Noel & Via

Let me tell you about our exhibit last april 14-19, well in a word it was exhausting. This is the first time I ever had an exhibit. It was held at one of the museums in Milan that is well known for design and modern art. And it was also during one of the biggest furniture design fairs in world: the Salon del Mobile.

Going into the Triennale the for the first time last October, I never thought that I would get to go in the paid areas, much less present one of my projects there. My school's exhibit was ongoing in parallel with other exhibits in the museum such as Street Food Design, Alessi/Fiat, and Phillipe Stark/Duravit.

My exhibit was our first term project finished last december. I did it with three other students (Andreea, Ben, and Tom) It was called audiograffiti, a sound installation experimenting with interactions with sound, time and space. It was more like a ride than an art piece. We had to let people in and tell them what to do. Someone always had to be in the "booth".

What was funny is that the italians were more than willing to remove their shoes to get into our exhibit... most of them at least. We got nice reactions like "bello!" "bellisimo!" "che divertente!(how fun)." Which made the exhaustion a little lighter.

Check out the school's website for more pictures of the event. I will post some more soon.

Posted by Noel at 11:38 PM | Permalink

On our way back to the institute this rainy afternoon, Noel asked me if I thought we had a shared destiny. And if we do, what I think it is. And in order to fulfill this shared destiny, does one have to give up his or hers? (Yes, rainy weather does seem to bring out our "who am I?" sides) I thought for a bit before answering. "I think one merely postpones one's destiny for a little while the other realizes his or hers. I believe our destinies would not have led us to one another if we didn't have a shared destiny to fulfill in the first place." Someone had a Hand in all this.

This started because Noel and I stopped by a cafe to let the rain pass a bit. And our break turned into a mini-planning session. Each time we have major decisions to make, they end up being written on the only writing material readily available- table napkins. We were drawing up the pros and cons of continuing with another year here in Ivrea, as this is the season that the 1st year students are looking for internships for the summer. We finally decided that staying for one more year would be mainly dependent on how much financial aid Noel would be awarded with for the coming and final, schoolyear. Frightening, considering how much we gave up back home to be able to be here in the first place. But extremely exciting as well. Noel drew inspiration from one of our favorite movies, Shawshank Redemption, where Morgan Freeman so wonderfully delivered through his character, Red:

"I find I am so excited I can barely
sit still or hold a thought in my
head. I think it is the excitement
only a free man can feel, a free
man at the start of a long journey
whose conclusion is uncertain."

Posted by Via at 05:39 PM | Permalink

Our last FNAC gift certificate or buono in Italian, went to the purchase of Elephant, the DVD. It is the director's interpretation of the Columbine Massacre that happened in '99. I originally wanted a lighter movie, but in the hopes of finding out how the movie got its name and out of some curiousity, I relented to Noel's choice. The whole movie had this sense of foreboding that I cannot explain. And the most ominous thing about it was, it was reality. I watch films primarily to be entertained, to escape for a little bit. When I want reality, I tune in to the news. If this film's goal was to leave its audience trembling in their booties, slightly disturbed- it did just that. If you are not afraid of reality, then it is something to critique yourself. And will someone please tell me why it was entitled Elephant???

Posted by Via at 07:36 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Here they are! Pictures from our visit in Petaluma and San Francisco. Please click on the images to see the album.

Posted by Noel at 11:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

On the homebound train from Torino (Turin) this evening, there was an audio announcement made that passengers' belongings would be randomly searched. An old man dressed in a smart suit declared: "Non ho una bomba, solo i pomodori." Some of us laughed, others shifted in their seats and possibly tried to innocently inspect their neighbors and any suspicious-looking items they may have had with them. This startled Noel and I as our train travels a non-too-popular route, and having security measures tightened even there was comforting and a little alarming as well. Now more than ever, we need to pray and hope that our neighbor carries only tomatoes in his baggage.

Posted by Via at 11:07 PM | Permalink

Please click on the pictures below to see the whole album. Special thanks to Frannie who wrote all the titles and comments.

Posted by Noel at 07:32 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

At Noel's exhibit in Milan, This is Today, it is our drill to ask people to remove their shoes before entering their project called Audiograffiti. This is a giant white inflated tunnel that is the group's exploration on leaving sound imprints in time and space. (Not outer space as Hen originally thought though ;) ) I say our because I was also part of the tour guide group as we would do shifting so we could all get something to eat. I even got a t-shirt too!
Anyway, there were these three Spanish guys who we had to explain the same drill to about leaving the shoes outside the installation. (Fondly called by everyone as Ciccio) "Y los pantalones tambien?" One of them asked me. And to my utter panic, he began the motions of unbuttoning his pants! "Por favor NO!" I begged him. "Y porque por favor no?" He asked me, but kept his pants on. Crazy Spaniards.

