Reema's Blog

MAJOR STUDIO: FINAL PROJECT

reemac — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 03:13:37 +0000

PROJECT MINE

“Project Mine” aims to reinforce the existence and significance of private spaces within a public space, and stimulate awareness and curiosity within the intended audience. Through a series of prototypes in accordance with these objectives, I will study audience reactions.

When we were at the stage of exploring new domains for this assignment, I was fairly head
strong on creating within the realm of ‘Installation Art.’ Somehow, I thought this needed a
little extra something, and began to merge this idea with the dimension of ‘Performance Art.’
In support of this, I believe there is nothing better than being part of, or participating in your own art. Being a student of ‘Theatre arts and studies’ for six years, made me confident to fit myself in this piece. After conducting extensive research in titling our final projects, I was exposed to the field of ‘Conceptual Art’, which I saw as a vital part of this puzzle. To justify this conjunction between the two forms of art yet not ignoring their individuality and significance it is best described in, ‘Some relations between Conceptual and Performance Art,’ by Frazer Ward. “For further argument, Conceptual Art might be considered as work that emphasizes the underlying conditions of aesthetic experiences. Performance Art, on the other hand, seems relatively straight forward to define, ‘as a form of art that happens at a particular time in a particular place where the artist engages in some sort of activity, usually before an audience.” Blending these similar forms of art, naturally lead to an artistic production that also found its place in the expanse of ‘Public Art.’ I was happy to see this growing territory of where my piece would lie.

I soon found my project being part of this eclectic mix of domains I was exploring, which could pave the way for a novel creation. Considering I had employed various forms and concepts of art, it brought me to discovering the significance of the term ‘Intermedia.’ In the article, ‘Intermedia,’ by
Dick Higgins, he says, ‘Much of the best work being produced today seems to fall between media. This is no accident. With examples of the idea, that paintings are created with paint on canvas, and sculptures that are painted. ”

There is an incessant dispute about marrying different disciplines to create art, wherein the art piece/artist is sometimes considered confused. In defense of this argument, in the article, ‘Comments on Sculpture, Theatre and Art performance: notes on the convergence of arts,’ the writer Steve Durland says, “If we use his information to make the ‘expansionist’ artist aware that his/her work has precedents outside of a chosen discipline, we are furthering the purposes of creative research. If we use it to produce a greater understanding of expansionist work for the viewer we are furthering creative education.”

ARTIST STATEMENT

“As an artist you’re looking for universal triggers. You want it both ways. You want it to have an immediate impact, and you want it to have deep meanings as well. I’m striving for both. But I hate it when people write things that sound like they’ve swallowed a f***ing dictionary,” says Damien Hirst, in the article ‘Performance Art as Progressive Education’, by Jenny S. Spencer. The two elements I first look for in my work are the ones mentioned above. It might be hard to describe the artist in me in fancy words, but my work is the product of my passion in the field. I create with simplicity and for self-fulfillment, however there are reasons behind it. It is my personality, beliefs and originality that I throw light on in my work. I do not choose to term it overtly controversial, but I definitely strive to make a statement and a forceful one through the piece I create.

There were several issues in mind that lead me to such a study. They might be mixed I caliber but all boil down to the same idea of private/public statements.Through “Project Mine,” I want people to understand their rights over their individuality in society, and that everyone has a certain space they are entitled to. As the outlook on society is changing with progress in time and variations in culture, the line between what is private and what is public is being blurred.

I arrived in New York only four months ago. I come from a city called Dubai, which is prominently dominated by the religion, Islam. However, like New York, it is a cultural melting pot. For instance, comparing to the two cities/cultures what is considered private in Dubai is definitely not understood as private in New York, the simplest example being, kissing in public. This clash of cultures has sparked the dispute between what is public and what is private. Keeping in mind social norms and acceptances people are cautious of their behavior in public/society.

Most obviously, what brought me to address this theme in society is the fluctuating acceptance and respect of private space in a public area. There is an awkwardness that is usually created among strangers in society when it comes to intruding private spaces of each other, while sometimes this it is completely ignored. For example, when you might enter a cinema where only one or 2 people are sitting, you will never go and sit right next to them, for it might be queer. Employing the idea of surrealism and absurdity, I was eager to create my private space in a public area to see how people react.

CONCEPTS

Before launching the prototypes I wanted to test with, I looked into various segments I needed to research. Commencing with the questions I was seeking answers to,
• What defines Public spaces?
• What defines Private spaces?
• What are peoples reactions and preferences in both spaces?
• How to differentiate/draw the line between the 2 types of spaces?
• What is considered Controversial?
What are the reactions of the audience?
• What are the different ways I can build a private space in the most public areas?

As for my motivations, I wanted to be part of my art and be the prototype. Even though I was aiming to create a private space I hoped to establish an interactive experience through triangulation. Evoking curiosity in my audience was extremely important to me and, most obviously I wanted to clearly define public and private space.

Similarly but in concise form, my goals were, to reinforce the existence and significance of private spaces within a public space and,create awareness and increase curiosity within my audience.

In addition, there were many concepts I researched and was introduced to for the first time.
I then made a chart of all the keywords, jargons and concepts:

RELATED WORKS

I was surprised to discover that many artists had explored this realm of private versus public space.
Four out of twelve examples are illustrated below.

In ‘Seed bed.’ by Vito Acconci, Acconci lay hidden underneath a gallery-wide ramp installed at the Sonnabend Gallery, masturbating while vocalizing into a loudspeaker his fantasies about the visitors walking above him on the ramp. One motivation behind Seedbed was to involve the public in the work’s production by creating a situation of reciprocal interchange between artist and viewer.

