BUS RIDE of Greatness

Final Projects Presentation
April 26, 2007
Start 9am Main Campus at Annenberg/Atrium
1. 26th & Montgomery - Sean
2. Zoo Girard & 33rd Avenue - Q
3a. Art Museum - Nicole, Julia
3b. Library - Max
4. 49th & Market - Michelle
5. 30th Street Station - Clarissa, Mariko
6. 9th & Wharton - Jeved
7. Chinatown - Sosena
8a. TUCC: Liberty Mall - Brad
8b. TUCC: Underneath City Hall - Slavin
9. TBD - Justin
10. Bus - Kane

Wandering

There were four parts to the exercise due for this Thursday, Feb. 22:

1. wander and record/document it
2. add the cell phone in - somehow
3. take a map of Philadelphia and collage it (cut it up, make a new shape) - and map the route of your wander
4. tag yourself... write a tag based on FOAF http://www.foaf-project.org/index.html

References from class presentation:

Janet Cardiff http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Janet_Cardiff

Daniel Libeskind http://www.daniel-libeskind.com/

World Trade Center master plan: http://www.daniel-libeskind.com/projects/pro.html?ID=68


Background to Locative Media is the situationist movement of the 1950's-60's
http://catless.ncl.ac.uk/Obituary/debord.html

Discussion of Locative Media and its relationship to the situationists + description of all kinds of projects at the recent Conflux conference in Brooklyn, NY (lots of ideas for projects here!!!) http://design.umn.edu/go/knowledgeCircuit/current.kc06.conflux

New Logo for NN International

www.geogreeting.com

The International Exercise

Neighboorhood Narratives
International Assignment
Spring 2007

"Put yourself in the picture, in the place."

* TABLE OF CONTENTS *

1. DESCRIPTION
2. INSTRUCTION DETAILS
3. THEMES
4. TEAMS LIST
5. FINAL DELIVERABLE SPECIFICATIONS
6. INSTRUCTOR CONTACTS
7. NOTES


1. DESCRIPTION
From three international campuses (Philadelphia, Tokyo, London), Temple students are assigned to Teams. Each team is to choose a theme. Each team member will take 4 pictures + 10 seconds of audio related to that theme. These photo and audio “assets” will be assembled into a slide show (video) podcast that will be available to the general public for free via the Apple iTunes web site.

- Each student will produce four (4) photos: image and/or montage, with all or part of themselves “in the picture” in the context of the theme.

- Each student will find or record 10 seconds of audio to go with their pictures. Audio might be a mix of any of the following: voices of neighborhood, voice of student, noises of the place, music of the place, student's musical association, et cetera.

2. INSTRUCTION DETAILS

i. Students are assembled into six teams. Each team has a teacher/mentor to answer questions. See TEAMS list below.

ii. "Getting to know you" Students introduce themselves to each other by email. (date due: Feb. 15)

iii. "Pick a Theme" Each team agrees on a theme for their photo montage and audio assets. See THEMES list below. (date due: Feb. 15 )

iv. "Organize Yourselves" Each team chooses a Team Leader who will make sure everyone gets the project completed. Each team selects an Editor who will compile the photo and video assets so that they make sense when viewed as a whole. The leader can also be the editor, or another team member can be the editor and decide the final order for the pictures and sound.

vi. The Team Leader coordinates the delivery of the final image and audio “assets” to Steve Bull: bull@el.net. The Team Leader is advised to email cc: teacher/mentor to keep her/him updated on progress. (date due: March 15)

vii. The final vodcasts will be created by… Steve Bull + others (interested students and teachers contact Steve if you would like to participate in vodcast production).

3. THEMES

- Subways
- Fashion
- Night Life
- Nature
- Music
- Festivals
- Street musicians
- Parks
- Street culture


4. TEAMS

ALPHA (5 members)
BECKY CLAWSON [tua08847@temple.edu] - London
ANTHONY AGUILAR [conrad84@temple.edu] - Tokyo
NARGIZ ALEKPEROVA [tua06673@temple.edu] - Tokyo
MARIKO KOSAKA [kosakam@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
CLARISSA SINGLETON [tua33626@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
* mentor: Ron Carr

BETA (5 members)
BRIAN NOEL [bnoel728@temple.edu] - London
LIN GAO [tua36233@temple.edu] - Tokyo
DAISUKE ISHIHARA [tua01398@temple.edu] - Tokyo
BRADLEY HENOFER [tua26048@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
SOSENA SOLOMON [sosena@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
* mentor: Ron Carr

GAMMA (5 members)
DANIEL FISHER [tua04926@temple.edu] - London
MIHO ISHIWATA [tua02226@temple.edu] - Tokyo
AZUSA ITAGAKI [itagaki@temple.edu] - Tokyo
JUSTIN MILLER [tua75969@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
MAXWELL ROBBINS [tua28302@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
* mentor: Siobhan Thomas

