Sculptural Landscape by Paloma Rodríguez

SCULPTURAL LANDSCAPE

PALOMA RODRIGUEZ

SCULPTURAL LANDSCAPE

The imaginary is my refuge. My palace.

NIKI DE SAINT PHALLE

For Maria Elena, my family & friends

Far and near.

INDEX Project Statement Visual Essay Animated Montage Historical Essay Ethnographic Interviews Site Analysis Essay Site Diagrams Design Proposal Programing Early Design Studies User Journey Materiality Sense of Place Plan Section Ceramic Models Acknowledgments Bibliography Annotated Bibliography

"The truly creative mind in any field is no more than this: a human creature born abnormally, inhumanly sensitive. To him, a touch is a blow, a sound is a noise, a misfortune is a tragedy, a joy is an ecstasy, a friend is a lover, a lover is a god, and failure is death. Add to this cruelly delicate organism the overpowering necessity to create, create, create; so that without the creation of music or poetry or books or buildings or something of meaning, his every breath is cut off from him. He must create, must pour out creation. By some strange, unknown, inward urgency he is not really alive unless he is creating."

Pearl S. Buck

PROJECT STATEMENT Stability is a state of presence. Presence can happen by entering the state psychologist Csikszentmihalyi Deines as “Flow.” The state of low is when your whole being is completely focused on what you are doing and you feel serene. You experience timelessness and a loss of self-consciousness. There is a sense of lightness and connection between your mind and your body, a sense of being outside of everyday reality. The overall concept of this project is to decrease the stress levels in the daily routine of Manhattan residents and provide them with a space where they can experience “creative low.” A making center that allows users to experience this state and receive the beneits of using their creative side by embarking on artistic activities. The space will provide programming for music, sculpture, visual arts, literature, movement-based creative expression, and cuisine. This will allow people to feel like there is no uncertainty about the future and ind a feeling of fulillment and stability. The Bridgemarket site imposes an opportunity for the development of sculptural architecture with functional interiors to stimulate the experience of being in a creative space. The site will allow its users to be inspired by it and leave noisy New York City to enter a “sculptural landscape.”

Flow Through the Arts

ABSTRACT This research explores why New Yorkers are considered to live a higher stress-induced lifestyle than the rest of the nation, and how experiencing the state of “low” can bring them stability. It opens up to the wide variety of positive effects that this state brings and the keys and secrets of how to reach it. The topic expands to the medium of creativity and the practice of the arts to reach this state while serving as a health tool to reduce stress and disease. The studied arts are music, sculpture, visual arts, literature, movement-based creative expression, and cuisine. It also studies stress and how it is deined by scientists as “uncertainty” and the importance of living in the present. My hope is to make a connection between these studies and make a program where they can be tied up and applied as one, bringing health, happiness, and purpose to the life of others.

New York City, the forever-evolving concrete jungle that attracts millions of citizens of the world also has its downsides. A recent study by William Russel1 indicates which are the most stressed-out cities in the world, and 73 cities plus 38 countries were examined. Out of all the cities studied, New York City ranked at number 30, taking the irst spot when talking about United Stated-based results. There are various solutions to reduce stress, but a term imposed by psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi opens a path to happiness. “Flow” is the mental state that takes the brain to be completely absorbed in something where “ your whole being is involved, and you’re using your skills to the utmost.”2 New Yorkers are considered to live a higher stress-induced lifestyle, and for them to experience “Flow” in a creative task is critical, because it serves as a form of stability and fulillment while reducing stress and proving to have major health beneits. Throughout this research, there are discussions of stress and uncertainty and how they are related to the employed residents of Manhattan. It then describes relief solutions through the state of “low”. Subsequently, it explores low through artistic endeavors and the beneits of mental and creative stimulation. Stress is known to be a leading inluence in the cause of disease and health issues in humans. Some of the health problems that are caused by stress can be depression, heart disease, and infectious diseases. According to Dr. Achim Peter’s paper “Uncertainty and stress: Why it causes diseases and how it is mastered by the brain,” he mentions that the deining essence of stress is uncertainty. Uncertainty can come from a broad range of topics and themes, but the common denominator is the uncertainty of the future.3 The guide to letting go of uncertainty can come from attention, learning, and habituation. The brain is so powerful that it creates chemicals due to stress which often result in health issues. The problem is that most people are not aware that living a stressed-induced lifestyle can have serious consequences, and implementing these simple solutions as habits, learning and presence can have a big impact on their lives. Our brain is the most powerful tool we own, and if we don’t train it properly it can be our worst enemy. Most of our brains are trained to create worst-case scenarios as protection against what we don’t know. The creation of these false scenarios that rarely end up happening, just reassures us that worrying is an effective way of avoiding the worst. The reality is that worrying serves no other purpose in our life but stress. Dr. Liji is a professional who has embarked on medical writing to help understand the medical knowledge that is known today. In a paper, she wrote about uncertainty and its connection to stress she mentions, “when the situation is dreaded in the far and uncertain future, the observed result is anxiety, which is seen as a tendency to constantly assess the risk level.”4 Liji writes about anxiety that comes when facing uncertainty and how this can be more prone to some people than to others. The evidence provided proves that we expose ourselves to many stressed self-induced situations, and the fact of making this something conscious can help us ind solutions and alternatives for training our brains to stop living that way. Through the studied topic of ‘Flow’, our conscience can start to be trained and aligned with the goals we want to achieve.