‘My Bed,’ by Tracey Emin, generated considerable media furor, particularly over the fact that the bed sheets were stained with body secretions and the floor had items from the artist’s room (such as condoms, a pair of knickers with menstrual period stains, other detritus, and functional, everyday objects, including a pair of slippers. The bed was presented, as it had been when Emin had not got out of it from it for several days due to suicidal depression brought on by relationship difficulties. ‘My Bed’ has very quickly come to symbolize a certain kind of art, usually referred to as conceptual art, which is appreciated by much of the art world.

‘Soap:’ A Happening, by, Allan Kaprow is a performance, event or situation meant to be considered as art. Part of the Fluxus Movement where performances were usually brief and simple performances meant to blur the lines between performer and audience, performance and reality. The Happening is performed according to plan but without rehearsal, audience, or repetition. It is art but seems closer to life.
In storyboard form this is how it looks and was performed:
•1st morning: (clothes dirtied by urination)
•1st evening: (clothes washed)(in the sea)(in the laundromat)
• 2nd morning: (cars dirtied with jam) (on a busy street), cars cleaned (in a parking lot)
in a car-wash)
• 2nd evening: (bodies dirtied with jam), bodies cleaned by the tide

‘Cut Piece.’ by Yoko Ono,was a protest for peace, during which she sat on stage and invited the audience to use scissors to cut off her clothing until she was naked. Cutting the clothing would be an act that destroyed the social protections, and symbolic of a rape. Ono was an explorer of conceptual art and performance art.
What I learned from these precedents are the extents to which artists have gone to make a statement
in society. Most of these art pieces were dominated by the ideas of surrealism and absurdity. These are elements I have been interested in collaborating with my main theme. These are strong viewpoints of artists and what is important is that they have been successful and accepted in the design realm as well as achieved their standing in the social world.

METHODOLOGY

During the process of developing my prototypes, I deduc ed that it would be most effective and efficient to divide the various types into categories. Hence, I broke them up into four divisions, which are, Actions, Objects, Different Media and Creating curiosity and absurdity.

When creating prototypes under the ‘Actions’ category, I selected a few generic activities that I,
or any person would naturally conduct in a personal/private space, and used these to base the prototypes on. For example, I chose to sleep, read, sit or work. At first I thought that if I placed myself in public and sat or read or did homework, makes it a private activity. In collaboration with
this category, I conjugated these ideas/acts with an object from the ‘Objects’ category. For example,
a lounge chair, a carpet, a bed or a toilet. I assumed, taking these objects, which are expected to be within the confines of a home, on the street might create curiosity within the audience. Two ways
of looking at these prototypes were, one where I would sleep/sit or do an act, with the object for example sleep on a bed or sit on a toilet on the street or the other way wherein, I only install the object as an installation art piece. As in, implementing both, the ‘Actions’ and ‘Objects’ category together or just the ‘Objects.’

The next category, ‘Different Media’ with the prototype namely ‘Photo stand’ is where I planned to take large life size pictures of myself, not a headshot but a whole body shot of me sitting on a chair for example. I would then place these life-sized studio shots at different location in the city to interpret the private space I occupy in the social world.

The last category is, ‘Creating curiosity and absurdity’. In this there are three proposals I had to order. To start with, the first idea was the creation and installation of a plexi-glass box. I assumed it would be a size big enough to cover me when I sit down. It will have walls on all four sides including the top, so at time of installation I would need someone to cover me with it. The reason I chose this material was because it is transparent and signifies the physical walls I am aiming to create between me, and the public. I liked the fact that it was transparent so that the audience and I can still maintain eye-to-eye contact. I was hoping to carry this box with me to different locations, and implement it in similarly every time but in different locations; this lead to the extension of two similar and fundamental ideas.
First being the Chalk-drawn box. For this, I wanted to draw a box with chalk, on the street for instance and sit in it, refraining anyone from stepping inside my box. I predicted it would create some interesting responses. Lastly, the cardboard box was a branch of the plexi-glass box, except when I sit in it, my head would be exposed and not covered, so people will still be able to see me.
These prototypes intended to have symbolism of creating physical barriers between me the performer, and society, in the literal sense yet being visually interesting.

Later, I allotted these prototypes to the important triangle to measure and justify in what realm these prototypes exist. Essentially, I was looking to implement those that feel at least somewhere near the ‘Integration’ area, (the center).

IMPLEMENTATION

Iteration 1 – The Cardboard Box (Union Square)
Initially, I was seeking to set up my piece in a busy location in New York City. I imagined it to be in an area with high pedestrian flow and increased traffic. However, I realized that it was unnecessary to do so; as, the core of the project was to study and document audience reactions and the project’s impact on different locations in the city.

The first location I chose to test was Union Square, the area opposite Whole Foods. It was a Monday at noon, and highly populated where people were in an out of the subway station, some strolled around and were involved in their shopping at the vibrant but temporary stalls put up for the season, while the rest lounged, reading a book and sipping on their coffee. I assumed it was a great environment and noticed that there were several kinds of people about to be exposed to this absurd piece of art.

The first prototype was simple and primitive. I purchased a brown cardboard box and, chose a spot on the site with speculation, while a friend captured the entire process of the performance on video. Setting up the box close to the stairs of the station, I also made it close to the frontal entrance on Union Square. In terms of the implementation process, I unfolded the box and made the set up part of the performance. I then sat myself in it, and waited for people to pass by. I continued to do some homework and surf the net. The duration of this performance was approximately three hours. Within this period of time I received a multitude of comments and people had different interpretations of what I was trying to say. Some of them being, “Love your space,” “Cool Spot!,” “Love the package,” “Why are you building these walls around you?,” “Am I disturbing you? Sorry!” And, “Am I intruding? Is this your private space? Shall I leave?” Majority of these comments were spot on and went hand-in-hand with the concept of my project. I received great response, even though this was my first experiment. Several people stopped by to look and actually made the effort to talk to me. Hence, I seemed to have achieved both my goals here; one, to create curiosity and triangulation and install my private space in a public area.