DELTA (5 members)
PETER MASON [peter.mason@temple.edu] - London
HELENE LAROCHELLE [tua68905@temple.edu] - Tokyo
KANE ALBARRON [tua13849@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
JEVED CUMBERBATCH [tua12893@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
NICOLE POLTER [tua39904@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
* mentor: Siobhan Thomas

EPSILON (5 members)
CARLY [tua04174@temple.edu] - London
DYLAN MCCAULEY [tua68896@temple.edu] - Tokyo
MICHELLE S FLOWERS [meshee@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
JULIA ROBBINS [tua06824@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
CHIQUETTA WOODS [Qyxes1@gmail.com] - Philadelphia
* mentor: Steve Bull

ZETA (5 members)
GEORGE KEALEY [w.kealey@temple.edu] - London
MARCELLA McCLATCHEY [tua79189@temple.edu] - Tokyo
SEAN MAXWELL [tua03519@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
JAMEY HINDORFF [tua58093@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
SLAVEN SIMUNOVIC [tua13585@temple.edu] - Philadelphia
* mentor: Steve Bull

5. FINAL SPECIFICATIONS for PHOTOS AND AUDIO
Image: 320x240, 72 dpi, high quality, .jpg, 4 images
audio: 44kHz, stereo, uncompressed, .mov, 10 seconds


6. INSTRUCTOR CONTACTS
Hana Iverson [h.iverson@temple.edu]
Steve Bull [bull@el.net]
Ronald Carr [carr@tuj.ac.jp]
Irene Herrera [herrera@tuj.ac.jp]
Siobhan Thomas [siobhan@yammy.org]


7. ADDITIONAL NOTES
These projects are public domain. They are made as public art. They will be made and taken with the understanding that they will be viewed and distributed on the internet. If you are interviewing a subject, you will need a consent form. If you do not feel comfortable putting yourself (or some part of yourself) on the internet, please let your team mentor know.

Equipment access: if you need assistance getting or using a digital camera, a camera cell phone or any kind of audio recording device, please ask your team mentor.

Sound options: Choose one person in your neighborhood to interview and use his or her voice; or if it is a performer, his or her medium, such as music. This way the recordings become more intimate and connected between subject and student. Ambient sound is considered street noise, or room noise without narration. Narration can include poetry.

“Put yourself in the picture” can mean: your whole body, part of your body (foot, hand, eye etc.), some trace of you (shadow, footsteps), a surrogate such as your cat, your dog, your AIM icon etc., a photo of you inside the photo you are taking etc.

Email policy: you must respond to email received immediately--even if all you have time for is a "thanks, received and will answer soon" response. All group emails should be cc-ed to the entire group so that everyone is "in touch" and "in the loop."

Syllabus

Neighborhood Narratives

Instructors: Hana Iverson, Steve Bull, David Gordon

Email: h.iverson@temple.edu
steve@ctlss.com
gordonfamilybiz@aol.com


Overview Each of us has a story to tell, experiences to share, a way of looking at the world that is unique. If we consider our experiences in the world as a set of narratives, we can also consider that our narratives develop, merge, and collide with the narratives of the people, places and things around us.

With the urban landscape as both canvas and palette Neighborhood Narratives is an evolving locative media theory and production course that introduces students to the concept of situated storytelling - stories that are tied closely to the environment at hand, which can bring neighborhoods to life. In this course all types of media (analogue, digital, text, sound, image etc) are applied to real places and thus trigger real social interaction. The class researches the relationship between the self and place, the reciprocal action between what we carry with us and how we find our way through the city. We consider loco-motion as the location motion of bodies, technology, place and time.

Students design their own projects, using alternative methods to explore formerly ordered and known forms of narrative and story, and how that can be reinvented in a non-traditional fashion, using all different types of media. The final assignments are presented on location in the city. No prior technological expertise is required.




The course is divided into three themes:

Theme one: Location. The course begins with a close examination of the concept of location. We explore questions such as: What is location? How is location measured? How are locations mapped and shared?

Theme two: Creative Exploration. Next, we practice a variety of techniques and strategies that will help us to explore and engage with the urban landscape. These techniques include movement theory, psychogeography, and urban prospecting.

Theme three: World Changing. Finally, we dissect the fundamental idea that events and processes close to home relate to regional, national and global forces and events, leading to a new understanding of ecological stewardship and community. You will synthesize all the concepts into your final project.

Format The class is 4 hours long with a short lunch break.
The class will introduce methods of collecting data from sources including publication, internet and field observation, mapping and scoring, "show and tell" and the examination of means of project presentation and rigorous discussion. Mobile city wide exploration (Temple bus, public transportation, on foot) will include the performance of the final project on location in the city. The class will also suggest the need for peer dialogue and trans-media team work, in many instances, to extend the breadth of a project through collaboration. Students will keep semester long blogs (beginning w/reaction to first class) including observations, snap shots, video and audio recordings - a personal diary of the Neighborhood Narrative experience.