1 Damian Porter Affiliate Partnership Manager, Damian Porter, and Affiliate Partnership Manager. “The Most and Least Stressed Cities in the World.” William Russell, March 21, 2022. 2 Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow : The Psychology of Optimal Experience. HarperCollins e-books, 1990. 3 Achim Peters, Bruce S. McEwen, Karl Friston, Uncertainty and stress: Why it causes diseases and how it is mastered by the brain, Progress in Neurobiology, 2017. 4Thomas, Liji. “Why can Uncertainty Cause Stress?”. News-Medical, 2019.

Considering that New York City has the most job-related stressed people, the data found in the report “Stress in America: New York” gives us insight into the numbers New York faces against the nation. According to the report, 45% of New Yorkers stress over job insecurity compared to only 34% across the nation. Low salaries contribute to this stress nationwide, and it’s no surprise that New York has a higher percentage than the rest of the United States. The lack of growth and advancement in jobs, and inlexible hours also contribute to a higher level of stress for New Yorkers. Lastly, work-related stress among employed people comes as the highest asset from New Yorkers, being even superior to the stress related to the economy or family responsibilities. This data proves that there is a need for a solution that has not been implemented yet for the residents of the Big Apple.

STRESS LEVELS IN NYC (LEVEL FROM 1 to 10)

51%

EXTREME (8-10) 36%

AVERAGE (4-7) LOW (1-3)

12%

Harris Interactive Inc. “Stress in America: New York City Report”. The American Psychological Association, 2008

Flow has been experienced by humans since the beginning of time, but the term “low” comes from the study of the human optimal experience, and it is a positive psychological state. Mihaly describes the state as “A sense that one’s skills are adequate to cope with the challenges at hand. Concentration is so intense that there is no attention left over to think about anything irrelevant, or to worry about problems. Self-consciousness disappears, and the sense of time becomes distorted.”5 Most people have already experienced low without even realizing it, and it can come in any type of different activity that’s being undertaken. Flow is also another way of saying that you are “In the zone,” where there is a sense of connection between your mind and the body, and your brain is highly focused on the task where everything seems to go perfectly well. Your mind is so connected with the present that you enter a no-time zone, a pure feeling of serenity and losing oneself, and lastly “A sense of being outside everyday reality.”6 5 Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow : The Psychology of Optimal Experience. HarperCollins e-books, 1990. 6 Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow : The Psychology of Optimal Experience. HarperCollins e-books, 1990.

