Intervention at Dolores Park

Dolores Park in San Francisco is a wonderful park where local San Franciscans go to relax and enjoy the sun with the family and friends. But it was not always a happy hang out for youth to elders. At Dolores there were two Jewish Cemeteries here before they moved to San Mateo County in the late 1880's and early 1890's (Hills of Eternity and Home of Peace Cemeteries). They actually were the first to relocate south of The City, mainly because new land was impossible to find after the Gold Rush happened.
There was a totally different vibe when Dolores was a cemetery not only in that area, but within the entire city. We wanted to bring to attention to the people who love being at Dolores that it was not always the happy place it is now. We placed grave stones at the park to represent the bodies that were once buried there. Many people that we talked to had no idea that Dolores was a cemetery and they had different reactions. Some people did not care and said "Oh, I did not know that. Cool." While others wanted to learn more about the cemetery and the reason for its relocation.
We found this project very interesting because we were able to bring back into attention to the people that Dolores was a cemetery and not always the hang out that they have grown to love.

We were able to talk to a bunch of people carrying around our grave stone asking them if they know that Dolores Park was a cemetery and that it was relocated to San Mateo.
The grave stone reads... "R.I.P. In the 1880's Dolores Park was a Jewish cemetery. The cemetery was relocated to San Mateo after death was no longer allowed in San Francisco.

Making my Own Sign

I made a Caution sign warning people that there are Crying Children Ahead. I did this because there are so many signs telling people they have to stop doing things or be more safe because there are children in the area. I wanted to make this to warn people that there are children in the area, not for the safety of the children, but for their own safety. If someone has a headache, or hang over or they just really don't like kids, they know that they are coming into a kid zone, and they should approach with caution. I am planning on putting this sign up next to a day care or a play ground.
I used Illustrator to complete this project and I was difficult, but it was not as hard for me was the Culture Jamming project. I got a hang of Illustrator and I think that I will be able to do other projects with less frustration.
The pictures out side are the photos that I took of my sign if front of a kids school near my house. While I was taking the photos one of the teachers came out and asked me what I was doing. I explained to her that I am taking a picture of a sign that I made in front of the school and I would not be leaving the sign there. She asked to see it and when see got her hands on it, she did not like it and told me that she was going to throw it away and I could get in trouble for vandalism. I nicely told her that she can have that and I already got all the pictures I needed for my project. It was a very interesting conversation.

Culture Jamming

To the right is the original Ford logo and below is my edited version. For some reason a broken black border is surrounding my image. It does not show up on Illustrator, only on this blog. Unfortunately I could not get ride of it. I hope that it does not take away from my Culture Jamming piece.

I found the idea of this project to be very interesting. Taking a logo or symbol and changing it, so it is still recognizable, but totally changing the meaning. I took the Ford automobile logo and changed the letters around to read "Fuck!". I did this to show all of the problems that the Ford company is having with their cars. There have been many accidents due to a faulty gas pedal and some deaths have occurred. I believe that my piece shines a light on this issue with a some what comical sense.
To transform the original logo to my culture jamming one I used Adobe Illustrator. I have never used Illustrator before and I had a lot of difficulty navigating through the program. It was very frustrating for me, and all I wanted to do was to go back to Photoshop. After a little bit of kicking and screaming I was able to complete the project. I don't think I will use Illustrator as often as Photoshop or other programs, but I am really happy that I know how to work it a little bit better than before.