MANIFESTO (train station)
In order to find out about people in the world who are respectful of their space and place, we must observe, understand, discuss, and form opinions. When forming such opinions it is expected that we personalize areas and make sure they have a connection with ourself either spirital, emotional, or physcial. When venturing to the train station, we all are affected with the area because we all live within the vicinity of this campus. Some of us even choose to take the train. The train station is a network, although we have not always lived with trains they now are prominent to many in society today(C++). On the train everyday there are a variety of people from workers to homeless people, businessmen to immigrants, and students to senior citizens. Each person in the place of the train station is taking up their space in their own way (Yi Fu Taun). Whether a commuter is travelling to work, school, or even smuggling drugs, or trafficking people, we all are somewhat in communication with them.
Without any knowledge of each person’s travels in particular, there are signs posted on the train and in the ticket sales station that read “If you see something, say something”. This is a score that directs a person to follow a simple step in fixing the safety or danger of others around. Scores are found in many spaces. Proposing that a person should act out the score proves that the space we think we dwell in is movable (Of Other Spaces). We have also created scores on the posters we have placed which give a suspicious person the directions and number to call if they see the missing person we have profiled.
Within the perimeters of the train station we have learned the station itself is a heterotopia that we must be familiar with when travelling from one area to another. “At present cyberspace does not consist of one homogeneous space; it is myriad of rapidly expanding cyberspaces, each providing a different form of digital interaction with communication"(Introducing Cyberspace). In life today such forms of cyberspace, virtual, and common space are affecting our means of communication, in trains specifically.
By following the trains routes it is inevitable that we follow people. We concentrate on people’s reactions in relation to the pictures. What did they do when they read the sign and saw the person in front of them? This act of following is out of our boundaries and attempts to follow and create extensive spaces and places to live by (A Different City for a Different Life).
Within this following, we also are mapping. People take the train and we mapped out pictures along the way on the roads that Sunny/Cassandra were walking. Maps can be used visually through or tecnologically through the phone calls made, opening up a field of possibilities (Counter Cartographies).
In the process of mapping and following it is important to make note of the emotions everywhere. What are peoples reactions when looking at the posters and seeing Sunny and Cassandra walk by them. The people were scared, hesitant, and concerned, while few of them did not bother. People directed their attention toward Sunny and Cassandras actions while sitting in the station, reacting with confusion and worry.
The final and most important concept to work in is that of profiling. You mus concentrate on who is observant. What category of person, age group, sex, ethnicity is most likely to combine the pictures with the person? Who is most likely to call- a homeless man or a CEO on his way to work? Are people more likely to call because it is a males picture or for a female? Is a woman more likely to call or is a man? These are the certain concepts that must be looked closely into.
When looking into a person and understanding works into the first introduction to the class of what I carry with me. What you bring with you, the precense you create for yourself, and the way you react to situations is also how people who interpret and judge you.This investigation is an eye opener. You and I must learn that people are nicer than we may think. The homeless man was genuinely concerned about “our missing friend” when was the last time we saw her and where she may have gone. An older woman spotted Cassandra’s picture then her riding the escalator and could not help but look. An african american woman saw Sunny sitting and held his picture in her hand asking him if it was true. A college student spotted him and called the number after convincing himself it was definitely him. The surprising responses of people all the same were helpful in understanding that the train station is not as scary as it may seem. Although intimidated by the appearance and vast variety of people who walk the steps every day, mostly everyone who saw our posters stopped to look and felt for the picture, really concerned about this strangers well-being. I guess when people see something, they really do say something.
Tuesday, April 28, 2009
Wednesday, April 15, 2009
CLASS APRIL 15
Although we spent two weeks and several hours on creating and presenting our following projects i think they all were necessary in grasping the objective of this project. To see how each student followed a person, animal, place, and even those who did not participate because they felt it was too far out of the boundary was interesting to see. All of us students who come from different backgrounds, have different beliefs and morals are placed in this classroom and conducted to do the same projects. Week after week it is overwhelming to see the different ideas and approaches we all have to the same issues. Day in and day out we each develop our own conscious answers to the questions, and no matter how alike and how different, they all answer the same thing. The final projects i feel will be the most interesting. Using the knowledge each of us as individuals possess will be sure to result in creative and inventive projects. Although time is short and scheduling conflicts are constantly occuring, the challenge does not only lie in finding a creative way to approach the topic, but ways to connect with one another and the class as a whole. These next two weeks, when everything is coming together is crucial and perfect in descriping NEIGHBORHOOD NARRATIVES.
