Final Project: A Digital Journey Through Physical Space
Due Wednesday, May 16 at 1:30pm by email to your section leader

Walking as a durational, artistic and experimental practice has a long and rich history. As Rebecca Solnit writes:

“…the subject of walking is, in some sense, about how we invest universal acts with particular meanings. Like eating or breathing, it can be invested with wildly different cultural meanings, from the erotic to the spiritual, from the revolutionary to the artistic. Here this history begins to become part of the history of the imagination and the culture of what kind of pleasure, freedom, and meaning are pursued at different times by different kinds of walks and walkers. That imagination has both shaped and been shaped by the spaces it passes through on two feet.”

Our experience of space tends to be lived simultaneously across the physical and the mediated — these two spheres are in constant collaboration. Your final project will be a digital journey through physical space.  Considering how digital technologies have become immersed in every aspect of our culture, your project should reflect on how this dynamic shapes imagination and meaning when it comes to transforming the spaces through which we move.

Please take time to review the following projects. Your project can take any form but must utilize one of these models as a basis upon which to develop your own unique, creative work:

• Simon Faithful’s 0.00 Navigation http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YjP5H5fHOd4
• Frances Alys’ Walk the Line http://ikono.org/2011/05/walk-the-line-in-palestine/
• Jeremy Wood’s GPS Drawings: http://www.gpsdrawing.com/gallery.html
• Janet Cardiff’s Walks (Her Long Black Hair, Conspiracy Theory, Talking Pictures, Words Drawn in Water)
• Site-specific story projects: [murmur], University of Death, Murder on Beacon Hill
• Jen Southern’s Co-Mob drawings: http://sketchagraph.wordpress.com/2011/10/14/animated-drawing/

Please note: All of these models are founded on the idea of moving through physical space and augmenting that space through digital technologies. Therefore, your project should not exist solely as a virtual experience.

In addition to the project itself, you must submit the following:

• Project proposal: 250-500 words explaining your idea for the project and how you intend to complete it (due to section leader during the week of April 2nd).
• Write up: 750-1000 words documenting the experience of creating your project as well as how your methods, goals, and discoveries relate to material covered in class throughout the semester (due at the same time you submit the final project).

Rubric:

1. Well thought through idea, using your chosen model as a framework
2. Clearly understands the reasoning and motivation behind your chosen model
3. Thoughtfully adapts the model to create your own project
4. Effective and creative use of technology to communicate your journey
5. Strong collaboration between the virtual and the physical
6. Final write-up clearly communicates goals of the project
7. Final write-up clearly discusses the project in light of the material covered in the course
8. Project creatively communicates the intention of your digital journey through physical space
9. Final output of your journey is aesthetically dynamic and well edited
10. Goes beyond parameters of the project to show evidence of effort

1. Now that you have your projects proposed you must create an interface where that project can be accessed and experienced online. For example,  if you are utilizing video as documentation, this should be uploaded on something such as Vimeo or Youtube and a link included in what you turn in. If you are doing a narrative or game project you will need to create an interface that serves as the starting point for this project such as a blog or a website where users would find instructions, etc. (For these narrative/game projects, you will also need to submit the full written story or give us a walkthrough of your project so that we can get a sense of what it would be like to experience your narrative/game.) If you are creating a audio journey, you will still need to create a website or blog from which this audio can be accessed. This site should also serve to give people the context and reason for this journey — see Janet Cardiff’s websites as an example.
2. A rough draft of this interface needs to be ready and e-mailed to Krista regardless of your section by April 30th  (klc@umd.edu).  
3. From this we plan to compile screenshots, video, sound, photo and so forth and then screen this in our final class on Monday, May 7th. 
4. You final project is due during the time when our final would have been: 1:30pm on Wednesday May 16th to your section faculty via e-mail. 

• http://www.jasonfarman.com/dcc106/powerpoint/Definitions_of_Space.pdf
• http://www.jasonfarman.com/dcc106/powerpoint/Space_as_Practice.pdf
• http://www.jasonfarman.com/dcc106/powerpoint/Hybrid_Spaces_and_Pervasive_Computing.pdf
• http://www.jasonfarman.com/dcc106/powerpoint/Power_and_Mapping.pdf
• http://www.jasonfarman.com/dcc106/powerpoint/Space_and_Power.pdf
• http://www.jasonfarman.com/dcc106/powerpoint/Military_and_Space.pdf

http://www.jasonfarman.com/dcc106/images/flashmob2.jpg

http://www.jasonfarman.com/dcc106/images/flashmob3.jpg

http://www.jasonfarman.com/dcc106/images/flashmob4.jpg

http://www.jasonfarman.com/dcc106/images/flashmob5.jpg

http://www.jasonfarman.com/dcc106/images/flashmob6.jpg

http://www.jasonfarman.com/dcc106/images/flashmob7.jpg

http://www.jasonfarman.com/dcc106/images/flashmob8.jpg

• Antenna Search (for cell towers and antennas)
• Submarine Maps of Internet Cables
• Images of Important Internet Locations
• Facilities at UMD (for floorplans — you must log in)
• List of Internet Exchange Points

Examples of good map visualizations (for inspiration):

http://www.axismaps.com/portfolio.php

Map Quadrants:

• Quadrant 1
• Quadrant 2
• Quadrant 3
• Quadrant 4

Surveillance cam types:

• Dome cam
• CCTV cam
• Blue Light cam

For Photo Manipulation Exercises:

• Mic_Classic.jpg
• Mic1.jpg
• Road.jpg
• Walkonbeach.jpg
• Victorian Man.psd
• Desert Background.jpg

Please use the comments section below to begin discussing and organizing your flash mob. This would be a good place to put some ideas out there, talk about good examples of previous flash mobs, and begin detailing some specifics like place and time.

