An illustrated graphic novel.

Developed in 2018 in the Yale undergraduate course Urban Lab: City Making. This work was created using digital and analogue illustrations, Adobe Illustrator, InDesign, and Photoshop.

The Ephemera Art Catalogue exquisitely illuminates the restless entropy of the Ephemera Collection. It unfolds categorically, beginning with the common, moving to the animal, and ending with the mud-loving. The selected works encompass the variety in media, composition, tone, and scale that comprise Ephemera. These pieces immortalize fleeting moments and endeavor to present a fresh perspective to the canon of street art.

Following a course trip to New Orleans, LA to study the development of a coastal city, I began to compile the pictures I had taken into a set that captured what I had most noticed walking through the streets of the Big Easy. I was drawn to the street art I had witnessed and the other forms of informal decoration that lingered on the streets from past festivities. This then was expanded on other objects, traces of animals and people who have moved beyond that particular space. From these observations was born Ephemera, a catalogue/field guide romanticizing these temporary scenes in a way that approaches absurdism. Through its documentation of these “art pieces,” Ephemera purports that even animals can be artists, adding value to the outdoor museum that is the city. While teasing and silly, this guide is a reminder to appreciate small details, particularly if they might not be there for long.