Projection, Installation
Size: 18 inches in diameter
Materials used: wood, quilt fabric, cotton fabric in 4 colors, leather strips - braided and a Pico projector.
This artwork is an installation time based narrative with back projection. This piece is meant to bring awareness of self in regards to our interaction and connectivity with the four directions, as a holistic perspective viewed by Anishinabek First Nations. The Medicine wheel is a visual to show the colors represented of the four directions and the projection provides elements in relation to each of the directions. Audio is included which is human heartbeat, which is representational of our connection to Mother Earth.
The four directions, north, south, west, and east, are viewed through projection, each area is separated by braided leather, to separate each direction. Color fabric is wrapped around a wooden circle which indicates the colors for each direction. Words are projected through the circle, describing aspects associated with each direction, such as North-Mental, South-Physical, West-Emotional, and East-Spiritual. Each direction also has a medicine which is used in ceremony, North-Sweetgrass, South-Cedar, West-Sage and East-Tobacco. In a Medicine wheel teaching, I have learned that the self is at the center of the wheel and by acknowledging all the directional elements; a person hopes to achieve a better balance of life. The projection of Self ripples out and the cycle continues, loops back to the 4 directions. I believe that our actions effect other human being, our energy ripples out, and that all things, are connected. Our existence is dependent on how we treat our earth as Mother Earth sustains us.
Budget:
Fabric $40
Wood Recycled
Frame Recycled
Leather $20
Projector Free via the cage
A Manifesto for Networked Objects Response – Cohabitating with Pigeons, Arphids and Aibos in the Internet of things –
Why Things Matter
Julian Bleeker is an engineer and seems proud to say that is his expertise. In this article he suggests a new phrase, a postism of Spimes. Bleeker writes about “blogjects”, which focuses on the “participation of “objects” and “things”- things that participate with the social networking of the Internet.
Bleeker gives an example of a “blogject” which is a pigeon that blogs. A project done by Beatriz da Costa, a flock of pigeons rigged with equipment that can communicate with the internet, GPS locations and has sensors to measure environmental pollutants, thereby according to Bleeker, they become first class citizens and they inform us of information that is important to our well being. I understand what the deal is here, but I have to say to me, a pigeon is still a pigeon.
These “blogjects” have three characteristics that set them apart from other internet objects: they track and trace themselves, they are able to retain “history” and they are considered to have a form of agency, they have a voice. I’m not sure how much I buy into the blogject self agency theory, sure maybe they can transmit their collected data, but there is still human interaction involved along the way. While the information sent by the pigeons may create human communication by logging that info, by in large it still has to be interpreted by humans.
Bleeker talks about video surveillance in New York, there are video cameras everywhere. Now there’s an application called iSee, which will give information of where the cameras are so you can avoid them as much as possible. Even in Toronto, we are unaware of how much we are under surveillance, and I am intrigued by how the affects us on a behavioral social level. Does it really keep crime stats down? I like to think it does and personally I don’t object to surveillance but then again, if I were to suddenly take on ‘criminal’ activity, I would not be happy about video surveillance. Our relationship to Space has been changing with technology. We are not alone, or at least in large metropolis areas, we are not alone.
What I think is the most important key of this article is that Bleeker wants designers to think about how Things can be implemented into our ever changing world, that blogjects can augment our environment. Things that are well designed may have the capacity to create awareness in political, environmental and social ways.