Please let me know if you have any questions!

Best,

Dr. Farman

As a section, you will come up with an idea for a flash mob, implement that flash mob, and document your actions. The form this documentation takes will be unique for each section. As you brainstorm ideas for your flash mob, you should take into consideration the history of flash mobs and the various ethical dimensions that flash mobs raise. Your flash mob must take place somewhere outside of Queen Anne’s Hall and can be performed anywhere in the DC-Baltimore area (including sites on campus). Your performances or interventions should either highlight or subvert the social norms of that public space.

As a group, you will decide on the most effective way to document your flash mob (in consultation with your professor). Each student will turn in their own version of this documentation and present this in your sections.

You will be graded on the following criteria:

Well chosen public space for this particular flash mob

• Documentation effectively chronicles the flash mob
• Original and creative approach to documentation
• Documentation demonstrates skill in chosen medium
• Effective use of technology for collective organizing
• Innovative use of the iPad
• Effectively intervenes in the everyday life of the public space
• Project demonstrates collaborative effort
• Builds upon and extends previous models of flash mobs
• Project goes above and beyond the parameters of the assignment

The flash mob and documentation must be complete and turned in at the beginning of your section the week of February 13. This assignment is worth 10% of your final grade. No late work will be accepted.

On a typical weekday on our campus, you’ll see people rushing from class to class. They leave point A to hurry to point B. Sometimes, this will be interrupted by large groups of future students and their families slowly meandering to each highlight on campus (from Stamp to the Jim Henson statue to McKeldin Library). This project is about a different way of journeying through the campus. It is about teaching people a different way to tour, to walk, and to learn about this space. Such a project is founded on the following ideas: 1) the walker is the writer of the location and the space is a compositional catalyst; 2) the walker can reinstill the playfulness and performative nature of a space; 3) disrupting a planned journey is a powerful way to see a space differently; and 4) allows us to consider how power affects the shaping and practice of space.

Ultimately, a “mis-guide” is a tour book that leads people through a space by using various games, tactics, and projects that offer new perspectives on an often-familiar locale. The “tour book” can take many forms, but must include a visual component that falls in line with your section’s focus. You must start with a broad directive (such as “layer this map of Washington, DC on top of this map of UMD,” or, “Download this map and go to the front steps of Queen Anne’s Hall to begin your tour”) and then offer them, at minimum, a three-stage tour of campus. Your goal is to get your walkers to view things in a new way; thus, it is important to disrupt the idea of the traditional tour of campus.

For this assignment, you must also write a short 1-page review of a fellow classmate’s mis-guide. This review should address the aspects of the mis-guide that were effective and any suggestions for improvement. Your mis-guide and review must be complete and turned in at the beginning of your section the week of February 27th. This assignment is worth 10% of your final grade. No late work will be accepted.

You will be graded on the following criteria:

• Creative approach to tour of campus (i.e., shows innovation and imagination)
• Keeps walkers engaged with this new approach to touring the campus (i.e., creates an interactive experience)
• Disrupts traditional ways of walking the campus
• Clearly expresses its purpose, perspective, and ideas
• Offers a user-friendly interface
• Considers the power structures that have influenced the shape of our campus
• Effective use of your medium used to convey your mis-guide
• Project demonstrates skill in chosen medium
• Well-written review of peer’s mis-guide
• Goes beyond parameters of the project to show evidence of effort

For these projects, you will create two maps with accompanying 2 page write-ups for each map.

Surveillance Map

Step 1:
For the surveillance map project, you will be broken up into four groups in each section to scout the campus looking for surveillance cameras. Each group will choose a quadrant of the campus to create a map of the cameras in that section of campus. You will document not only the location of the cameras, but will also photograph the surveillance site (which will be an important component of Step 2). This data will then be compiled into one master Google map for the section (or utilize an iPad app like Map+).

Step 2:
Using the master map, you will then create a new individual map. The intention is for you to move beyond the master map and create a new visualization to the information that has been gathered. Each section will take a specific approach based on the tools and programs focused on thus far during the semester.

Step 3:
You will create a 2-page explanation of your individual map. You should discuss the choices you made and the reasoning behind these choices. What do we learn from visualizing surveillance cameras in this way? You may also want to address how your visualization/map “tells white lies” as Mark Monmonier discusses his book. How is this approach vital for the success of your visualization?

Infrastructure Map

For this map, you may choose any ICT infrastructure to visualize in map form. You may decide to focus on the WiFi infrastructure on our campus or you may decide to focus on Internet peering points along the Eastern Seaboard. Thus, you may not have to go out and do site-specific research, but your project should be well researched based on your chosen infrastructure.

Drawing from the tools and programs covered in your section, you should develop a dynamic visualization of the infrastructure. You will also create a 2-page write-up that is similar to the one created for your surveillance map. You should discuss your choices and the reasoning behind these choices. You should also discuss what is learned from your visualization/map. How does this understanding transform the way that we think about your chosen infrastructure?

For each map, you will be graded on the following criteria:

• Map clearly communicates data
• Creative approach to visualizing information
• Effective use of documentation in your map visualization
• Aesthetics of design
• Project demonstrates skill in chosen medium
• Visualization is in conversation with the topics discussed in class and reading
• Well-written reasoning of design choices
• Write-up clearly and thoughtfully addresses problems of mapping
• Write-up is in conversation with the topics discussed in class and readings
• Goes beyond parameters of the project to show evidence of effort