Iteration 2 – The Chalk Box
As for this prototype, I conducted this at Union Square as well and on the same day, however, I decided to move to another location. This time I moved to the side of Union square, and on the street along the row of shops and restaurants, like American Eagle and Heartland Brewery. I made it to this site around 3pm. Here, I was able to document only two responses but they were spot –on. While I was drawing the chalk box, a man stopped by an immediately asked me if I was “Drawing a private space?” Another, woman waited to talk to me and asked me to “Get out of the box and Go and enjoy life!” However, many people stared but no one made the effort to stop buy and talk to me as much as during iteration 1, considering the fact that there were lesser people compared to spot inside Union Square. However, the concept I was trying to relate was successfully interpreted and comprehended.

Iteration 3 – The Cardboard Box (Grand Central Station)
I implemented this prototype on Monday as well, in the interiors of Grand Central station place around 4pm. The reason I chose this location was because, I was eager to set up and experiment by creating a private space within a private space. However, people treated the station as an obvious transit lounge and not many stopped by to interact with me. In this case, I had to encounter the NYPD and was bound by many restrictions. I wanted to install the box in the middle of the station which I was not allowed to do due to security reasons told to me by the station masters. Most of the time I was covered by the police standing around me, hence, people couldn’t really see me in the already dim lighting. Here, there was high pedestrian flow however, I cannot say this was successful due to the restrictions I had to consider as well as that people were rushing rather than standing around even though they were being entertained by the light and sound show.

Iteration 4 – Dining
This time I decided to explore a different direction other than the box and employ the use of a household object or piece of furniture. In addition to that, I wanted to now experiment on a street rather than at a location in specific like Union Square or the station. I somehow felt this is is somewhat a ‘Real’ location where in there is incessant pedestrian flow where people don’t really stop and hence this would be more of a challenge location wise to make them stop for interaction. As for this, I rolled my dining table from my home to a spot on the street and had lunch with a friend. The reactions for this were extremely positive and people stopped by and thought we were absolutely absurd to do something like that. However, the concept was not as well understood as the box idea overall. Some comments were, “If I didn’t have any of these bags right now, I would join you for lunch,” and “This is so cute! I’ve always wanted to do that! But I couldn’t find anyone to do it with me.”

Iteration 5 – The Workstation
Taking this back to Grand Central station on a Sunday afternoon around 3pm, I wanted to make sure that I tested at two locations at least twice. This time on, I took a different approach altogether to see how audience reactions would alter if I wasn’t involved in the prototype anymore. Hence, I set up a workstation, with my desk, chair and some stationery. However, once again I had to encounter the police and the security at the station, as I was not allowed to set up just anywhere unless it was in the corners or along the walls. Hence, I was hidden and not very conspicuous. This experiment was a total failure as no one was curious about it and people were either in a rush or watching the sound and light show. A man even bumped into and he didn’t realize he did. It was completely alien.

Iteration 6 – The Cardboard Box (6th Avenue)
At around 3pm on a Sunday afternoon, I intended to iterate the cardboard box one last time. Since I had conducted it at Union Square and Grand Central so far, it being so successful I was eager to see how it would turn out on a regular city street. This time on I changed the experiment a bit by adding a little extra feature. I not only sat in the box but I also decorated it like it was my room. I put up pictures of me and my mother and stuck to-do lists and homework on the box. This entire procedure was part of my performance. People reacted as well as before but of course one thing that changed was that because I employed the technique of textual interpretation this time, I lot less people actually spoke to me and in fact read my writing. I had comments like, “What is that? Wow! That’s a cool room,” and “Is this only yours? Haha i don’t think anyone else can fit in it anyway.

RESULTS

Study of Locations

I gathered Union square to be a very versatile location to test in. This was only because there were so many elements and activities that could be conducted in that one single area. For instance, there is a subway station where people transit, there were stalls where people were shopping and other obvious union square traits like people lounging around maybe reading or watching some entertainment show. However, there was high pedestrian flow and because there were diverse activities taking place meaning there were a lot more people who had the time to walk by, I thought this place was too safe it terms of testing my prototype. As for Grand Central station, even though there were many people, they did not have much time as they were on transit between one location and the other. But the reason I chose this subway station because people in here have a lot more time than in other stations due to the entertainment programs and stores that the station has to offer. It is visually appealing which hold people back to stay. It is a private space already and I was interested to find out what could happen there. However, there were many restrictions like, I could not use a tripod or setup at an random location which relatively killed my idea and its impact it would have originally created. On the street side of 16th street and 6th avenue, in my opinion was the most realistic environment, even though people had lesser time than in Union square. I think this was an authentic public place where there was a constant floe of pedestrians, which initiated great responses.

Study of People:

In terms of measurability, I can confidently say that the greater the population on the site, the greater the chance of generating responses and creating interaction. I am content with the result that 98% of people were curious with my performance. People tended to react to the prototype more, when I was actually part of it and not when it was the object alone. I think human involvement was the factor that enhanced human interaction. The general idea was that people did respect private space and no one really tried to invade it except for the ‘Staples’ man, it was easy to establish. I’d say that every time me, and the viewer made eye contact lead them into interacting or questioning me. Or else, they would stare wth a curious look and just walk by, as if in acceptance of my time and space in public. 75% of people did understand the concept while the others ignored it completely. At first people though it was an art piece or a project but most of them thought I was doing it for a purpose or to make a statement, which made the experiment successful. It was really interesting to see the different takes people have on things and their comments to support it. I feel this experiment could be dominated by cultures in the way that it could be done in New York but I am not sure if it would be accepted in Dubai. Lastly, I think it is one of the biggest challenges to me the fact that I made it successful in New York city, for these experiments can be easily misunderstood or ignored for as it has been over done here.

