Always look on the bright side of life. That's what they say. Except that over-confidence will get you in the end. Feedback is essential. This article on Psy-Fi outlines the reasons why processes that have inherently long feedback loops are very hard to optimize and deserve a systematic approach to decision documentation and evaluation. I love the article because it really strikes at the heart of human nature. We are short-term beings, and for the most part cowards as well. Most of us don't even like to hear or see ourselves on record. There is something very frightening about seeing ourselves unrehearsed, and most of life is like that: unrehearsed and distracted. This is why I like the premise of the article: even if it seems that emotional intuitive decisions are quicker, have the courage and take the time to analyze and document how a decision is made. In the end, even if the decision ends up being the same, you'll have something to use as a basis for change if the decision didn't work out as expected. The discipline and commitment that it takes to do something like that though is unusual. The problem does not suggest its own antidote at all.
There is one thing in the article I don't quite agree with. I don't agree that if we did see the world as the mess it truly is that we would be depressed (and make better decisions). I think there is a nice middle ground between irrational exhuberance and irrational pessimism. The world is a mess, absolutely. But that's a reason to be realistic, look at the suffering directly, and try to help where possible. Seen from that angle, exhuberance and pessimism are both forms of laziness.
The systematic way of making stock picks for effective feedback could be applied to life in general if we were clear on what we were optimizing. With stock pics, we're optimizing a return on investment. What about life? I suspect there are lots of answers here. My personal favourite is that the motivation should be related to reducing suffering and increasing joy.
Thursday, September 10, 2009
Wednesday, September 09, 2009
Solitude and you (day 12)
I was listening to Spark this afternoon. William Deresiewicz was talking about solitude and wondering whether we've lost the ability to be by ourselves. He recalled asking some students about spending time alone and one student wondering what the point was of spending time alone ('what can you do alone that you can't do with someone else?'). At first the student's response seemed ludicrous to me. Of course being alone is different than being with someone. But perhaps I was too hasty to judge. It may all be in the contrast. Alone time can be being with fewer people than usual. I could also be that in an increasingly oral world, alone time is just less valuable. If you're not talking, you're not being. This would be in contrast to a more text-based world where writing (an introverted activity) is more common.
I just finished reading the book "Orality and Literacy" by Walter Ong in which he describes the qualities of an oral-based culture and how the rise of writing and literacy changed the culture. Near the end of the book he talks about a secondary orality arising. I can see this happening more and more. And looking at it this way, some of the characteristics of the primary oral culture are re-emerging. One of the qualities of an oral world is this propensity toward the concrete and the constant sharing of information. In a primary oral world, the information could not be written down so sharing was the only way for an idea to survive and also the only way to perfect an idea or technique over time. When writing came along, introspection came with it.
So here we are, in a world of constant conversation. The difference is that we are not as concrete as the primary oral cultures. We may be talking a lot but we may not be doing enough to really acquire deep knowledge. And then we're back to my earlier blog entry where I wonder about the disconnect between doing and networking. I love being alone so it's hard for me to picture how you could ever learn anything significant without spending lots of time alone.
It may be that alone time comes later in life stages now. It may be that alone time is just not as necessary anymore. It may be that there are so many people in the conversation that it only seems that no one is taking a breath.
I just finished reading the book "Orality and Literacy" by Walter Ong in which he describes the qualities of an oral-based culture and how the rise of writing and literacy changed the culture. Near the end of the book he talks about a secondary orality arising. I can see this happening more and more. And looking at it this way, some of the characteristics of the primary oral culture are re-emerging. One of the qualities of an oral world is this propensity toward the concrete and the constant sharing of information. In a primary oral world, the information could not be written down so sharing was the only way for an idea to survive and also the only way to perfect an idea or technique over time. When writing came along, introspection came with it.
So here we are, in a world of constant conversation. The difference is that we are not as concrete as the primary oral cultures. We may be talking a lot but we may not be doing enough to really acquire deep knowledge. And then we're back to my earlier blog entry where I wonder about the disconnect between doing and networking. I love being alone so it's hard for me to picture how you could ever learn anything significant without spending lots of time alone.
It may be that alone time comes later in life stages now. It may be that alone time is just not as necessary anymore. It may be that there are so many people in the conversation that it only seems that no one is taking a breath.
Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Container Art (day 11)
I'm still feeling weak so I'll keep this brief again.
The container art show at the PNE was a brainchild of Peter Male who designs the grounds of the PNE including the sand castle competition, the home exhibition (sponsored by Home Depot), the car painting area (old cars that anyone can take a brush to), and many other little experiences that are interspersed with the usual rides and games. What was interesting to me about the container art show (besides the fact that he put the whole thing together in 4 weeks from call to installation) was the fact that it blended so nicely with the other architecture at the PNE. There is something a little grungy about the fair grounds...something you would expect when you pay your entrance fee: the smell of greasy food, the call to play the games, the dings and clangs and bells, the crowds, the screams. To fit contemporary art in the midst of all that is no mean feat. To me, the containers were the bridge (and they were literally positioned that way) between the grunge and the art. And as Kyla observed, the people did read the space created by the containers as a gallery space worthy of a slower pace and greater attention to detail.
