Work Space- Second Draft

My first impression of my desk when I first moved into Willoughby hall in Pratt was very positive. It was the desk that tilts up for studio work. The desk looks awkward if you don't know the function of it because its surface seems way too big when compared to the supporting legs. I wondered why the desk was made in such way, and once I found out the reason, I loved it. I did not expect to have this kind of desk to be my own, and its presence in my room made me feel so much more welcomed to art school. It has only been a month since the school started and all my assignments have been little craft works. I have not had the chance to tilt my desk yet, but I’m looking forward to it.

I like the feeling of utilizing the most from the least. I like the period of adapting myself into a new place and a new object. At first I might find the object awkward or unfit for me, but I find ways to compromise with the object and tame it. The things I do on my desk are the things I could do on a kitchen table, a tea table, in a studio, and many others.  Being an art student who goes to a private college in New York, however, I became humble about spending money, and I did not buy many things I mentioned here. My desk became the main subject where I practice my own “less-is-more” idea. When I find new things to do on my desk, I feel like I am getting to know my desk in a personal level. Here are the steps that I took to tame my desk as my own.

My first step is the adaptation to its form and the structure. I already mentioned about its big surface. Once I unpacked my suitcases, I pushed the desk to the side so it would make contact with two sides of the walls. I usually like to have my furniture touch at least one side of the walls so little objects like pens and pins wouldn't fall down the edge. It is my precaution to avoid the tedious hide-and-seek when I need those fallen objects.

As I spent more time on my desk, I learned how to sit in front of my desk as well. The gap made between height and width difference of my chair and the desk gives me just enough space for me to fold my laps on the chair and fit into the negative space of the desk. If I lift my laps up just a little, I feel the bottom of the drawer that is attached underneath the desk. Before I had my legs fold on the chair, I used to let my legs hang down from the seat, parallel to the chair legs. But my legs are not long enough to reach the floor when I'm sitting, so if I let down my legs, the gravity made my knees sore after just few hours. I complained about the chair’s height, but after I learned that I could fold my legs, the desk became the perfect fit to my physique.

 I don't know who the last user of this desk was, but someone did not think about having a cutting board or thick paper underneath their work when cutting it with an x-acto  knife. The desk has few straight, linear scars. It reminds me of the girl who sat next to me in my second grade classroom. She used to carve out the edges of her wooden desk with an x-acto knife while our teacher wasn't looking. I don't know why she did it, but it became her habit the rest of the year. She kept doing it, and by the end of each class her desk would have a smoother edge, getting lighter as its coated varnish peeled off to show its true self.

 I made a habit that is less harsh to the desk: rubbing my eraser against its surface. When my eraser turns black from gripping charcoal marks, I use my white surfaced desk to clean it. I don't have to look for an extra sheet of white paper to rub against and I find my desk effective and convenient to be the alternative. Sometimes I feel generous to my desk and clean those black smudges by putting elmer’s glue, wait for the glue to dry, and peel it. It is an excellent way to clean the surface that is also entertaining.

 I collect many things. Some are stationeries like bookmarks, pens, letter papers, and post-its shaped like a leaf or a thought bubble. Others include stamps, vintage photographs, receipts, and teabag bags. All these collections used to stay on my desk when I had a bigger desk with three shelves over it. However, because my desk is a tilting table now, I worried about having to clear all those when I had to tilt my desk for work. So now I put some in the drawer beneath it, or on top of a detached bookshelf, on the side of the desk. Except for my computer, every object goes back to where they belong after I complete my work for the day. I might get lazy over the course of the year because my cleaning habit has made very recently. I am going to try my best to keep this habit though.

When I was in high school - when I had only one desk for years, in one place, I had books and papers in tall, three stacks. Because I would just toss my last read book on top of the stack, the books were automatically arranged in chronological order and I had the visual record of my reading history. Now my desk only has my imac, a wireless keyboard and a mouse that cover just 1/6 of the desk. It feels naked, showing its white skin quite boldly. Although I want the desk to be clean for my work, now that my desk is clean most of the time, I have fewer visual displays of my recent activities.

Nevertheless, the cleaning the desk has its own merit. As I produce a mess while working and clean my desk, the same thing happens in my brain; I make a mess and stretch all the thoughts out, and then clean to refresh my mind. It is as if what I do physically transits into my brain and my mind mimics the act the same way. As I repeat the act of making a mess and cleaning the desk, some ideas crystallize while unnecessary things are discarded. The physical act transits to my thoughts and I become more decisive on what I do and gain a better focus. This is another way to utilize my desk. When I am overwhelmed by my workload or too many thoughts, or when I just want to meditate, I clean my desk. It is the most quiet and benevolent way to ease my stress.

Now, on the activities I do on my desk other than cleaning: I cut and arrange pieces of color aid paper and magazines for Light, Color, and Design class, paint my models for 3D design class, write emails, read CNN articles, check my facebook, skype, write on my diary, eat my meals, make peppermint tea, finish my makeup, read, record my daily spending, watch Korean shows and documentaries, check my sleep calculator, read others’ blogs, write blog posts like this one, listen to music, talk on the phone, take pictures, and check myself on webcam to see how I outfit looks for the day (since I don’t have a mirror).

 I do not do my drawing assignments on my desk because I have to face the shoes (our main subject for the first two months), not the white wall right behind the desk, for direct observation drawing. I have not slept on my desk because I managed my time well and have been sleeping early to not fall asleep on the desk while working late at night... so far. I did not exercise on my desk for obvious reasons. So except for these three activities, all my room activities always have accompanied the desk.

Desk has become a place that is of my own now. It is organized in a certain way that only I am familiar with, including what is around it. There is a bookshelf that has teabags on the top shelf and art supplies on the bottom, three different tote bags packed according to what I need on three different days (Monday's drawing class, Tuesday's 3D class, and Wednesday's art history and English class), tangled electronic cords that only I can tell which is which, and so on.