OBJECT-ING

Rajni T. Yaa

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P R E F A C E

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necessarilyRajni T. Yaa, born 1994, Philadelphia - black, woman, neuroatypical, queer, sculptor.All photos taken and projects done between the years of 2012-2014 throughout Washington DC, Philadelphia, New Orleans, New York City, Florida, Maine, and Paris. I formulated the textural framework of this mostly in DC on Photo Booth while performing an agoraphobic isolation that lasted the winter of 2013. This is a survivalist documentation of my introspections and thresholds, to morph into greater architectural effects.

Table of Contents:Introduction

TotemsFlings

Column StudySelf Portraits

Unsettled SpaceSafety Crafts

The vs My Interior

I N T R O D U C T I O N

How Venturi would tell me to express myself?

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5 billboards as honest real estate signs

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T o t e m s

HOARD YOURSELF

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ashe of sorts // the mantelOur ancestral shrine on top our fireplace/wood stove has:• kwanzaa wreath with a portrait of James Strothers, my grandfather, the architect, in the middle• scavenged, photocopied pictures of Loat Glover • my mom’s hand written family tree research folded up amongst other paperso portrait of my maternall great grandparents, great great aunts/uncles, etc• great grandmas, lil mama’s, obituary• loc of same great grandmas hair• a jar of her jam• a dirty toy space ship o my dad’s mom gave it to us children before she died• play doh container, with black stuff in it, that has an odor • stack of records from greensboro, north carolina• yellow mat with black shapes on it

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11my favorite Peter Pan kisses

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Darren McKinney, who lets people call him Dirty Darren - he’s been working rebuilding his area, the Lower Ninth Ward ever since Katrina. He drives a very old broken into van and lives out a donated trailer. He takes aspirin as insurance. His totems are under his driver seat.

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St Louis Cemetery, New Orleans14

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SO GLAD I REALIZED, FOUND & PAINTED, THIS BRICK SHARD. IT’S ON MY BEDSIDE AND IT FEELS SO GOOD TO BE TANGIBLE IN PROXIMITY.

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F l i n g s

the intuitive organization of the dysfunctional

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20 FLOORSCAPE// shoes; a gradual arrangement of mindless flings

a new use for belly buttons: gum holder 21

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25G U S H I N G

26 BAG EXPLORED AS WASHCLOTH

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C o l u m n S t u d y

ORDER: NEW WORLDliving amongst and as us, between and as the will of nature

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S e l f P o r t r a i t s

objects and titles on, with, and as me.

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38 self portrait 1: niched, slightly unsettling, & dignified

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self portrait 2: outside, remained, falling a part, & can’t help it

portrait 201340

portrait 2014 41

Temporary Jewelry

.Occasion specific jewelry

.Clothing

.Shoes

.Earrings

.Nail polish

.Assistive devices (crutches, wrist braces).Perfume.Make up.Weaves, braids, extensions.Hair cuts & dyes

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Permanent Jewelry

.Tattoos

.Watches

.Cremation jewelry

.Wedding bands & rings

.Waist beads

.Nostril rings

.Assistive devices (implants, wheelchairs, oxygen tanks).Glasses.Contacts.Scars

43I wove a wire version of a Have a Nice Day plastic bag. Then I got dressed.

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m y b o d y u s e d a n d a p a r t o f a d v e r t i s e m e n t

original brand Arizona Mucho Mango drink Vitamin C Fortified with

All Natural Flavors internally digested and externally labelled at the exact spot it is in me

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sweatin out & swinging these testicles

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i n f e r t i l i t yas aesthetic, gender, spirituality

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U n s e t t l e d S p a c e s

ambiance of reality

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lollipop eaten out54

Object-ing Script Parti

Purpose: Short illustration on autism & common utility

Scenes: Neat and minimal suite living room. Covered table and chairs. -Room

double, very messy on each side. Unsettled placements of items. Lamp on

chair, drawers pushed out so they’re like stairs. Shoes in drawers. Sentence

structure and word choice very off but fluent. Arrangement of desks/bed

reference an ultra compartmentalization of usage space

Props: Fitted Sheet, Low bucket/crate, Plushie Toys, Pillow Cases, White lighter

in Vitamin D Bottle, earring in Austin power CD case

Notes: No eye contact with camera or each other

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56 intuition of public spaces grows and compulses over monumentality

57confessionals

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59cross&disprogramming, right?