There is so much to say about the atmosphere of the place. There is music in the background, but individual containers can also have their own soundscape (one did, to great effect). Some containers are blocked off so you can only look in. Others are fully immersive experiences, a kind of low-tech cave. There were only eight containers so not an overwhelming amount. People can wander in and out on their way between places. At night the space transforms into a more live space with lights and louder music. Some of the containers specifically played to that time of day with well placed subtle lighting.
Container art is a growing movement apparently. I learned a lot just from hearing Peter talk about its origins in Italy. The appeal is its ability to come in, contain art, and get out. Very little footprint and no permanent marks. I'm not sure how Emily Carr will be involved in future container art exhibits but it seems like an exciting design and art challenge that we'd be crazy to pass up.
The container art show at the PNE was a brainchild of Peter Male who designs the grounds of the PNE including the sand castle competition, the home exhibition (sponsored by Home Depot), the car painting area (old cars that anyone can take a brush to), and many other little experiences that are interspersed with the usual rides and games. What was interesting to me about the container art show (besides the fact that he put the whole thing together in 4 weeks from call to installation) was the fact that it blended so nicely with the other architecture at the PNE. There is something a little grungy about the fair grounds...something you would expect when you pay your entrance fee: the smell of greasy food, the call to play the games, the dings and clangs and bells, the crowds, the screams. To fit contemporary art in the midst of all that is no mean feat. To me, the containers were the bridge (and they were literally positioned that way) between the grunge and the art. And as Kyla observed, the people did read the space created by the containers as a gallery space worthy of a slower pace and greater attention to detail.
There is so much to say about the atmosphere of the place. There is music in the background, but individual containers can also have their own soundscape (one did, to great effect). Some containers are blocked off so you can only look in. Others are fully immersive experiences, a kind of low-tech cave. There were only eight containers so not an overwhelming amount. People can wander in and out on their way between places. At night the space transforms into a more live space with lights and louder music. Some of the containers specifically played to that time of day with well placed subtle lighting.
Container art is a growing movement apparently. I learned a lot just from hearing Peter talk about its origins in Italy. The appeal is its ability to come in, contain art, and get out. Very little footprint and no permanent marks. I'm not sure how Emily Carr will be involved in future container art exhibits but it seems like an exciting design and art challenge that we'd be crazy to pass up.
Monday, September 07, 2009
Cars are heavy (day 10)
I just got hit by a car on my way back from the PNE. I was on my bike and I'm relatively ok but my bike is not ridable. Needless to say I'm feeling a little weird and shaky so I'm going to lie down and sleep off the headache.
The PNE was awesome and I will write about that later. I went with Kyla Mallett who was a great partner on the tour and the rides. We were there to see the Container Art show which was surprising and fresh. Really worth seeing but today is the last day the show is up.
The PNE was awesome and I will write about that later. I went with Kyla Mallett who was a great partner on the tour and the rides. We were there to see the Container Art show which was surprising and fresh. Really worth seeing but today is the last day the show is up.
Sunday, September 06, 2009
Marigrape Jam is women's work (day 9)
I have 15 minutes to post this because I just got back from my friend Zeenat's house. We made three litres of Coronation grape jam. We also make crab apple jelly together and call it Crab Apple Zinger. This jam we decided to name Marigrape. We went through many totally inappropriate names like Grapearia, Coronia, and Marape. A close contender was Grapenat.
All of this house work reminds me of Jennifer Schuler, a recent Master student at Emily Carr. She looks at the role and form of women's labour through the ritual performing of it and the use of the (usually) discarded remnants of the work to create new process-oriented objects. The colour pink is a repeated theme throughout her work. For example, in Traces of Labour she ritually paints a canvas each day using only the colour pink, and saves the cloth and soap from washing her hands. The cloth is then used to create imprints on paper. Thirty-one such imprints were shown in a calendar format at the last grad exhibition at Emily Carr University.
All of this house work reminds me of Jennifer Schuler, a recent Master student at Emily Carr. She looks at the role and form of women's labour through the ritual performing of it and the use of the (usually) discarded remnants of the work to create new process-oriented objects. The colour pink is a repeated theme throughout her work. For example, in Traces of Labour she ritually paints a canvas each day using only the colour pink, and saves the cloth and soap from washing her hands. The cloth is then used to create imprints on paper. Thirty-one such imprints were shown in a calendar format at the last grad exhibition at Emily Carr University.
Saturday, September 05, 2009
I like it, I don't like it (day 8)
I used to have big opinions. Lots of them. In my 20s life was a series of loud judgments and clear directions. I was known to be cutting in my pronouncements. Then I'm not so sure what happened, because getting older coincided with the rise of the web, but I think that by being privy to some many other opinions I suddenly started doubting my own. Everything started to occupy a grey zone. I had a crisis of self-doubt that still lingers today but has definitely morphed into more of an equanimous feeling.
