gleaning

We will be watching the film “The Gleaners and I” (Les Glaneurs et La Glaneuse) by Agnes Varda in class together. The film is, as described by film critic A. O. Scott “not just a record of what is seen but a way of paying attention.”

In groups of 2 or 3, you are to spend the next few days paying attention to the situation of food in the city of Providence. You are to use your powers of perception and tools of documentation to observe and analyze a particular relationship between food and the city. Special attention should be paid to the scale of occurrence of the relationship you identify. Is it relevant at numerous scales simultaneously?

Your project is to make visible the relationship or relationships that you observe. The work can use any media available to you, and can be in two, three or four dimensions. This visualization is a conscious and creative act that is grounded by the media you choose.

Make sure to clarify your area of research, and be very specific in your attentions. This gleaning is not intended to be comprehensive, but instead to illuminate specific factors that may not otherwise be readily apparent.