Evaluation of Prototype Success and failure

In order of rank:
1st – Cardboard Box (Union Square)
2nd – Dining
3rd – Cardboard Box (6th Avenue)
4th – Cardboard Box (Grand Central Station)
5th – Chalk-drawn Box
6th – The Workstation

There are many reasons that lead me down to this order of ranking. The impressive success of cardboard box at Union Square was mainly because of the simplicity of the prototype and the impact it created. Also, the versatility of the location enhanced its rank. It was visually interesting. As for the dining table, I think it was more its absurdity that drew eyes towards it. However, at some point I felt the reason that it triggered lesser responses and compared the box was because the dining table was a little too glamorous in terms of the object employed. It was not considered normal and something common that people would do. The cardboard box at 6th Avenue was highlighted by the performance of decorating the box and adding more features to the iteration. People found this a little entertaining as compared to the others. However, people interacted less due to more textual interpretations. The cardboard box at the station was also part of relative success only because the prototype in itself was effective but the place determined its failure. The chalk drawn box was definitely a too submissive a prototype and definitely not visually interesting for people to interact with. Lastly, the workstation was a complete failure because the location did not facilitate the interaction with the installation at all, and I guess its lack of human involvement added to its failure. In terms of impact, the simplest prototypes turned out to be the most successful. I think this project would make a great exhibition piece and not necessarily be site-specific all though it would be more effective in an open public space. However, if it is a gallery it is important to glamorous the prototype and make sure it is an extensive and exaggerated representation of the statement. For example, Tracey Emin’s ‘My Bed.’

Predictions v/s Observations

Before the experimentation was carried out, I assumed that the concept of my project would not be well comprehended. I was afraid that the viewer might have overlapping ideas and notions if the metaphor was not put across well. As for the cardboard box, I expected people to come and directly interact with the box, for example write on it. The amount of interaction that took place between me, and the audience was an incredible amount as to what I expected. They came they talked and shared their ideas with me, which was very interesting. At first, I thought the cardboard box was not as powerful as it really turned out to be. In my eyes, it looked too simple and not very visually appealing. In fact, I predicted the dining iteration to get first place, but after testing I realized it probably was a bit too glamorous. Anyhow, it was totally unexpected and completely disappointing that the chalk box and workstation didn’t really make it anywhere.

In the future, I have three developments that I wish to iterate to extend this project.

The Plexi-glass Box as mentioned above, as this would be a completely glamorized prototype. I would love to several pillows in it and sleep in there, and install a wall clock on one of the walls of the box.

The Photo-stand: As mentioned above as well, I think this prototype would add a dimension from the field of photography and the picture itself would be a graphical representation of me as a person, which I hope will trigger interesting results.

The Digital Room: In order to incorporate a digital element in my project and study the reactions that it might incur, I would like to project the inside and the happenings in my room while I am in there or not, in real-time and have it projected on the outside of my building on the wall outside my room.

I have been successful in establishing my point and developing private space in a public space in visually capturing manner. In addition to that, I feel like that I have enlightened my audience about feeling a little more comfortable with their identity in the social world and made a statement that it is acceptable and simple to establish one’s private space in a public area.

In conclusion, I believe that this realm of public art that I have explored is rare and encompasses various other art forms that lead to this artistic production. The fact that my goals have been achieved I am confident to say this was a successful experimentation process. I am pleased that the concept of this project was underlying the importance of society. However, this does not end here and there’s a lot more to come. I wish for this to become a trend and people begin to carry their own little boxes around in public. So come build your own space!

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bray, Anne. “The Community is Watching, and Replying: Art in Public Places and Spaces.” Leonardo 35.1 (2002): 15-21.

Colpitt, Frances. “Report from San Antonio: Jewel in the Rough.” Art in America 90.2 (2002): 58-65.

Durland, Steven. “Comments on “Sculpture, Theater, and Art Performance: Notes on the Convergence of the Arts”.” Leonardo 19.4 (1986): 356-7.

Gay, Pamela. “Installation Art: Actual Meets Virtual.” Digital Creativity 12.4 (2001): 228-35.

Hartzell, Emily, and Nina Sobell. “Sculpting in Time and Space: Interactive Work.” Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 101-7.

Higgins, Dick. “Intermedia.” Leonardo 34.1 (2001): 49-54.

Lichty, Patrick. “The Cybernetics of Performance and New Media Art.” Leonardo 33.5, Eighth New York Digital Salon (2000): 351-4.

Marranca, Bonnie. “Performance History.” Performing Arts Journal 19.2 (1997): 115-20.

Saltz, David Z. “The Art of Interaction: Interactivity, Performativity, and Computers.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 55.2, Perspectives on the Arts and Technology (1997): 117-27.

Spencer, Jenny S. “Performance Art as Progressive Education.” Art Journal 60.1 (2001): 102-4.

Turim, Maureen. “Marina Abramovic’s Performance: Stresses on the Body and Psyche in Installation Art.” Camera Obscura.54 (2003): 98-117.

Ward, Frazer. “Some Relations between Conceptual and Performance Art.” Art Journal 56.4, Performance Art: (Some) Theory and (Selected) Practice at the End of This Century (1997): 36-40.

“Soap,” www.ubu.com/historical/gb/kaprow_recent.pdf

“Seed Bed,” itp.nyu.edu/…/vito_ acconci_seedbed_1972.jpg

“My Bed,” http://www.saatchi-gallery.co.uk/artists/tracey_emin.htm

“Cut Piece,” www.new-york-art.com/ Yes-Yoko-2.jpg

Project MINE

reemac — Wed, 19 Dec 2007 03:13:25 +0000

“Project Mine” aims to reinforce the existence and significance of private spaces within a public space, and stimulate awareness and curiosity within the intended audience. Through a series of prototypes in accordance with these objectives, I will study audience reactions.

Click to download

project_mine.pdf

Free Writing

reemac — Sun, 09 Dec 2007 23:01:15 +0000

Q What from the audio ‘Ten Faces of Innovation’ was successful to you when making your observations?