"Flow" is proven to have many physiological and emotional beneits for humans. There are

plenty of rewards that we can get from this state, one of them being better emotional regulation, intrinsic engagement, and greater enjoyment and fulillment.7 Since the task that is being undertaken must be enjoyable for someone to reach this state, people ind it fulilling and rewarding. This state is also proven to improve happiness and satisfaction while being able to learn and acquire a new skill. This state tends to take place during creative tasks that can also help inspire and develop the brain. An inspiring way of describing it would be, “The ego falls away. Time lies. Every action, movement, and thought follows inevitably from the previous one, like playing jazz.”8 The beneit that I ind the most fulilling is the experience of fully living in the present. Living in the present is rather hard for many people to acquire and being in the zone feels like the present is the only thing that is a haven and there is no uncertainty over it. Acquiring this state reduces stress and anxiety over uncertainties of the future and clears the mind. As mentioned by Thomas Welder “The quality of presence determines the quality of life.”9 7 Cherry, Kendra. “How to Achieve Flow.” Verwell Mind. Verywell Mind, February 17, 2022. 8 Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow : The Psychology of Optimal Experience. HarperCollins e-books, 1990. 9 Welder, Thomas. Stability is More Than Staying Put. TED Talk, 2017.

"THE EGO FALLS AWAY. TIME FLIES. EVERY ACTION, MOVEMENT, AND THOUGHT FOLLOWS INEVITABLE FROM THE PREVIOUS ONE, LIKE PLAYING JAZZ. YOUR WHOLE BEING IS INVOLVED, AND YOU’RE USING YOUR SKILLS TO THE UTMOST."

"Flow" can be experienced by every single human being, no matter what their ethnicity,

religion, or preferences are. As Mihaly mentioned, “Optimal experiences were described in the same way by men and women, by young people and old, regardless of cultural differences.”10 It can also be experienced by doing a lot of different types of activities. For our brains to enter “The Zone” there must be a sort of challenge and skill level to it, as well as a sense of voluntary action for undertaking a certain task. This is where “action and awareness sync to create an effortless momentum.”11 Flow can be experienced in sports, games, art, music, hobbies, and even on simple day-to-day tasks. Research about the neuroscience of low, states that “When a person has a perceived adequacy of skills matched with above-average challenges, as part of a goal-directed, rule-bound system that provides clear feedback, the person can ind complete absorption that removes the possibility of any distractions from thoughts irrelevant to the task at hand.”12 Creative or artistic low is the term that is used when the state is being presented while embarking on creative tasks. Experiencing creative low by practicing any type of art medium can open up many opportunities for self-expression, health beneits, and development of the brain. A music composer described this state by saying “my hand seems devoid of myself, and I have nothing to do with what is happening. I just sit there watching it in a state of awe and wonderment, and the music just lows out of itself.”13 I intend to explore the beneits that humans have when experiencing low during a creative task because it can push the brain to practice its creative side and awaken consciousness. 10 Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow : The Psychology of Optimal Experience. HarperCollins e-books, 1990. 11 Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow : The Psychology of Optimal Experience. HarperCollins e-books, 1990. 12 Gold, Joshua, and Joseph Ciorciari. 2020. “A Review on the Role of the Neuroscience of Flow States in the Modern World” Behavioral Sciences 10, no. 9: 137. 13 Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow, The Secret to Happiness. Ted Talk, 2004.

HIGH ANXIETY

AROUSAL

FLOW WORRY CHALLENGES

CONTROL APATHY BOREDOM

LOW

SKILL LEVEL

RELAXATION

HIGH

October 13th, 2021

I’m starting to feel like myself again, I’ve been focusing on the present & starting to create and develop ideas. Creating makes me happy.

Art and creative tasks can have a big impact on human health. According to multiple scientiic and medical types of research, art is now known to be a healing source, and undergoing artistic activities like expressive writing, poetry, sculpting, painting, music, and dancing can bring passion and self-expression to mankind. In the paper “The Connection Between Art, Healing, and Public Health” there is information on how practicing music is known to decrease anxiety, while making visual arts serve as a refuge for strong emotions or illness. Movement-based expression releases stress and expressive writing can improve control over pain, depressed mood, and pain severity.14 It is proven that while doing creative endeavors our body releases a small protein called “cytokines’’ which helps our immune and inlammatory system.15 Our body also releases dopamine during the creative process, being a natural antidepressant.16 Undertaking creative tasks has been proven to serve as a form of meditation. Psychologist Dr. Dacher Keltner, of California University in Berkeley, said: “That awe, wonder, and beauty promote healthier levels of cytokines suggests the things we do to experience these emotions – a walk in nature, losing oneself in music, beholding art – has a direct inluence upon health and life expectancy.”17 People must be able to experiment using their creative side and beneit from the rewards and wonders that these bring. Who knows? Maybe one of these can be your life’s passion and purpose. By undergoing this research, I found it evident that there is a need for a balanced lifestyle for the people of Manhattan, and that is why I believe that for them to experience low through a creative process is a necessary solution. Not only does low bring emotional and psychological beneits, but it also makes the person live in the present and be able to feel stability. Being able to generate the state of low within a creative task can make one’s life happier and more fulilled. I believe that every art form should be experimented with, even if you don’t consider yourself to be creative. Artistic tasks are a beautiful and rewarding skill to develop. As mentioned in the “Art Therapy” book by David Edwards “I imagine that the future holds a lot of possibilities for the mental needs of the human and non-human race. I imagine a future where art therapy, musical therapy, and the fulillment of inding one’s passion and purpose on earth could highly support the mental health and stability of humans.”18

