Environments
most recent update:
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Environments. page
one concepts
by: Anthony Davis.
actual image size: 339
x 704 pixels
Environments
Wednesday, December 04,
2002
7:43 PM, Central Standard Time
Environments is
about
color, texture, light, demension, flavor, touch, smell, feel, and so
on. Environments is about many
other experiences that take place inside or about a place of living.
When considering an
environment you have to break it down to a few parameters:
Home / personal
Business / work
Business / public relations
Natural / residential yard.
Natural / landscaping around a place of business.
Natural / like a lake or a park or a wild life preserve or an
undeveloped area.
Car / your very personal mobile environment.
One environment in
particular
takes me back to my years as a teen.
1971 Wynnewood Village
Shopping
Center,
Oak Cliff, Dallas, Texas - Pier 1 Imports. Inside this popular retail
store
of imports from the world there was a more down home space, called the
blacklight room. it was an area the size of a normal suburban living
room
but the walls and ceiling were covered in large sheets of reflective
aluminum
mylar sheeting, with flourescent black light posters of the times. That
was my first environment I tried to re-create, inside my Mom and Dad's
garage.
These were my materials of
choice:
1.
Reynold's aluminum
foil
2. thumb
tacks
3. black
light bulbs
- 48 inches long.
4. black
light fixtures
that held 2 - 4 foot tubular black lights.
5. twin
or regular
flat white cotton bed sheets
6.
8X8X16 hollow
cynder blocks, either painted black, white or not at all.
7. 2X4
feet by 2
inch thick dark cork board.
8. cone
and stick
incense and brass holders and brass candle stick holders and scented
candles.
9. a
stereo that
played regular stereo vinyl lp's.
10. a
few couches
and chairs purchased cheap from either a Salvation Army or Good Will or
side of the road. eh heh! :)
11.
There were posters
that had been bought from a commercial store, already for the wall and
there were home made posters.
12. The
white bed
sheets were splattered by the flourescent tempra paints until they
looked
fully multi-colored under the black lights.
13. The
thumbtacked
multi-colored bed sheets served as partitions creating about 4
individual
areas and a main central hall.
14. huge
foam rubber
feet in the central corridore.
15.
Black posters
splattered with millions of tiny drops of flourescent paint from
brushes
created the exact illusion of deep space when contrasted to the
reflective
aluminum foil and the deep blackness of the poster themselves.
16. A
huge polyester
cobra was our mascott for the envirenment we then called, the Cobra
Club.
All this just by being
in Pier 1's poster display room in 1971. Go figure ?)
Environments
Saturday,
December 07,
2002
11:26 PM, Central
Standard Time
Environments
can be and usually are more about our home life. The size of our home
depends
on the size of our wallet.
But,
even if you are in a cramped one bed efficiency you can have happy go
lucky
Feng Chui in your life :)
You
can enjoy the natural wonders of the world outdoors. Nobody has to have
a huge monolithic sized pocket book to enjoy what mother nature has to
offer if you are willing to wonder beyond the limits of your domain.
I think
of the back yard as an excellent source of personal down time. An
environment
that produces a solitude and quiet calm and privacy that can not be
found
anywhere in the public arena. So, if you have a back yard, be sure to
make
do with it. Don't just look at it from the back window of your kitchen,
but instead, venture off into the private out door domain and share it
with personal friends. No wonder the back yard garden and back yard
swimming
pool are the halmarks of a rich home environment.
Sun
Room:
actual image size: 400
x 400 pixels
This pic is of a one
bedroom
environment presentlyl occupied by my favorite doggins, Little
Bit.
The
above image is a representation of a single living modual, that
beds an
individual and provides under bed storage space and the luxury of a
built
in television and stereo entertainment center, with a window that is
convexed
at a 45 degree angle to make it easy for the tennant to lay and lookup
at the wonders of the skies. The windows can darken or lighten, or even
change colors to variate the appearance of the outside world, in this
case,
the big open sky.
Environments
is a project I was working on back in 7th grade, and still am at age
41.
I have been interested in environmental psychology and architectural
design
and have studied it at El Centro Jr. College at Downtown Dallas TX.
Limited
to only one place to work, my parent's back yard garage, I endeavored
to
experiment with partitions, furniture, sound and lighting to create all
sorts of Anthony-O-Gram types of environments. The materials and
methods
of the time, back in 1969, were, aluminum foil, white cotton sheets,
thumbtacks,
extension chords, blacklight paints, stereo system, concrete floors and
throw rugs, misellaneous furniture bought at thrift stores or found on
the side of the road, candles, inscence, blacklight posters, and
posterboard,
and my own personal artwork.