I am glad that I listened to the audio piece before conducting my observation. If I had not, I would have overlooked the most important techniques while conducting it.

The first thing I learnt was to observe with a fresh eye, and see things like I have never seen before. This is almost similar to ‘Vuja-De,’ which is exactly opposite to Deja-Vu. In the sense, seeing things as if you had never seen them, before being in the situation.

Most importantly, it is necessary to leave aside your knowledge and education and pre conceived notions. I learnt to judge things, but in fact observe and empathize with the person or situation under observation.

It is vital that one looks at problems in an innovative way and find creative ways to solve the problems. I learnt to pick up observations and information “from trash bins” as in find insight from the least expected places.

What I learnt most is that a successful observation would be when you finally have enough information to let you form a pattern through your study.

If I had not known these factors before, I fell I would have been quite biased in my observation and also less open-minded.

Q What interesting and non-obvious things did you learn/like from this audio?

One thing that has stuck in my head so far is what Steven Berlin said. He stressed on the negative ideas and the negative impact that video games were actually known for, some examples being violence, addiction and immortality. Once upon a time, I thought the same way. Then he goes on to stress on how virtual communication has grown to be in demand in society and taking the passive form and making it as interactive as possible.

To this, Ed Castranova adds that the ‘software’ of video games is itself what immerses people in the activity that enhances growth of population in the online world. I found these key discoveries and statements awakening.

Ivan went a few more steps ahead and actually implemented these beliefs by inventing the game, which aimed to spread world peace. I think his idea was ‘Genius’.

He actually took real world situations and applied it in the virtual world. His game very interestingly, helped people battle corruption and other social problems.

Q Free Writing on ‘Things that make us Smart’

Norman addresses the external aids that make the human mind more intelligent. He sheds light on the most important aids to be pen and paper, and skills of reading and writing that go along with it. What I found most interesting in his piece of writing where he added dialogue between Socrates and Phaedrus and how they talk about books, writing and reading destroy reason and thought of the human mind.

In my opinion, I always thought of books to be the purest form of education, which also extended into a source of entertainment. But when Socrates introduced the realm of reflection it made me realize how we are being dominated and emotionally imprisoned by the author of our reading material. The fact that he emphasized on questioning and examining provided me with an extra purpose to read. Through Socrates’s discussions and beliefs I comprehend how we are chained by the author and how influenced we get by his/her piece of writing. But at the same time I agree with the fact that it is in the hands of the reader to be influenced or drawn in by the author. The most interesting part was when Socrates says that the author does not come along with the book hence, it is impossible to question or examine anything the reader might want to explore. Before reading this article, I never thought about the negative aspects of a book. I understand how Norman stresses on the power of representation and how we can control ways of making things harder or easier for ourselves. This is something I truly believe in. This belief can also be applied in our daily lives where we are ‘representing’ our lives and its how we make or break it. But of course the detail that goes into, regarding the significance and methods of various numbers and concepts being represented well, to best suit our needs and enhance our comprehension is phenomenal.

Q Define each area and explain the use of each area.

A Prototype, an artifact can almost be termed as 3-Dimensional when it comes to its effectiveness. The three main areas that are collaborated in building a successful prototype are as follows:

•Role: While looking at a prototype and studying it functionality, it is considered to be under the role category. A Prototype can be characterized under Role if the experimenter or the designers are looking at ‘how it serves the function of the users,’ and what ‘role’ it will play in their lives.

• Look ‘n’ feel: Is basically when the prototype is based more on imagining/visualizing the concept that the prototype is used for a complete sensory experience.

• Implementation: Talks about the techniques that are used or could be used in the prototype.

• Integration: is basically a complete and coherent composition of all three characters; Role, Look ‘n’ feel and implementation in a prototype that it serves.
Right now our prototype is leaning more toward the ‘Role’ character but is also looking at the look ‘n’ feel element of it.

Final PROJECT – Stage 1 contd…2

reemac — Tue, 27 Nov 2007 18:02:16 +0000

Questions?????

Q What is it?
It is an installation art piece that led to becoming a performance art piece with myself being the prototype.

Q Who is it designed for?
It is actually a little difficult to specify who exactly the audience is, for, the target is a vast one.
i would love to say the general masses. However, anybody who is able to understand and interpret the meaning and significance of their private space in their social world is the target audience of this art piece or experiment. If i were to distinguish them it would be men, women, boys and girls, with a specific age group starting from 10 years and on.

Q What is it designed to do?
It is designed to reinforce the meaning of owning your private space in public spaces in society. Factors of defining the appropriate meanings of what public and private spaces are will be addresses through this performance. It could also lead to a debate on what public and private space is, individually and its importance to every human member in the social dog-eat-dog world. Indirectly, it is designed to remind people their expected/ accepted and behavioral roles in their social circles or worlds.

Q What kind of technology does it explore?
As of now it doesn’t incorporate any sort of digital technology, but through the course of its development with time, the art piece will go through different stages of evolution with the help of several methods of prototyping and iterations, and once it approaches its stage of maturity i will undoubtedly find ways to incorporate a more modern and contemporary side to its functioning with the help of technology.

Q Why should we care about it?
Even though this might be lame and mere, the one motivation that drove me to redefining the importance and significance of private v/s public spaces is the fact that when I came to New York city a few months ago I was made to share a room with someone for the first time in my life. Me being the only child, I found it impossible to do so. On the other hand, I come from Dubai, which is a modern city but yet not as, it is heavily dominated by Islam where there are many restrictions and norms that control and drive peoples behavior outside their homes. For example, kissing on the streets in New York is acceptable for in Dubai one could be imprisoned for this act. Here already the debate of a private act being done in a public space arises. Wherein, one needs to determine that they are creating their private moments hence a private space in a public space in society.
This definitely can be defined as a culture-shock or a culture driven situation. Hence, we should consider there cultural barriers and other restrictions depending on the world or society we will in and begin to care about what is public versus what is private.

