Response Statement - Marcovaldo

[jacopo]

400 words,
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[Ejoday]

I found the reading/s on Marcovaldo resembled, or may be, cautionary tales that I read as a kid. Each story highlighted traits or actions of the character that, in the end, caused himself or others harm. The first story seemed to teach generosity and thinking about the consequences of incompetence, the second about appreciating what you have, the third about again considering the consequences of your actions, and I'm not sure what the last one was conveying. Like the cautionary tales of my youth, they all create relatable enough stories that feel possible but wacky enough that a kid would still pay attention. After reading through all four stories, I am honestly not sure what I was supposed to take away for this class. For the most part, I understood the message of each story and the imagery that was conveyed, but there wasn't anything here that really stood out to me as helpful when thinking about our next project or the class as a whole. For example, the first reading was helpful for identifying our inability to have a truly unbiased view, and in technology and art that can be a focus of art but will always be true. I understand the applications of that for our class. Even the ability to create an environment through words or nontangible means is a helpful thing the think about for the class. But I don't really understand how reading about a guy who didn't do enough research on mushrooms or even the deeper messages of generosity is impactful for this class specifically. I'm all for a guy catching pigeons with a glue trap if that's what floats your boat, but "don't jump the gun" doesn't feel like something that will improve my understanding of digital arts. I don't want to sound like I hated these stories or that I think the lessons are entirely useless, I simply don't understand their importance in this context. I would love to know what the intent was and what I was supposed to discover because I am genuinely stumped. My only guess at the moment is something along the lines of developing a story or maybe character, noticing the "worldbuilding" within each story and over the course of many, but that doesn't feel like what I'm supposed to be seeing.

[Annabelle Pavy]

While reading the tales of Marcovaldo’s life, I noticed my ability to be engulfed by the setting that was being written about. I could see the mushroom patches, the night filled with noises and smells, the birds in the sky, or the snow on the ground. I realized the ability to delve into these stories was because first because of the writer and second because of my openness to being engulfed by the stories. As opposed to saying “I went outside last night because I could not sleep, and I wanted to see the trees at night,” Marcovalod’s experience was filled with such a large amount of descriptiveness that the reader had no choice but actually see the stories. I was not reading from my phone, but reclining in front of a large movie screen in my mind, watching the stories unfold in front of me.
In regard to using this story as inspiration, I would like to create my next project with the same ability to transport as these stories have. Through words, all of my other senses were ignited. The stink of the trash, the flash of a yellow streetlight, the softness of a pillow. Through my soundscape, I will aim to create something that goes beyond sound and reaches to the other senses. Each small moment of these stories, usually assumed to be unnecessary or distracting, were regarded with great attentiveness. Each object or place regarded is not just the place but has some kind of descriptive word latched on to enhance the meaning.
Another aspect to the stories which made my reading experience quite enjoyable was the cycle of ups and downs that Marcovaldo experienced throughout the pages. Each experience that would excite him, relax him, or make him smile was eventually tarnished. The mushrooms that gave him joy to grow and eat were no longer just his to keep close after a local worker noticed them growing and picked some for himself. His favorite bench, which he dreamed of resting on, was taken away because of a night time lover’s quarrel. The tarnishing of his experiences, coming from his own mental negativity, were very continuous and definitely comedic in my opinion.
Concerning what I will create with my sound scape, I may entertain the idea of acoustically creating comedy. For instance I could create a dreamy space that is filled with serene sounds, allowing the listener to relax into the noises. Near the end, as the noises get increasingly more calm, an alarm could go off. Waking up and frustrating the listener, but also solidifying these dreamy sounds were not real but from a dream. If not this idea, I will aim at creating a soundscape that is deeply interesting.

