i'm right there, over here.

it's been four weeks since i came to florence. oh, come si dice. it's really incredible here.

we live in a beautiful apartment on la Via Borga della Noce. my bedsheets are lemons, and our non-functioning washing machine is in our bathroom. illegal immigrants from Nigeria sell watches and bags right outside our alley, which opens into il mercato di San Lorenzo, then, the church of San Lorenzo, and five minutes later, the Cathedral, il Duomo, and the Baptistry, with the famous gilded doors of Ghiberti . if we're on our way to our language class, we pass by L'Arno, and il Ponte Vecchio, and if we're on our way to the discotecas or bars on the weekends, we often pass by Chiesa di Santa Croce, where the tombs of Machiavelli, Michelangelo, Dante, Galileo, and other rather important people, are held. and finally, on the way back from a night out, Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi. 

of course, we can't go anywhere without passing by at least four caffes. at the *very* least. 

classes are also really amazing. for our drawing class, there was a lecture on the personality of each pencil, the rich dark sensuousness of a 6B, the calm meditation and sharp precision of a 3H, as well as the broad range of qualities of different marks one can make. it made my heart race! and for our theme-sequence class, after every 6 hour studio, i feel as though there was something blooming inside of me, the sense of freedom to explore, to make mistakes, to be truthful and honest. in a dialogue that we read for class, the speaker said that art wasn't about expression anymore, but about inquiry. but not just an inquiry, but a need, for our own humanity, to create something outside ourselves.

this brings me to a running project for the theme-sequence course. we all chose an object, and upon much exploration, gathering, and developing, i've chosen the plushie as a package, something wrapped, an object with specific physical and mechanical properties, as well as much cultural and personal significance. 

here are some points of my exploration: the stuffed animal can be seen as a toy or a plaything. or, it is an object of comfort, something tactile to be fiddled and cuddled with. stuffed toys are also often a marketing strategy; when there is a successful television show or movie, its characters are often made into dolls (for example, Disney characters, Looney Toons, Pokemon, etc.). they become three-dimensional manifestations of cartoon characters. what if they become a portrait of someone real? a materialization of a real identity? plushies can also become collectibles (beanie babies), and even cultural artifacts (hello kitty dolls, raggedy anne, etc.). the personal meanings we often assign to stuffed animals is also very important; they are usually seen as living memory of our childhood, sometimes even specific times or feelings we had when we turned to them for comfort. from this perspective, it’s interesting how a stuffed animal, usually designed for aesthetic and business reasons, can retain so much personality and significance for us. what does this say about our interaction with the inanimate world? and the animate?

other questions: why do we wrap things? what is the purpose of an external skin? is it to protect, or to hide? is it to represent, or transform? why do we wrap presents? and what is the charm behind an ambiguously wrapped package in the mail, even when we know what is inside? do we wrap for aesthetic reasons, because of our inherent desire to beautify things, or because we enjoy the mystery behind something unknown? i'm not looking for an answer, but a point to start looking. and isn't that what it's all about? a new perspective, a metaphor for something bigger?

so far, florence has been a great place of growth. granted i haven't been here long, but i'm slowly getting into the pace of things. and i'm very excited for what's to come. 

sinceremente, felifel!!!