Ethnography

My issue was the lack of funding for US Alpine Racers. The top riders in the US are given no funding from USSA, and are forced to live in the cars in order to save money for the upcoming season. It is unfortunate when some of the top athletes in the world are unable to compete because their countries organization is not supporting them. My stance is that the top 3 racers, or world cup racers, should be on the A team and receive an annual salary as well as their travel fees, hotels, and race fees are covered. The B Team should include the next 3 riders and have their travel fees, race fees, and hotels paid for. This would ensure the top racers are competing at the highest level of competition, and give incentive for many young racers to continue to pursue their goals in alpine snowboarding.

A different perspective could be a member on the USSA board of directors. It is presumed by this board that Alpine snowboarding is dying out in the US, or it just not as popular as the other disciplines, so the money should be allotted to those that are helping the sport grow. The USSA is trying to make money off the best snowboarders, and the sponsor and television follow halfpipe, slopestyle, and boardercross, so those riders should be given the support of the USSA, instead of the alpine riders.

I would change the videos I showed in class. I could show videos of how exciting the freestyle and boardercross aspects of snowboarding are. I could also have audio playing of the announcers from the x-games and other big freestyle events. I could bring in freestyle snowboard gear as well.

Tuesday Ethnography Assignment

The issue I chose for this intermedia project assignment was sort of a take on women’s human rights issues in the Middle East, specifically the victims of acid attacks. Women’s rights in the Middle East has been a topic I’ve been interested in and concerned about since my junior year of high school when I chose “The Treatment of Afghan Women Under Taliban Rule” as the topic of my research paper, but this issue is also relevant to today because of the acid attacks that happened to two British teenagers in Zanzibar last month. My stance on this issue is, of course, advocating in favor of women’s rights. This issue is also a timely one on that the region where it primarily occurs, the Middle East, is currently undergoing a lot of political and social upheaval and reform; the stakes are high, and the consequences of failure are brutal, especially for women. The leaders of these countries, as well as the leaders of the world, have a duty and responsibility to defend women’s rights with action and policy, not just lofty rhetoric. Will the Middle East become a region that empowers women, or one that oppresses them? Now is the time for change.

            The stance I took for my performance was to shed light on the seriousness of the issue. I wanted to create a sort of somber, almost vigil-like atmosphere to honor the victims of these attacks, which I did by dimming the lights and “lighting” a candle (which was really a battery-powered LED candle). I introduced my topic with a news report about these attacks, and then I went into the “vigil” part of my performance. I created a slide show of pictures of acid attack victims, which I set to an Islamic prayer for mourning. I had all this playing quietly in the background while I read the story of one of the victims of these attacks, Sonali. Afterwards, I paused for a moment of silence and reflection and had the candle passed around the room.

            Another perspective I could use for taking in this issue could be to tell the victim’s story from their point of view, or to read it in first person. Or, instead of taking an emotional approach, I could approach this issue from a more political standpoint, focusing on the human rights injustices. I could wear a blazer to make myself look like a politician and give a briefing of the issue to the class, kind of like the press conferences they give on Capitol Hill. Similarly, I could wear a blazer but also use a microphone as a prop and give my presentation like I was a reporter or a journalist doing the news.

            For the political perspective, I would change the media by using props, such as a blazer or microphone or podium, to incorporate tactile media, as well as project a picture of the Capitol building or a conference room in the background. For the news perspective, I would change the media by also using props, like the blazer and microphone, and I would also play a clip of news footage about acid attacks. 

Ethnography Assignment

My issue was First World Problems, specifically as related to the social media craze (e.g., memes, hashtags, etc.). I am of the opinion that the FWP social media craze is beneficial to society in that it allows for self-reflection and cultural critique in a humourous and contemporary way.

A different perspective could be the opposing—one that argues that the First World Problems craze allows for complacently and makes light of a serious issue. I could embody this perspective and argue the negatives of the social media craze. I would want to make my performance more serious to fit this perspective. I would probably use a PowerPoint, which is generally considered fairly formal. I could also show a video or pictures of people suffering in third world nations. My mood would be more somber instead of lighthearted as it was in my intermedia performance.

Another alternative perspective could be viewing FWP from outside of my own culture (e.g., someone from the third world, a microculture, another first world nation). I could interview someone from another culture on his or her perspective of First World Problems. Though, I do not know if speaking for someone else or another cultural group is entirely ethical...