Tuesday, April 7, 2009
FOLLOWING PROJECT
Over the past two days i have been working on my project and thinking of a creative way to make this girl interesting to myself and to my class. I based my project around the one thing she does more than other..smoke. While collecting information, pictures, and facts i started to think about all the smoke and ciggarettes she is ruining our enviornment. I couldn't help but remember last week when someones project was the chalk written quote on the ground "I am grateful for the air i breathe". After all the people who smoke, factories, and chemicals that pollute the air are we really grateful? Can we be thankful that the air we have is supporting us and keeping us alive, or do you think it is slowly killing us?
Wednesday, April 1, 2009
CLASS APRIL 1
APRIL FOOLS!
When we first were handed each others projects my expectations were that we would all look like fools. But once everyone started to get comfortable it made the process so much easier. It was good to see people coming out of their shells, myself included, and interpret other people's scores in the way they saw it. Although some of them were obvious others proved that not all people see the same things in the same way. It also was fulfilling to watch how people used their different sentences to interpret the project. It was interesting how this project was enjoyable and relateable, while at the same time amusing and i was able to learn from it. Each day we have this class it seems as though everything seems to make more sense. If i don't understand a reading at first once discussed in class or created through projects, things seem to look brighter. This week our venture is to follow a person and document our findings, this should be interesting as we learn more about each other and everyone's own creative side.
When we first were handed each others projects my expectations were that we would all look like fools. But once everyone started to get comfortable it made the process so much easier. It was good to see people coming out of their shells, myself included, and interpret other people's scores in the way they saw it. Although some of them were obvious others proved that not all people see the same things in the same way. It also was fulfilling to watch how people used their different sentences to interpret the project. It was interesting how this project was enjoyable and relateable, while at the same time amusing and i was able to learn from it. Each day we have this class it seems as though everything seems to make more sense. If i don't understand a reading at first once discussed in class or created through projects, things seem to look brighter. This week our venture is to follow a person and document our findings, this should be interesting as we learn more about each other and everyone's own creative side.
Wednesday, March 25, 2009
CLASS MARCH 25
Today class was very different then usual and set a different mood and different pace for the remainder of the semester. The surprise we were introduced to in class today was something we all had been waiting for since hana promised us in the beginning of the semester, and what we learned not only fulfilled expectations but gave me a different view on the motions of dance. As a dancer in my previous years, i never learned or expected to learn about dance by pictures or visual explanations of dance movements.
He along with hana, helped make this weeks project easier to interpret. The discussions held in class today made it okay not to understand every aspect of every project, i learned it is okay if i interpret something differently from someone else, it is acceptable if my project is created in a different way. It is good to know that each different person of the class brings a different background, brings different ideas, and ways of interpretation.
I am anxious to attend next weeks class and see how everyone mapped out their scores, including myself :) good luck!
He along with hana, helped make this weeks project easier to interpret. The discussions held in class today made it okay not to understand every aspect of every project, i learned it is okay if i interpret something differently from someone else, it is acceptable if my project is created in a different way. It is good to know that each different person of the class brings a different background, brings different ideas, and ways of interpretation.
I am anxious to attend next weeks class and see how everyone mapped out their scores, including myself :) good luck!
Sunday, March 8, 2009
Tuesday, February 24, 2009
QUESTIONS: INTRODUCING CYBERSPACE
1. "At present cyberspace does not consist of one homogeneous space; it is myriad of rapidly expanding cyberspaces, each providing a different form of digital interaction with communication". In life today what are cyberspaces expanding too and how are they affecting our means of communication?