[iwebre1]

After reading the stories of Marcovaldo’s life I can easily find myself comparing the stories of interactions with people and places with my own stories of family, friends, and relationships. I think setting the scene was an important aspect of the writing which I personally appreciated since I am a visual person.
I sensed that in each season there was a different mood or feeling about the story that was being told. There was an interesting balance between hearing the details on what was happening on the outside or in the tangible world and what was happening inside his head.
During the story of summer, all Marcovaldo wanted to do was simply sleep on a park bench but there were lights and sounds around him that kept him from completing the task he wanted. Just like there are distractions in life that keep us from accomplishing certain goals, but we must know how to block out the unwanted distractions.
Reading these short stories brings a very humanistic feeling back into perspective because we all have feelings of uncomfortably, greed, annoyance but also happiness, contentment, and curiosity. In a lot of the stories we see the main character at odds with either people or things that surround him in his ordinary everyday experiences. There are usually conflicts between him and another source whether its with people, environment, objects, or even animals.
In applying these stories to my future projects, I think it’s important to look at all aspects. I think with sound it’s important not to think too much. I plan to use my everyday experiences to record my sounds like Marcovaldo used his life to write about. Whether its walking to class and listening to the sounds in the streets, listening to the clink of the dishes in a restaurant, or cooking at home and hearing the sizzle of the stove. Sometimes the sound will not always come out the way you plan, or it might not fit. But what is important is the memory of that experience and what that sound will remind you of in the future when you look back. Each day can have a new sound, but the sounds can vary depending on if the day is a good or bad one. My hope is to capture senses of smell or sight or maybe even touch through sound like Marcovaldo was able to write such stories with vivid picutres.

[ceciliablanchard]

“Marcovaldo or The Seasons in the City” was very interesting to read about because of the time period in Italy as well as the viewpoint. The man that the stories were based around: Marcovaldo, seems to be a character that is very imaginative which makes the stories overall a lot more interesting. Unlike the first reading we had, this one has not one straightforward way of describing something, but a fantasy way of telling it from a period where Italy was not thriving. The story switches back and forth from telling the actual story and what is happening from Marcovaldo’s point of view. It seems like Marcovaldo is a child growing up and being imaginative but actually, he is a husband and father so he has responsibilities we might not associate with this sort of mindset which is interesting.
One way that did connect him with his actual age and responsibilities is when the story would switch to him having to go to work and wanting something more with his life. An example of this is in the “Summer: Park-bench vacation” section. Here he finds himself on a park bench where it is a quiet and calm part of the day because it is night time and he realizes he likes the peace and quiet away from his home which is filled with noise. He then gets the idea that it would be a nice place to sleep and brings his pillow and then he runs into issues trying to go to sleep. The first issue is a couple sitting on the bench and the next is a yellow light which connected me to this sort of warning sign.
Another point I saw in the reading that compared other people to Marcovaldo was when the author brought out different characters who were more of your average joe. One of these examples is during the winter section with Sigismondo: “But this feeling, instead of inspiring in him vague fantasies like Marcovaldo's, led him to quite specific calculations, to determine how many cubic feet of snow had to be shoveled to clear so many square feet. In other words, he aimed at impressing the captain of his team; and thus-his secret ambition-at getting ahead in the world (12 Italo Calvino).” I feel like as a whole this reading taught me not to think like the other characters such as Sigismondo in a precise way but like Marcovaldo taking in everything around you and bringing it into your life in an imaginary way.

[samzakow]

I found this reading to be a difficult one to complete due to the dislikable characteristics of Marcovaldo. Throughout the reading, I was constantly putting myself in his shoes and wondering how I would handle the situations that he was in. Would I complain about the same thing that he would? Would I complete the tasks in similar fashions? I would like to say that there were points when I agreed with the actions that he took, but in the end, I don’t feel that we align.

When first reading this, I assumed this was a children’s story, specifically one that was meant to teach children important lessons. After reading the stories, I am still unclear who the target audience is for any of these short stories. Are they for adults? Is this a bedtime story? What is the purpose of these stories altogether? I do not believe that the main character, Marcovaldo, is a good role model for children. Every time he seems to solve a problem, he finds something else that is wrong. In the story involving the park bench, he first can’t sleep because of all the commotion at home. Then he tries to get some rest in the park on the bench but keeps getting interrupted by sights, sounds, and smells. After he solves the problem of not being able to sleep due to the yellow traffic light, he discovers the sound that is now preventing him from sleeping. I was also under the impression that Marcovaldo was always looking for something better. When he found the mushrooms, he wanted to keep them a secret so no one else would be able to find them. However, when he found out there were bigger mushrooms, he was willing to share the location of the smaller mushrooms. Again, I think this is the wrong message to send to children so I am left wondering who the target audience is.

