My first assignment in this class was to follow a predetermined list of art pieces around the city, and I already sort of broke that rule. When I dragged myself to the fitrec to find the mural of sneakers, instead, the first thing I found at the top of the stairs on the track was a different mural. This mural depicted a runner, beginning his run and turning into a cheetah before turning back into a runner.

 The piece, entitled The Evolution Within, designed by Ryoji Matsuzaki, was comprised of hundreds, maybe thousands, of small black squares, I'm assuming to give the humans/animals a sort of digital, pixelated look. First of all, it is fitting that this is located right at the beginning; the minute you reach the top of the stairs to run you come upon this. It is a piece of motivation and metaphor, telling any runner, whether a novice or expert, that within him/her is the speed of something far faster, the ability to detach from the limits of humanity and let the faster, more focused animal instincts take over. This transition, or "evolution" as the artist appropriately titled it, is entirely internal, but can translate to endurance and/or speed on the track. Even as I was, in street clothes with my backpack on and sweat marks from walking a mile and a half in 95 degree weather, I still felt some motivation to start running, some invincibility. Not enough to start running, but enough to consider maybe going back to the track and running some other time. I continued my journey around the track, letting all the more in-shape people pass me by, until I ran into the sneaker mural I had originally trekked all the way up to the fitrec for.

 Compared to the previous mural, which was relatively sparse and colorless, this Sneaker Mountain by Josef Kristofoletti was quite a change. The colors were bright and intense, and the message a bit too unavoidable. I was surprised by how much I liked the previous artwork and its simplicity, and equally surprised at how little I liked this one. Maybe it was the awkwardness of the paint, which seemed like it needed another few coats, or maybe I felt the cartoon-esque shapes and intense colors were a bit garish on the background of the white and terra cotta track. The half-man half-cheetah had a deeper meaning, cloaked under a simplistic and sophisticated design, but I struggled to see the meaning behind this besides the fact that there was a pile of sneakers, and people run in sneakers. Even the title, "Sneaker Mountain", left no clues to any other hidden meanings. Despite my personal bias, however, I do like his attempt to liven up the area with some color. I feel that this mural would look less out of place if it had, dedication is admirable, and it definitely gives you something to look at in an otherwise very dull atmosphere, and I think that sometimes that is the point of public art, to make something commonplace or boring more lively and interesting. It was at this point that I continued to find art not on the list, and for fear of breaking too many rules in one blog post once I had gotten in my dorm and all comfortable, I saved those pictures for another time, got up once more, and hiked over to Warren Towers, so that I might find at least two more pieces of art on the list. Almost immediately, I found Erika Rossdale's Characters of BU covering the windows out front. In fact, I was so distracted by it I didn't even realize that I was at Warren and that I had found one of the art pieces I was looking for. I have no idea how it was made or printed, and

perhaps, more colorful paintings around it, and then this pile of sneakers would look more like a component of a story, the story of a runner. I do have to say, the
 taking a picture of them was difficult with how transparent the images were and how bright the lights and ATMs were inside, but it was certainly interesting. The title being fitting, Rossdale's piece depicted a variety of individuals, doing a variety of things. It lent some artistic flair to an otherwise dull and industrial-looking building. it looks painted but also digitalized, and it isn't too pristine or crisp so it maintains its creative and crafty presence. It took me a little longer to find the next one, since I was coming from the wrong direction, and the man at the front desk of Warren Towers was clueless as to what I was talking about when I asked him where the "evolution art piece at Warren" was, but eventually I just kept walking and wouldn't you know, Genes to Memes by Adrienne Yangas was right there. Each segment was a solid distance apart, and at first glance, I thought it was sort of basic. A typical, generic evolution scene. I didn't even know the title at this point, and was confused at the meaning. Then, I took a closer look at the first stage of evolution, and noticed the DNA letters in the background.
I thought that was clever, especially since she didn't just put a generic DNA twist, but I was hungry and left without even looking at the other pictures again, figuring they were all similar until I later took a closer look. Yangas conveys how in the beginning, the human world was basic and instinctual, then graduated to simple phrases and pictographs, eventually expanding into the complex web of recognizable pictures and languages we all know today. It symbolizes a growing complexity of the world and how all humans are truly connected to a single origin. It's a creative way to integrate art into the city, as these are put up the same way the same wall houses ads and signs. The art blends in, yet simultaneously stands out with its bright colors and intense symbolism. All in all, I found that regardless of message or even necessarily theme, any piece installed in an industrialized area for the sole purpose of being art and nothing more certainly adds to the area in a positive way. I have yet to find a piece of art that I find truly negatively impacts the area, and I think thats the beauty of any art piece that is innocent and meaningful.