This
set the beginning stage of my life long pre-occupation with the home
and
public environments and how they effected the person's individual state
of mind.
I experimented
with wild ideas, partially influenced by two major experiences,
1:
Pier One Imports had a blacklight room full of posters that litterally
glowed under it's lights.
2:
2001 A Space Oddessy was a movie that was so full of future and past
images
that overwhelmed my immagination from then on.
A
third, and to a lesser degree, was the rock and roll music of the
times.
I realized at such an earlier age, that music, or sounds, and lighting,
and immagery, or environment, worked together in ways that triggered
off
different moods.
When
our next door neighbor, Mr. Foster, once stepped into the Cobra Club,
as
we called the garage, he was impressed, (but, I'm still not sure if it
was a good or a bad impression!)
The
Cobra Club had alluminum foil thumtacked over every wall surface in
the garage and the ceiling. a hallway made of thumbtacked sheets
splattered
with flourescent paint and glowing in the light of several four feet
long
blacklights, or blue flood lights, lead you into three separate
partitioned
areas, one was the livingroom, and another the piano room, and the
third
was my study area. On top of the desk in the study area were numerous
cartoon
magazines, mad, and dagwood and blondie comic books. I spent many hours
either at this desk, pencil or pen, in hand, copying the cartoons and
developing
my own personal artistic skills. Usually the medium was posterboard, or
typing paper, black medium ball point pen, or no. 2 pencil.
Other
than draw picutures, I dabbled in my version of the first newspaper of
the neighborhood; I called: The Cobra Times, but that went nowhere
fast.
The living room was full of cozy furniture, with rugs and beautiful
blacklight
posters on the walls and even some star paintings, black posterboard,
with
splattered multicolored blacklight paint, and a high fidelity stereo
system
given to me by my next door neighbor's son, who just wanted to be nice
to me. I played music by 3 Dog Night, David Bowie, Yes, and Black
Sabbath,
and many other rock bands, and also some soundtrack albums, like James
Bond, and Cop Show Themes, and so on.
At
eleven years of age I had begun the Cobra Club, and by age 16, after
working
half the summer at my father's place of employment; Hill Optical Co. On
Harwood Street, in Downtown, Dallas, TX., I had been able to make Cobra
Club into quite an environment for my self and my Best friend Ken
Tyler,
who shared many hours with me in the persuit of music, independence,
and
friendship. In other words, the Cobra Club was a proving ground, and a
stepping stone for us both, to experience living on our own, at the
early
age of 11.
Since
we both were the same age and attended the same classes at school, we
also
listened to all the same music, and if it were not for my Ken's access
to so much private music memorabilia, I wouldn't have had the kind of
exposure
to the world of music, so I thank you much Kenneth, wherever you are!
I realize
today, at age 41, that the Cobra Club played a leading role in
influencing
my belief that the ENVIRONMENT is as important as the food we put in
our
mouths and the air we breath.
If
it weren't for the Cobra Club in those earlier years of my young
adulthood,
I wouldn't have had the opportunity to compose my music, and my stories
and artwork, and Ken really needed a place to get away from his over
crowded
home so he could have his privacy and time to enjoy his fine collection
of music.
Quiet
is one of the rarest experiences we know today in everyday life.
Noise is something we take for granted in the big city. Silence is one
of the most effective influences on the cognitive mind. Noise, however
stimmulates the emotional mind and causes us to react to everything,
rather
than instigate events in our own lives. We have to build up defenses to
noise pollution, and visual pollution, which are the 2 primary
ingredients
in the BIG CITY environment. Both are unavoidable, and both are
very
detrimental to social peace and civility.
There is a flat screen two
way television set at the foot of a stereo bed that has an overhead
light
that can change hues and colors and brightness and the polygonal window
that encases the full left side of the bed provides immediate viewing
of
the out side, in this case, from the 150th story floor of a New America
Tower.
Underneath the bed, at the
foot of it, there are 8 dresser drawers with center pulls.
Have
you been in a place that just felt right?
That's
what I call an environment.
One
such place is out in the open air at a lake up north in either Michigan
or Wisconsin on a July night!
Such
is the subject of environments, places I've been and liked, places I
want
to visit and places inside and outside I would like to create.