14 Heather L. Stuckey, Jeremy Nobel. The Connection Between Art, Healing, and Public Health: A Review of Current Literature. Am J Public Health, 2010. 15 The Telegraph Agency. “Art Does Heal: Scientists Say Appreciating Creative Works Can Fight off Disease.” The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, February 10, 2015. 16 Kotler, Steven. Flow States and Creativity. Psychology Today, 2014. 17 Phillips, Renee. Arts in medicine and more. The healing power of arts, 2015. 18 Edwards, David. Art Therapy. London: SAGE Publications, 2013.

Interview with Ana Daniela Canales to talk about her New York routine and the search for a creative output.

Interview with David Cueva to talk about his New York routine and the search for a creative output.

UNDER THE BRIDGE. Bridgemarket Site Analysis The Neighborhood of Sutton Place is located between East 53rd Street and 59th Street, 3rd Avenue, and the East River. The neighborhood has iconic views of midtown and a beautiful blend of old Manhattan and new. Public transportation is as close as a 10-minute walk from the site. The trains traficking the areas are the N, R, W, 4,5,6, and the F train. The area also has the Roosevelt Island tram. The neighborhood has the biggest sightseeing attractions in Manhattan just around the corner. By taking a 15-minute walk you can get to Central Park, Rockefeller Center, and Times square. Around the Queensboro bridge, the area feels open and airy, it gives a sense of an escape from the populated Big Apple. The water shines across the bridge and the East River sits romantically beside the Bridgemarket, with the wind pushing across the neighborhood. The light is enchanting every corner of the site since the sun goes from North East to West from Sunrise to Sunset giving it good access to sunlight. The buildings surrounding the area also permits the bridgemarket to get less shade during the day. Sutton Place has a charming calmness and peacefulness, it brings a sense of refuge. Green areas surround the bridge, and there is an ongoing construction of a pedestrian path through the river. The bridge serves as a passageway to Long Island City and hovers above Roosevelt Island. There are residential areas around and luxury townhouses. The neighborhood feels like it’s made for the residents to not leave since it’s surrounded by restaurants, bars, markets, shops, schools, and sports centers. There are also ofice buildings with everyday New Yorkers coming in and out. Under the bridge, there is an architectural gemstone called Bridgemarket that you can only see by looking up. Hidden from the outer world of Manhattan, yet structured in plain sight. Big gray columns surround the site and form romantic arches and domes at the top. The big arched-shaped windows transmit the best light of the day. Light enters the site from both sides and this is when the architecture comes to life. The site is so beautiful that touching it or changing the materials would be a mistake. The domes of Bridgemarket have seen a lot throughout history. The bridge opened to trafic in 1908 and the site was used as a market. In 1930 the market closed and it wasn’t until 1997 that the bridge underwent a restoration of domes and steel glass windows were added to enclose the space. In 2000 bridgemarket opened as “Food Emporium” and after 15 years it closed. Today the site is a Trader Joe’s. Being inside the space feels magical. The beautiful large columns will make you feel small, yet at the same time, you will acknowledge the power of architecture. The domes bring traditional architecture to the space, and this enhances the inside in a traditional European way.

