Footprints of A Traveler

Singing Wang
Cracks in the sidewalk

My Footprints in Boston

In the past week, I started a tourism about the cracks in the sidewalk as a new Bostonese. I went to seven different places, from west to east, and from south to north. For me, it is not only a drawing assignment, it is also like my memory of exploration in Boston. The locations I chose were the first time I went to or near my living area. When I found cracks, I noticed that the cracks of different neighbors would be different. For example, in Chinatown and Boston Common park, there are a numerous of cracks, spots and cigarette butts on the ground. However, the sidewalks in the south bay, commonwealth, and symphony are often intact, and the cracks are relatively concentrated. So, I drew the most representative cracks in each area.

    

Sep.9^th @Badcock Station,
2.5”x 5.5”, Pencil/Colored Pencil   

    

Sep.10^th @Chinatown NE,
 4”x 4”, Pencil    

Sep.11^th @ Boston Common SE,
4.5”x 5.5”, Marker Pen    

In my creating process, I chose to take pictures of cracks with my phone and then observed the cracks carefully at home. Since I found that when I stood in the central area and looked at those cracks, I always attracted a lot of attentions. For this reason, my photos were often taken in a hurry. Because of this rush, I noticed that I coincidently left my shoes in every photo. These footprints, like marks, proved that I have been here, along with these permanent cracks and stayed on this sidewalk. When I got home, I began to think about what kind of approaches I could express my feelings, and what did I feel from its surrounding. I was very impressed that when I went to south bay, the sidewalks were usually very complete and new, so I barely found cracks. However, at the end of sidewalk, there were two extended cracks, which are abrupt in this empty street but unique.

                

               Sep. 12^th @Boylston Public Library Square,
            5”x 5”, Marker Pen

Sep.13^th @South Bay Center SE,
9”x 6”, Pencil/ Marker   

          Sep.14^th @Six Flag New England, Agawan,
        7.5”x 9”, Pencil   

     

While I chose medium, I used pencils and markers as the main tools which can reflect the broken roads appropriately. Personally, when I drew these cracks, I could also express my moods. Each of my cracks has different emotions, some were “disgusting”, some had little bit of fear, some might represent my emotional transformation (@Six Flag), and some showed my happiness (@Babcock). Therefore, I have different approaches to express my experiences and emotions with colors, medium, lines and shapes.

Sep.15^th @Boston Symphony,
26”x 40”, Marker Pen    

On the largest piece, I did a lot of thinking. For the real size piece, I finally chose it here --- symphony, one of the most prosperous central places in the city. The sidewalks here are very clean, unlike Chinatown or other areas. Perfectly, I couldn’t find cracks, but on the side of road, I discovered a broken piece. Unlike other pieces, its cracks seemed like broken glass, or the roots of trees, which extended to every corner and impressed me. I chose to use a thick marker to draw this impressive place. Since when I was standing in this central place, it led me to every places of the city. Although it is so imperfect, these cracks which extend to various directions strengthen my belief to explore more about this city, my studies, and more unknown things.