It is surely something we could care about as every human feels the need to seek a private spot/space/niche for themselves in this social world, however, people mught have different ways to actually inerpret their meaning of it.

Q Where will we see or what is the project’s life beyond the classroom, how does it make a difference?
This project is different as it starts in the classroom but is taken outside directly to the public to enhance the understanding and comprehension of this issue. It is going to be conducted in the real world and on busy streets and locations. It is devised to shock and arouse the sensitivities and emotions in the target audience. It is not just for self-fullfillment but also to make a statement in society.
How it makes a difference is mostly explained above about how this art piece/experiment will reconstruct, redefine and remind the ways and what is expected out of the people according to their social standing in the social world. To conclude, this is not necessarily a site-specific project.

PROTOTYPES

Final PROJECT – Stage 1 contd…

reemac — Tue, 20 Nov 2007 01:03:56 +0000

Related Works:

Sorted in the following format:-
• title of work and author/designer/artist
• brief description of project  • relevance of the project to your motivations

• ‘Seedbed’ – By: Vito Acconci
• In Seedbed Acconci lay hidden underneath a gallery-wide ramp installed at the Sonnabend Gallery, masturbating while vocalizing into a loudspeaker his fantasies about the visitors walking above him on the ramp.
• One motivation behind Seedbed was to involve the public in the work’s production by creating a situation of reciprocal interchange between artist and viewer.

• ‘My Bed’: By Tracey Emin
• The artwork generated considerable media furore, particularly over the fact that the bedsheets were stained with body secretions and the floor had items from the artist’s room (such as condoms, a pair of knickers with menstrual period stains, other detritus, and functional, everyday objects, including a pair of slippers. The bed was presented as it had been when Emin had not got up from it for several days due to suicidal depression brought on by relationship difficulties.
• My Bed has very quickly come to symbolise a certain kind of art, usually referred to as conceptual art, which is appreciated by much of the art world.

• ‘The Singing Sculpture’: Gilbert & George
They refuse to disassociate their performances from their everyday lives, insisting that everything they do is art. The pair regard themselves as “living sculptures”.
• They covered themselves in gold metallic paint, stood on a table, and mimed to a recording of Flanagan and Allen’s song “Underneath the Arches”, sometimes for hours at a time.
• The fact that they were performing themselves to create their art.

• ‘Soap’ – A Happening – By: Allan Kaprow
• 1st morning:
clothes dirtied by urination
1st evening:
clothes washed
(in the sea)
(in the laundromat)
2nd morning:
cars dirtied with jam
on a busy street
cars cleaned
(in a parking lot)
(in a car-wash)
2nd evening:
bodies dirtied with jam
bodies buried in mounds
at the sea edge
bodies cleaned by the tide

• A happening is a performance, event or situation meant to be considered as art. Part of the Fluxus Movement where performances were usually brief and simple performances meant to blur the lines between performer and audience, performance and reality. The Happening is performed according to plan but without rehearsal, audience, or repetition. It is art but seems closer to life.

• ‘Cut Piece’, By: Yoko Ono
• A protest for peace, during which she sat on stage and invited the audience to use scissors to cut off her clothing until she was naked. Cutting the clothing away would be an act that destroyed the social protections and in a way, be a rape.
• Ono was an explorer of conceptual art and performance art.

• ‘Fountain’ – Marcel Duchamp
• The urinal signed with the pseudonym R. Mutt that shocked the art world in 1917, was selected in 2004 as “the most influential artwork of the 20th century”.
• ‘Readymade Objects that were part of his installation art piece.

• ‘Lipstick’ – Claes Oldenberg
• Sculptures, though quite large, often have interactive capabilities. One such interactive early sculpture was a soft sculpture of a tube of lipstick which would deflate unless a participant re-pumped air into it.
• Taking small objects in daily life and reconstructing them on a large scale.

• ‘Throwing 4 Balls in the Air to Get a Square’, John Baldessari
• The artist attempted to do just that, photographing the results, and eventually selecting the “best out of 36 tries”, with 36 being the determining number just because that is the standard number of shots on a roll of film.
• Intermedia (performance with photography)

• Self-Portrait as a ‘Fountain’– By: Bruce Nauman
• He imagines himself to be a figure on a fountain, is projecting a thin jet of water towards the camera.
• Interested in is absurdity of his art work.

• ‘Untitled’ – Kristina Müntzing
• It could be seen as an ironic art historical comment from the artist, but more important is that these kinds of laundry bags is a symbol of all the people travelling around Europe in search for a better life. You see them at bus- and railway stations, with all their belongings stuffed in these bags.
• A statement of social meaning and concern.

•’Organic Honey’ – Joan Jonas
• The artist herself performing in her New York loft as Organic Honey, her seminal alter-ego invented as an “electronic erotic seductress,” whose doll-like visage seen reflected bits on camera explored the fragmented female image and women’s shifting roles. For Jonas, in Organic Honey and earlier performances, the mirror became a symbol of (self-) portraiture, representation, the body, and real vs. imaginary, while also sometimes adding an element of danger and a connection to the audience that was integral to the work.
• Highly conceptual artist – exploring social topics.

• ‘Writing With Both Hands’, Alighiero e Boetti
• a close-up of the artist’s left and right hands simultaneously writing a date on a wall: “Giovedi ventiquattro settembre” (Thursday 24 September). The hands move away from each other as they write, and the further his arms spread apart, the further back the camera shot retreats, until his fully outstretched arms extend right across the screen. This synchrony between the movement of the figure and the camera lens zooming out is supported by a visual symmetry.
• Interesting exploration of the absurd.

Illustrations

Works Cited

Bray, Anne. “The Community is Watching, and Replying: Art in Public Places and Spaces.” Leonardo 35.1 (2002): 15-21.