E 62 th S

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COMMERCIAL

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RESIDENTAIL

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7th

8th St

RESTAURANTS sCHOOLS , RELIGIOUS

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EAST RIVER E5

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SPORTS CENTERS

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OFFICES

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CONTEXT DIAGRAM

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PARKING

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CIRCULATION DIAGRAM SITE 6 TRAIN WALKING BUS STOP CITI BIKE

WINTER SOLSTICE

9:AM

12:PM VERNAL EQUINOX

5:PM

9:AM

12:PM SUMMER SOLSTICE

5:PM

12:PM

5:PM

9:AM

WINTER N

7:00 AM

9:00AM

12:00PM N

3:00PM

5:00PM

Sun Path for the Bridgemarket Site.

Dawn: 06:29:54 Sunrise: 06:58:04 Culmination: 12:10:00 Sunset: 17:22:27 Dusk: 17:50:37 Daylight Duration: 10H24M23S Shadow Lenght: 17.33M

SUMMER

7:00 AM

9:00AM N

7:00 AM

12:00PM

9:00AM N

12:00PM Dawn: 04:51:11

3:00PM

5:00PM

Dusk: 21:04:12 Daylight Duration: 15H6M49S Shadow Lenght: 1.33M

3:00PM

5:00PM

Sun Path for the Bridgemarket Site.

Sunrise: 05:24:17 Culmination: 12:57:42 Sunset: 20:31:06 Dawn: 04:51:11 Dusk: 21:04:12Sunrise: 05:24:17 Daylight Duration: 15H6M49S Culmination: 12:57:42 E Shadow Lenght: 1.33M Sunset: 20:31:06

FAMILY HOUSEHOLDS

WHITE COLLAR

37.17%

NON FAMILY HOUSEHOLDS

BLUE COLLAR

62.83%

98.29% 1.71%

SELF EMPLOYEES HOUSEHOLDS WITH CHILDREN

11.12%

HOUSEHOLDS WITHOUT CHILDREN

15.15 %

PRIVATE COMPANIES

88.88%

68 %

GOVERMENTAL WORKERS

4.93 %

NOT FOR PROFIT COMPANIES

11.92 %

Family and Employment Sutton Pl

164

163

155

136 123 107

104

107

61 38

34 19

0-4

5-9

10-14

15-19

20-24 25-29

30-34

35-39

40-44

45-49 50-54

55-59

60-64

65-69 70-74

75-79

80-84

85+

Households: 732 Households In Sutton Pl by Age

CREATIVE FLOW "LAND ESCAPE"

New Yorkers are known to live a higher stressed-induced lifestyle than the rest of the nation. The recent years have brought instability and uncertainty over Manhattan residents, causing extreme amounts of stress and anxiety which often leads to disease. My approach creates a support system for the citizens of the Island by providing a space where they can take action to gain a sense of creativity and consciousness and reach a state of "creative flow"; Bringing happiness, emotional regulation, and fulfillment to the life of others. A making center that will provide programming for music, sculpture, visual arts, literature, expressive writing, movement-based creative expression, and cuisine; allowing the users to experience stability and a feeling of presence by being outside of everyday reality.

May 10th, 2021

When I have an idea I feel an extreme rush inside. WRITE DOWN DON’T FORGET!!

PROGRAM DIAGRAM PERFORMANCE STAGE ACOUSTICS MUSIC ROOMS INSTRUMENT STORAGE SEATS RECORDING STUDIO

MATERIAL STORAGE STUDIO TABLES EXHIBITION SPACE KILN SPACE TOOLS STORAGE SPRAY PAINT SPACE CASTING TABLES SINKS

POETRY READING ROOM EXPRESSIVE WRITING STUDIO LIBRARY WRITING DESK STUDIO

BATHROOMS CLEANING SERVICES RECEPTION LOCKERS

MUSIC

SCULPTURE

LITERATURE BACK OF HOUSE

VISUAL ARTS

MOVEMENT BASED CREATIVE EXPRESSION

CUISINE

DANCE SOUND PROOF STUDIO TEATHER STUDIO PERFORMANCE SPACE WITH SEATING

STUDIO WORKSHOP ROOM EXHIBITION SPACE STORAGE FOR TOOLS AND PAINT DIGITAL ROOM STUDIO

DINING AREA KITCHEN STORAGE

INITIAL DESIGN DEVELOPMENT

"My design concept is based on a sculptural landscape to facilitate the state of creative flow."

