Denis Cosgrove : Carto City

This article struck my attention for a number of different reasons. First, urban planning has always interested me. I always wondered who decided to put streets, buildings, and sidewalks where they existed. Growing up in Chicago, I have been extremely familiar with the grid plan. Chicago consists of one big grid, easy to navigate and understand. Cosgrove explains that "the grid generates the simplest and most ubiquitous form of urban planning". This I think is very true, and although it is simple, I think it is very effective. When I would try to navigate in suburbs, I would often get confused with the constant circles and turns in much of the housing districts. In my ancient Greek art class this semester, we studied urban planning, and the way that the ancient Greeks constructed their cities. Before 350 BCE, there was much disorganization in the way a city was constructed, but started in Priene in 350 BCE, the grid plan emerged and is still used today.

I also found interested the notion that a city map can have two functions, that of helping people navigate through a city, but it also hinders the way in which the city is viewed. With the intent to help people in a city, maps can sometimes do the complete opposite. It cannot be denied that maps are necessary in a large city, but they also guide an individual's gaze in one very specific way. I thought this quote from the reading was thought-provoking, "cartography acts not merely to record the various ways that the city is materially present, but as a creative intervention in urban space, shaping both the physical city and the urban life experienced and performed there." This is true in that it does shape the city and what it has to offer, but again in one specific way.

DERIVE : Alienating

Territorial Play: Illini Union Food Court: Questions

1. What are the borders of your territory? And how are they defined/marked/known?
The borders of the food court are the basement of the Illini Union. They are defined by walls of the space. Also, they are defined by the restaurants lining the walls of the space.

2. What kinds of interactions between people and the site are there? Are there objects or architectures that govern how the site is/can be used?
The interactions between the food court and people are mainly informal. A place to sit and eat and relax, maybe between classes or to meet friends. Chairs and tables take up most of the room in the space, outside of walking space. The site is meant to be used as a place to find food, and then be seated. Not much walking around, unless it is to buy food, throw out garbage, or come and go. There is a juxtaposition between the large quantity of seating space, and then the transit space; Individuals with backpacks are coming and going, while others are seated and eating.

3. What kinds of interactions/encounters between people are there? (is it competitive, collaborative, monetary, familiar, etc?)
The interactions between people are familiar, in that they know the space and are socializing in groups. Monetary encounters occur within the space, people are purchasing food,therefore there is an exchange of money between patrons and restaurant workers.

4. Are there distinct roles that people play within the territory?
The roles seen within the space are mostly students using the space for leisure. Some professors are seen in the space, also workers behind the counters of the restaurant.

5. What rules seem to govern these interactions? And how are the rules known? (Are they implicit or explicit)
I think the seating arrangement governs much of the activity within the space, and therefore are explicit for whoever uses the space. Another rule would be to pay for the food provided in the food court. Again, this would be explicit because the food would not be received until payment.

Delany's Introduction to Territory

Delany's discussion on territories is interesting in that it opened my eyes to all the territories that jurisdict the way in which our world operates. There are territories that separate countries, states, cities, towns, blocks, houses,rooms,etc. Much of how we live our lives is by abiding or violating territories. I really like how he started the reading with, "Nothing better reveals how something is supposed to work than when it isn't working." This is very true, and it was thought provoking how he used that quote to describe the ongoing Iraq War, and even more examples of war in the past. So much of how the world functions is through establishing territories, and using them for a sense of security. Within the walls of the territory are the "us", and outside are the "them". With these attitudes, separate cultural and social perceptions are developed. Or even within the territory of one's own room ,one can create their own norms within their own space. Shifts in territorial space, such as my own apartment becoming accessible to the public, or spaces in public, like the quad, become privatized would drastically change the way in which society conducts itself.

Locative Media: iMap Application

iMap Application Prototype

Locative Media: Assignment 3 Questions

• What new problem will you be trying to solve?
We are trying to solve the problem of new students not knowing their way around campus.
• Why is this interesting or valuable as a problem?
It is valuable as a problem because it makes it hard for new students to adjust to campus and begin classes on a good note.
• Who is your audience?
The audience is the new students/transfers or anyone who wants to use it (if they have a net ID and password and is connected with UIUC).
• What form of information will you be storing, retrieving, and why this form?
The form of information we're storing will be comments in text format and images. This form (images and text) allows for quick processing and will allow the user to recognize the location when seeing the image and reading the text from the app.
• Answer at least four of the Formal Considerations questions above.
Our device will be used through an application made available on Iphones, or other phones that utilize apps. The act of storage and retrival will be voluntary. The information stored can only be accessed by students at the University of Illinois. It is intended for giving advice to incoming freshman and transfer students, but all students can access this app by signing in with their NetID and password. The design of this device is intended for routine use, and always will be available with the same information. The act of storing and retrieving will not be obvious to others, and is really meant for personal use. The nature of this device is meant to be a friendly and helpful environment.
• Design 3 personas and scenarios based on your answers above.
1) A freshman walks around campus trying to find the building for his first class. He reads his schedule and is unsure where Altgeld Hall is. He points (?) the app at his dorm building and it displays it on the app. He sees comments that students have left about it. He then types in Altgeld Hall and the app creates directions on how to get there from his current spot, while pointing our interesting landmarks on the way (which includes comments from other students).
2) A group of new students are looking for a place to eat. They walk around campus and end up in front of Za's. Unsure how the food is, they type in Za's (or scan the place with their device/app). It immediately brings up comments and images from other students who have eaten there before. They can now make an informed decision of whether to eat here or go somewhere else.
3) A group of graduate students are looking for a more mature bar scene than Campustown offers. They walk around downtown Champaign in search of a place to hang out. They come across Jupiters...not knowing what its like they scan it with the device/app (or type in the name) and immediately see, based on the other users' comments, that Jupiters is the kind of place they want to hang out at. They then leave their own comments after leaving to help other users make an informed decision.