2. Based on the two forms of virtual reality which is more important in creating inclusive and interactive spaces.
3. Since we already established space and place as a class, what is modern societies ways of connecting with cyberspace in relation to production and consumption.
4. Is the seperation of places (public and private) evident every day to all people, age groups, and societies?
5. The reality that cyberspace has created for its self is virtually unreal. It is possible that in generations to come it will be hard for them to decifer what is real and what is virtual?
Saturday, February 21, 2009
QUESTIONS: A DIFFERENT CITY FOR A DIFFERENT LIFE
1. What can we do as citizens to eliminate the crisis of urbanism that is constantly worsening?
2. How come we feel the constant need to break the laws that our city has made to help us? Why is there an ongoing need to betray the rules that are made merely to help us?
3. How are we able to produce enough if we are constantly cutting down on the amount of work put out collectively in changing nature.
4. What is the extent of the depths where new enviornments are created and how are they measured- in space or place?
5. Is life becoming richer and more rewarding by staying in our boundaries or creating extensive spaces and places to what we constantly live by?
2. How come we feel the constant need to break the laws that our city has made to help us? Why is there an ongoing need to betray the rules that are made merely to help us?
3. How are we able to produce enough if we are constantly cutting down on the amount of work put out collectively in changing nature.
4. What is the extent of the depths where new enviornments are created and how are they measured- in space or place?
5. Is life becoming richer and more rewarding by staying in our boundaries or creating extensive spaces and places to what we constantly live by?
Thursday, February 19, 2009
CLASS FEBRUARY 18.
Today in class, i came feeling prepared that I had answered the questions and taken pictures of what i thought were heterotopic spaces. When the discussion started I felt a better place for my eyes were to look down and not make eye contact with Hana for I did not have much to say about the heterotopic spaces discussed in the article. It was simple to find examples that had little common interest and capture them in photos to upload on my flickr. It was not easy, however, to explain why they fulfilled the criteria we were looking for. As class carried on, and my classmates gave new examples and reasons they saw certain herotopic regions and in what way, my mind started to wander. I was not exactly interested in the overalll meaning for I felt i had completed the project. Hana then informed us that this "heterotopic spaces" theory would be part of our homework for the next week. Not only was this haunting me, but the pictures of the cemetaries seemed to fit this disfunctional mode i had now created for myself. When we began the experimentation of working with partners and easing each other around the classroom and library, ideas started to form. A heterotopic area may not be as black and white as i would have preffered, but a wiff of the idea of its use started to form. It is one place that can be layered or defined in several different places. For a mirror captures an image for the second it is bestoyed in the reflection. Such heterotopias can change function, they are always opening and closing, which indefinitely isolates it. I know reading the perspective reading on this topic may inform me more about what is being discussed, but i think concentrating on the reading for this week and the long one for the week after are among my higher priorities. :)
Saturday, February 14, 2009
FLICKR
This is my flickr URL. I don't know if we're supposed to add eachother as friends or what, but i guess this is where I'll be posting my pictures from this weeks project.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amandowns/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/amandowns/
Wednesday, February 11, 2009
QUESTIONS/ANSWERS FROM CLASSMATES
C++ (Mary Finelli) Have networks made it easier to have a false identity and a second life?
YES. I very much believe that because of networks it is easier for us to falsify our identities
and create fictional versions of our lives that we wish to aim for. Knowing that we can create a
facebook, myspace, or even something like this as a blog, is an introduction to other people
into our lives. The substantial view of our lives conducted through networks is an opening to
let others in and judge us based on what they see. So in a sense, networks have made it easier
for people to venture into our lives, false identities, and secondary lives.
SPACE & PLACE (Kathryn Nguyen) "Emotion tints all human experiences." Women are often considered more emotional than men. Does this mean women have more tainted experiences? Or more intense and intimate experiences?
The way women percieve emotion is all in all different then men. I see it as, women take
different approaches to situations. Men appear to be less emotional by hiding their emotions
because in society they feel it is frowned apon if men are emotional. For a woman to show her
emotions to others, it is seen as a sign of strongness, or attention. A woman who is able to
break down is often percieved as not caring or having enough stregnth in themselves to react
that way and bring themselves back to the surface. If a man breaks down, he is seen as weak
and unmanly.