            I cannot think of many different forms of media to show the alternative perspective on the FWP issue (or if we are suppose to incorporate different types of media in this presentation as well...). I am not entirely sure about how well I think an alternative perspective performance on my issue will turn out so I will also draft another potential performance. The issue is about urban skiing and how it is illegal and often people are ticketed, arrested and jailed for participating in it. My stance on this issue is that urban skiing should be allowed however I could argue how it should not be legal (e.g., lawsuits, injuries, property damage, etc.). I feel like there are a lot of different types of media I could use in the performance. I could show a video of people getting hurt while participating in urban skiing. I could use a balance board, which mimics the feeling of riding on a rail. I could have two volunteers try to balance on the board and have them try to squat down and grab their foot (mimicking a grab). They most likely will not do well on the balance board and that shows how dangerous it is. 

Tuesday Ethnography Assignment

My issue was that Americans are living sedentary lifestyles, spending too much time sitting. My stance was that this type of behavior is unhealthy and is leading to serious health issues that people should be concerned with. I argued that people should spend more time being up and active and that there are proven health benefits towards doing so.

A different stance that could be taken on this topic is that this claim is an over-exaggeration or simply isn’t true. To argue this I could present statistics or facts that refute my original position. I could also claim that my original sources were not reliable, there isn’t enough research to really know for sure if sitting is harmful or not, or that it might be a situation that is unique to each person and making a broad claim isn’t accurate in every situation.

For my original media I had everyone take a test, then perform a game where everyone is standing, and then take the same test to see if people improved. To change this I could have everyone do the same game except sitting down to see if the results were affected more by being active and standing played no part in the results. I could also remove the game entirely and see if everyone did better the second time around anyways. This would show that the game and standing had no affect and that the results were due to some other circumstances. 

intermedia videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FtHm4ZE-HoE

http://m.ksl.com/index/story/sid/27249596?mobile_direct=y

Lauren's Intermedia Videos

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x7JtY9BzzHE

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dw1HavgoK9E

Assignment for Tuesday: Ethnography Performance Concept

This weekend, I would like you to read Chapter 4 of Pelias and Shaffer, which deals with cultural perspectives in storytelling and the shaping of Myth. It also introduces the issue of Fact versus Truth. Here is my one-sentence summary of this issue:

• Sometimes a person's experience is not objectively/factually accurate BUT because of how perspectives shape an experience, that person's perception represents their TRUTH, which is different from FACT.

On that note, I'd like you to listen to the RadioLab podcast "Yellow Rain," which deals with this discrepancy between Truth and Fact.

Finally, I would like you to post to the blog a short (250-word) proposal for how you would present your Intermedia performance from a different perspective. This will require seeing the issue you presented on from a different point of view, one that may not represent FACT, or represent your Truth, but may feel truthful from another's perspective. Please include:

• Your issue
• What your stance WAS on your first performance
• What a different perspective COULD BE on the next performance
• How you would/could change your media to suit this new perspective

Book burning

Intermedia Project: Sedentary America

There is a growing problem in America today that many people are completely unaware of. There is a continuing trend that people are becoming more sedentary which is increasingly problematic and unhealthy. Within the last century it has become easier and more comfortable to sit anywhere and people do. Whether it’s driving to work, sitting in an office, or relaxing at home on a couch, people spend their entire day sitting down. Studies show that when you’re sitting in your chair has numerous detrimental side effects. First sitting for a prolonged amount of time can develop bad posture and back pains. Sitting also affects your metabolism, stopping the production of chemicals necessary for processing sugars and fats. It also reduces blood circulation in the body which is important.

Only recently have there been studies that have been able to prove this and the message is slowly getting out to people. Personally I didn’t think it was a big deal until I worked as a server. Standing on my feet for most of the day I found that I had more energy and was in a better mood than if I just sat around all day relaxing. I also started using a standing desk over the traditional style of desk and chair and have found it a better way to work.

It seems that every day someone discovers that habbits and lifestyle choices we have developed are harming us in ways we never expected. I want to shine light on the issue of how harmful living a sedentary lifestyle can be.

Some have contested to how damaging prolonged sitting actually is. Most people would agree that having a more active lifestyle is healthier though and to me this seems like a chance to be more so. The objections to this idea mostly come from people who think that the claims are exaggerated or made out to be worse than they actually are.

For my presentation I want to have the class take a test or do a simple game at the beginning when everyone is sitting. I then want to have everyone stand up and do some sort of activity for a few minutes. After that I want to have everyone do the same test again and see if there is improvement.

To incorporate all of the senses into my performance I will have a variety of activities to do that all focus on each one specifically. Having a series of games that all challenge different senses I think will be the best way to get everyone active in a short amount of time. Obviously I can’t show how better a day would be not sitting as much in a five minute presentation, but I think that this approach will be the best way to try and demonstrate it in a short amount of time.

Overall I this is a idea that I discovered fairly recently but I think that everyone can benefit from it and should at least try to see if it works for them.