Colpitt, Frances. “Report from San Antonio: Jewel in the Rough.” Art in America 90.2 (2002): 58-65.

Durland, Steven. “Comments on “Sculpture, Theater, and Art Performance: Notes on the Convergence of the Arts”.” Leonardo 19.4 (1986): 356-7.

Gay, Pamela. “Installation Art: Actual Meets Virtual.” Digital Creativity 12.4 (2001): 228-35.

Hartzell, Emily, and Nina Sobell. “Sculpting in Time and Space: Interactive Work.” Leonardo 34.2 (2001): 101-7.

Higgins, Dick. “Intermedia.” Leonardo 34.1 (2001): 49-54.

Lichty, Patrick. “The Cybernetics of Performance and New Media Art.” Leonardo 33.5, Eighth New York Digital Salon (2000): 351-4.

Marranca, Bonnie. “Performance History.” Performing Arts Journal 19.2 (1997): 115-20.

Saltz, David Z. “The Art of Interaction: Interactivity, Performativity, and Computers.” The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism 55.2, Perspectives on the Arts and Technology (1997): 117-27.

Spencer, Jenny S. “Performance Art as Progressive Education.” Art Journal 60.1 (2001): 102-4.

Turim, Maureen. “Marina Abramovic’s Performance: Stresses on the Body and Psyche in Installation Art.” Camera Obscura.54 (2003): 98-117.

Ward, Frazer. “Some Relations between Conceptual and Performance Art.” Art Journal 56.4, Performance Art: (Some) Theory and (Selected) Practice at the End of This Century (1997): 36-40.

FINAL PROJECT – Stage 1

reemac — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 19:34:29 +0000

Stage 1- Problem definition, Analysis and Research

Questions and/or Motivations:
Make a list of 2-4 primary questions that explain what it is that you are trying to discover. OR, illustrate the primary motivations for your work with design and technology. Your primary questions or motivations may contain a set of sub-questions/motivations as well.

Questions
• Question Types of spaces.
• What defines Public spacs?
• What defines Private spaces?
• What are peoples reactions and preferences in both spaces?
• How to differentiate/draw he line between the 2 types of spaces?
• What is considered Controversial?
• What are the reactions of the audience?
• What are the different ways i can build a private space in the most public areas?

Motivations/Objectives
• I want to be part of my art and be the prototype
• Even though i aim aiming to create a private space i want to create an interactive experience through triangulation.
• I want to evke shock/curiosity in my audience.
• I want to clearly define public and private space.
• Be a bit of a rebel!

Illustrations

Social Network Triangulation Assignment

reemac — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 04:17:19 +0000

Part 1: Observation

Threadless.com

Threadless is a community-centered online apparel store that derives all of its T-shirt designs from members of its online community. Designers upload their T-shirt designs to the website where visitors and members of the community score them on a scale of 0 to 5. On average, around 700 designs will compete to be selected in any given week. The staff then selects the top six designs for that week. Each designer selected receives $2,000 in cash as well as either an additional $200 in cash or $500 in store credit.

Nevertheless, in mid-2006 Threadless expanded in a more traditional direction, adding shirts designed by selected artists to their store, which are not subject to the voting process, known as Threadless Select.

The shirts are run in limited batches. When shirts are sold out customers can request a reprint. However this only happens when there is enough demand and is ultimately up to Threadless. New shirts are released on Mondays.

• How are users filtered?
Users or members are not filtered, you can be part of the community as long as you have a design and want to be voted/ or win some money or you can be part of it just to score designs.

• How are connections made?
Connections are made simply by signing up and of course editing your profile.
A typical profile:

• How is it organized?
Organization is Great!!!

Triangulation between individuals and groups:

1) Score Designs
Basically here, designers are rated by those users who have a login name and are registered on the site.
So here, people who dont know each other are actually being graded by one another. And the winners fate depends on the judges panel who are actually the members of the site and not necessarily the admin.

2)Tee-rific Photos:
Members put up pictures of themselves in threadless T-shirts, and add them to the gallery. So eventually this gallery is of people who might not even know each other, but at the end of the day are part of the same social network. You also get store credit of $1.50 every time you upload a picture.

3) Blog Forum:
Members comment on each others work and exchange and share ideas, thoughts and opinions.

4) Street Team:
This is really interesting. Hence, it becomes more of a viral marketing technique, where the link is forwarded to people and eventually and they might not even know each other.

5) Threadspotting:
The members are given a chance to share images/videos according to the ‘Threadspotting’ theme.
So they might share material which is based on complete strangers. Ex. This one on You Tube

Social Network Triangulation Assignment

reemac — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 04:16:31 +0000

Part II: Research and Analysis

Social Software works in Triangles
By: Ton Zijlstra

Ton takes Flickr as an example to relate his thoughts on Social Networking and as an object around which he looks for existing relationships, and scouts out possible new ones.
In general he say thats Flickr works in a triangle: person, picture/bookmark, and tag(s). Or more abstract a person, an object of sociality, and some descriptor. In every triangle there always needs to be a person and an object of sociality. The third point of the triangle is free to define as it were.

These elements enhance the process of triangulation for example, build connections to people based on their current interest, albeit a picture, a location, an event, a bookmark, a blogpost or a document.
Ton expresses that social networks that do not offer you the possibility to explore all sides of a triangle, aren’t useful as a social medium. For example, a bookmarking service that does say how many others bookmarked the same thing, but does not let you explore who these people are or lets you see who uses what tags, only the tags used by themselves, doesn’t do much in a social sense.
Social software/networks, Ton thinks is social because it puts relationships in the center view, and less the information that flows through these relationships. The possibility of triangulation allows you to also extend and broaden both existing and new relationships into new information domains, and thus increases the likelihood of new networks of relationships and meaning emerging from the background noise.

