In the wake of the NSA scandal and the Boston Marathon Bombing, the presence of surveillance in our everyday lives has come back into the minds of people all over the world. This project seeks to consider what the threats to our privacy in the environment really are, and whether we should still be worried about surveillance cameras instead of the things we happen to depend on in our daily lives. Therefore, the project audibly maps the wifi networks that surround us, attempting to make us aware of the over-abundant nature of them, perhaps hinting at our dependence on being connected, while also making us consider the fact that networks are not neutral entities. Furthermore, considering the fact that the contemporary participant in society can be defined by their data more than their physical nature, we are perhaps at our most vulnerable when we naively join wifi networks, or any type of network, even those that are our own. By being able to hear what’s around us, we are able to judge the spaces we are in and understand them in these terms, changing the notion of what a “safe” space really is.

Take a look at some of the work from the last version of Mixed-Reality City here: http://mixedrealitycity.tumblr.com/

An op-ed in the NYTimes by GSD Visiting Professor Erle Ellis that is relevant to this week's readings:
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/09/14/opinion/overpopulation-is-not-the-problem.html?_r=1&

Due October 31

Browse all of the media design projects listed below. These projects are provocations, illuminating different trajectories of work that you might follow for the remainder of the term—in sensibility if not in technical execution. Choose one that relates to the work you have already done in experiment 3 or where you would like to take that work next. Then find a second project on your own. Your second provocation can come from any realm of design. It should resonate with the first project but also illustrate your own personal interests. Compose a short 400-500 word post for each precedent. Make use of media and links to online materials where it is useful. Divide each post into three distinct sections and label these sections:

 

Formal/Aesthetic: Describe the compositional and experiential qualities of the project.

Socio/Technical: Trace the network of actors (human + non-human) that enable the project to function.

Cultural/Political: Explain the broader context in which the project takes on meaning for you and others.

 

Add your posts to the joint project entitled “Provocations”

 

Provocations:

The Brooklyn Pigeon Project: http://nowurbanism.wordpress.com/2011/12/13/the-brooklyn-pigeon-project/

Feral Robotic Dogs: http://www.nyu.edu/projects/xdesign/feralrobots/

Bear 71: http://bear71.nfb.ca/#/bear71

All Streets: http://fathom.info/allstreets/

Million Dollar Block: http://www.spatialinformationdesignlab.org/projects.php?id=16

Amphibious Architecture: http://vimeo.com/6984048

John Snow’s Chart of Deaths from Cholera: http://hollis.harvard.edu/?itemid=|library/m/aleph|001966161

Alter Bahnhof Video Walk: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sOkQE7m31Pw

The Nine Eyes: http://9-eyes.com/

Welcome to Pinepoint: http://pinepoint.nfb.ca/#/pinepoint

Bansky: http://www.npr.org/blogs/thetwo-way/2013/02/24/172815000/auction-halted-of-banksy-mural-removed-in-london

The New Aesthetic: http://www.webdirections.org/resources/james-bridle-waving-at-the-machines/

Trash Track: http://senseable.mit.edu/trashtrack/

Extreme Commuters: http://www.surfacecities.com/proj_08.html

Ghost Bird: http://ghostbirdmovie.com/

The View from the Road: http://hollis.harvard.edu/?q=ex-Everything-1.0:%22view%20from%20the%20road%22+author:%22lynch,%20kevin%22+

Monochrome Landscapes: http://www.l00k.org/monochromelandscapes/monochrome-landscapes

Whale Hunt: http://thewhalehunt.org/whalehunt.html

 

In Class Readings:

Elkins, James. “How to Look at a Culvert." In How to Use Your Eyes. 2000. (PDF)

Edwards, Paul. “How to Read a Book”: (PDF)

This is an experiment in mapping the mixed-reality city.

As a starting point, we will draw upon recent controversies over urban wildscapes.

Such controversies are sites where realities meet over disputed rights, unresolved technical questions, and conflicting values.  These controversies are manifest through material traces such as photographs, maps, accounts and articles.  

First, choose a wildscape controversy traceable through one of the articles listed in the attached .zip file.

If you have another controversy in mind and you can find a relevant news article, please email  the instructor at yanni@metalab.harvard.edu

Second, create a list of human and non-human actors identifiable in the article.

An actor is any entity that performs work within a social interaction, including people, plants, non-human animals, buildings, technologies and institutions. If an entity does not make a difference within the controversy, it is not really an actor. Set a limit on the number of actors you define and articulate a rationale for that limit. This experiment is intended to be illustrative rather than exhaustive.

Third, develop a media dossier for the controversy built around significant actors found in the article.

This dossier should consist of found traces, such as photographs, maps, documents, and articles like the one you started with.  All media should be transformed into representative .jpegs sharable through Mezz.

Finally, develop a means of mapping or visually organizing the elements of your dossier and presenting the associations among them.

Create a new project on the website to host your dossier and a short description of your process (~250 words). Be prepared to present and discuss your results in class.

For more on actors, traces, and associations see: Latour, Bruno. 2008. Reassembling the Social: An Introduction to Actor-Network-Theory. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

https://www.dropbox.com/s/6y1sgylexthuq7c/01_mix_midterm.exe