Posted by Via at 08:01 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

During our arrival at the San Francisco Airport, each of us had to be fingerprinted and photographed. There was a lot of nervous giggling as the airport policeman asked us a few questions too like what were Noel, Fran and I studying, why we were in San Fran, etc. They were about to call an Italian interpreter for another window when the policeman who was just about finished with us, volunteered me! For a few minutes, I worked for the San Francisco International Airport asking this poor Italian guy if he was ever convicted of a felony, was he bringing in drugs with him, etc., etc.

We fought off our jetlag afterwards on the bus that took us to the Petaluma station. Fran, Noel and I huddled together and hopped around to fight the cruel wind until Dad came back for us after dropping off Mom and Grandma. It's hard to believe it's been 16 years since I was last in the States to see my Dad's side of the family.

Posted by Via at 07:43 PM | Permalink

The personal thoughts that are being formed in my brain as I type are thoughts that go something like this: I find it sort of embarrassing that I should upload my silly thoughts on a website. Then again, I guess whoever reads this cares enough to read this.

Today Kuya Noel drove us to Briancon, France, and it was one of the most wonderful places I have ever visited. They say that it is the highest town in Europe. The French culture is beautiful. Briancon looks like it's straight out of the set of Chocolat. When I got out of the car 1 degree Celsius slapped me in the face (we are tropical beings), and it was the first time I got to bundle up for the cold. The hottie population mellowed out a bit, which was good (it is too infuriating when they're all you see, like in Italy). The streets are cobble-stoned. The rows of differently-painted houses had shops on the first levels, others seemed to be uninhabited bed and breakfast places. Mountains lie in the background, behind the rows of houses. I felt like I was walking in a post card. We ate in a restaurant where the owner knew no English but he was so kind to us anyway, and he served a smashing cheese fondue. He was a funny guy too.

We drove some more after that to a place near a ski lift and ran out of the car and played in the snow. It is the first time I get to touch snow and form snowballs and fall into snow pits and lose my balance and fall down and be merry in the snow. It was so fun.

Back in Italy, at the cashier in a supermarket called Bennet, my sister hit a wine bottle we were supposed to buy (it was jutting out) and it fell to the ground with a crash. Everyone ran away/stared. We weren't charged for it though. Which was nice of the cashier.

Posted by Via at 09:41 PM | Permalink

The following was written by my sister, her thoughts on her arrival in Europe:

The jetlag is beginning to kick in. Zzzzz....

Posted by Via at 09:37 PM | Permalink

We barely got 4 hours of sleep the night before because Noel had to come get me from the train station- the train I was on from school had unfortunately run over (and killed!) someone so we could not pursue on that train anymore. I grabbed an old woman's hand as we descended from our train to another station very gingerly, afraid to see any of the body parts that the train officials said were scattered about. :( We had to be put on the Eurostar just to take us halfway to our destination. Noel picked me up from there, Chivasso, and we got pretty lost on our way out. Plus we had to do some work when we arrived home.

We were at the airport 2 1/2 hours earlier than needed just to make sure we were there at the arrivals section of the Milan Malpensa Airport as soon as my Dad, Mom and sister appeared. I must say the arrivals section is a great place. People are sleepy, people fidget, some fix their hair, some are ready with flowers but all are waiting eagerly to see their loved ones again, just like we were. It was so surreal when I heard my Dad's voice through my cellphone telling me they were just awaiting their baggage. It was even more unbelievable when we saw them finally making their way out! We were about to break out into a dance of joy, unable to hide our glee at being reunited. It's really an amazing blessing that we will remember for the rest of our lives!
Noel expertly drove us to Milano afterwards where we had lunch and where we took them to see the D'uomo. We didn't stay long as our weary travellers wanted to rest and so did their Talponia Travel Tourguides. (Noel and me) We ended with a wonderful dinner at Trattoria Monferrato that was all manner of antipasti and the house red wine. Fran, Mom and I kept giggling as the wine (and exhaustion) had gone straight to our heads. I was still too excited that I didn't sleep very much last night. It seems too wonderful to be real! :)

Posted by Via at 07:32 PM | Permalink