MOVEMENT BASED CREATIVE EXPRESSION 80 X 65

LIBRAY 40 X 40

VISUAL ARTS 60 X 22 CUSINE 56 X 33

BATHROOMS 40 x 10

SCULPTURE 62 x 47

MUSIC 64 x 40

LIBRAY 40 X 40

Programming for Bridgemarket

USER JOURNEY

RESERVE CLASS OR WORKSPACE ON THE APP. (select date and aveilability)

ENTER THE SCULPTURE OF YOUR ART MEDIUM

DROP OFF THINGS IN LOCKERS

GET TO WORK! GRAB YOUR MATERIALS

GET IN THE ZONE & EXPERIENCE FLOW

MATERIALS & MOOD

Material Selection for the Interiors

Material Selection for the Exteriors

April 5th, 2022

DEAR PAULA, I MISS YOU IN THE CITY, IT CAN GET QUITE BORING WITHOUT YOU. TELL ME HOW IS MEXICO CITY? EVERYONE IS MOVING THERE. IT’S INSANE. I WANTED TO SHARE WITH YOU THE CREATION OF MY SCULPTURAL LANDSCAPE. I AM COMPLETELY OBSESSED WITH IT. IT KEEPS ME UP AT NIGHT. I’VE CREATED INDIVIDUAL ARCHITECTURAL SCULPTURES TO EMBODY EACH ART MEDIUM. INSIDE OF MY SCULPTURES THE SPACE FEELS NATURAL & ORGANIC. HARD MATERIALS LIKE PLASTER & WOOD FORM SOFT CURVES. LIGHT SHINES AS SPOTLIGHTS. THE KIND OF LIGHT THAT ANTS SEE IN THEIR SHELTERS. THIS SPACE WILL INSPIRE OTHERS TO CREATE! THE CURVES AND IMPERFECTIONS ARE WHAT MAKE THE WALLS COME ALIVE. ROUNDNESS IS EVERYWHERE. THE FURNITURE GROWS OUT OF THE WALLS. THE SPACE GIVES A FEELING OF ENCLOSURE. THIS WILL ALLOW MAXIMUM CONCENTRATION FOR THE CREATORS. ON THE OUTSIDE, MY SCULPTURES CRY OUT WITH COLOR. HOW FUN IS THAT? MY LANDSCAPE IS A LITERAL ESCAPE FROM NEW YORK CITY. WHAT A RELIEF!! ANYWAYS, TALK SOON. BESOS!!! PALOMA

PLAN & SECTION

LIGHTING PLAN

PLAN

Fridge

Cuisine Space

Storage

Dining Room

Exhibition Space

Ceramic Studio

Painting room

Painting Room

Kiln Room

Dance Studio 1

Dance Studio 2

Theatre

Digital Design Room

Dance Studio 3

Stage Room

Musical Room

Recording Room

Library

Bathrooms

PLAN

Library

Poetry Reading Room

LONGITUDINAL SECTION

Papo, remember when you taught me how to play with MUD????

Paloma, Diego & Papo. Unknown Date.

I adore Ceramics!!! Ever since I was a child I would cherish soil. For this project, I wanted to fuse my 3 passions. Sculpture, Interior Design & Architecture.

CUISINE

Cuisine Ceramic Model

VISUAL ARTS

Visual Arts Ceramic Model

MOVEMENT BASED CREATIVE EXPRESSION

Movement Based Creative Expression Ceramic Model

MUSIC

Music Ceramic Model

LIBRARY

Library Ceramic Model

sCULPTURE

Sculpture Ceramic Model

My Sculptural Park (Under the Bridge)

Small Scale View of Sculptural Park

Large Scale Ceramic Model of Library

1ST LEVEL INTERIORS

2ND LEVEL INTERIORS

Interior Space of Large Scale Library Ceramic Model

I want to thank my masters; for I have been inluenced by them. Niki de Saint Phalle, Matisse, Mauricio Cortés, Javier Senosiain & Brâncusi. My country Mexico, for its light and colors have grown inside of me. Finally, Parsons School of Design, for receiving me.

