Yvi Magazine

"I have designed a new European flag in which stars are no longer arranged in a circle, but according to the geographic positions of the capital cities. This creates an open sky, full of stars and without borders. Europe should present itself as unity in diversity - a varietate concordia instead of a unity of uniformity." (Eynde, in Yvi Magazine, 2007)

The new European flag was created following the 2005 referenda on European constitution, which was rejected in France and the Netherlands, and over concerns that European ideals were starting to adrift. Various institutions in Europe displayed the flag in solidarity (Yvi Magazine, 2007).

Yvi Magazine has published a book-like website, where the viewer can turn the pages by dragging the edges like turning the pages of a book [2009].

Eynde, Maarten Vanden (2007) "Europe2008: In Varietate Concordia" in Yvi Magazine. Den Haag: KSMT, pp.90-93.

Yvi Magazine [2009] Borders. [online] http://www.yvimag.com/issues/1/issue1.html

Spacewar

The Space Race and the Berlin Wall (1961-1989) overlaps chronologically - and this is due to both frontiers being fuelled by the Cold War, a political and economic warfare lead by the US and the USSR. Spacewars, "the world's first video game" (Colson, 2007, p.14) was also developed in 1961, by Steve Russell at MIT. The events of 1989 brought down the Wall, the ideology behind it, and the USSR.

"The day will have to contend with an imaginative universe that is very different from the one we inhabited in the space age" (Benjamin, 2003). Both science and science fiction have changed from the "hyperrealist tales of cybernetic intrigue" on rockets and space travel of the 1950s and 1960s - or space operas - have been replaced by "sword and sorcery - wizards in alternative universes" (Benjamin, 2003).

In April 1961, Vostok I sends Yuri Gagarin, first human into the Earth's orbit.

Benjamin, M, (2003) The End of the Space Age. [online] http://www.newstatesman.com/200302100019


Colson, R. The Fundamentals of Digital Art. Lausanne: AVA Book.


See also:
Benjamin, M. (2003) Rocket Dreams: How the Space Age Shaped Our Vision of a World Beyond. New York: Free Press.
Conputer History Museum [2009] Spacewar! [online] http://pdp-1.computerhistory.org/pdp-1/?f=theme&s=4&ss=3
MIT Museum (2009) Spacewar! [online] http://museum.mit.edu/150/entries/1437
NASA 50th Anniversary of the Space Age: 1957-2007. [online] http://www.nasa.gov/externalflash/SpaceAge/index.html
Silverman, B., Silverman, B. & Gerasimov, V. [2009] The History of Computer Games - Spacewar. [online] http://creativetechnology.salford.ac.uk/fuchs/modules/game_design/Spacewar.htm

Space Race and the Wall

The Berlin Wall and the Space Race - both frontlines of the Cold War - have developed within similar chronical span. The Space Race started in 1957, when the Soviet Union successfully launched a satellite into the Earth's orbit, and "while the Sputnik launch was a single event, it marked the start of the space age and the U.S.-U.S.S.R space race" (Garber, 2007). The United States launches Explorer I and established NASA in 1958.

In 1961, President John F. Kennedy announced that "before this decade is out, of landing a man on the moon and returning him safely to the earth" was a goal America should commit to (Kennedy, 1961). 

"This nation will move forward, with the full speed of freedom, in the exciting adventure of space." (Kennedy, 1961)

The speech was made on May 25. In less than 3 months, the Berlin Wall was built. His view that "freedom shall survive and succeed" is also reflected in the speech he delivers in Berlin, after the Wall was built.

Garber, S. (2007) Sputnik and The Dawn of the Space Age. [online] http://history.nasa.gov/sputnik/

Kennedy, J.F. (1961) Special Message to the Congress on Urgent National Needs Page 4. [online] http://www.jfklibrary.org/Historical+Resources/Archives/Reference+Desk/Speeches/JFK/Urgent+National+Needs+Page+4.htm

See also:

NASA (2009) The Apollo Missions: Fourty Years Later. [online] http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/apollo/index.html

The Wall Under Starlight

"On the night of 12 August 1961, armed units of Communist police and militiamen began cordoning off the eastern sectors of Berlin with barbed wire, and started reinforcing the divide with hastily erected breezeblock barriers." (Paterson, 2006).

On the following night, West Berliners marched in protest with torches made by newspaper and magazines, singing the German anthem (Times, 1961). This was the beginning of the Berlin Wall, the concrete and barbed wire Cold War barrier that divided Germany's biggest city for 28 years until its fall in the winter of 1989. The Wall divided East and West Berlin and Berliners' lives until it was opened up on 9 November, also in the night.