Read and Be Happy

“The competitive habit of mind easily invades regions to which it does not belong.  Take, for example, the question of reading.  There are two motives for reading a book: one, that you enjoy it; the other, that you can boast about it.  It has become the thing in America for [readers] to read (or seem to read) certain books every month; some read them, some read the first chapter, some read the reviews, but all have these books on their tables.  They do not, however, read any old masterpieces…Consequently the reading that is done is entirely of modern books, which, of course are seldom and never of masterpieces.  This also is an effect of competition, not perhaps wholly bad, since most of the [readers] in question, if left to themselves, so far from reading masterpieces, would read books even worse than those selected for them by their literary pastors and masters.”

The Conquest of Happiness

In his book, The Conquest of Happiness, Bertrand Russell outlines what he sees as the causes of unhappiness and, ultimately, those of happiness.  Russell’s philosophy provides a context through which, and against which, I will pose my project and “hypothesis,” if you will.  I strive to amplify Russell’s point that “men and women appear to have become incapable of enjoying the more intellectual pleasures” and this is a principal, but certainly not solitary, cause of unhappiness.  When pressed, which is to say, when under the threat of torture, I would have to admit that both being happy and reading place in the top five on MYLISTOFTHINGSGRAETSAECREDANDSAEXY. 

            Russell, in developing his argument, advises the deconstruction of moral codes and social norms imparted to the unhappy-man during his childhood: the dissolution of imagined structures to the world.  This is where my process divorces Russell’s.  I strive to bring us back to the structured comfort we all once knew and all still secretly love.  We will be read a children’s book via tape recoding; we will turn the pages when prompted by the ding; we will read along and not skip ahead; we will learn ourselves how to read.  Hopefully this will reconstruct a part of our past in which we first saw that we could read, even when someone had not told us to.  Reading with integrity, we’ll call it. 

            Unfortunately, due to foreseen budget cuts, the number of books provided will force the children to share one copy between two, or three of his or her classmates.  Children of lower reading aptitudes needn’t worry.  Mr. Jameson will be there to help you sound out any three-syllable, or tough two-syllable, words.  There will be no talking while the tape recording of the book is being played.  If there is time, children may ask questions after the book has finished, but only questions pertaining to the book the student has just read.  We will learn something, be reminded why reading really is valuable, cause after all, “What good could such knowledge be?  It could not add to anybody’s income.”

Citation can be provided if needed 

Spiders on drugs

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sHzdsFiBbFc

Intermedia Concept: America's sad, sad health

Abby Armstrong

Intermedia Concept

America’s health is sad. Some of the top ten health problems in America include heart disease, stroke, respiratory diseases, diabetes, etc. What is so sad is that these health problems can simply, easily, absolutely be avoided JUST by lifestyle changes.  I can say that I have had a family member lose their life from one of these above diseases. It was tragic. So it prompted my interest in healthy lifestyle.

The question then arose: why is it so difficult for people to avoid these poor lifestyle choices like fast food, cigarettes, drugs, etc. and make better lifestyle choices like exercise, active lifestyles, healthy eating?

The answer is easy, America’s culture.  Yes, campaigns/advertisements have been launched to promote exercise and healthy eating. And yes, calorie counts of meals have been added to SOME menus in SOME states. But this just isn’t enough.

The obesity epidemic and America’s health resulting from poor food choices are some of America’s most severe health problems. America is notoriously known for numerous fast food franchises like…

MacDonald’s

Burger King,

Wendy’s

 Hardy’s

Bojangles

In-and-out Burger

Taco Bell

Golden Spoon

White Castle

Carl’s JR

Dunkin Donuts

Crispy Kreme

Popeyes

Sonic

Pizza Hut

KFC

Chick-fil-a

Arby’s

Five Guys

And the list goes on. Now let me ask you… how is this aiding in maintaining a healthy culture? It’s important; these franchises obviously are not solely to blame for adult obesity rates doubling since 1980 (15 to 30%) and childhood obesity having more than tripled. Like I said before the lack of exercise, smoking, drug use, etc. …oh and not to mention lack of self-control, are also to blame. Escalating obesity rates have momentous health consequences, contributing to amplified rates of more than 30 serious diseases. These conditions generate a major strain on the health care system.

Organizations have claimed that our country is failing to address the health crisis of obesity and the consequential diseases and deaths that follow the health crisis. Instead of saying how America has failed lets be more aggressive, optimistic, and motivated in this healthy lifestyle movement and not half ass it.

To avoid these health problems the universal prevention method is the following: exercise, do not smoke, monitor your blood sugar, lose any extra weight, and just be healthy!