Opinions now seem mere daily fickle pronouncements, not driving forces of motivation. My Facebook feed is full of opinions which I can 'like' or ignore and add my own. We have a running commentary on a deluge of information -- it's the crowd behaviour at its most chaotic and inane. It feels good to have an opinion. It makes us feel intelligent. As my friend Nathalie would say, it's a quick fix and it creates a lazy brain.
What's easy to forget is that beneath the fine-grained noisy 'feed' is the actual work being done, the knowledge being generated. Who is doing the work? and when? Ian Wojtowicz is an artist that is highlighting something interesting in his work at an upcoming exhibit at Skol in Montreal. From the writeup: "...the artist intends to identify a group of people, for the moment unknown, who constitute, in the artist’s words,"a small group of highly-connected but obscure Montrealers […] the loner friends of popular people"...". I find this concept very intriguing because I have a feeling that these loners might just be more likely to be effective knowledge producers. If you're not social networking all the time you might have more time create things. Of course in the back of my head I hear all kinds of counter arguments to this but seriously the people that are loners but that close to an amazing marketing potential have a good recipe for success. Have they figured it out? Or just lucked into that position? I wonder because something I think bad luck has given me a loner disposition. But maybe I need to rethink that.
Opinions now seem mere daily fickle pronouncements, not driving forces of motivation. My Facebook feed is full of opinions which I can 'like' or ignore and add my own. We have a running commentary on a deluge of information -- it's the crowd behaviour at its most chaotic and inane. It feels good to have an opinion. It makes us feel intelligent. As my friend Nathalie would say, it's a quick fix and it creates a lazy brain.
What's easy to forget is that beneath the fine-grained noisy 'feed' is the actual work being done, the knowledge being generated. Who is doing the work? and when? Ian Wojtowicz is an artist that is highlighting something interesting in his work at an upcoming exhibit at Skol in Montreal. From the writeup: "...the artist intends to identify a group of people, for the moment unknown, who constitute, in the artist’s words,"a small group of highly-connected but obscure Montrealers […] the loner friends of popular people"...". I find this concept very intriguing because I have a feeling that these loners might just be more likely to be effective knowledge producers. If you're not social networking all the time you might have more time create things. Of course in the back of my head I hear all kinds of counter arguments to this but seriously the people that are loners but that close to an amazing marketing potential have a good recipe for success. Have they figured it out? Or just lucked into that position? I wonder because something I think bad luck has given me a loner disposition. But maybe I need to rethink that.
Friday, September 04, 2009
Sensual water breathing (day 7)
Steve came back from swimming and said the water felt good. It surrounded his body, gently, sensually. I immediately could relate to what he was saying. I know that sensation of floating, gliding, blowing air bubbles, being surrounded.
This feeling of being surrounded by water is the metaphor I would like to invoke in relation to the lungs being in an environment filled with image and sound. The problem is that generally people associate the combination of lungs and water with anxiety and death. My intuition is that there is a way to depict the lungs in water without triggering this association. Char Davies' work Osmose associates breathing with movement in a way that could make you forget that you may have been moving in environments inhospitable to human breath. I think if the lungs weren't breathing, the water surroundings could seem peaceful, like in so many images we see of babies in utero and like the feeling that Steve described. The problem is really about the lungs breathing. So perhaps it may work to automatically create space around the lungs when they breathe out. A kind of air bubble that slowly dissipates. This way perhaps the feeling of suffocation or breathing water would not arise. There is still the issue of breathing in, but I wonder if we could deal with that by creating many small air bubbles as the lungs breathe in. The lungs would be creating their own air as they chose the media to breathe in. Could be an interesting effect.
The contrast between having the lungs in or out of the water could be quite evocative. The water environment is much slower, enclosed, sheltered, quiet, mysterious. The air environment is much more direct, insistent, dangerous, spacious, loud, social. Playing with these contrasts may work to invoke some of the feelings associated with different media environments and our reactions to them. What does it look like to be assaulted by media? What does it look like to be lured and seduced? What does it look like to like what we see or hear, hate, dislike? add on? forward? share? There are so many ways in which we are affected by media and participate in its affect on others.
In the next month we'll be working on getting a prototype of the lungs ready and creating visual effects reminiscent of water, fog, air movement, etc. It would be great at the beginning of next month to have the lungs animated and surrounded by media, not necessarily breathing the media yet, but just be able to see which environments we'd like to work with for the next iteration.
This feeling of being surrounded by water is the metaphor I would like to invoke in relation to the lungs being in an environment filled with image and sound. The problem is that generally people associate the combination of lungs and water with anxiety and death. My intuition is that there is a way to depict the lungs in water without triggering this association. Char Davies' work Osmose associates breathing with movement in a way that could make you forget that you may have been moving in environments inhospitable to human breath. I think if the lungs weren't breathing, the water surroundings could seem peaceful, like in so many images we see of babies in utero and like the feeling that Steve described. The problem is really about the lungs breathing. So perhaps it may work to automatically create space around the lungs when they breathe out. A kind of air bubble that slowly dissipates. This way perhaps the feeling of suffocation or breathing water would not arise. There is still the issue of breathing in, but I wonder if we could deal with that by creating many small air bubbles as the lungs breathe in. The lungs would be creating their own air as they chose the media to breathe in. Could be an interesting effect.
