out of frame: end of year updates

Out of frame is a student-edited platform supported by MIT Architecture. Ana McIntosh (M.Arch 2022) shares a letter with the MIT SA+P community to wrap-up her term as the out of frame Editor for 2020-21. Read her letter, as well as highlights from recent posts, below. 

 

May 25, 2021

Dear MIT SA+P Community,
 
Someone once told me spring in Cambridge really lasts only two weeks and then it’s suddenly summer. In some ways I might agree because even though I was quick to notice the first buds of spring, buried in the on-goings of the semester, I failed to look again until thick swaths of varied green rustled against egg-blue sky.

When one looks up at the leaves and branches, how do they determine which way is right-side up and which is upside-down? Is it not relative: a matter of viewpoint, framing, proximity, time-space, and even memory? Our perspectives affect what we perceive, how we perceive it, what we engage, and what we don’t. Our voices impart those perspectives and invite others to share in thought with us.
 
One of the silver linings of this past year has been sitting up late, tea in hand, as I read through the out of frame posts of the week. The array of interests and variety of voices, some familiar and some new, captivated my attention and never failed to teach me something new. My careful weekly readings and correspondence with columnists turned into a collection of fragmented understandings that began impacting my thoughts as I moved through the city or as I reflected on my own work and interests, my relationship to self and others.
 
This past year has been burdensome in so many ways: from the individual level to the global and at all the scales in between. It seems we have been moving from one crisis to the next and I find it particularly difficult to find the right words, especially in remembrance today, one year after the murder of George Floyd.
 
But in the midst of the chaos and strife we try to find our own ways to process, to acknowledge, to challenge and move forward. For me and for many of the contributors, out of frame was an opportunity for some of us to question who we are and what we care about. I have been deeply humbled by the growth and incredible stories shared in the past year. Yet there is still more to do. There are more discussions to have, voices to uplift, and waters to stir.

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I want to express my sincerest thanks to everyone who has made out of frame possible and successful over the past year. Thank you to April Gao and Ginevra D’Agostino for their strong vision, to the columnists for their dedication and without whom out of frame would not exist, and to the Editorial Board for their advice and suggestions throughout the year.   
 
I would also like to thank the MIT Department of Architecture for their continued support as well as the Architecture Communications Team for their help and contributions. And finally, I would like to extend a personal thank you to Amanda Moore for her weekly mentorship, insights, and encouragements which were crucial to out of frame's success.

It is with these thoughts that I will be wrapping up my position as editor of out of frame. It has been a rewarding journey and I look forward to seeing how the platform grows, changes, and flourishes to impart the stories we need to hear.
 
Yours truly,
 
Ana McIntosh
out of frame Editor 2020-2021

 

Recent highlights from posts on out of frame. To browse full posts, visit outofframe.mit.edu.

a pile of disposed soundsKaryn Nakamura, Art & Design Major (4B) asks, "where does sound go after you stop hearing it?" in the second installation of her column, my spirit animal is an excavator. Watch her video here.

Part 2: The aesthetic project of "the wild": The second part of an inquiry into landscape restoration practices titled back to the future / forward to the past, Tess McCann, MCP ’21 provides a critical commentary on the process of "rewilding," rooted in historical analysis.

Data Wells: In his column, Sensorial Cities, Andres Rico, Media Arts and Sciences ’22, makes connections between thinking about the water well and the ebbs and flows of our information streams that are part of the digital infrastructures of today's world.

A Woodshop in your Garage: Angela Loescher-Montal, M.Arch & MSRED ’23, shares from an interview with Kurt, a carpenter working out of his garage in Somerville, MA. Her column, The Home as Factory, investigates the spatial tensions between production spaces and the home. 

A Consequence of Sounds: Xio Alvarez, M.Arch & MCP ’21, discusses how un-silent interactions change the identities of places by analyzing Sunday band practice in a neighborhood park. This post is a part of her column, Out of Space. 

Memory: In this article, Delanie Linden HTC PhD candidate interviews MIT HTC PhD candidate ElDante Winston, who discusses the role of architectural history in the preservation, making, and repositioning of cultural memory. This post is part of In the Frame, a curator column.

 

Out of frame is accepting submissions for new columns on a rolling basis. If you are a student interested in getting involved, visit the out of frame website to learn more or reach out to outofframe@mit.edu with questions.