In progress

I can't seem to get photos to appear as part of the markers- really frustrating! so I'm using links...
Here's what it looks like now

this is what I'm seeing when I try to post an image to a marker- no way to upload from my computer...

Blog Post #7 - Exploring Data Visualization

I looked at the Rolling Stones on Tour, the MoMA one on Inventing Abstraction, US Baseball Statues- which was really well thought out- every marker on the map gives you the most basic info, but importantly it gives you a link which opens in a new window (a BIG plus) that shows a picture of the statue and the location, inscription and details. It terms of visualizing data, it clearly shows concentrations of statues- like New England & Mid-Atlantic, which correlates to the history of baseball, so that could be a starting point for questions.

BUT whoa- then I got to the Guardian’s NSA site- and then pretty much spent the next three hours here. It’s amazing, because it’s so through and instantly engaging with video and interactive graphics. And EASY- (as opposed to the Wikipedia by Gender page- which was clunky to use. (What they should really track is how many entries about women get “edited”/defaced by men i.e Feminist Blogger Anita Sarkissian 

But back to the NSA- (Q: Am I being data-tracked right now for even typing the letters NSA? A: Highly likely)

The Guardian Newspaper is the main author here- which would make sense since they were the (brave) leaders in covering the Snowden/NSA docs. They use compelling writing, video and graphics to present the information. Also it is clearly laid out and easy to navigate. There is a lot of information here: historical, first- person accounts (in video) from a variety of sources, I didn’t sense a bias, it’s pretty objective, unless you love being spied on.

I think the presentation tools and content would suck students in and really engage them. For example, the site has a interactive tool that where you put in the number of FB friends that you have, to illustrate the NSA’s 3-Hop Rule for spying on you.

     

   “You don't need to be talking to a terror suspect to have your communications data analysed by the NSA. The agency is allowed to travel "three hops" from its targets — who could be people who talk to people who talk to people who talk to you. Facebook, where the typical user has 190 friends, shows how three degrees of separation gets you to a network bigger than the population of Colorado. How many people are three "hops" from you?”

Also another EXCELLENT interactive data visualization is about halfway down in section one- relatively quick in the overall read- that shows you how many giga/terabytes of info the NSA has collected on you since you starting reading the article. 
 

SCARY!!

I think all of their visualizations are very effective- one of the main strengths is that there is an instant appeal,  from the surface level of - to the ones that make you linger longer- like court docs (via scribd) or posting the ENTIRE Prism powerpoint (which through its most hideous design makes the best argument ever for why everyone should take a basic art or design class.)
 

This would get a C- at best.

In one of my classes we do a data-tracking of ourselves, a self-surveillance in which we collect data and then translate that data into visualization/self-portrait through data. I would use some of the site in introducing the topic/project, like this one about how we generate data trails: 

Although this site is probably not the exact right fit, (I would use artist examples) I would probably assign this as a bonus reading because I think it’s a real eye opener, that would really have students think about they way data is collected and about civil liberties, and then also maybe think about how artists can resist and rewrite the existing situation.

James Baldwin in Paris

For this project I made an annotated map of James Baldwin in Paris 
(I couldn't figure out how to save it as a .kml file, so I just shared the link- I have to work on that step)

James Baldwin, Paris, 1962

In 1948, James Baldwin left New York for Paris with $40 in his pocket. He was 24 years old, black and gay, and wanted to distance himself from the prejudice he had experienced in America. He was virtually unpublished when he left, but Baldwin thrived in Paris, going on to write Go Tell it on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, The Amen Corner and Giovanni's Room all by 1956.  He lived the rest of his life in France, while remaining active in the Civil Rights movements in the United States.

This is a map I made of some his documented time/places in Paris, based on the blog Entree to Black Paris, wikipedia, and an article from the NY Times.

I watched some of the tutorials but they were showing how to use google maps to do a "My Map" layer. (not Google Earth .kml files) I don't know how different they are- I see that in Google earth you can do more of an animated tour. With Google maps though you could still add text, pictures, links through the spreadsheet form. It was a relatively easy interface, once you figure out how to do the first annotation. This sample project relates exactly to my seminar project, so it was useful to see/feel how it worked, and I'm going to keep at it. Based on my experience of it today, I think it can be done fairly easily by students- you just have to have the idea developed and materials/resources somewhat planned out ahead of time.

I could definitely see the value of this in the classroom (and within the new Core Competencies) as it can be used in conjunction with (and evaluated as) a more traditional written assignment, like a (auto)biographical essay, or for communication studies with a narrated tour.  Or, for an art history course, like our Art in New York class, this would beautifully complement the existing course assignments.  Before I started this map, I made a word doc gathering the history, writing out the sites/addresses and relevant text- so it absolutely has components that are more grounded in traditional assignments- like a thesis statement, researching, citing, etc.

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.