The contrast between having the lungs in or out of the water could be quite evocative. The water environment is much slower, enclosed, sheltered, quiet, mysterious. The air environment is much more direct, insistent, dangerous, spacious, loud, social. Playing with these contrasts may work to invoke some of the feelings associated with different media environments and our reactions to them. What does it look like to be assaulted by media? What does it look like to be lured and seduced? What does it look like to like what we see or hear, hate, dislike? add on? forward? share? There are so many ways in which we are affected by media and participate in its affect on others.
In the next month we'll be working on getting a prototype of the lungs ready and creating visual effects reminiscent of water, fog, air movement, etc. It would be great at the beginning of next month to have the lungs animated and surrounded by media, not necessarily breathing the media yet, but just be able to see which environments we'd like to work with for the next iteration.
Thursday, September 03, 2009
Spend to live another day (day 6)
A few months ago I finished listening to the audio version of the book "The denial of death" by Ernest Becker (I don't really recommend the audiobook, it's a bit relentless. But I do recommend the documentary "Flight from Death" derived from the book). The book postulates that our refusal to look at death directly makes us blindly spend our energy to "immortality projects", thing that will transcend death or make us feel part of a greater whole that will live on. It can also increase our intolerance of those who don't support our grand project. One example is the nationalistic feeling that compels us to support the troops, or whatever else is meant to make the 'us' bigger than 'them'. If asked I bet most people would assume that if our life was longer, trending to immortality say, our fear of death would diminish. The point made in the book which has stayed with me is that accidental death would not disappear and that if the possibility of living forever existed, our preservation extinct would increase in proportion. The example they give is that it is much more tragic to die at 7 if you could live forever. This is probably why vampires are always given super healing powers with very specific ways to die. If dying was too easy, the immortality would be meaningless. If there was no way to die, the immortality would be a life sentence. The other problem with immortality (one that was beautifully illustrated in the last Godric episode of True Blood) is that laziness would be rampant. Why do today what you could do tomorrow? Death is a powerful motivator. And not just big death, all the little deaths too. We do a lot to keep things from deteriorating. It is an interesting exercise to think of what motivation might exist outside it, or in spite of it.
We want to live forever. It's true, the fear of death permeates our being and influences the amount of the risk we are willing to take. This is why most of us take fewer risks as we get older. I would even say that it's why most of us gain weight as we get older. It's a protection instinct. We think if we expend less of our life energy we'll have more later -- a savings account approach to life which turns out to have disastrous consequences. The less you move, the sicker you get. That's just the way it goes. I think it's probably best to embrace the impermanence and just spend spend spend that life energy.
We want to live forever. It's true, the fear of death permeates our being and influences the amount of the risk we are willing to take. This is why most of us take fewer risks as we get older. I would even say that it's why most of us gain weight as we get older. It's a protection instinct. We think if we expend less of our life energy we'll have more later -- a savings account approach to life which turns out to have disastrous consequences. The less you move, the sicker you get. That's just the way it goes. I think it's probably best to embrace the impermanence and just spend spend spend that life energy.
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Generosity (day 5)
Today I was part of a great meeting with some folks at lat49. Suzi Webster and I were there to talk about a potential collaboration. There was generosity all around as people contributed many creative ideas freely. I am so grateful when those moments happen. I think this bodes very well for our project and of course this generosity of spirit is no doubt a sign of a well run company.
Generosity has been on my mind a lot lately as the start of term piles on more duties than I dare to even think about as I write this (lest I compulsively go send another email). Many times in meetings, I sense in myself and those around me a reluctance to commit to the task at hand. The fear may be that if we commit then we might add to our task list. For me, generosity seems to be the antidote. If I can muster the courage to look at what's needed and give freely then things get more manageable even as my task list grows. It just feels better to not hold back.
Generosity has been on my mind a lot lately as the start of term piles on more duties than I dare to even think about as I write this (lest I compulsively go send another email). Many times in meetings, I sense in myself and those around me a reluctance to commit to the task at hand. The fear may be that if we commit then we might add to our task list. For me, generosity seems to be the antidote. If I can muster the courage to look at what's needed and give freely then things get more manageable even as my task list grows. It just feels better to not hold back.
Tuesday, September 01, 2009
Time, space and apple pie (day 4)
I just put an apple pie in the oven. It takes time to make an apple pie. It's full of suspense too. It involves no digital resources....oh...except for the recipe from America's Test Kitchen...and...the digital readout on the oven. There is something to do with your body and mind for about 2 full hours. Not bad. And then there's the moment where you get to sit down with the laptop to wait out the baking in a kitchen full of that nice cinnamon apple smell. Precious time.
