Saturday 21 November 2009
Signs of the Zodiac
Brain Cardio
Interesting, Easy, Beautiful, True?
Information needs to be interesting (meaningful & relevant) and have integrity (accuracy, consistency)
Design needs to have form (beauty & structure) and function (it has to work and be easy to use) (McCandless, 2009)McCandless, D. (2009) Interesting, Easy,Beautiful, True? [online] http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/2009/interesting-easy-beautiful-true/
The Hierarchy of Digital Distractions
McCandless, D. (2009) The Hierarchy of Digital Distractions. [online] http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/visualizations/the-hierarchy-of-digital-distractions/
http://www.informationisbeautiful.net/
"Our Wall"
Bowden, C., Cook, D. and Jenshel, L. (2007) U.S.-Mexico Border. [online] http://ngm.nationalgeographic.com/2007/05/us-mexican-border/bowden-text.html
Barriers and Design
Christian Lopez Swafford intends to encourage a debate on the USA/Mexico border through Partition: Designing a Conversation. Swafford denounces the plan by the Department of Homeland Security to cut off the commercial and cultural ties of two countries by constructing a wall which will serve as "a physical, mental and symbolic barrier".
Swafford, C.L. [2009] Partition: Designing a Conversation. [online] http://www.christianswafford.com/werk/projects/2066977.html
Friday 20 November 2009
TED Sphere
TED Sphere is an interactive sphere, which from inside is like a constellation, of selecting menu.
Netexplorateur
Tag Galaxy allows people to reach the images on a sphere. This image is from Netexplorateur, which is a video collection, once again, in a globe shaped constellation.
Netexplorateur [2009] Tag Galaxy. [online] http://www.netexplorateur.org/videospheres/english/
UOC Prostectus, I think.
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya [2009] networked knowledge. [online] http://net.uoc.edu/
Bestiario: Variations of Data and Mapping
Variations of data and mapping.
Visual Complexity [2009] reMap. [online] http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/project_details.cfm?id=700&index=700&domain=
The Wall Between Art and Design
At the Core Unit session yesterday, the group of MA students were split into small groups to analyse a short film. This was the second Core Unit session where I noticed a boundary between Fine Arts students (from Fine Arts and Drawing courses) and "designers" (from DIgital Arts and Sound & Animation courses). Many "design students" are sometimes referred to as people who aren't exactly artists.
I've talked to my friends in Digital Arts and Animation & Sound Design courses, and they have noticed this too. I think we all see ourselves as artists, but one group seems to think the other isn't. Is there a divide of perceptions between the two groups? Is there another wall?
I remember a session where we discussed whether there were art and design differences in creativity. Most of us thought there were subtle differences... but it seemed as if design was not part of "art". In the discussion group we loosely agreed that artists and designers are as creative as one another. Is it that important to differentiate?
"Some designers consider themselves artists, but few artists consider themselves designers" and this is due to the "entirely different" relations they have within the creative culture, claims O'Nolan [2009].
O'Nolan, J. [2009] The Difference between Art and Design. [online]
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2009/09/the-difference-between-art-and-design/http://jehiah.cz/archive/design-is-not-art
http://www.we-make-money-not-art.com/
BBC (2009) In Pictures: Meeting at the Fence. [online] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/7908368.stm
Two Maps of Perception
East Berlin was the capital city of the German Democratic Republic (GDR) whilst West Berlin was a territory of the Federal Republic of Germany (FRG) located in the middle of the GDR. Here, a Berlin map produced in the East largely neglects Westberlin, and similarly, a map of the West contains minimum information of East Berlin.
Here's a larger version of an East Berlin map.
The other side of the Wall was another country of opposing values. It was irrelevant and perhaps they chose not to see it.
