Bruce Springsteen's America

From Randolph Street to Balboa Park - Bruce Springsteen's America: a mapping project based on Bruce Springsteen lyrics and places.

Blog Post #5- Exploring a Mapping/GIS project

First I used Myths on Maps (btw: The PLS speed dial has an image which says  “Mapping Texts: Texas Historical Newspapers" but it links to Myths on Maps.)

It took me a little bit to figure out how to navigate it in useful way, since it doesn’t link to the home page explaining how to navigate but instead takes you right to the map tool. Myths on Maps uses the texts of Apollodorus’ Library and Epitome and locates character names and sites onto a Google map. It has different view/search options- you can read directly through the text which has hyperlinks to the map tool, or you can use the map itself and search by location (ex: Thebes) and then use the sidebar to see characters, events and text citations.  It was a little buggy and there were lots of error pages but it was pretty great. I could see how this would be useful if you were teaching with these texts as it gives a good sense of the geographic area of the Greek Myths, in a way that seems “real” today. The project was made at the University of Victoria, and since it’s an academic source and so closely linked to a fixed text, it would seem to me pretty reliable and responsibly curated.

Screensnap from Myths and Maps, search term: Thebes

 I also tried Google Sightsmap, which uses crowd-sourced photos and locates them using a photo's metadata onto a google map. The data is based on photos from Panoramio, a geolocation based photo sharing service. The Sightsmap lets you see how “hot” a place is based on the amount of photos that have been taken and uploaded at certain places. It uses the basic Googlemap format so you can scroll to zoom in and move around, and the more you zoom in, the more information and actual user photos you see, you also have the option to show tags in a wordcloud so you can see what people are saying. Below are some screensnaps showing the different options for Alexandria, Egypt. There is an instant pleasure factor with this site, even if you are just browsing without intention.

Sightsmap was simultaneously really cool, really banal and really creepy. Cool because it’s fun and I did spend a lot of time looking at things, banal because pretty much everyone takes pictures of the same things in certain places, and creepy because it’s yet another example of free labor provided by users when they sign up and agree to Panoramia’s terms of service.

I think Sightsmap would be really engaging for students, and could be used as a prompt for many creative activities, and could also bring up an interesting conversation about being mindful of what we provide and control when exchanging our information/data for free.

Screensnap from Google Sightsmap

tag based word cloud

showing a closer zoom, individual user photos appear

Example of a typical user photo for the Alexandria Library

Here was one photo where a user actually went inside the library. 

Revised Project (thank you for the feedback!)

Project: Student-made virtual tours of accidental art*.

Students will design/curate their own annotated virtual tour based on mindful, visual observation based on the elements of art in their environments.

Steps:

1. Learn to make a Google map virtual tour myself. Find out if you can link to blogger posts in the map markers.

2. Prepare instructions for students.

3. Model the tour based on an assignment they already did in week 1, which was to post a picture/write about of where they saw art in their daily life (examples that the posted include graffiti on a deli, a mosaic in the subway, at their gym, at a food bank). I can make the tour based on what they posted, then we can look a it together as an example of how their own tours will look.

4. Have students over the course of 2 weeks take 6 (or more) pictures of their encounters with accidental art. The parameters will be based on the visual elements we discussed in class- line, pattern, shape, color relationships, light, texture.

5. Upload pictures to class blog of the work and where they saw it. Give the work a title, and write a description of the medium, elements that made it accidental art, the site, date, whether it’s ephemeral or permanent, other relevant work info/description.

6. Using Google maps, create a virtual tour with images, short descriptions and links to the blog posts.

7. Use the project as part of my presentation at a conference (acceptance pending.)

*Accidental art/Found art examples can be seen here: Joy Garnett and Horny For Cables

Blog Post #4 - Seminar Project Planning

What I’m thinking about is to make a student driven/student centric tagged map. There are two options I’m thinking of for the content of the maps:

#1 is to do a map of where students see art around them in their daily lives- in their neighborhood, at school, during their commute, etc. (This is based on a writing assignment I give in Art & Society class, where students have to find, photograph, discuss the work/location.) I thought this would be a good activity because they’re already using blogger and images and maybe that would be a good connection (since I think the Google maps can be easily linked to blog posts?)

Pros: it’s an activity I can replicate each semester and possibly with more classes, therefore having a greater number of students use DH tools; the material would be easy to gather since it’s already an existing assignment; it’s something doable in the PLS timeframe. Cons: ? (I can’t think of any.)

#2 is inspired by the way I see common spaces used at LaGuardia, and how physical spaces can dictate student behaviors. For example the “Sun Room” space between E an M is always crowded- but very quiet. Students are usually laying down or spacing out or reading- it’s really, really awesome. The physical space just suggests meditative time. Compare that with the courtyard outside of the poolside café, (the concrete platform/stage) where students are always doing more performative things. Compare that with the window ledges in the 1^st floor E Bldg where its kind of raucous and more animated- and a real fashion show of styles.

I think it would be cool if there was a student Guide to campus based on student driven categories- like where’s the best place to study, where’s the best place to people watch, where’s the best place to sleep, which cafeteria is best for what and when, etc. What would students tell each other about these places?

Pros: As a commuter campus, the map could give more of sense of campus life, community, and expose students to new places/people that they normally wouldn’t interact with. Example: I had no idea that we had a designated space for meditation/reflection in Bldg. C because I hardly ever had to go to C bldg. (Wonder what I am missing in the B bldg??!!) Cons: it’s ambitious and probably couldn’t be done in the time frame. Maybe I can just start with E and M bldgs? Not sure. Also, I remember reading that one of Dr. Doctor’s PTK students had made a LaGuardia app? Not sure what that includes but maybe some of these ideas have already been addressed there.

I downloaded and have been messing around with the Google earth tools- I think it seems like making a “sightseeing” Tour would be the logical choice. I think that could be the best way to visualize either of these ideas, by adding markers/tags and images/video to the tour.

(and then there is the third option which is to continue the obituary projects into something larger- I had a lot of good feedback on it so that was encouraging to develop it further- but whether that’s appropriate for the PLS I’m not sure since it’s not student based.)

I'd love to hear your feedback on any of these ideas.