I’m clearly not amused by America’s mediocre efforts to dig our country out of this Health Crisis; however, it’s not entirely up to America and our government but instead a culture change that needs to happen, a movement of the people. Not to mention, more aggressive efforts by the people to revamp America’s culture into a healthier one. 

Since I am talking about America’s health I want to show pictures of the average American opposed to the average European. Also, bring in some yummy health snacks that could act as an alternative to a trip to McDonalds.   

Intro to Intermedia Day II

Here are some concepts I'd like to start out with:

Bobby McFerrin, "Watch Me Play...the Audience!"




Considerations:

• What senses does McFerrin evoke in this performance?
• What part does synesthesia play?
• How does McFerrin use both himself and the audience as media?

Bill Viola, "The Crossing"

• From Viola's website: http://www.sfmoma.org/media/features/viola/BV01.html

• Use of materials as media - water/fire
• Visceral reaction to the synesthesia of seeing water/fire devour a human body - haptic/tactile
• The soundtrack of the water hitting the body - auditory
• The facial reaction of the man, slowed down - the stretching of time opens up an emotional/relational sense of connection
• Finally the symbolic use of fire and water: Viola uses a lot of religious iconography in his work.

Bill Viola Talks about his Five Angels installation

Bill Viola - FIVE ANGELS from Institut für Kunstdokumentation on Vimeo.

NoiseFold

• NoiseFold, in a word, amalgamates adjective, noun and verb. The name can conjure an immediate reference to noise music with its loud, near unbearable volumes, radical explorations of extreme frequencies, disjunctive ruptures, glitches and wall of sound dynamics. 
• Utilizing our own custom designed real-time performance software we are able to generate novel 3D visual forms through hybrid processes, bending geometric coordinates and folding multiple data streams back on themselves
• The visual images oscillate from fluid deformations of virtual objects to archetypal landscapes and speculative architectures. As in other NoiseFold works, the visual data is sonified to produce a rich pallet of electronic sound.  The work is designed for multi-screen and multi-speaker configuration that provide opportunities for the trio to join in duets, perform solos or share data between the individual performers. Combining cinema, data sonification and acoustic music as an integral whole, NoiseFold and Uitti seek to extend network media performance into the realm of contemporary chamber music.

I have always been one to try new things and enjoy spending time outside so when I had to pick a topic for this project I choose coral reef destruction. Everyone always talks about global warming and the ice burgers are melting but you never hear much about the coral reefs. I became certified in scuba diving five years ago and I would like to travel more to scuba dive but with the current coral reef destruction they could not be possible.

            About coral reefs, they cover more than 280,000km and support over a thousand different species. They can be found all over the world and can be found in water as deep as 450 ft. They are described as the rainforest of the sea. Not only do are coral reefs pretty to look at but the also protect shores from the impact of waves and storms, provide benefits to humans in the form of food and medicine, and provide economic benefits to local communities from tourism. They bring in more than $30 billion in annually in global goods and services. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) says the economic value that they bring in is even higher closer to $375 billion each year this is from jobs, food, and tourism. Not only from an economic stand point but also ecological way coral reefs are the key factors to the well being of the oceans, as we know them. What has happened to the coral reefs so far; 20% of the worlds coral reefs have been effectively destroyed and show in immediate prospects of recovery, 24% of the worlds reefs are under imminent risk of collapse from human pressures and 26% are under a long term threat of collapse so far it isn’t looking to good for the coral reefs.

   What is causing coral reef destruction? There are three main categories that are causing this. Global change, direct human pressures, and the human dimension governance, awareness and political will.  To start global change threats has to do with coral bleaching which is caused by elevated sea surface temperatures due to global climate change that is also, linked to the rising levels of CO2. Both of these causes can be from global warming. Oceans absorb about 525 billion tons of CO2 from the atmosphere this helps reduce green house gases but does not help with oceans well being. Another global change is diseases, plagues and invasive from human disturbances in the environment. Causes from human pressures are over fishing that can be linked to global market pressures. Sediments being released into the waters from poor land use, deforestation, and nutrients and chemical pollution. The last human pressure is the development of costal areas on land and also mining of coral reef rock and sand underneath the reefs. Governance and awareness is from the poor capacity of management and lack of resources and also the lack of political will.

            We don’t have to loss coral reefs forever. Stopping coral reef destruction is just like preventing global warming. Things to help protect coral reefs would be conserve water, reduce pollution, use eco friendly fertilizers, practice safe and responsible diving and snorkeling, and reef clean up.  The NOAA is also doing things to help prevent this such as restrictions on divers and fishing on reefs, removing coral predators from the area, and remove obvious coral disease to prevent it from spreading.

            From my presentation I was thinking of shows pictures of reefs before and after destruction. Show a video on how to prevent reef destruction and if I can find any maybe some pieces of coral to pass around the class.