Reflection on The Pod I

The uptown of Normal, Illinois reminds me of my hometown of Naperville, which is a suburb of Chicago. For starters, the downtown area of both towns is home to architecture that looks considerably aged from the early 20th century. Many of the buildings are only a couple of stories, and the streets are quite narrow. Both towns also seem to be in the midst of a hidden, urban renovation “war,” as Normal and Naperville are trying to modernize themselves with newer structures. While touring Uptown Normal, I noticed older buildings that are similar in design and shape while, conversely, I saw new construction projects with signs on them praising modernity/freshness. I related this to my own experiences at home where I feel bad that older buildings/businesses that were once thriving seem to be taken down year after year to make room for more modern buildings. I think older buildings provide a historic “anchor” to towns such as Normal and Naperville, a foundation which those buildings served as to help make the towns what they are today. I feel that they should remain, as a reminder of where the town came from. However, I also understand that, as a thriving community grows, the old must make way for the new so that another chapter of the town’s history can be written.
While I was observing all the changes in Uptown Normal, I came across a building with a strikingly different color scheme on it. This building was part of the older-style architecture in Normal, and I was surprised by this.

I immediately took out my camera to take a picture of the brightly colored shop. After taking the picture, I wanted to get a closer look at the building to see it up close. As I walked over to the shop, I noticed a huge colorful mural on the side of the  building. I wondered why the place was decorated with such a unique, artsy design. The mural included abstract images, a face with sunglasses on it, a mustache, a car, a tree, and other random objects. I thought to myself, “How cool that this mural is here with nothing else like it around.” I wondered if that was the whole intent of the mural. I looked at the edge of the mural to see what I thought was the title, which read, “Perfectly Normal.” The letter “R” in “Normal” was reversed. I took this as a sign that the person who owned the shop, or the artist, wanted people to see that the town is not plain or boring, as the town’s name suggests, but rather as something more. Normal is a place where a variety of cultures, beliefs, races, and ideologies interact. This “melting pot” of people serves to ironically engage the “normalness” of Normal.-- Justin Beauduy

Reflection on The Pod II

In past years, I’ve always come to Normal to play baseball tournaments.  Every time we came our team stayed in the Marriot Hotel in Uptown Normal. In our free time, my teammates and I would walk around and find stuff to do. We really liked going to eat at D.P. Dough and Firehouse pizza, which are both located on Beaufort Street. Every time we left the hotel to head that direction. We noticed a large mural on the side of a building. We obviously weren’t very interested in it because we were in high school and we thought we had more important things to do.  As soon as I heard about this project, I knew that I wanted to learn more about the mural. Located on the side of “The Pod,” which is a small shop on Beaufort Street, this mural grabs everyone’s attention. This is exactly what the owners, Natalie Wetzel and Bekah Berry, had in mind when they opened up their store. They thought that the side of the building was a hideous eyesore. They decided to get local artists to pitch in to make it more appealing. In the picture that I took, you can clearly see how it would attract someone’s eye. Above the mural are bricks with 2 different shades of brown, which definitely isn’t going to make anybody look twice. After pulling your attention, you notice the many different paintings (55 to be exact) that come together to make this into a colorful collage. While some pictures are of things like, others are simply abstract. This could be the many artists saying that life isn’t always going to be rainbows and butterflies, but sometimes it’s the strange and abstract things in life that actually bring you happiness. When this picture was taken, it had just rained and puddles had formed on the ground. In the reflections of some of these puddles, you can see the mural. This could be saying that even amongst the most dark and rainy parts of your life, true happiness with always be able to overcome it and shine through if you let it. The reflections of the artwork in the puddles show that even though the happy images aren’t always there, you can usually catch a glimpse of them if you look hard enough. Another important aspect of this picture that could be easily missed is the words in the quotation bubble in the top right corner of the mural. It reads, “Perfectly Normal.” However, the “R” in Normal is backwards. This fits in with this project because no one really knows what it means to be “normal.” I believe this shows everyone that there isn’t just one definition of the word “normal.” Whether you think this large collage mural is “normal” or you think it’s strange, it’s definitely unique. Nobody will ever know for sure what’s normal, because being “normal” is simply a term that comes from each individual’s perspective.-- Logan Reno

Reflection on the Pod III

The picture that I chose to describe was the picture of the wall in uptown Normal. I found this object October 10, 2012 around 5:00 pm. The wall is painted from one side down to the other side.  On this brick wall there are multiple paintings that come together to form one giant painting. One of the unique things about this is the section that reads “Perfectly Normal.” All these pictures are far from normal. A normal painting might depict a family, scenery, or people. These paintings are different and very unique. Also the fact that this painting is located in Normal Illinois makes it that much better.

Each of these pictures has a black paint frame around it. One small picture shows a bumble bee at the right hand side. It’s painted as a real bumble bee, yellow with black stripes. This bumble bee’s stinger is in a flower. A blue eye in another painting has a goldfish swimming in the picture. This is very unusual and unique. The painting also includes what some might assume to be normal subjects for paintings; one depicts fire. However, the fire is different because the inner layer starts with yellow, then turns into red, then the outer layer is purple. Fire is never purple. There is also a painting of a person playing the guitar in one of these pictures.  The arm of this person is orange and the guitar is blue and green.  The torso and the arm are the only body parts that are shown in this painting. Next is a picture of zigzag lines drawn vertical with blue and pink paint. 

There’s also a picture of a brown mustache that curls at each end. Right above it there is a confusing picture of a box. This box is painted so that it looks 3 -dimensional. It seems as if it’s a box in a box in a box. Each box is a different color making it seem as if the box is a tunnel leading into the brick wall. All the colors on this wall are festive and fun. The colors are bright and vibrant and can be seen from far away.

The wall also includes 3 dimensional objects like different colored balls. These balls are places within the brick wall, giving it some depth.  The paintings continue to the end of the wall with all sorts of different objects and unexpected scenery. None of these pictures are telling a story; they are random drawings. The reason for this is to state that there is no real definition of normal and that not everything is perfect. --Sam Matuszewski