International Network
Neighborhood Narratives links the Philadelphia main campus of Temple University with its international campuses in London, Tokyo and Rome. In the first half of the semester, we will complete an international assignment that sees you joining forces with Tokyo and Philadelphia students to create a locative media podcast. In the second half of the semester we will videochat with Tokyo or Philadelphia to share our experiences and projects.

Spring 2007: London –Instructor: Siobhan Thomas
Tokyo - Instructor: Ron Carr

Internet Access All students are expected to have frequent, dependable access to the internet. In addition, it is essential that you have an active email account that you ACCESS FREQUENTLY, for email with faculty and with each other. If you have any difficulties with either Internet access or your email account, please see the instructor after the first class.

Technology requirements
You are required to have access to the internet and a working email account. You will also need some form of memory stick to save and transport your work. Access to a mobile phone and digital camera is recommended, but not required. However, if you have technology such as cameras, mobile phones, ipods, laptops or GPS devices it would be advantageous to bring these items to each class.

Course costs
As expected with production courses, you may need to purchase supplies to produce your final project. Also, while it is not required, we would like to encourage you to use the communications features of your mobile phone: costs for voice calls and text messaging will depend on your phone plan.

Instructor Contact
The best way to reach us is by email. If you want to make an appointment to meet, please use email to do so. An appointment will not be confirmed until you have received an email reply from the instructor. You can also contact me via text message or skype.

Attendance and Lateness Policy
Attendance Policy: Attending the sessions outlined in the schedule is a requirement of this course. More than two unexcused absences without the instructors’ permission (medical certificate might be requested) will decrease the overall grade by one unit for each additional missed class. Five absences will result in a failing grade for the course. If you are going to be absent, please inform me by email at least 24 hours in advance. ABOVE ALL: KEEP US INFORMED BY EMAIL OR TEXT. If you are absent, it is YOUR responsibility to contact another student who took notes on that day, and to make up any work in a timely fashion.

Lateness Policy: Three times arriving late will be considered as one unexcused absence. Being more than 10 minutes late will be counted as an absence. If you are late, it is your responsibility to let the teachers know when you come into class that you are here, and to make sure you have been marked as present.



Schedule of Classes and Assignments

PLEASE NOTE THAT THIS SCHEDULE IS SUBJECT TO CHANGES AND ADDITIONS!

Jan. 18 Introduction: What I carry with me. Assignment – Garden of Forking Paths/Pan’s Labyrinth.
Jan. 25 Theme one: location. Walking underneath City Hall to Redding Terminal Station. Annotating place: the cell phone, compass.
Feb. 1 The Situationists. A situation as a revolution. Psycho-geography.
Feb. 8 Theme two: creative exploration. The scores. Create a score of any imagined person in the city during the course of a day
Feb. 15 Response: Share the scores with each other. Cut them up, mix them up. Who are we? Unearthing the hidden stories of people in a community. Krystof Wodiczko’s installations of community narratives on buildings. Assignment – Put Something Here.
Feb. 22 Theme two: creative exploration. Atwater Kent Museum – History of Philadelphia. Historical Assigment
March 1 International Assignment due. Put Something Here due.
March 8 No class
March 15 Historical Assignment due. Discuss final projects, research, locations. If desired, over the next few weeks, students should make office appts with any of us, for individual project development.
March 22 Theme two: Creative Exploration. Loco-motion. Bodies, cars, buses, subways. Riding the public bus… Assignment: Put something here mobile
March 29 Theme three: world changing. Philadelphia related to London, Tokyo, the world… politics/globalization/stewardship.
April 5 Put something here mobile due. Review/preview of final projects.
April 19 Final project due. On-site presentations.
April 26 Final project review, class wrap up


Evaluation and Assessment

Grading
Research, attendance and participation 35%
In class assignments 30%
Final project 35%

Deadlines
Late assignments and exercises WILL NOT BE TOLERATED. Failure to hand in an assignment by the due date and time will result in a ZERO grade for that assignment.

Research, attendance and participation
The International Assignment, group work, communicating and sharing knowledge through discussions, posting to the class blog, in-class presentations, and overall student participation are an essential part of the process of understanding course material.

Readings, blog postings and the international assignment are mandatory.

Readings
Prior to each class you will be required to complete a short reading and make a note of relevant points to bring up in class discussion.

Blog postings
Each week you will be required to a) make one post to the Philadelphia NEIGHBORHOOD NARRATIVES blog and b) to comment on other student’s postings. Your post can be on: 1) a locative media project and your reaction to it or 2) a new media technology and how it could be used for locative media (e.g. bubbleply.com) or 3) if applicable, one of the required assignments.

International assignment
You will be assigned to an international team of students and asked to complete a short exercise. Success of the assignment depends on your ability to negotiate and communicate with fellow team members who are based in different time zones and have varying electronic communication styles. Please keep in mind that working internationally can be incredibly rewarding, but has its frustrations: these frustrations are integral to the creative process!

Assignments and Final project
The remit for the final project is to create an on-site locative media art project that changes how people view the world.

Assignment one and two will provide you with the skills and knowledge required to realise your final project.