Environment
0001, Saturday, December 06, 2003, 9:03 PM Central Time
The
box. A 20 x 20 x 20 cube solid white full of floor standing white cubes
that contain green tropical plants, and every wall and the ceiling have
a square window in the center that lets lots of day light flood inside.
The floor is green indoor outdoor turf carpet. In the center of the
cube
is a round half spherical pool or bath.
THE COBRA CLUB:
Single
level structure, with an 8 feet wide sliding door entrance to an open
area
about 22 feet deep by 18 feet wide and a ceiling heighth of approx. 10
feet.
Floor
is concrete, covered by several Pier1Import Persian type rugs and
thick black fake fur rugs. Ceiling and Walls covered by Reynold's
Aluminum Foil, attatched to inside vertical wall studs using thumb
tacks
as fasteners.
Lighting
provided by hooks and extension electrical chords and hanging flip
switch
light bulb outlets. The light bulb of choice is the blue flood,
250
watt, the 4 foot long flourescent black light bulb mounted to the wall
with screws into the wall studs.
Four
individual areas are divided by partitions thumb tacked to the ceiling
support beam rafters. The partitions are white cotton bed sheets, twin
or full size. For effect, the partition sheets are spraypainted with
water
mixed with flourescent tempra, and layed on the floor and also
splatterd
with many random colors, creating a multi-colored splash of glow in the
dark art.
In
some areas of the Main living area, some shelves and tables exist. The
coffee tables at the ends of the sofa are concrete block, painted with
flourescent green or orange spray enamel paint, and the tops are a
single
sheet of cork, approx. half inch in thickness and about 2 feet by 4
feet,
and topped off with a large rectangular pain of single strength glass.
The
option to place a Playboy centerfold under the glass is a matter of
good
taste.
Wood-cork
coasters are spread about the table to rest several cold glasses of
iced
cold Dr. Pepper. The beverage of choice.
Candles
and Incense abound for aroma therapy. A Small portable stereo system,
with
two separate unmountable speakers, provides the best sound performance
for such a small space. The speakers are separated to allow the finest
delivery of sound from each and every record played.
Magazines
of every type lay about the place. You can hang out at the Cobra Club,
play music, read, sleep, eat and drink, talk even. Best of all there's
the piano room, where I can go to play for hours on end, and a guitar
and
amp for those days when all you need to do is improvise.
The
Cobra Club was the first environment created by Anthony Davis at age
11,
in his Mom and Dad's 2 Car Garage.
THE PLANTARIUM:
Using
a backyard cement patio and creating a carport is easy but, costly,
about
$2,000.00
The
basic carport is a metal roof and a rear storage closet. I took it one
step farther.
Using
the existing wood base boards and the upper edges of the roof, also
made
of board, I took eye bolts and staggered them across the tops and
bottom
and then using clothesline wire, I threaded it in a zig zag
pattern on the outside, and stapled cotton bed sheets until the entire
East and West and South sides were covered except for a small gap to
allow
entry. Then I did the same thing with the inside, going the opposite
direction
with the wire through the eye bolts.
As
it is a windy place, This City, Dallas. Using the sunlight, glowing
through
the sheets, casting shadows of the trees just outside, we had the
environment
to grow our plants.
Inside
the PLANTARIUM, were a random assorment of odd furniture, chairs,
sofas,
and tables, and many 13 gallon or larger plastic garbage can, bought at
a local McCroy's at Wynnewood Village Shopping Center, with holes
drilled
into the bottoms and filled with bags of potting soil, we had
everything
we needed to start a Plant Planet. I knew it would take time, but, I
was
patient, and I began to grow apple and lemmon and a varitey of plants,
some by the seed and others from seedling sprouts.
Everyone
loved to hang out in the Springtime at THE PLANTARIUM. and play music,
drink beer, smoke jays and shoot the shit.
All
the while, I just spent my time daydreaming and writing poetry and
engaging
in idle philosophy with M. Helsem, another good friend of mine durring
my youth.
A huge
industrial drycleaners drum served as the largest plantarium holder for
growing some herbs. At night, an upside down washing machine drum,
painted
flourescent pink, served as a light source, with a light bulb
underneath,
at night, shining brightly through the many small drain holes around
it's
outer walls. A few circular cut-outs of the constellations served as a
backdrop for the PLANTARIUM to add a subtle refference to my Astronomy
interrests.
Many
a day were spent in this ENVIRONMENT and they are well remembered.
WALK IN AQUARIUM:
Once
you enter the walk in aquarium room, you are surrounded by four glass
walls,
thirty feet wide and 25 feet high, filled on every side with water and
marine life. You enter this ENVIRONMENT from underground.