The thing I enjoyed most about this reading was the use of imagery. I thought the author did a great job at painting the scene. While I may not have agreed with the main character’s action, I was truly able to picture each location that was described. I also liked how this was a series of different short stories but kept the same character and same theme. I am interested to see what other stories or bodies of work the author has written and if they are written in a similar fashion.

[jtenenbaum]

While all four short stories were compelling and interesting in their own right, the spring and summer stories particularly resonated with me. I do not necessarily agree with all the decisions and sometime proposterious lengths Marcovaldo went to to achieve things, but there were specific actions that seemed very similar to my own experiences.

The spring story was extremely interesting to me because there was clear character growth throughout the short story. Marcovaldo started off extremely excited about his newfound spring of nature in the city and he was ecstatic to share. Once he knew others were interested (his children) he became extremely protective of what he thought was a rarity. Then once he found out there was an abundance of the mushrooms to go around he was so happy to share them with fellow townspeople that he literally screamed into the crowd.

This pattern seems very relatable and predictable–it likely occurs in many other scenarios and I can also think of some siutaitons in my own life where this has occured. The first one that comes to mind is when a new music artist begins to get popular–those who knew them earlier in their career get protective over the artist and want everyone to know they were a fan before you had been one. Then once they are extremely popular, to the level in which seemingly everyone knows them the original fans are happy that so many people are enjoying this artist and their music. This pattern is especially relevant to the fashion industry with the rise and fall of trends.

In addition to this connection to my own life, I also appreciated how Marcovaldo was trying to appreciate the little things in life, the beauty of the world that we inhabit as opposed to the beauty in the world we have created (i.e. appreaciting nature versus the manmade buildings and cityscapes).
The summer story also resonated with me. I commonly find myself up until all hours of the night, incapable of sleeping due to the mosquito flying around my bedroom that is getting far too close to my ear, the alarm clock’s light casting across the entire room, the bits of street light coming through my already tightly closed blinds, or the washing machine rattling my clothes around two floors below me. There is always something that is keeping me from peace, something unsetteling, uncalming, and unplesant keeping me from what I want–sleep. I specifically related to the part about the blinking lights being seen through his eyelids–I used to try and explain this phenomenon to my parents all the time and it’s comforting to know that other’s experience this aswell,

[garibeidner]

When starting the reading, I was unsure of what the tales regarding Marcovaldo would unfold, and how they would relate to the course. I found the series of the short stories to provide a variety of life lessons of the main character Marcovaldo. The easy-to-follow story line with a quick problem, climax, and conclusion were similar to easy-to-follow childhood stories, yet I always found myself a little confused with the overarching message upon completion.

For example, while reading “Mushrooms in the City”, although I felt as though Marcovaldo went through great character development, the overall lesson was a bit hazy. The selfishness that was displayed to keep the hidden location of the mushrooms a secret resembled the trait of greed. By the end, his complete turnaround to wanting to share with the entire town was admirable and did provide a great example to follow, yet the real push for what gave him this notion was unclear. Additionally, at the end of the tale when everyone needed their stomach pumped, Marcovaldo ended right where he started when glaring to Amadigi next to him which isn’t a commendable result. Ending the tale with everyone needing their stomach pumped from the mushrooms shows that although Marcovaldo didn’t obtain as much individual “wealth” with the mushrooms this led him to not being hit as hard with the poisonous repercussions. When you are a team, the whole team can rise and fall together, rather than carrying the entire weight individually. I was able to pull this from the tale, yet if geared toured a child audience, I am not sure that they would interpret it in this way.

