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Nonverbal Instructions sketch

Blog sign

Here is a draft of what our wall instructions might look like. Please leave me any comments about how to alter it to make it more legible.

For Thursday's class

- 1 sentence explanation of what you want people to take away from your project (honed from your work in class)
"An idea of the varying voices in the SPURA community and a compulsion to tell us their story and voice their opinion in public about their community"

- 1 sentence explanation of what you want people to take away from the exhibition
SPURA is an area where a diverse range of people live, each of whom has something important to contribute to the future of the area; this exhibition serves as a catalyst for further dialogue about SPURA.

- 1 paragraph scenario + diagram of what a person will do when they encounter your project
The visitor will enter the space and notice the comfy chairs. She will then see the bright and colorful sign above the chair that says "SPURA Speaks!" and the headphones hanging on the wall above colorful mini-shelves that hold audio recorders. She walks over to the chairs and sees written directions near the headphones that tell her to "Listen to the voices of SPURA and record your voice by pushing the red button." She sits in the comfy chair and puts the headphones on, intrigued by the interesting mix of voices speaking to her. She then pushes the button with the red sticker on it and tells her own story. Then, she goes into the elevator and heads upstairs to the CARE center.

Bring + be ready to execute:
- a plan of how to draw/represent your interaction on the wall so we can play along and test it out + give feedback - I will provide paper, pens, tape, cards and post-its as rough materials to work with. We will do this for the first half of class.
I think we can just draw some headphones, the instructions, and the audio recorder on different pieces of paper and stick them where they would be in the space near some chairs.

Other ideas?

Here is a version of the same sound arrangement, but louder and in stereo:

http://www.mediafire.com/?u2yynnmymi2

More Common Room Photos

Some more photos...

Common Room Exhibition Space

Last night we all met at the Common Room Exhibition Space where we will be putting together our class collective exhibition. There are definitely a few barriers that we will need to work through as a class. The space is subject to fairly heavy foot traffic, and the nature of the other businesses in the building require that our exhibition is relatively unobtrusive. Additionally, we will have to figure out a way to work around or incorporate the permanent signage in the space. Here are a few photos of what we have to work with.

Second try

We tried again today to gather stories on the LES, but no one participated! Hannah and I were trying to figure out why it didn't work today...maybe you readers out there could help us! Here is what was different than last time:

• It was a Sunday morning, not a Monday
• We were in front of St. Mary's Church, not near Clinton St.
• There was only two of us this time (Hannah and I) instead of all three
  
• We had a lace white tablecloth instead of blue fabric on our table
• The table was higher and we were standing
• We were on the north side instead of the south side of the street
• We brought pretzels and fruit instead of cookies

Also, there were a good amount of people walking past us, many of whom read our sign and smiled, but did not stop to talk to us. We'll see what happens when we go again on Tuesday with the whole class. We think we should try standing on the corner of Essex and Grand next.

Here is a sample version of our sound project!

Today we did our make shift sound interview station on Grand and Clinton streets. We had many more people approach us than we expected! I will be editing the recordings into two versions to ponder over in class on Tuesday. We learned a couple of things we would want to change for when we go again on Thursday to record.

No table from GOLES

I found out last night from Joel that they actually won't let us borrow a table. So KMart it is.

Change of plans

Today, we decided against asking people questions because we thought it would be intrusive and unlike the idea of our project, which is to let people to come to us. So instead we split up; Jamie started working on the posters and Hannah and I went to look for a table. After walking all over chinatown and going to every restaurant supply store in Manhattan, we ended up at KMart and found a table for $34.99. We then called GOLES to see if we could borrow their card table and found out that it would probably be OK for us to do so, which would save us some money.

On monday we are going to test out a number of ways of getting people to talk to us. We are going to see what happens if we have food, we are trying two different signs, and we are also going to see what happens if we put images of the SPURA area out on the table.

We'll see what happens Monday afternoon!

Plan for field work day

Tomorrow at 2pm we are planning on asking people at the site what would get them to stop and talk to us at a table. They might have ideas that we haven't already thought of, outside of giving people snacks and having pretty signs. Although we'll only be able to gauge this from people who respond in English for now, it might give us an idea of what we can do when we carry out our story-gathering project for real. I am also going to bring my tape recorder in case we want to test out the ideas people give to us.

Work Plan: see google doc

Hello group,

Please add or subtract from the google doc I sent that is a start to our Work Plan, due next Thursday.

Katie's ideas

• What medium(s) does our project take?

I've been really into the idea of having people draw lately. I would be very interested in having residents map out both a sort of timeline of their relationship with SPURA and their visions for SPURA's future. These drawings could then be translated into some sort of video project that gets project in the site area (maybe?).

• What is the scope?

I can see our group project having three components: first a person-to-person art-making interaction; second, a public presentation in the public sphere on site; third, a public presentation about the project at the New School (in conjunction with the rest of the class).

