with a medicine degree in 1939. After the war, he started taking photographs on the side of his regular job and eventually gave up his profession to follow his pasion for photography. Here is one of his ppieces i have found most interesting and inspirational in reference to my own work. It is titled simply "Pedestrians Foot" and is a silver gelating print created in 1950. This piece represents to me the feeling of displacement and this belending of two identities. The full foot form would represent my original and hidden identity, the blending is the part of me trying to co-exist with the world around me, a completely different lifestyle and way of thinking. The key for this piece is that it embodies and resembles my own work , and being that i am focusing back to the idea of constrcting something and trying to find what "Kenya" is to me, what is that object or idea, it give me thoughts of what i thought was a blessing to have, an object so simple, yet said too much in its owning, and that is shoes. Shoes are just one of the objects that i feel separated my childhood and Kenya from here.
Everything here is "shirt and shoes required" here, whereas in Kenya, even being more filthy, dangerous, and painful to walk on with bare feet, i rarely wore shoes outside of school, and the rest of the time i hwas barefoot. I could even go into stores with bare feet, whith no issue or second thought from anyone. Every once in a while i would walk without shoes on here, and people would flip out, and go crazy. This separation between the two highly contrasting positions bring about good thoughts and i look forward to finding more deep objects that resemble differences and contrasts throughout life.

http://www.artnet.com/Magazine/reviews/rosa/Images/rosa6-15-3.jpg