Kwon Chapter 4

In this reading Kwon talks about how a site based artwork to be site specific has to not just incorporate its surroundings but also to "foster social assimilation" with the people and community who see it. If it does not it can be considered what is known as "plop art." With the two put something here assignments I wondered how to avoid this and thinking about my final project I struggle with it even more. I wanted to create something meaningful but found that the simpler the idea the better, because I didn't want to try to say too much with whatever I made. However I'd like my final to be more involved. I don;t know how to balance saying too much and too little. By this I mean whatever social message I'll have.

Mobile Interface Theory

Introduction: The Pathways of Locative Media:    One of the ideas I found most interesting is mp3 players being one of the strongest "distancing through proximic" mobile media devices. This is exactly why I almost never use my ipod in public. I don't like to be disconnected from the world around me, and this is exactly what many people use them for.

Chapter 2:  I think have our virtual location in our hands it all times is both good and bad, depending on the person and how they use it. Having such easy access to a map that places you where you are and tells you where to go eliminates the need for more natural navigation skills causing people to be less self sufficient. Though one can also use it to have a greater connection to their surroundings. I like looking at maps so I can connect where I am and what I see around me to the larger surrounding area. I am much more geographically aware because of this technology.

Creating Democracy response

One of the struggles Wodiczko mentions is how to make an audience hear something. It is not enough to speak through a megaphone to get people to listen. The difficulty is in figuring out the conditions that are needed for people to care. This is where location based art comes in. The reason some pieces are effective is because of where they are.
The concept I found to be the most important is that of public memory and how it is usually told by the victor and not the vanquished. This directly relates to the Lancaster neighborhood and other areas of the city.  The goal of the street should not include a victor or a vanquished. It shouldn't become a classic case of gentrification, where the original residents become resentful "vanquished" and the "victors" are students, yuppies, white people, rich people, or whatever... I don't think the existing community would be very satisfied if Lancaster turned into the next Northern Liberties.  Yes the neighborhood could use money, but what it really needs is people. Diversity can greatly improve a neighborhood. I don't think it would ruin what is there now, it would just add to it and improve what is wrong. If people of all races, backgrounds, and socioeconomic statuses, and levels of education moved in, the area would improve. It could be more like the Baltimore Ave. area, diverse and interesting, but not too built up. The idea of public memory is why I believe we do need input from the people who live there and have for a long time, because if the neighborhood does change beyond recognition, and they become the vanquished, at least there is a record of how it once was somewhere, and we had a part of it.

Wodiczko Reading

This appears to have been published in 1997, and it's very surprising to me that at that time immigration was the highest since the 18th century immigration influx. I wonder what specifically changed from that time until now to prevent cities from having more foreign born residents than Americans as he wrote would happen by 2010 (with no evidence or references). I didn't really understand what he was talking about with the stranger object. I mostly understood the concept of it, but what kind of object is this? I wasn't sure if this was a proposal or a theoretical concept idea. The diagram of it that was included made it look pretty preposterous. He didn't really seem to consider the practical use of it. From what I got it was a very creative idea though.

Stranger Following

I followed two people. The first was from a little off Lancaster at 39th-ish through West Powelton to 40th and Market where she entered a store and stayed there for longer than I wanted to wait.

 I also saw this one.

 The second person I followed was from about 38th and a few blocks north into Mantua until he crossed Lancaster at 36th St.

I wish I could've done this for longer, but other tasks beckoned me.

Kwon reading response/ Preliminary design idea

Chapter 1:  Cite specific art is something of a new notion to me, but I find it to be very beautiful, especially when I think of it in terms of mediums I have a better grasp on. I love heavily place based film and literature, because it gives the story another dimension by using the place as its own character. Art that has this sort of connection to its surrounding has the potential to be especially powerful.

Design idea:  If we created some sort of interactive map accessible through the internet there would be many directions we could go in. For example on the map we could pin point various hidden gems of all types throughout the neighborhood. There could be digital/ artistic renderings of future possibilities for the area. Ex. Lancaster ave with cleaned up facades and occupied upper floors. The site could include writing/ audio/ video/ photo on specific sites that deserve extra notice. The map could also locate sites where we could place augmented reality experiences that could make the viewer go see for themselves .