Today someone asked me some questions about mobility and the hyperlocal trends. It happens that I'd like to create a mobile hyperlocal narrative application with Vancouver in mind. The question had to do with spacetime and implied that somehow the web has done something to our sense of time and space. It has taken away time by asynchronous communication, and taken away space by allowing us to connect from far away. I think I know what she was getting at. The feeling of other world when you're in it, and the feeling of the world happening without you when you're not reading, watching, keeping up. There is definitely another space with its own speed and insistence. It changes the expectation of what we know about each other when we do meet in the same physical space.
But I think the spacetime perception change may have more to do with the speed at which we need to switch contexts when we plug in. Check email, open a document, keep it open in the bg, quick check of RSS feeds, who's posting on fb, back to email, oh ya the document, scan the document, phone rings, another email comes in, and so on. It's a stream and somehow lots of little things get done. But no big things. I know what it feels like to focus and when I'm actively online, that is not what's happening. And while I'm in it, I'm not taking care of my physical environment in the same way. Maybe my plants don't get watered, maybe my computer gets unpacked months before my books do.
Part of the promise of hyperlocal is another dimension to sort the info. Maybe if I only get relevant information to where I am, it'll be meaningful and manageable. Again the issue of scale pops up though, there are millions of people in Vancouver. Why would the space not be cluttered. Just as cluttered as Robson street on a sunny Saturday afternoon. After all, the online is the mother of pack rats.
Making an apple pie is risky business. You have to go offline for 2 hours. And during that time much could happen without you being aware of it. More than before? Before we knew? Don't know. Don't think so. Not making an apple pie is risky business. You may forget the feel of a good pie crust and the smell of a baking pie. I'm not kidding. These things need to be maintained.
Today someone asked me some questions about mobility and the hyperlocal trends. It happens that I'd like to create a mobile hyperlocal narrative application with Vancouver in mind. The question had to do with spacetime and implied that somehow the web has done something to our sense of time and space. It has taken away time by asynchronous communication, and taken away space by allowing us to connect from far away. I think I know what she was getting at. The feeling of other world when you're in it, and the feeling of the world happening without you when you're not reading, watching, keeping up. There is definitely another space with its own speed and insistence. It changes the expectation of what we know about each other when we do meet in the same physical space.
But I think the spacetime perception change may have more to do with the speed at which we need to switch contexts when we plug in. Check email, open a document, keep it open in the bg, quick check of RSS feeds, who's posting on fb, back to email, oh ya the document, scan the document, phone rings, another email comes in, and so on. It's a stream and somehow lots of little things get done. But no big things. I know what it feels like to focus and when I'm actively online, that is not what's happening. And while I'm in it, I'm not taking care of my physical environment in the same way. Maybe my plants don't get watered, maybe my computer gets unpacked months before my books do.
Part of the promise of hyperlocal is another dimension to sort the info. Maybe if I only get relevant information to where I am, it'll be meaningful and manageable. Again the issue of scale pops up though, there are millions of people in Vancouver. Why would the space not be cluttered. Just as cluttered as Robson street on a sunny Saturday afternoon. After all, the online is the mother of pack rats.
Making an apple pie is risky business. You have to go offline for 2 hours. And during that time much could happen without you being aware of it. More than before? Before we knew? Don't know. Don't think so. Not making an apple pie is risky business. You may forget the feel of a good pie crust and the smell of a baking pie. I'm not kidding. These things need to be maintained.
Monday, August 31, 2009
I prefer the burn to the itch (day 3)
I was stung by a wasp on Friday. It stung the arch of my left foot. Before I even knew what had happened, I had thrown my sandal and yelled, leaving me hobbling on one foot and embarrassed. Some dude under a tree was looking at me. I didn't bother explaining.
Who knew a wasp could do so much damage. Before long my foot was swollen and sore to the bone. The next day, the swelling was worse and there was the additional annoyance of the itch. The internet wisdom said "don't scratch, it will make it worse". Make what worse I wondered. The itch, or the overall experience, or? The itch was getting worse by the second. scratch it. scratch it. scratch it. comon scratch it. I gave in. It was an intensely pleasurable experience. I loved it. I couldn't stop. Such relief. wow. I rubbed, I scratched, I massaged....and then.....I stopped. Immediately the burn started. Like road rash or a sunburn, only deep in the whole foot. Woah. Ok so that's what they meant. True, the pain was worse. But I no longer had the little repetitive mind bug and that, my friends, was worth it. Yup, I would trade the itch for the burn any time. Plus you get the little orgasmic experience of the scratch. It's a good trade.
Who knew a wasp could do so much damage. Before long my foot was swollen and sore to the bone. The next day, the swelling was worse and there was the additional annoyance of the itch. The internet wisdom said "don't scratch, it will make it worse". Make what worse I wondered. The itch, or the overall experience, or? The itch was getting worse by the second. scratch it. scratch it. scratch it. comon scratch it. I gave in. It was an intensely pleasurable experience. I loved it. I couldn't stop. Such relief. wow. I rubbed, I scratched, I massaged....and then.....I stopped. Immediately the burn started. Like road rash or a sunburn, only deep in the whole foot. Woah. Ok so that's what they meant. True, the pain was worse. But I no longer had the little repetitive mind bug and that, my friends, was worth it. Yup, I would trade the itch for the burn any time. Plus you get the little orgasmic experience of the scratch. It's a good trade.