20 years on, a BBC correspondent Brian Hanrahan recalls the night he was reporting from Berlin:

"A day before, we would have been shot for being here - now people were knocking off pieces to take home as a souvenir of an unforgettable night... Just as I finished describing the scene to the camera, I heard somebody behind me say: 'I want to be an astronaut.'

And why not - it was the night when dreams were coming true." (Hanrahan, 2009)

Hanrahan, B. (2009) The Night the Berlin Wall Fell. [online] http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/8347695.stm

Paterson, T. (2006) Revealed: Tragic Victims of the Berlin Wall. [online]

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/europe/revealed-tragic-victims-of-the-berlin-wall-411504.html
Times (1961) Communists Seal the Berlin Border: Tanks and Troops to Hold Refugees Back: Hundreds Still Filter Through Barricades. [online] http://archive.timesonline.co.uk/tol/viewArticle.arc?articleId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1961-08-14-08-001&pageId=ARCHIVE-The_Times-1961-08-14-08

Photosynth

Photosynth creates dots of perspectives, Point Cloud, which on screen makes the Berlin Wall look like a galaxy. You can vaguely see the Wall at Bernauer Straße and the trees behind it too.

"Creating hyperlinks between images" is one of the features of Photosynth (Aguera y Arcas, 2007) and it can build a 3D space from shared photographic images online. The image/space below was created from photos taken at Checkpoint Charlie.

And you can also select Images, to have the photos that are synthesized, appear in rows.

Photosynth: http://photosynth.net/
Aguera y Arcas, B. (2007) Talks: Blaise Aguera y Arcas demos Photosynth. [online] http://www.ted.com/talks/blaise_aguera_y_arcas_demos_photosynth.html

Graft and Tuneglue Constellations

The Graft website has a constellation like visual, with white dots on a black background. The site starts off like Big Bang, then the dots move in together to form the Graft logo and into shape the continents which functions as an interactive site map.

The white dots, or the stars float about like waves of an ocean, which its moves have certain organic similarity to Tuneglue. Tuneglue is a music search engine where it connects artist of the genre into a spidergram-like design, also interactive and a little like a constellation.

Graft (2009)  http://www.graftlab.com/
Tuneglue [2009] Music Map. [online] http://audiomap.tuneglue.net/

More Sketches for the BmB Clip

I have gone to the video workshop to work my BmB clip, to be introduced to After Effects, and this is the sketch I took with me. The constellation does not have to be in the shape of Berlin city, but I struggle to find a symbol of Berlin which is neither Easter or Western, and I don't want to say the city is "united"... the shape of the city seem neutral, but how many people can recognise it, without a caption?

Ideas from my sketch book, 25/11/09

"It's More than You Imagined"

"The HBO Cube embraces the spirit of HBO telling deeper more engaging stories in innovative ways. Demonstrating that a change in perspective changes everything." [HBO, 2009]

The Cube shows a scene shot by four cameras from different angles, and the HBO claims, "only when you've seen all four sides of the story will you see the bigger picture". Each scenes are positioned in a space where the viewer can select which scene to watch next (below), and view their progress as a diagram (bottom).

How each scenes are connected with lines in dark space remind me of space, stars and constellations. Each image forms a larger picture.

HBO [2009] It's More than You Imagined. [online] http://hboimagine.com/

Signs of the Zodiac

Lang, T. & Chaves, E. [2009] Signs of the Zodiac. [online] http://www.alwayswithhonor.com/#23492/Signs-of-the-Zodiac

TED Sphere

TED Sphere is an interactive sphere, which from inside is like a constellation, of selecting menu.

Bestiario [2009] http://www.bestiario.org/research/videosphere/

Ortiz, Santiago (2008) TEDsphere. [online] http://www.rhizome.org/object.php?o=47981&m=1008511

Spheres of Narratives

Ortiz, S. [2005] Spherical Surface of Dialogue. [online] http://moebio.com/spheres/english.html#

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.

This is a 3D interactive constellation of the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, which could be their prospectus.


Universitat Oberta de Catalunya [2009] networked knowledge. [online] http://net.uoc.edu/

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

Andromedas Core

Gendler, R. [2009] Andromedas Core. [online] http://www.astronet.ru/db/xware/msg/1201601

"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).

National Geographic Society (2009) Star Attractions: Constellations. [online] http://www.nationalgeographic.com/features/97/stars/attractions/index.html

A Short "ad" for BmB

Some sketches for an ad clip. It will be a combination of the recorded interviews and portraits of the Berliners I interviewed in March and April this year. How can I present the image of Berlin not as "one" but a city made up of individuals... dots? Stars, pixels, dots?

Ideas from my sketch book, 19/10/09

Were these called "stingers"?