• What are our goals?

I think our multiple goals would involve: gathering resident's perspectives about SPURA in a non-verbal way, engaging the rest of the site residents in a discussion about SPURA, and then finally opening that discussion up to NYC at large (including the media).

• What is the question our project tries to answer?

How can we engage New Yorkers in a discussion about SPURA, sparked by the (visual) stories of residents themselves?

• What is our strategy?

To use interactive design/research methods to gather non-verbal stories from residents and turning the results into a publicly displayed installation on site.

What are our production plans?
What is a timeline of what we need to get done?
What role does art play in our project?

• Who is our audience?

People that live near SPURA, LESers, and New Yorkers in general.

Monday's Homework

Hey Guys -
Here's a look at what I was thinking about for the project on an individual level. I am totally open to compromise though, on pretty much everything except that I do think that we should try to exhibit on site. I'll try to put together some articles about temporary landscapes and post them for you all to read if you have the time.
- Hannah

* What medium(s) does our project take?
I am primarily interested in temporary landscapes, and pop-up installations, and their ability to reach those that are otherwise not visibly involved in the issues surrounding SPURA. I think (given our time constraints) this could be most effectively implemented through the use of a video projected landscape (physical, imagined) of some sort.
* What is the scope?
I see our role as purely facilitative. It is not our place to decide on a solution for the site, rather, our project should aim only to act as an effective catalyst towards positive dialogue within and between the community and the government.
* What are our goals?
To present an installation, or series of small installations, that allows the community to revision the SPURA site - preferably in a non-verbal manner so that we may contact those who are otherwise disenfranchised by language barriers.
* What is the question our project tries to answer?
Can our installation alter perceptions of the site in a way that will lead to community interaction?
* What is our strategy?
As I earlier suggested, I am interested in those on the periphery of the SPURA controversy. We've only recently been introduced to the stories of those who live within the community but bought their apartments at market rate, and I have read almost no recent Asian or Jewish perspectives - despite the demographics of the area. Further, the language barrier is an incredibly difficult hurdle to jump, so I have been forced to truly examine how I feel the installation could best reach the entire community. I think that, more than anything, we should focus on non-verbal communication. I don't think that this would necessarily mean we couldn't have sound, but translating would be too time intensive.
* What are our production plans?
I feel very strongly that we should exhibit at least our part of the class project on site. Preferably, I would like to see a video projection from within the parking lots - either onto a screen set up in the parking lot or onto a building. Alternately, we can explore the use of local venues. On a smaller scale, we can talk to neighborhood cafe's and restaurants about projecting onto their walls. If we decide not to make use of projection and instead opt for a more physical installation, I would still prefer to see it in a public space on or near the SPURA site.
* What is a timeline of what we need to get done?

* What role does art play in our project?

* Who is our audience?
Those who might otherwise be unaware or uninvolved in SPURA happenings.

First Group Meeting

Hoorah! Hello Group!

So this is what we talked about today. (Nikita, sorry you couldn't make it, but this recap is for you).

Each of us is going to develop 2 ideas into (vague, yet specific) work plans that we will combine into one work plan on Monday, when we meet at 12pm at 2 w 13 on the 4th floor. Jamie will email us her ideas to look over for that meeting. The idea is to make a bigger proposal and narrow it down later.

Today we talked about that we are all interested in:

• Non-verbal communication
• Interactive art
• Doing an on-site project that is presented elsewhere, possible with GOLES or the church, or at New School
• Using resources we have
• Combining multiple media into a video format for presentation

Some other ideas that came up:

• Doing something in the park near SPURA (installation, event)?
• Calling attention to personal histories
• Putting what we come up with on You Tube
• Holding elected officials accountable through media coverage
• Objectivity vs. exploring potentials of different media
• Looking at people more personally, not just as demographics

Jamie was interested in using the data we collect with a non-verbal project as research. She is also interested in a sound installation that would simulate walking through SPURA or having residents engage in a model-making process of the SPURA site.

Hannah was interested in getting the perspective of people on the periphery, possibly using video installation or something like the confessional booth idea that Jamie brought up in class. She was also interested in video interviews that could be translated from various languages.

I am interested in involving the youth and the elderly. I would like to do a visual mapping project with residents, which could be combined with Jamie's sound installation idea in video format. I also had ideas about signage leading to the SPURA site, or having ways for people to mail their drawings of SPURA ideas to us or GOLES. I think it might also be fun to organize an informal party where people can talk about SPURA.

For our group work plan, we need to decide:

• What medium(s) does our project take?
• What is the scope?
• What are our goals?
• What is the question our project tries to answer?
• What is our strategy?
• What are our production plans?
• What is a timeline of what we need to get done?
• What role does art play in our project?
• Who is our audience?

Please post any ideas, photos, sketches, scans of your journals, or whatever you think you'd like to share with the group to this blog.