BIBLIOGRAPHY - Thomas, Liji. “Why can Uncertainty Cause Stress?”. News-Medical, 2019. - Achim Peters, Bruce S. McEwen, Karl Friston, Uncertainty and stress: Why it causes diseases and how it is mastered by the brain, Progress in Neurobiology, 2017. - Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow : The Psychology of Optimal Experience. HarperCollins e-books, 1990. - Welder, Thomas. Stability is More Than Staying Put. TED Talk, 2017 - Phillips, Renee. Arts in medicine and more. The healing power of arts, 2015 - Edwards, David. Art Therapy. London: SAGE Publications, 2013 - Harris Interactive Inc. “Stress in America: New York City Report”. The American Psychological Association, 2008 - Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow, The Secret to Happiness. Ted Talk, 2004. - Kotler, Steven. Flow States and Creativity. Psychology Today, 2014. - Damian Porter Affiliate Partnership Manager, Damian Porter, and Affiliate Partnership Manager. “The Most and Least Stressed Cities in the World.” William Russell, March 21, 2022. - The Telegraph Agency. “Art Does Heal: Scientists Say Appreciating Creative Works Can Fight off Disease.” The Telegraph. Telegraph Media Group, February 10, 2015. - Gold, Joshua, and Joseph Ciorciari. 2020. “A Review on the Role of the Neuroscience of Flow States in the Modern World” Behavioral Sciences 10, no. 9: 137. - Cherry, Kendra. “How to Achieve Flow.” Verywell Mind. Verywell Mind, February 17, 2022. - Heather L. Stuckey, Jeremy Nobel. The Connection Between Art, Healing, and Public Health: A Review of Current Literature. Am J Public Health, 2010.

ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY Achim Peters, Bruce S. McEwen, Karl Friston, Uncertainty and stress: Why it causes diseases and how it is mastered by the brain, Progress in Neurobiology, 2017. The “Uncertainty and Stress” article written by doctors and professional neurologists talks about the scientific explanation and reaction in our brain when we face uncertainty. There is a lot of information and facts that prove the chemical reactions our brains have while facing uncertainty and how this transforms into stress and disease. The article provides various charts to fully understand the neuroscience of stress and how our brain can be trained to not dwell on this. There are also case studies and examples of patients and doctors using mathematical approaches to face this problem. The most interesting part is how our brains are set up to have levels of stress and fear just by not knowing what the future holds in any type of situation we encounter. The terms provided in this article are very scientific, regardless of this the case studies and the charts provided make it easier to understand. Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow, The Secret to Happiness. Ted Talk, 2004. In the TED talk “Flow, The Secret to Happiness” Csikszentmihalyi gives a summarized presentation of what is flow and an easy way of understanding it and what effect it has on people. Csikszentmihalyi is the one who came up with the term for this state of the brain and people’s behavior and gives an insight into possibilities in how it can be experienced in every profession. There are a few quotes and examples from people who have experienced this, all the way from poets to professional skiers, owners of big companies, and more. The psychologist also provides us with visual charts of how skill and level of challenge are requirements for people to be able to reach this state of being in the zone. The basic rewards on how practicing being in this state are given, as well as the individual characteristics one experiences while experimenting with this state. Csikszentmihalyi, Mihaly. Flow : The Psychology of Optimal Experience. HarperCollins e-books, 1990. This book is a “voyage through the realms of the mind” where the psychologist Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi explains the whole concept of flow and the investigation behind it. Mihaly gives an insight on how flow is tied to happiness and how he came up with the term after acknowledging that this physiological feeling most of us have experienced did not have a word. He takes on to explain how each and every one of us has control over our own minds and states of happiness, sadness, pain, or boredom. The author touches on the fact of the simple yet challenging activities that have a positive effect on the human mind, of course, each different from one another. The far more interesting part of his book is when he talks about the control of consciousness through willpower and emotions and how this can help us lead the life we want acknowledging the chaos that the universe holds for us. Edwards, David. 2013. Art Therapy. London: SAGE Publications. David’s books provide an investigation of art therapy and what it is. The first section of the book examines the full definition of art therapy and how its approached by therapists and implemented to their patients. The author focuses a lot on mental health and the physiological effects that art has on people and how this can become a path to healing and fulfillment. David provides various case studies of patients and photographs of the drawings they created while being under this program. There is also plenty of information provided regarding psychology on its own and Freud’s psychological terms. The whole book goes through case examinations of different types of mediums created by patients and the whole studio behind those. The emergence of Art therapy in the world is also mentioned and how it came to become what it is today and how the method is taken seriously. Elena Patricia Nunez Castellar, Jan-Niklas Antons, Daniele Marinazzo, and Jan VanLooy. Being in the zone: Using behavioral and EEG recordings for the indirect assessment of low. PeerJ PrePrints, 2016. “Being In the Zone” provides scientific research about the term flow and tests provided to regular people to study the brain’s behavior while being at the state of flow. There is a lot of data and analysis behind every experiment and it also