The Anti-Sublime Ideal in Data Art Response

What i find interesting about this article is the discussion of dimensions, and how information can be presented in different dimensions- and that designers have to determine which ones to use. Choices made by designers are often criticized by the consuming public because of who and what is represented in these dimensions.

Another thought provoking point to this article is that new media is a way in which we re-map old media. It renovates the way analog objects operate, and open new doors for artists and designers to expand their abilities. A simple example would be creating or manipulating a static image in Photoshop, and importing it into AfterEffects to combine it with time and other dimensions.

Paper Prototype for Spurlock Museum Kiosk

Here is the LINK

Team Questions for Kiosk Project

a. What is your team's subject matter - what is in the exhibition you're creating?

What is your team's subject matter - what is in the exhibition you're creating?
our team's subject matter for our exhibition includes jewelry and vanity items throughout African, European, Chinese, the Americas, Papa New Guinea, and (1 more) cultures. These items range from anything like bracelets to eye glass cases.

b. What are your design/communication goals? (what is the perspective offered by your exhibition on the objects being represented? For example, are you exhibiting the work of a single maker, counter to anthropological musuem norms that represent makers as anonymous members of an exotic culture?)

Our design goal is to show objects from the past over a wide range of cultures with a focus on women's items. Many museums are sectioned off by culture and it is easy to see the dramatic differences when presented with a variety of art and items from each one, but by focusing on objects used by women, it is easier to see some similarities in the cultures by the objects that women used.

c. What is the organizational structure you will use? (geography, date, gender, function, etc?)

The organizational structure we will be using is mainly gender, specifically concentrating on female objects, and their functions.


d. What will your kiosk's architecture be? (see this site for examples) And how does it serve your stated goals?

Our kiosk's architecture will involve a touch-screen panel that allows for scrolling through the object list by the culture it's from. Another idea is that we can sort things by items (ex. perfume bottles), and have the items in that category come up as a list with information.

Fred Wilson's Mining the Museum Response

This article discusses Fred Wilson’s work involving the notion of museums, and they way they present objects that may represent discriminatory and racist views. He exposes these ideas through his own work, which consists of actual artifacts and objects. I did some research on Fred Wilson and found an Art 21 documentary on him and really liked his creative views and processes. He manipulates already existing objects from different parts of the world and history to create his own message. His messages speak of racial views and identity issues that he has struggled with in his life. I think he is a free spirit and I admire his confidence and creative drive.

PBS Art 21 Documentary

As We May Think Response

Bush’s article, “As We May Think” speaks about the way technology and knowledge was looked at in 1945, and the hopes for the future. I personally found it to be interesting just because of the way he communicates the ideas of technology. Of course in 1945, technology was completely analog, and for me his way of explaining how machines work-whether it be with film, cranks, rods, etc., was a culture shock. He had no idea how the digital world would come into play and how much it drastically has changed daily life today-but he anticipated a huge change. He touched on many technologic devices and how they could improve, which was really refreshing to hear about because as a digital-born individual, I have no idea how to exist without these things. Specifically, “Will there be dry photography? It is already here in two forms. When Brady made his Civil War pictures, the plate had to be wet at the time of exposure. Now it has to be wet during development instead. In the future perhaps it need not be wetted at all,” and “Often it would be advantageous to be able to snap the camera and to look at the picture immediately.” Both of those comments spoke to me and really made me think. I think his statement, “if scientific reasoning were limited to the logical processes of arithmetic, we should not get far in our understanding of the physical world,” is unbelievably true. Bush also mentioned the idea of early interactivity when he said, “Put a set of premises into such a device and turn the crank, and it will readily pass out conclusion after conclusion, all in accordance with logical law, and with no more slips than would be expected of a keyboard adding machine.” A person would have to interact with a machine by giving it information, and expect a reciprocal outcome. Finally, I thought this last statement was very thought-provoking when he said, “Had a Pharaoh been given detailed and explicit designs of an automobile, and had he understood them completely, it would have taxed the resources of his kingdom to have fashioned the thousands of parts for a single car, and that car would have broken down on the first trip to Giza…I never really thought about history, or the progression of technology in that way before.