Marriage to the Wall
Eija-Riitta Berliner-Mauer married the Berlin Wall and has taken the name of Berlin Wall. "We have been together now for many years, spiritually if not physically" claims Berliner-Mauer, who believes objects have "intelligence, feelings, and are able to communicate" (The Independent, 2008). Berliner-Mauer, who claims to be married to the Wall since 1979, states that she is attracted to the Wall both emotionally and sexually (Berliner-Mauer, 2003).
"Like every married couple, we have our ups and downs. We even made it through the terrible disaster of 9 November 1989, when my husband was subjected to frenzied attacks by a mob. But we are still as much in love as the day we met. It may not be a conventional marriage, but neither of us cares much for conventions. Ours is a story of two beings in love, our souls entwined for all eternity."
Berliner-Mauer, E.-R. (2008) The Berlin Wall - A Love Story. [online] http://www.berlinermauer.se/
Berliner-Mauer, E.-R. (2003) What, exactly, interest me about the Berlin Wall? [online] http://www.algonet.se/~giljotin/explan.html
Independent (2008) 'I married the Eiffel Tower'. [online] http://www.independent.co.uk/extras/sunday-review/living/i-married-the-eiffel-tower-832519.html
The white Wall
The Berlin Wall was painted white shortly before the U.S. president Jimmy Carter's visit in 1978 [Bundesrat, 2009]. Here, he stands on a platform, many seen in West Berlin, looking over the Wall with the German Chancellor Helmut Schmidt.
Bundesrat [2009] Potsdamer Platz. [Online] http://gsb.download.bva.bund.de/BR/schaufenster/en/potsdamerplatz.html
Bundesrat [2009] Potsdamer Platz. [Online] http://gsb.download.bva.bund.de/BR/schaufenster/en/potsdamerplatz.html
I am skeptical about uploading my personal work on my blog (or perhaps online in general). It's not the easy process of capturing the images or copying ideas.
What if this happens?
Kawabunga (2006) McRib Update. [online] http://www.kawabunga.com/archives/2006/01/mcrib_update.php
What if this happens?
"On the left, my Tufte-esque blog illustration. On the right, the McDonalds rendering, decked out in the effective Cooper Black, no less. Just a case of coinicidence? Or is there a fast food e-marketer burning deep within my soul, just waiting to bare itself out?". (Kawabunga, 2006)
Kawabunga (2006) McRib Update. [online] http://www.kawabunga.com/archives/2006/01/mcrib_update.php
Mapping into Diagrams: Identität
Loh, J. & Fiedler, S. [2009] Identitat. [online] http://www.visualcomplexity.com/vc/
~IDENTITÄT (2009) ~IDENTITÄT: The »Gestalt« of digital identity. [online] http://www.digital-identities.com/concept.html
Reflecblog
Blogging has been a new learning experience for me. I have viewed the blogging culture as a collective of journalists-wannabes publishing personal accounts I didn't care to know about. My photojournalist background didn't help. In other words, my "professional" pride got in the way, even though I am no longer a journalist.
"If you think it's expensive to hire a professional to do the job, wait until you hire an amateur." (Adare, in Cornwell, 2004)
I reluctantly entered the new culture when my tutor "strongly" recommended using a blog as my learning journal.
It then became a casual sketchbook of images and texts I found in books and websites... until today, where I am finally typing words of refection, about reflection. I aim to keep this journal just larger enough circle for myself, my classmates and tutors. And, I hope this will develop into a neat recording system of my learning, awareness, and a habit.
Some of the things I wall bare in mind are:
description of events, experiences and processes,
my feelings about these events,
positive and negative experiences, and self-questioning about these experiences,
analysis of my work and evaluation of my progress,
ideas for future development,
links to your coursework and theories,
use of the first person, and
be honest. (UAL, 2007)
So, here I start my refbloglection.
Cornwell, R. (2004) Red Adair: Oilwell Firefighter Who Became an American Legend. [online] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/red-adair-550241.html
UAL (2007) Visual Directions: Reflective Writing. [online] http://www.arts.ac.uk/cetl/visual-directions/flash/reflective/flash_reflective_textversion.htm#topics
Wednesday 18 November 2009
Interactive Projection
Berlin Wall Interactive Projection Design from Justin Roberts on Vimeo.