clarifies the difference between anxiety, boredom, and the state of flow. Three are charts, numbers, and photographs provided for the further understanding of the research that was embarked for this book. There are also X-rays and frequency photographs from how the brain looks while experimenting with this state, and mathematical equations that serve as proof of this phenomenon. At the end of the research, there is a broad discussion about the experiments that were carried out. I believe this is a good source of information since it provides a scientific rather than psychological study of “flow”. Frankl, Viktor E. Man’s Search for Meaning: An Introduction to Logotherapy. Boston: Beacon Press, 1962. Man’s Search for Meaning is one of the most remarkable psychology books, giving us insight into logotherapy, one’s purpose in life, and pain. Viktor Frankl describes his experience of being a survivor of a concentration camp and the psychological stages his brain went through while being there. There is an absolutely amazing quest for soul searching and giving one’s suffering a meaning. Viktor’s writing is inspiring and reaches your consciousness to a point of no return after you digest his words. He talks a lot about how we choose to react to any given set of circumstances that life throws at us and how pain and suffering can be transformed into something beautiful and enduring once you give it meaning. The book also has a lot of information about passion and how life is nothing without passion, love, and intention towards whatever practice or activity we choose to carry out during the course of our life. Harris Interactive Inc. “Stress in America: New York City Report”. The American Psychological Association, 2008 Stress in America focuses on studying the demographics of New York City and how people deal and manage stress in the city. There is a lot of information and graphics that compare NYC to the whole nation. The research studies the stress level of New Yorkers and the main facts that cause citizens to have it. The article is really interesting because the graphics show various examples for each category and the information is very detailed and useful. The overall outcome of the research proves and confirms New Yorkers to be more stressed than the average citizens of the United States and the overall course of this comes from having a job in the city. The report starts with notes and readings, then moves on to key survey findings, and lastly to a detailed NYC analysis. Heather L. Stuckey, Jeremy Nobel. The Connection Between Art, Healing, and Public Health: A Review of Current Literature. Am J Public Health, 2010. The Connection Between Art, Healing, and Public Health is a study about how art affects humans not only on the physiological side but also the effects it brings upon health. The author studies deeply the outcome that music engagement, visual arts, movement-based creative expression, and expressive writing have on us. There is a broad explanation that backs up the study of art therapy and how it has been used from the beginning of time, but also there is a study of each of the individual arts mentioned before. Each practice has its own research and the effects it has on patients that are suffering from a disease. There is a table of content for each one of them that contains the information of the type of disease the patient that was studied had. The author writes about the methods and results provided for his study and the article ends with a discussion that ties everything together. Thomas, Liji. “Why can Uncertainty Cause Stress?”. News-Medical, 2019. Dr. Liji Thomas writes this article with the purpose of informing the public about the tendencies of stress related to uncertainty and how different it is to fear. Liji walks us through the differences that fear and stress have and how fear is either flight or fight, but stress comes from not knowing what the future holds. The author states that worrying plays a big role in the cause of our brains feeling stress, and how our brains always create the worst-case scenarios as protection for survival of what we don’t know. Creating these false scenarios that almost never end up happening in the end, just reassures us that worrying is an effective way of avoiding the worst, but in reality, worrying serves no other purpose in our life but stress. Liji also writes about the anxiety that comes when facing uncertainty and how this can be more prone to some people than to others. She also mentions bullet points referencing the prime aspects and scenarios of stress.

April 29th, 2022