Sunday, August 30, 2009
Take a deep breath and... (day 2)
first breath
breathe easy
take my breath away
breathless
hold your breath
don't hold your breath
the breath of life
hard breathing
bad breath
shallow breath
just breathe
breathe deeply
foul breath
last breath
I'm working on a research project called Breath I/O along with Leila Sujir, Joy James, and Ron Burnett. We feel very lucky to have this project funded by SSHRC for three years through their research/creation program (on hold for the moment). It is luxury...working with a team of researchers and students (Miles Thorogood, and Thea Jones are research assistants) for an extended period of time like this.
The form of the project is a virtual stereoscopic video sculpture with lungs as its subject. The lungs (single, multiple - a chorus of lungs) are in a constant exchange with the environment which is filled with sound, image and video.
The choice of not breathing cannot be sustained. We breathe and know something about where we are. We breathe and others know something about how we are. This idea of being subject to and indebted to the environment is what is compelling to me. In relation to the environment of sound, image and video (perhaps text?) I would like to know what it is to breathe image and sound. I read recently that the CEO of netflix thinks that web 3.0 will be a full video web. Like watching TV all over again but this time...with feeling? I don't know. I'm assuming he means that it will be democratic this time. That it will be the whole world cooking up a media storm for a public banquet of (biblical?) proportions. Or maybe more of a potluck...more like YouTube feels like now but less clicking. Who knows. My lungs will know if they are breathing the foul air of fast food.
The investigation has just started. We have a prototype but it's not quite right. We'll keep working at it, creating lungs that breathe naturally, convincingly. We'll come up with ways of seeing video mingling in the environment and finding its way into the lungs which take and give back. We'll find ways for people to converse with the virtual chorus with their hands and voices.
breathe easy
take my breath away
breathless
hold your breath
don't hold your breath
the breath of life
hard breathing
bad breath
shallow breath
just breathe
breathe deeply
foul breath
last breath
I'm working on a research project called Breath I/O along with Leila Sujir, Joy James, and Ron Burnett. We feel very lucky to have this project funded by SSHRC for three years through their research/creation program (on hold for the moment). It is luxury...working with a team of researchers and students (Miles Thorogood, and Thea Jones are research assistants) for an extended period of time like this.
The form of the project is a virtual stereoscopic video sculpture with lungs as its subject. The lungs (single, multiple - a chorus of lungs) are in a constant exchange with the environment which is filled with sound, image and video.
The choice of not breathing cannot be sustained. We breathe and know something about where we are. We breathe and others know something about how we are. This idea of being subject to and indebted to the environment is what is compelling to me. In relation to the environment of sound, image and video (perhaps text?) I would like to know what it is to breathe image and sound. I read recently that the CEO of netflix thinks that web 3.0 will be a full video web. Like watching TV all over again but this time...with feeling? I don't know. I'm assuming he means that it will be democratic this time. That it will be the whole world cooking up a media storm for a public banquet of (biblical?) proportions. Or maybe more of a potluck...more like YouTube feels like now but less clicking. Who knows. My lungs will know if they are breathing the foul air of fast food.
The investigation has just started. We have a prototype but it's not quite right. We'll keep working at it, creating lungs that breathe naturally, convincingly. We'll come up with ways of seeing video mingling in the environment and finding its way into the lungs which take and give back. We'll find ways for people to converse with the virtual chorus with their hands and voices.
Saturday, August 29, 2009
A bo challenge (day 1)
My friend bo asked me if I write. Only under duress I said. In my mind I pictured grant deadlines and reports on said grants. You should write she replied. Other people have asked me to write over the years.....oh no I don't write is the standardized response.
Meanwhile the 365 trend which surfaced a couple years ago (flickr self-portraits for example) is getting popularized by the new Julia Child movie (for a great commentary on what she meant to a generation of home cooks, read this beautiful writing by Michael Pollan.) 365 is a daily practice of something, doesn't matter what. Do anything once a day and you will be amazed by the patterns that emerge. Of course I already know this...at least I have an inkling. When I do manage to meditate daily for more than days at a time, I see the commitment that is required to stick out the bad days. And that's it, 365 is a practice, not of the thing you are doing but of the patience and generosity it takes to not give up.
Also meanwhile, a new year's resolution of becoming more public will be getting satisfied.
So here's to you Bo. I will write something each day. No need to stay tuned. This is the age of speaking out into the void...unspeakable generosity. But if you are tuned in, randomly, then feel free to randomly give me a random topic.