Source: http://www.zylstra.org/blog/archives/2006/07/social_software.html

Thoughts on Facebook

By: Tracy Mitrano
Director of IT Policy and Computer Policy & Law Program, Cornell University April, 2006

Tracy expresses that Facebook, along with much of the Internet, is a great innovation that allows users to express their humanity and an opportunity to create new communities. She thinks it represents a forum in which one can make choices about their identity, at least in so far as one chooses to represent themselves publicly. And that freedom does not suggest that one can do so with ‘impunity’, however, Because we live in a society in which expression is judged in legal, policy and even personal ways, it is important to remember the consequences of that expression no matter how fun in the moment it might seem to be.
She takes it to a more personal level and advises to social network users to Think not only about what identity they create for themselves online, but also how they represent others. At the very least, she encourages them to be sure that they take their feelings into account. she says, “You would not want to find yourself as a defendant in a tort case that alleged you invaded their privacy.”

Tracy talks about the freedom to post, what one wants comes with the responsibility to do so in his/her interests not only for today, but also for who and what the person wants to be tomorrow. And also think of your personal safety. Cyberspace can have the effect of creating an illusion of intimacy that could prove dangerous for users in reality. She says, “Use the manners and mores of behavior in physical space both in how you present yourself and how you interpret other people on-line as a guide.”

Most importantly, she stresses on respect between users and encourages people never to say things they wouldn’t want to hear about themselves.

http://www.cit.cornell.edu/policy/memos/facebook.html

A privacy paradox: Social Networking in the United States
By: Susan B. Barnes

I found this article really interesting because, it talks about the privacy issue once again, with social networks. Even though it is very similar to the article above and the one we read for homework, it has some novel ideas and opinions.

Susan says, Teenagers will freely give up personal information to join social networks on the Internet. Afterwards, they are surprised when their parents read their journals. Communities are outraged by the personal information posted by young people online and colleges keep track of student activities on and off campus. The posting of personal information by teens and students has consequences.

For example, The personal information revealed by teenagers on these sites also attracts sexual predators. There have been a number of reports of sexual predators locating victims through social networking sites.
The popularity of social networking sites on the Internet introduces the use of mediated–communication into the relationship development process. Teenagers now use organized social Web sites to meet others and explore identity formation. These sites can be viewed within a larger trend that shifts the influence of interpersonal correspondence to mediated messages.
Social networking tools, have almost become indispensable for teenagers, who often think theirs lives are private as long as their parents are not reading their journals.

Source: http://www.firstmonday.org/issues/issue11_9/barnes/

Postmortem. Qs 1&2

reemac — Tue, 30 Oct 2007 14:54:46 +0000

1. Strengths (what did the solution do very well?)  
To begin with we had more ideas than we needed. We needed about 4-9 ideas and we actually had 10. We were then able to categorize them into groups like necessities, games, creating curiosity and Action. To our advantage we were able to integrate many of these ideas even though they fell into different categories, like cross- grouping. For example, we wanted to merge the lounge idea with the bonfire and the play of shadows. This made our experimentation process very versatile.

For our first idea we wanted to implement the ‘Cardboard Cubes’. This was extended and we eventually created two variations of this. The first one, we had a spinning brown cardboard box almost cube shaped and we left markers that were tied with string to the pole that the cube balanced on. For the second variation, we bought 8 white cube shaped cardboard boxes that were 24X24X24 and we created a colossal white cube. This was visually interesting and there was a lot of improvement that could be seen from the first to this variation. This was much larger than the first one and was more in proportion to the actual black cube. Also, this was white and hence showed a stark contrast in colors. These variations of the first experiment achieved our goals directly. It increased activity on the island, invited more people and maximized social interaction and triangulation.

Our implementation of this experiment was definitely a strength in itself, because we bought good quality boxes that helped us create the fabulous structure both times. The strength as a whole for this project was the fact that the strategy of the project was very welcoming. It was an activity where people had to come and share thoughts with words and drawings which they illustrated on the cube. It was interesting to see peoples emotions and how each of them interpreted it differently. Our implementation techniques was the strength that actually brought us so far in the process, because without the idea being well executed we doubt the goal could have been achieved.

The second experimentation was based on the ‘Spinning festival’. We had very few, countable strengths here. One being the fact that the projections we wanted to create was visually capturing, and thats bout it.

2. Weaknesses (what could be done to improve the design?)  

As for the first experiment, we could have got a strong base right from the start for the very first variation. As for the second, we were not as well prepared for the second implementation as we were for the first. First of all, for the second variation, the base was not at all strong, and the cube would not balance. We wasted a lot of time actually experimenting and playing with the structure to get it together and ready and working on the site itself. By the time the sun had almost set. We had to cut the holes over and over again for this second time. After we did all that we needed to make it stand upright, it wouldn’t. We then decided to cut an extra amount of the base of the cube, which provided it more balance to stand on the little wooden base we reused from the first time.

This time round it did work! And worked well! However, our implementation strategy was much weaker than the first and it almost followed an experimentation process of its own. In our opinion, if we had more time, we could have discussed and theoretically devised the installation process, before we put it into action.

Another problem we faced in the last few stages of the second variation, was that people eventually stole the markers so people who passed by and wanted didn’t have a pen were not able to scribble on.

As for the second experiment, ‘The Spinning festival’, we considered it to be a major failure. Although we anticipated success out of this, the projector wouldn’t work for more than 3 minutes at a time. We considered this to be a big interference in the process. Secondly, we had to re-fix the colors that were projected on the cube because we did not imagine it to look so different on the black surface. Also, we faced the problem of lack of pedestrians maybe because it was a weekday and later in the evening. As our other experiments proved to be more successful on Saturdays and before the sun set.

Animation: ‘Dirty’ – Redone

reemac — Tue, 16 Oct 2007 18:30:38 +0000

This is the first assignment, redone.