62 g r e e n h o u s e h a r v e s t

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the brick wants to be in Hermione’s endless bag

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S a f e t y C r a f t s

inter terrestrial space ships

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66 The Degrees of: Wheels, Space, + Security

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A butch Womb ChairMy dumpster dived chair is largely inspired by seeing construction workers rest in available wheelbarrows. The wheelbarrow technology has never become disused , only expounding on its convenience, mobility, and versatility in its conceptual existence - feeding a shared human impulse for small, personal, mobile bins. I aimed to make my chair from these concepts.

The thick plexiglass, making a ghostly outline of a standard chair, protects clothes, skin, and hair from the rust and concrete while showcasing the hardened flow patterns and colors of abandonment. A self-selected pillow is welcome here. In the back, I added in the smaller wheel to bring to earth the abrasiveness of car tires, and their association to powerful movement. The smaller, original, wheel within a larger, supporting, car tire also reminds me of the comfort from the enveloping sides of the wheelbarrow, a womb. Coming out of the larger tire, the smaller one becomes a footrest, much needed after a birth.

MOBILE TOMB

A storage and delivery service that takes a tomb to the deceased’s relative or loved ones for an allotted time of mourning.

These tombs are very formal and classical, made of heavy crumby stone and marble.

They are conveniently the size of Tiny Houses, with the ability to hitch as well.

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THE BACK OF TAXI CABS//How does the black leather seem to take you all in?//

It’s that specific hum of the car engine. Spreads across the backseat and carves vibrating ant holes into the skin. It smells like disregarded yesterdays and the lighting is subject only to the sun.For a driver, here is a controlled studio where they can exercise their wild instincts, coached into a tranquil autopilot.To a passenger, here is another type of zoned meditation. Travel gives the excuse to simply think. Or not. Or work. It is an intimate office. You park and sit outside your house in the driveway when you come home from the day. An interior to an effect. Let’s dread the day teleportation becomes possible. To give up that humming relationship between space and time, between shape and thought.

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Benches provide a metaphysical niche for retrospect and rest.

INTUITION OF PUBLIC SPACES:

• Benches• Bathroom• Trash cans• Bodegas • Places to sleep

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I n t e r i o r s

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THE vs MY

the bathroom is the true interior. enclosed with intimate amenities, purity of tile and water, self reflection & relief. a person carries an unadulterated ownership of their being into the space. this is why bathrooms are often an intuitive, default place for suicide.

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TENT: SAFETY CREATED IN PUBLIC //

The Tent feels safe yet the actual shelter is flimsy, obvious to predators, has no locks, is unreliable for comfort and lets sound, dirt, and temperature in. And is temporary. But somehow, while severely lacking logistic privacy, the tent is safe because of its personalized space and enclosed vision field. The elements of Tent can be evoked despite a hostile environment. Even if the Tent were set in the wild of Times Square, it would still hold it’s own in a sense of isolated space/privacy. Applying this to larger examples, a campsite can very well be an interior. Applying this to smaller examples, jackets and the like become vital in further understanding proxemics.

sleeping with my jacket, coat, purse, belt, and sweater as pillow. my interior on hand.92

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a view from flaccid isolation…. I think I need Alvar Aalto

AN AGORAPHOBE’S ARCHITECTURE

Rajni. T. Yaa © 2014

object-ing as in opposition, and more a practice of cataloging and arranging the intermediaries of my unsettled spatiality