Meanwhile the 365 trend which surfaced a couple years ago (flickr self-portraits for example) is getting popularized by the new Julia Child movie (for a great commentary on what she meant to a generation of home cooks, read this beautiful writing by Michael Pollan.) 365 is a daily practice of something, doesn't matter what. Do anything once a day and you will be amazed by the patterns that emerge. Of course I already know this...at least I have an inkling. When I do manage to meditate daily for more than days at a time, I see the commitment that is required to stick out the bad days. And that's it, 365 is a practice, not of the thing you are doing but of the patience and generosity it takes to not give up.
Also meanwhile, a new year's resolution of becoming more public will be getting satisfied.
So here's to you Bo. I will write something each day. No need to stay tuned. This is the age of speaking out into the void...unspeakable generosity. But if you are tuned in, randomly, then feel free to randomly give me a random topic.
Wednesday, May 09, 2007
flowerGarden sees the light again!
Greg Judelman and I are getting ready for the "Speculative Data and the Creative Imaginary, Shared Visions between Art and Technology" exhibition at the National Academy of Science (June 4-August 24). We have 2 visualizations in the exhibit, the flowerGarden and the NorthernWords. Both of these were done at the Banff New Media Institute (BNMI) during my tenure there.
The flowerGarden was created in June 2005 as part of the Bodies in Play Summit that was held at the BNMI. It is actually the second iteration on a work that surfaced as part of a participatory exercise at the Simulation and Other Re-Enactments Summit the year prior. Both summits were funded as part of a SSHRC (Sara Diamond, PI). We are deeply indebted to the fertile ground of the summits and to the participants who generouslyuploaded information about their conversations.
You can see the "re-enactment" of the flowerGarden growth here.
The NorthernWords visualization (pictured above with cutout) is a visualization of the evolution of the Banff New Media Institute (BNMI) discourse over the last decade. The look was inspired by the ebb and flow dance of the Northern Lights that frequent the skies above the Banff Centre in Canada’s Rocky Mountains. The word frequency statistics were generated by Andrew Salway using a text analysis package from the University of Surrey called System Quirk. The input was the corpus of texts in BNMI’s 1993-2004 archives (websites, summit agendas, press releases, etc.) . These frequencies were mapped both to word size and glow intensity. Large words with a bright glow behind were important topics in the discourse in that year, while small words with a dark sky behind were less significant.
The NorthernWords visualization was a collaboration between Greg Judelman, Maria Lantin, Matthew Sloly, and Andrew Salway.
Thursday, March 22, 2007
A homeless guy fed us
Here's an unlikely story. Steve and I went for a long long walk in Stanley Park last Sunday. We ended going around the sea wall, through the park, out by the lost lagoon and the Heron's colony, and back through St-Paul's towards Yaletown. If this means nothing to you, it's enough to say that it was a 4 hour walk and by the time were were heading home it was 7:30pm.
We were starving and as we walked a short stretch near Davie we could smell the food. Neither of us had any cash or means to get cash. We talked about how crazy it was to be surrounded by food but have no way to access it. We talked about begging. We talked about what it must feel like to be homeless and penniless. We talked about the Vancouver Street Retreat that is being planned. All the while just aching to get home and eat.
Just as we were crossing the last park before getting to our building we run into a homeless guy that Steve had talked to before (Danny). Danny says hello and starts talking to us. We talk for a bit but then tell him that we're very hungry and need to get home. He says "Oh I have food...here! Take this!" and hands us an untouched large portion of chicken fried rice. We feel bad about taking his food but he assures us that he has had 4 pieces of pizza and he's not hungry. Steve heartily digs in.
We keep talking for a bit and we can tell Danny is getting a little anxious. He wants money. It's not clear why but the discussion touches on marijuana...and later beer. Hearing no judgement from us he suddenly admits that he is a 'user' and that he's been lying about the other drugs. He is needing his fix. He needs $10 ("that's how much it costs?" I'm incredulous). But of course we have no money on us. But we're across the street from our apartment...we have money there...he's given us food..and all he wants is a fix. Ok, all morality aside, seems like $10 will make him very happy. I promise to return with $10.
I return a few minutes later with $20 and I give it to him. He then admits that the story about the 4 pieces of pizza is a lie. This is crazy! "Why didn't you eat the food?" He says that the heroine makes him not hungry. I can't tell if this is the complete truth or if he was planning on selling the food the whole time? Or? In any case, he is smiling and telling me he's "going right now" to get a fix at the safe injection site. Just before he leaves he tells me that I shouldn't kid myself, all panhandlers are users.
With all this reading about narrative and fiction and non-fiction and possible world theory, the stories Danny tells are such a mix that they are an invitation to ride uncertain ground without insisting on a truth break.
We were starving and as we walked a short stretch near Davie we could smell the food. Neither of us had any cash or means to get cash. We talked about how crazy it was to be surrounded by food but have no way to access it. We talked about begging. We talked about what it must feel like to be homeless and penniless. We talked about the Vancouver Street Retreat that is being planned. All the while just aching to get home and eat.