Roberts, J. (2009) Berlin Wall Interactive Projection Design. [online] http://www.vimeo.com/7044083
Tuesday 17 November 2009
Preventing the GDR Collapse
The Promise: How a Newspaper Tried to Prevent East Germany from Collapsing. [online] http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,655522,00.html
Winds from the East
Mayr, W., Neef, C. and Jan Puhl, J. (2009) Winds of Change from the East: How Poland and Hungary Led the Way in 1989. [online] http://www.spiegel.de/international/spiegel/0,1518,657805,00.html
"No Unification Without American Leadership"
Steingart, G. and Frohn, A. (2009) James Baker on the Fall of the Wall: 'Without American Leadership There Would Have Been No Unification'. [online] http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,650801,00.html
JFK Surprised by 'Strong American Outrage to the Wall'
John F. Kennedy was relieved by the construction of the Berlin Wall, according to a US diplomat William R. Smyser, who was station in Berlin at the time . Smyser claims the U.S. president was not concerned about the German reunification, but "Khrushchev's effort to force the Americans out or to shoot down an American plane flying there" and due to "the strategic importance of Berlin during the Cold War" he could not risk going to war (Smyser in Schmitz, 2009).
Smyser also notes that the U.S. Secretary of State at the time, Dean Rusk, and diplomats "wanted to say the construction of the wall represents a victory for the West because it showed that the Communists had to imprison their own people. But they only said it once or twice and when everybody scoffed, they retracted it" (Smyser in Schmitz, 2009).
Markham (1987) claims that Kennedy's view was that the Wall was ''not a very nice solution, but... a hell of a lot better than a war'' and "in the taut run-up to the rending of Berlin, John F. Kennedy speculated to his adviser Walt W. Rostow that Nikita S. Khrushchev would have to do something ''to stop the flow of refugees - perhaps a wall.''
According to Markham, president Ronald Reagan said that had he been President in 1961 he would have "knocked down that wire then" and that the president didn't think "there'd be a wall today [in 1986] because I don't think they wanted to start a war over that".
Construction of the Wall did impact politics of the West Berlin mayor Willy Brandt's "rethinking of the German question and the decision to embark on what was to become his Ostpolitik -the diplomatic opening to East Germany and Eastern Europe" and even though there are disputes between the US and the USSR, "they have not led to Soviet and American tanks facing each other across the divide" (Markham, 1987).
Markham, J.J. (1987) A Lot Better than a War. [online] http://www.nytimes.com/1987/02/08/books/a-lot-better-than-a-war.html
Schmitz, G.P. (2009) The Day Berlin Was Divided: Kennedy Surprised by 'Such Strong American Outrage to the Wall'. [online] http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,658349,00.html
Last Leader of East Germany Mourns the Wall
Last Leader of East Germany Mourns Loss of the Wall. [online] http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/last-leader-of-east-germany-mourns-loss-of-the-wall-1797023.html
1989: Year of Revolutions
1989 changed the world. But where now for Europe? [online] http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2009/nov/04/1989-changed-the-world-europe
Anna Funder on life after the Berlin Wall
Funder, A. (2009) Life behind Berlin Wall: 'Without the Leipzig demos and the will of the people, it would never have happened'. [online] http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/audio/2009/nov/09/stasiland-berlin-wall-east-germany
The World from Berlin 'Nov. 9, 1989 Could So Easily Have Ended in Bloodshed'
"Calling it the fall of the Wall is misleading." (Die Welt, in Crossland, 2009)
Crossland, D. (2009) The World from Berlin: 'Nov. 9, 1989 Could So Easily Have Ended in Bloodshed'. [online] http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,660184,00.html#ref=nlint
Abandoned Ferris Wheel Turns Again
Schaer, C. (2009) As the Wheel Turns: Berlin's Cold War Carnival Ride Resuscitated for Art. [online] http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,660197,00.html#ref=nlint
"Open the barrier!"
