"Orchestra" is the fourth of a few pieces I will be slowly sharing from my Senior Capstone, Oh, The Places. Oh, The Places, is a collection of 15 short, creative nonfiction essays focusing on the theme of place. This project was meant to be like a plein air painting (but with words), like sketches. I wanted readers to feel like a close friend handed over their personal journal or a box of intimate letters. I wanted the collection to be a delicate thing of beauty like a single flower or a rabbit in the night. I was inspired by many artists (Jenny Slate, Patti Smith, Lauren Elkin, Durga Chew-Bose, Rebecca Solnit, Robert Smithson, Norton Juster and Jules Feiffer, Lewis Carroll, Maggie Nelson, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, Charlie Mackesy, Jamaica Kincaid, and Greta Gerwig in particular) and I have immense gratitude and respect for my wonderful professors at The New School for motivating me to refine my voice and use it. This project would not be possible without Rebecca Reilly, Richard Tayson, Timothy Quigley, Laura Cronk, and, of course, the incredible Lisa Freedman. Music That Inspired My Project: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1fA25bbB4fh7KUcUzlBoOw Behind The Scenes: This piece was inspired by something someone said to me about sunsets, and by the Philosophy for the 21st Century course I was taking from Professor Tim Quigley at the time. We had an assignment where we needed to write a philosophical letter to someone with things we had been learning and the basis for this essay came about in that process. Technique-wise, I went to the beach to write this essay in the same way I go to the lagoon when I’m writing about it, or a café, or my car, or wherever else. Whenever I am writing, I do my best to write from the place or at the place I am writing about. |
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