Just as we were crossing the last park before getting to our building we run into a homeless guy that Steve had talked to before (Danny). Danny says hello and starts talking to us. We talk for a bit but then tell him that we're very hungry and need to get home. He says "Oh I have food...here! Take this!" and hands us an untouched large portion of chicken fried rice. We feel bad about taking his food but he assures us that he has had 4 pieces of pizza and he's not hungry. Steve heartily digs in.
We keep talking for a bit and we can tell Danny is getting a little anxious. He wants money. It's not clear why but the discussion touches on marijuana...and later beer. Hearing no judgement from us he suddenly admits that he is a 'user' and that he's been lying about the other drugs. He is needing his fix. He needs $10 ("that's how much it costs?" I'm incredulous). But of course we have no money on us. But we're across the street from our apartment...we have money there...he's given us food..and all he wants is a fix. Ok, all morality aside, seems like $10 will make him very happy. I promise to return with $10.
I return a few minutes later with $20 and I give it to him. He then admits that the story about the 4 pieces of pizza is a lie. This is crazy! "Why didn't you eat the food?" He says that the heroine makes him not hungry. I can't tell if this is the complete truth or if he was planning on selling the food the whole time? Or? In any case, he is smiling and telling me he's "going right now" to get a fix at the safe injection site. Just before he leaves he tells me that I shouldn't kid myself, all panhandlers are users.
With all this reading about narrative and fiction and non-fiction and possible world theory, the stories Danny tells are such a mix that they are an invitation to ride uncertain ground without insisting on a truth break.
Saturday, March 03, 2007
What I'm reading
I just got my order from Amazon:
These were recommended by David Humphrey, a graduate student in Emily Carr's Masters of Applied Arts program. I am particularly pleased with the Avatars of Story book. It does a good job of creating a classification of story and narrative (narrative being an instantiation of story). This classification allows a discussion of which media is suited to which type of narrative. I like how she makes a distinction between something "being narrative" and something "having narrativity". For example, she claims that our individual lives have narrativity but are not narratives. She also makes the point that it is quite possible that it will take a while for us to fully take advantage of the narrative potention of digital media because we have been so immersed in verbal and textual narratives.
I will keep posting thoughts as I continue reading.
| Narrative as Virtual Reality: Immersion and Interactivity in Literature and Electronic Media By: Marie-Laure Ryan | |
| Avatars of Story By: Marie-Laure Ryan (Author) | |
| Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide By: Henry Jenkins (Author) |
These were recommended by David Humphrey, a graduate student in Emily Carr's Masters of Applied Arts program. I am particularly pleased with the Avatars of Story book. It does a good job of creating a classification of story and narrative (narrative being an instantiation of story). This classification allows a discussion of which media is suited to which type of narrative. I like how she makes a distinction between something "being narrative" and something "having narrativity". For example, she claims that our individual lives have narrativity but are not narratives. She also makes the point that it is quite possible that it will take a while for us to fully take advantage of the narrative potention of digital media because we have been so immersed in verbal and textual narratives.
I will keep posting thoughts as I continue reading.
The tragic story of Iraq as told by Evan Kohlmann
I'm posting this because it is perhaps the sanest account of what is happening in Iraq that I've seen to date. It really brings home the point that, having created an unfortunate chaotic situation, we have to engage with it with a view to regaining some sort of just and dignified position. I know it sounds completely idealistic but it seems to me that even if something was started on the wrong premise, there is always a chance to change our motivation. I say 'we' even though Canada is not fighting in Iraq because I feel we all bear the burden, and therefore responsibility, for the outcome of this war. It shouldn't have been started but there's no going back so let's think about how to make some space in this conflict -- some space to think about an ending that doesn't involve suffering for the next 10+ years. This is perhaps where the UN could make a difference. If it is incapable of dealing with this type of destabilizing influence then we need a different model for unity between nations. One of the most shocking quotes in the Salon interview is this:
"You know we're doing a bad job of communicating our own message when we're losing the propaganda war to people who cut other people's heads off on camera. Think about it: People in one of the most Westernized countries in the Middle East would rather trust al-Qaida than the United States. That's a terrible sign of things to come". -- Evan Kohlmann
Sunday, February 25, 2007
99 rooms in interactive pictures
Stumbled on this interesting place to visit...interactive pics of 99 rooms. The room captured above had some very nice auditory and visual interaction.
I wonder if this type of work could be a middleground...something between animated worlds and web hopping. As a navigation strategy it could be very interesting to explore.
Monday, February 12, 2007
Uh oh...internet rage ahead
Apparently we're heading towards 'epic' (love these words) traffic jams.
Sunday, February 11, 2007
D-Wave with a claim to Q computer
D-Wave a Vancouver company (yay Canada) has announced a demo next week of their 16 bit Quantum computer. I was too late getting the news to book a front row seat. But it will be broadcasted on the internet the 13th of Februrary, Tuesday.
Here's a nice pic...beautiful but almost too "the same" :) like I was expecting some kind of crazy chaotic design with wires all over the place and dry ice...
Here's a nice pic...beautiful but almost too "the same" :) like I was expecting some kind of crazy chaotic design with wires all over the place and dry ice...
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