"Open the barrier!" (Jäger, 1989)
Schnibben, C. (2009) The Guard Who Opened the Berlin Wall: 'I Gave my People the Order -- Raise the Barrier'. [online] http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,660128,00.html#ref=nlint
Dmitry Medvedev interview
"The Berlin Wall was a symbol of the division of the continent, and the fall of the Wall united us again. Some of our hopes from back then have been fulfilled, others have not." (Medvedev, 2009)
Spiegel (2009) SPIEGEL Interview with Russian President Dmitry Medvedev:
'Oil and Gas Is Our Drug'. [online] http://www.spiegel.de/international/world/0,1518,660114,00.html#ref=nlint
'The Official Ceremonies Simplify History'
Schaer, C. (2009) 'The Official Ceremonies Simplify History'. [online] http://www.spiegel.de/international/germany/0,1518,660467,00.html#ref=nlint
Fall of Munich Wall
"Thousands of German students protesting against changes to the country's higher education system, as well as tuition fees of around €1,500 per year, took to the streets on Tuesday. They staged sit-ins and rallies at around 20 locations around the country, including Berlin, Munich and Cologne... In Munich demonstrators built an "educational blockade" out of cardboard boxes, and then, despite the serious nature of their cause, appeared to have a pretty good time smashing it down."
http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,661874,00.html#ref=nlint
Reactor Module Design
http://blogs.princeton.edu/chm333/f2006/nuclear/2006/11/transmutation_and_mox.html
Nuclear Power Reactor
Pictures: How nuclear power works
http://www.virginmedia.com/digital/science/pictures/nuclear-fuel-cycle.php?ssid=10
"7 Core Principles"
1 – Set a clear vision
2 – Define your goal
3 – Plan your work and work your plan
4 – Commit to action
5 – Use positive affirmations
6 – Eliminate negative influences
7 – Maintain an attitude of gratitude
http://perrybelchersuccess.com/59/7-core-principles-success/
Core within
"The latest research, published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences (PNAS), found that a wave precisely targeted through the inner core behaved differently depending on which part of the core it travelled through." (BBC, 2002)
BBC (2002) "Quakes Reveal 'Core within a Core'". [online] http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/sci/tech/2290551.stm
Core 1
"By showing only the links in the graph, we can get a far better look at the structure than if we include all the nodes. In this image, we are looking at the core of the blogosphere. The dark edges show the reciprocal links... the lighter edges indicate a-reciprocal links. The larger, denser area of the graph is that part of the blogosphere generally characterised by socio-political discussion... above and to the left is that area of the blogosphere concerned with technical discussion and gadgetry." [Hurst, 2009]
Hurst, M. [2009] Data Mining: Mapping The Blogosphere. [online] http://datamining.typepad.com/gallery/blog-map-gallery.html
"Why We Explore" - NASA
"From the time of our birth, humans have felt a primordial urge to explore -- to blaze new trails, map new lands, and answer profound questions about ourselves and our universe." (NASA, 2009)
NASA (2009) Exploration: NASA's Plan to Explore the Moon, Mars and Beyond. [online] http://www.nasa.gov/exploration/whyweexplore/why_we_explore_main.html
National Geographic Constellation
"For centuries humans have seen imaginary animals, people, or mythological beings in the patterns and shapes of star groupings. Ancient stargazers gave names to these groupings, the constellations we know today" (National Geographic Society, 2009).
When people looked up into the night time sky, they did not only see the stars, but a connection between them. They drew lines from a star to another, so that each dot of light formed a bigger picture, and "these names give us a way to organize and locate the 6,000 stars and the galaxies" (National Geographic Society, 2009).
Rene Burri
Burri, R. (1961) Berlin. [online] http://www.magnumphotos.com/Archive/C.aspx?VP3=ViewBox_VPage&VBID=2K1HZOMA98PWB&CT=Search&DT=image
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