OF OTHER SPACES (Justin Debrosse) Why does space supposedly cause more anxiety in our era than dealing with time?
Although many percieve time as main focus of each day, subconciously i believe space is the reason for many experiencing anxiety. Each day in our life we are concentrated on evaluating, making space for our space, involving all aspects of space into our identities. Although this is not something we focus on, it is surely something we all do. Think of sleeping in your bed. The more space the better. It is easier to accumulate the great amount of space we have available than scrounging for more space. Space is something we all take for granted. Without it, nothing we involve ourselves in would be influential and time would not even be a virtue.
YES. I very much believe that because of networks it is easier for us to falsify our identities
and create fictional versions of our lives that we wish to aim for. Knowing that we can create a
facebook, myspace, or even something like this as a blog, is an introduction to other people
into our lives. The substantial view of our lives conducted through networks is an opening to
let others in and judge us based on what they see. So in a sense, networks have made it easier
for people to venture into our lives, false identities, and secondary lives.
SPACE & PLACE (Kathryn Nguyen) "Emotion tints all human experiences." Women are often considered more emotional than men. Does this mean women have more tainted experiences? Or more intense and intimate experiences?
The way women percieve emotion is all in all different then men. I see it as, women take
different approaches to situations. Men appear to be less emotional by hiding their emotions
because in society they feel it is frowned apon if men are emotional. For a woman to show her
emotions to others, it is seen as a sign of strongness, or attention. A woman who is able to
break down is often percieved as not caring or having enough stregnth in themselves to react
that way and bring themselves back to the surface. If a man breaks down, he is seen as weak
and unmanly.
OF OTHER SPACES (Justin Debrosse) Why does space supposedly cause more anxiety in our era than dealing with time?
Although many percieve time as main focus of each day, subconciously i believe space is the reason for many experiencing anxiety. Each day in our life we are concentrated on evaluating, making space for our space, involving all aspects of space into our identities. Although this is not something we focus on, it is surely something we all do. Think of sleeping in your bed. The more space the better. It is easier to accumulate the great amount of space we have available than scrounging for more space. Space is something we all take for granted. Without it, nothing we involve ourselves in would be influential and time would not even be a virtue.
CLASS FEBRUARY 11.
Watching all the groups show their interviews was somehwat of a culture shock. It made me realize that everything I had expected when I thought of a certain group of people feelings into consideration. Not only did my group provide a valid description of our chosen profiling, but i was very impressed with my classmates efforts. I was shocked when the "guido looking" boy did not fit that criteria i had anticipated. I had not taken other peoples feelings into consideration when judging them on their social choices and appearancesas caring and did not seem as self-centered and self-absorbed as the outsider and myself expected. The homeless people were just as shocking for they had no problem letting strangers into their lives and telling their stories. Granted, they may have been falsified, and they may have followed with a begging for money, but still people are more willing than imagined. The Average party girl however, scared me. Although we went into this project with the thought of getting a lot of good laughs, we were a little stunned to see how much her lifestyle has affected her and will affect her in the long run. She said she smokes before class, steals from houses, gets intimate with random men, that can't possibly be the safest way for a young girl to live her college life. Without knowing anything about these people, and basing my judgements on the image I percieved have made me realize that people aren't all their cracked up to be. Meaning people are not what we assume, because when assuming, the answers aren't always the ones we set out looking for.
Wednesday, February 4, 2009
FIVE QUESTIONS: OF OTHER SPACES
FIVE QUESTIONS REGARDING OF OTHER SPACES
1. What is the difference between something being placed in space and something found in the ground naturally through stability.
2. What are the human elements that we should understand when relating our own lives to space and interactions.
3. Is space movable? Can we identify the different types from where they are placed? private, public, family, social, between cultural, useful, between the space of leisure and that of work.
4. What is the void we live in and how do the shaded colors in it affect it?
5. Between the different principles what is the cultural form in each society that differentiates them yet relates them?
1. What is the difference between something being placed in space and something found in the ground naturally through stability.
