The Place Project

The place Project was simple enough. Select a place, study it, alter it in some way, and then document your change. The place I chose was one of the window seats in the house that I stay at for school. It's a large house that I share with other girls that study at the University of Illinois and Parkland. Each of them have become like close friends.

This window seat is a coveted study spot for all the girls in the house. There's a beautiful view of the rose bushes, the porch swing, and the changing leaves. I sat down and began studying it as much as I could. I noted everything visible from the window including the cats and squirrels that visited the porch. I noted the trees, the students, the construction from across he street. I sketched what I could see from my perspective. I even sketched the view of the window from outside.

One night while studying the spot, one of the girls I lived with sat on the swing outside with her boyfriend. Not wanting to intrude, I took a mental note of how they couple looked, I retreated into my room, and I began sketching what I saw. The two talked and smiled under the porch light. The window was aglow with the evening sky. The porch was a romantic place, but I only had a view from the window. This is when my idea for my transformation came to me.

I took my sketch of the couple and lined the bottom with fallen leaves. I wrote love letters and notes about what the two might have been thinking. I crafted paper flowers and collected rose petals from the bushes outside. I made up an autumn romance from scratch. Then, I took my collection and taped it onto the window like a shrine.

My friends were in the room when I decided to photograph my mini installation. They all said it was beautiful, but I never said what it was about except that it was for class. They kept asking questions like who was in the drawing, what inspired the love letters, and why there were pine cones and leaves. This was exactly the response I was expecting. It decided it would feel wrong if I gave away who I saw and that I made everything else up. I watched them get up to look closer, look out the window, and even ask to be in the pictures.

I had transformed the window. I had transformed this place.