Similarly, from the second short, “Park-bench vacation” I found myself frustrated with Marcovaldo’s lack of satisfaction. Nothing ever seemed to be good enough for him. At first his bed with his wife and kids wasn’t comfortable, followed by the blinking lights and then loud sounds. When he was finally able to catch some sleep, he had a disheartening nightmare and was still not content. I found these problems to be more mature which led me to believe that in fact they were geared to a more grown-up audience and that even though Marcovaldo can be seen to act in immature ways.

Overall, when tying back the reading to the course, I recalled the group benefits of sharing what you learn with others as opposed to flying solo. I also found it to be interesting to acknowledge that you really do mature through life experiences. It’s important to put yourself into situations that you wouldn’t normally find yourself in and to test oneself in new ways.

[zshapiro]

While reading these stories at points, I was confused about what I was supposed to take away and the connection to this class. When I simply read it without trying to make a connection to it, I was able to picture the description of the scenery and the setting these stories took place in better. Marcovaldo had a very interesting way of doing things and some of it does not make sense but makes for a good story. As I read each story it appeared that different messages and life lessons were being taught in each one. My favorite story was summer park bench vacation because it was very descriptive and made me feel like I was going on this journey with him. His thought process is very interesting to follow. Marcovaldo repeats “Oh, if I could…” over and over thinking about other things he would love to do and dreams about. I can relate to this because when I am in a quiet space like he was walking to work I think a lot and ask myself a lot of questions. Although these stories were very imaginative and creative, I was not able to focus on the true meaning of them. The different points of view and Marcovaldos not being straightforward made me very lost. Especially in the last story Winter The city lost in the snow, there are so many visual details but the storyline is hard to follow and I am not sure what message was trying to be told. It was strange how it went from explaining how much snow is there and what they did in the snow the entire story to the last paragraph where the snow was cleared. I was trying to find a connection between myself and Marcovaldo and the main connection I found was curiosity. Even though he was all over the place and it was hard to follow and understand what he was doing and why the major theme was curiosity and love for his surroundings. He wanted to explore and learn and teach. One example of this was when he found the mushrooms and was so excited to show off his new secret discovery. I would also have a very similar reaction and love to learn new things and explore my surroundings while helping others.

[cmsantini]

The tales of Marcovaldo tell a common story of the resistance of industrialization and modernization. Marcovaldo portrays the common poorly paid unskilled laborer of the industrial era. Marcovaldo believes there is a life for him that has more meaning than the one he lives, one where he can be surrounded by the beauty of nature. Marcovaldo mentally rejects the contemporary state of his environment, constantly on the search for any evidence of life, of nature, in a modern city whose streets are not filled with flowers, trees, plants and animals, but concrete and gray buildings. Italo Calvino’s choice to not disclose specifically in which city Marcovaldo lives seems to be intentional; this is not the story of one city, but of industrialization and the idea that as society continues to progress toward modernization, it simultaneously moves away from naturalism. In other words, Marcovaldo’s city symbolizes all metropolitan cities. Marcovaldo is stuck inside of his own head, his obsession with finding any hint of nature, leads him to abandon logic. In the story where he goes to sleep outside on the park bench, his vision of a blissful slumber under the stars blinds him from the reality, in which the noises, people, and other distractions do not allow him to fall asleep. In the story where he develops an obsession with the mushrooms growing on the streets, his excitement keeps him from considering the risks of consuming an unknown species, leading him and his neighbors to the hospital where they have to get their stomach pumped. This theme persists in the story of the municipal pigeon, when he ruins his neighbor’s clothes on his quest to capture the bird to eat. Marcovaldo is a living representation of the phrase ‘the grass is always greener on the other side’. He idealizes that which he is unfamiliar with, caught up in daydreams of a better life. Marcovaldo constantly compares this idyllization which he has formed in his mind to the reality of his situation, which causes him to be ungrateful for what he does have and to be extremely pessimistic to his environment. From the perspective of a student abroad the overarching themes of Marcovaldo’s stories resonate with me, as I, too, fantasized about how easy, how much better, how much happier I would be once I got to Europe, when in reality I love my life here, but that doesn’t mean I now live in a utopia void of all the worries I had in my life in the United States.