2. What are the human elements that we should understand when relating our own lives to space and interactions.
3. Is space movable? Can we identify the different types from where they are placed? private, public, family, social, between cultural, useful, between the space of leisure and that of work.
4. What is the void we live in and how do the shaded colors in it affect it?
5. Between the different principles what is the cultural form in each society that differentiates them yet relates them?
FIVE QUESTIONS: YI FU TUAN
FIVE QUESTIONS REGARDING YI FU TUAN
1. What is the distinct difference between space and place and how is that important to us as individuals?
2. Each person uses experience to gain knowledge, but do peopole use knowledge to further their experiences?
3. How come we usually analyze our thoughts, actions, and identity but the thought of space is never an issue?
4. What makes space larger than place? Are we not in the same place as space? Why does space seem the greater entity and place is more of a spot on a map?
5. How do we differenciate seeing and reaching beyond ourself in relation to space, place, knowledge, and experience?
1. What is the distinct difference between space and place and how is that important to us as individuals?
2. Each person uses experience to gain knowledge, but do peopole use knowledge to further their experiences?
3. How come we usually analyze our thoughts, actions, and identity but the thought of space is never an issue?
4. What makes space larger than place? Are we not in the same place as space? Why does space seem the greater entity and place is more of a spot on a map?
5. How do we differenciate seeing and reaching beyond ourself in relation to space, place, knowledge, and experience?
FIVE QUESTIONS: C++
FIVE QUESTIONS REGARDING C++
1. In this day, why are we so dependent on networks? It's not like we always lived with them, our ancestors did fine without concentrating on the different networks that are prominent and could be possible.
2. Everything we know is placed in existence for a reason. Within that, how do we act when the organization is gone?
3. How come we are never satisfied? Networks are becoming faster, more pervasive, and more essential - why do we not value the important changes rather than stress over the problems?
4. How is it that virtual machines occupy both space and time if they are so different? What is the distinct purpose to study each?
5.Why is it that we are in a constant need of communication, but insist on setting up boundaries?
1. In this day, why are we so dependent on networks? It's not like we always lived with them, our ancestors did fine without concentrating on the different networks that are prominent and could be possible.
2. Everything we know is placed in existence for a reason. Within that, how do we act when the organization is gone?
3. How come we are never satisfied? Networks are becoming faster, more pervasive, and more essential - why do we not value the important changes rather than stress over the problems?
4. How is it that virtual machines occupy both space and time if they are so different? What is the distinct purpose to study each?
5.Why is it that we are in a constant need of communication, but insist on setting up boundaries?
Wednesday, January 28, 2009
WHAT I CARRY WITH ME...eww trash!
TRASH. There is no way out. In some way we all have a relationship with trash, so i took the time to ask some people around me their thoughts on this overly-developing-wasteful substance.
"ewww trash?"
"what kind of question is that?"
"trash is dirty!"
Are just a collection of the common responses I got. A little embarrassed by the fact that Hana picked trash as my topic, i realized there is so much more to it then we actually see/smell. My life, very much like trash is a miscellaneous- every day we are in store for a new adventure. A new problem with an entirely new way of constructing an answer. To the average eye, trash may require an unfavorable response or disgusted judgement, but all trash really is in life is a collection of things we once used but no longer feel the need for. I like to find the good in the old, unused things, and overused things. In understanding trash it is hard for me to get rid of and throw somethings that were once useful to me away. I guess you could say i like to preserve and that is the reasoning for trash in my bag (not that there should be a reason, because it is a little unsanitary-only gum wrappers and things of that extent were found, no worries). I keep in my heart old friends that I know we've drifted apart, I hold onto old artifacts that represent my childhood. Whenever taking a picture we are capturing a memory that otherwise may have been forgotten. Trash is thought of as dirty and wasteful, but when understood it is merely a collaboration of the past. When throwing it away it is allowing the things you once embarked on or used to be lost. Trash is never ending, and as gross as we like to think it is, it only are the things we once ensured in and now are through with.
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