Piterson: The Legs Emerge

After focusing exclusively on aquarium management for a time, Piterson realized that he had inadvertently abandoned his wooden skeleton.  He spoke with the IP faculty, who in turn suggested that he bring his work into "The Makers' Space":  the upstairs, art-meets-IP studio in the IP building. If Piterson positioned himself in a workspace, we explained, perhaps he might see new routes for his project.

Since this move, Piterson has admirably regained momentum.  He began to gather sticks in earnest from the woods surrounding Kildonan.  He also received the support of the entire community in acquiring a saw table; the cleanness of his creations immediately improved due to the clamps and equipment that came with this tool.  He blew up pictures of the leg and projected them upon a giant flatscreen TV in the studio, rotating 3D models  of bones using software on his computer.  Ultimately, he moved forward using a combination of the visual and kinesthetic:  adding to his skeleton using the saw table, studying an image, spinning it, finding another, studying that, and continuing to build.

All of this diligent work allowed Piterson to present a surprise to the IP team:  two finished legs (upper, lower, feet, and toes).  He should feel proud of his creations, for they are not only beautiful works of art but also the products of an emerging understanding of the human body.  And...where will he go next? He is already traveling up the body to consider the construction of the pelvis.

Have a thought to share? Please post in the comments section below.

Description of the image:  Piterson holding his skeleton's legs.  Photo taken by IP faculty.

Piterson: Aquarium Management &​ "The Sunny"

Piterson has been developing lines of inquiry that allow him to explore two separate interests.  On one hand, he continues to research personal training.  He has completed work on a wooden representation of the human leg, and now he is beginning to craft the ankle and the foot.

On the other hand, Piterson is researching aquarium management and freshwater fish.  Earlier this year, he proposed that the IP community take advantage of an abandoned tank located on-campus and bring some fish to the building.  The IP team consented, and not long afterward, Piterson transported various aquarium equipment to his corner niche:  a tank, a filter, an oxygenator/​air pump, etc.  He then returned from an hour of fishing with several freshwater sunfish.  Most of these proved too big for the tank, but one found it a perfect fit:  "The Sunny."

The IP community has lovingly adopted "The Sunny" as a kind of mascot for the program (which begs the question:  between our Blogtopuses and "The Sunny," might the IP community be fascinated or even obsessed with marine life?).  And yet, though several iPeople and IP advisers assist in caring for the fish, no one has taken greater care of "The Sunny" than Piterson.  He has performed a staggering number of tasks to ensure a quality life for the animal.  He is regularly replacing the water and applying algicide so as to ensure that the living environment is clean.  He feeds "The Sunny" multiple times a day using earthworms, meal worms, and minnows, and he directs a close eye toward the quality of the filter, on the biological aesthetic of the tank, and on the oxygenation and temperature of the water.  With the assistance of other iPeople, he even nurtured "The Sunny" back to health after a misfeeding AND rescued three other fish:  two goldfish and an Oscar.

And how has he done this? He has researched the biological facts of the sunfish:  its lifespan, its diet, the ideal temperature of the water that it inhabits, the flora typically found in its natural habitat, aquarium management, proper filter and air pump maintenance, and bait companies.  No less importantly, he approaches "The Sunny" not only with an intellectual eye but with a refined compassion and humanitarian concern.

What do you think of Piterson's second branch in IP? Do you have any advice for him? Please post in the comments section below.

Description of 1st image:  "The Sunny," as photographed on January 28, 2015.  Photo taken by Mr. Jonathan Bisson.

Description of 2nd image:  A freshwater sunfish.  Photo located at www.freshwater-fishing-news.com.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over this picture.

Piterson: Personal Training

Piterson: Wooden Sculptures and Andres San Millan

Athletic and fit, Piterson is studying personal training.  He aspires to enroll in a college with such a program and to earn his certification at the end of this school year.  He has wisely commenced this process by examining the skeletal make-up of the leg.  From here, he plans to "flesh it out," or to understand its layers of muscle and tissue, before branching out to other body parts.  He retains information, in part, by using three-dimensional and manipulative representations of ideas,  so might there be a way for him to concretize his ongoing explorations?

The answer, of course, is yes.  Piterson has begun to collect sticks in the hopes of constructing a wooden sculpture of the human body.  As he commences this work, he is examining the pieces created by Andres San Millan.  A resident and artist of Rhinebeck, NY, San Millan is perhaps best known for his work with Cocoon Theatre - a youth theater organization based out of Rhinebeck until only this past fall - and for his provocative MAN sculpture (formerly installed at Taste Budds in Red Hook, NY).

Lynn Woods of the Hudson Valley Almanac Weekly interviewed San Millan in January, 2013 and had this to say of MAN:

Based loosely on a small clay sculpture, MAN reflects San Millan’s classical training with the figure as much as his feeling for nature. Unlike most colossi, which tend to be monumental, MAN is sprightly, inherently active. Knit out of driftwood sticks that resemble lines, loose strokes that describe forceful movements through space, he is energy anthropomorphized. The body is carefully articulated, the tension of the muscles palpable. Balanced on the toes of his flexed right foot and his left forefinger, he seems to spring from the earth, even as his left foot is planted firmly on the ground. The left arm thrusts downward, muscles tensed and the hand spread, with forceful, pointing fingers, expressive as a Broadway dancer’s. The aquiline nose and full lips, formed from carved pieces of driftwood, resemble the features of an ancient Greek warrior, jutting from an armature of sticks that suggests an Attic helmet.

From seemingly mundane objects "springs" life.  What will Piterson create with his own sticks? How will he choose to render the human body?

For Andres San Millan's figureartscape, please click on the following link:  http://www.figureartscape.com.  For Lynn Wood's article concerning MAN, please follow this next URL:  http:/​/​www.hudsonvalleyalmanacweekly.com/​2013/​01/​04/​andressan-millans-man-on-the-move/​.

(MAN, pictured above, with San Millan leading the procession at bottom right.  This photo was located at San Millan's figureartscape.  Kildonan and its IP program claim no ownership over the above image.)