RESEARCH
Developing and researching a thesis delivers an interesting challenge of digesting a mass amount of information and extracting it into experiments, writing, and theories created over a period of time. My work has necessitated culling reasons why people were initially drawn to a city by looking back into history. After finding the facts, I then had to externalize the information into archetypes and iconography.

My methodology included creating a visual archive from Pasadena's history to create prominent themes and symbols, then creating illustrations and imagery that would translate historical stories in visual cues. These drawings and collages served as a way to visualize some highly abstract stories so I could be better informed on how to create a narrative in physical space. Instead of focusing on one story to portray in the street, I decided to do two. In creating both stories, I had created a notion of dueling timelines, or where two events in history occurred simultaneously starting from the corners, intersecting at the center, and concluding as they moved back out of the site.

CITY HISTORIES

An important component of my work has been studying the underlying layers of history that belong to a city's landscape. We're inundated with renovating, building, and tearing down what existed before in our urban areas. Since urban renewal and gentrification are unavoidable, the stories and culture of the city slowly become forgotten. This is as much of a study on how to find a way to resuscitate those stories as it is to subvert existing spaces in urban areas.

The idea of small historical archives being resuscitated in the streets brings to mind geocaching. Geocaching, "an outdoor activity in which the participants use a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver or other navigational techniques to hide and seek containers (Wikipedia.org)" is preserved over a period of time. The "treasures" are not generally expensive, but have a certain personal value to the person that hid them. In my research in Pasadena, I am peeling through layers of the city's history in order to extract the stories that hold the most value and personal interest to myself. I then designed a method to externalize those discoveries to Pasadena residents on the street.

SITE STUDIES

A large component of the project has been working within the space where the event took place. It dealt with issues like the number of people that entered and left the area, and the limiting time constraint. There was also the issue of scale, background noise, and the constant flow of traffic and movement. With all these aggregating factors, I had to go on-site and make notes. I also needed to find a way to figure how to activate the area, or make a separate distinction between my designed theatre production and this highly active part of the city.