The
idea of framed wall inset aquariums sprang from the obvious place; The
Aquarium Building at Fair Park, in Dallas Texas. I used to frequent
that
environment so often, that I always felt a deep loss when I had to
return
to the hum drum atmosphere of the ordinary world outside, homelife and
reality in general. I grew to appreciate the exotic environments at the
State Fair Park Grounds at an early age, and from then on I grew to
despise
the boring and ugly world that seemed to be 99% of the rest of the
world.
I have
seen the Ocean, at a poor vantage point, located at the south edge of
Texas
near Port Author, but when I saw the East shore of Lake Michigan, while
spending a summer traveling up to the north, in particular, Wisconsin,
near the Green Bay area, I was impressed with the waves, the cool
winds,
and the late summer nights fading into dusk ever so slowly in July. The
fact is, I have this idea of a walk in aquarium that is less exotic,
but
equally admirable to experience on a budget.
Taking
a room you are not really using, you can stack three or four tall and
wide
aquariums, all around the room, and then frame them so that all you see
are the windows to the waters, through the partitions, which will make
it easy to get at the aquariums to feed the fish and clean them
out.
It
would be nice if huge aquarium rooms were custom made for everybody, so
they could buy a few pet fish and spend all day admiring them, sort of,
as they entertain guests. A room that is actually round or hexagonal or
even square or oval, that is wall to wall glass filled with water and
fish
would be an astronomical undertaking, but it is a cool idea, I believe.
PHONE ROOM:
Everyone
loves to chat on line, I mean, the telephone line, via voice. You know,
the old fashioned way people did before e-mail arrived to the present
age.
Unlike
the elaborate Study of modern Architectural design, the PHONE ROOM is a
sound proof chamber, partitioned with double strength glass and full of
microphones, and such, as would be found in a DJ's domain.
But,
instead of a complex array of techno-paraphanallia, the PHONE ROOM is a
simple place. You enter a double sliding glass door into a thick
carpeted
room. The furninture is leather and moulded plastic , wood and glass.
The
four glass walls, actually window walls, are framed in alluminum and
have
blinds to provide privacy as well as a dimmer switch to variate the
light
from 0% to 100% in 1% increments of variation. A Microphone and
speakers
filtered through a digital amplifier provide superior sound quality
anywhere
in the room. No need to wear a headset, and no need to put your mouth
right
up to a handset or a microphone. You can set, lay or stand and pace
while
conversing on your micro-telephone system or MICRO-PHONE and lay apon a
comfortable sofa or bed and chat until you drop.
The
idea is, if you could you would be there, in that room actually talking
to somebody, so there is an option, that is soon to be a reality, which
is a virtual reality video screen window, that enables you to chat and
see who you are talking to and this is cool, because it really makes it
seem like your're there in the same room, because DVD and Digital
Video,
the clarity of detail of nearly life like reality is a current reality
in the world of commercial television and soon to be in a video screen
desktop or window wall near you.
Everyone
loves to chat on line, I mean, the telephone line, via voice.
You know,
the old fashioned way people did before e-mail arrived to the present
age.
Unlike
the elaborate Study of modern Architectural design, the PHONE ROOM is a
sound proof chamber, partitioned with double strength glass and full of
microphones, and such, as would be found in a DJ's domain.
But,
instead of a complex array of techno-paraphanallia, the PHONE ROOM is a
simple place. You enter a double sliding glass door into a thick
carpeted
room. The furninture is leather and moulded plastic , wood and glass.
The
four glass walls, actually window walls, are framed in alluminum and
have
blinds to provide privacy as well as a dimmer switch to variate the
light
from 0% to 100% in 1% increments of variation. A Microphone and
speakers
filtered through a digital amplifier provide superior sound quality
anywhere
in the room. No need to wear a headset, and no need to put your mouth
right
up to a handset or a microphone. You can set, lay or stand and pace
while
conversing on your micro-telephone system or MICRO-PHONE and lay apon a
comfortable sofa or bed and chat until you drop.
The
idea is, if you could you would be there, in that room actually
talking
to somebody, so there is an option, that is soon to be a reality, which
is a virtual reality video screen window, that enables you to chat and
see who you are talking to and this is cool, because it really makes it
seem like your're there in the same room, because DVD and Digital
Video,
the clarity of detail of nearly life like reality is a current reality
in the world of commercial television and soon to be in a video screen
desktop or window wall near you.
