Made my way over to Langell's only to find it closed by the time I arrived. One thing about walking is that you have to plan for longer travel times. On my walk today I was once again taken by the corner of Girard Blvd. SE and Campus and the collection of Cylindropuntia imbricata (cane cholla cactus) on the corner. They surround a storm drain and there is a bit of a twilight zone of space between the drain and where the traffic from Girard zooms by. It looks as if pedestrians have created two routes through the area coming from Girard into the university. As I walked toward my destination I came across three individuals, one male walking by himself and two females walking together, all of them carrying large military backpacks stuffed to capacity and moving at a generous clip. I assumed that they were all part of some training and left it at that. Walking down Indian School nearing the intersection at Carlisle I noticed a trail off to my left. I decided to add the location to Foursquare as "Artery" park as it was a flow of vegetation weaving its way through the neighborhood south of Indian School. It eventually joined with the official Urban Forest Park, a place without the green grass of typical city park but the furry texture of native plants abound, the interstates massive 40 foot (approximately) high "sound" wall defining the southern boundary. Not wanting to backtrack to Indian School I discovered a "secret" path that ascended east along the wall to channel me on to Carlisle and back on the path to the art supply store. I walked over the AMAFCA channel at Carlisle and I-40 and made a mental note to walk the path that follows along side it in the future. Made it to the store and it was closed. Check out the route and the photos. Elucidate.
View 2011-02-23 16:02 in a larger map
Walk #2
Wednesday, February 23, 2011
Tuesday, February 22, 2011
Process with the smartphone
So I think I've finalized a working process of how I will record and track each walk with my smart phone. Using My Tracks by Google I can track my distance traveled, speed of travel, elevation gain/loss, etc. It also allows me to upload my walks to Google Docs and Fusion Table which I can then use to generate maps of my walks. The other steps along the way are adding places to Foursquare so that people can "Check-in" and earn points. I am also working on creating a movable, interactive object (well many of them actually) to place throughout the city that will feature a QR code linking you to an sensory experience. This is to test the perception of place as well as question the physical boundaries of your surroundings, and also make a fun and interactive experience. Points will be earned in Foursquare by checking-in to these places that I physically mark with my object. I encourage my fellow Landscape Elucidaters to search out these objects and post your experience with each place. I have not yet placed them in the landscape yet but I will be sure and inform everyone here of when they are out there.
The walk I am showing you today is from yesterday and I continue to be fascinated with the closure of Cole Avenue and its (temporary) transformation into a pedestrian thoroughfare. Of course there are the intermittent construction vehicles going about the renovation process but for the most part it is open and un-paved. The majority of time that I have spent on both Lead & Coal Ave. has been in a vehicle and the few walks up and down these streets that I have done over the years have always been hectic due to the high volumes of traffic that speed by. The experience I had on the currently rustic road that is Coal Ave. was one of discovery and joy in the ability to stop and observe elements of the landscape that before I had only zoomed by in my car or quickly walked past in my haste to depart from the raucous traffic of the city.
I intend to conduct a series of 20 walks, give or take a few, over these next several weeks and I want them to cover ground in the four sections (NW, NE, SE, SW) of Albuquerque that the interstate has created. I want to see how pedestrian movement occurs across the interstate between the sections and how it effects way-finding. I can already assume from experience that the majority of the crossings will take place at an underpass, a place which I found out yesterday can be a very interesting mixture of sounds (something to play with perhaps).
The underlying theme to this whole experiment is to look at the relationship to the smart phone and how it performs in creating an experience of the landscape. This interaction becomes a game, an extension of the way we communicate in our online social networks. What is a locale/landmark/place and how might one alter the perception of it from one person to the next? I am in the process of filling out an IRB form (academic institution that lets me include other's impressions in my research) and I hope I can convince 5 to 10 of you to walk one of my walks as it were and provide me with feedback of your experience. Glory and points on Foursquare can be yours! Again, I welcome your thoughts and critiques on any and all of the ideas I express.
View 2011-02-21 15:35 in a larger map
Walk #1
The walk I am showing you today is from yesterday and I continue to be fascinated with the closure of Cole Avenue and its (temporary) transformation into a pedestrian thoroughfare. Of course there are the intermittent construction vehicles going about the renovation process but for the most part it is open and un-paved. The majority of time that I have spent on both Lead & Coal Ave. has been in a vehicle and the few walks up and down these streets that I have done over the years have always been hectic due to the high volumes of traffic that speed by. The experience I had on the currently rustic road that is Coal Ave. was one of discovery and joy in the ability to stop and observe elements of the landscape that before I had only zoomed by in my car or quickly walked past in my haste to depart from the raucous traffic of the city.
I intend to conduct a series of 20 walks, give or take a few, over these next several weeks and I want them to cover ground in the four sections (NW, NE, SE, SW) of Albuquerque that the interstate has created. I want to see how pedestrian movement occurs across the interstate between the sections and how it effects way-finding. I can already assume from experience that the majority of the crossings will take place at an underpass, a place which I found out yesterday can be a very interesting mixture of sounds (something to play with perhaps).
The underlying theme to this whole experiment is to look at the relationship to the smart phone and how it performs in creating an experience of the landscape. This interaction becomes a game, an extension of the way we communicate in our online social networks. What is a locale/landmark/place and how might one alter the perception of it from one person to the next? I am in the process of filling out an IRB form (academic institution that lets me include other's impressions in my research) and I hope I can convince 5 to 10 of you to walk one of my walks as it were and provide me with feedback of your experience. Glory and points on Foursquare can be yours! Again, I welcome your thoughts and critiques on any and all of the ideas I express.
View 2011-02-21 15:35 in a larger map
Walk #1
Monday, February 14, 2011
Sense of place
How do we judge place? The two walks that I have documented so far have been prompted by one, the need to collect data for my thesis and two, to complete personal errands. So far my recording of data has consisted of photographing various scenes along my walk that then also serve as visual markers for someone to find that site again. I printed out a QR code today that links to my blog and I wrote on the 12 copies I printed; "What do you see?" "Tell me about place?" "Hello!" "Write me a story" and "What is place?" This being an experiment I think the temporal quality of something printed on paper isn't quite what I should be going for. My hope for them was to have someone scan the code and post something on the blog related to the message written on the paper. We shall see. I think going forward I need to display the QR codes in a form that conveys more of a sense of permanence. Perhaps out of laser-etched wood or metal so that they have a certain sculptural quality to them. Then place them in areas where the content that is being linked plays upon the feeling of that particular place.
These two slideshows contain photos that I took when I was still experimenting with GPS tracking programs. These are the two first walks that I conducted with the GPS tracking program Cardio Trainer. I decided to start fresh with Google My Tracks and so that is the reason that these first two walks are not numbered.
View 2011-02-14 in a larger map
View 2011-02-10 22:59:10 in a larger map
These two slideshows contain photos that I took when I was still experimenting with GPS tracking programs. These are the two first walks that I conducted with the GPS tracking program Cardio Trainer. I decided to start fresh with Google My Tracks and so that is the reason that these first two walks are not numbered.
View 2011-02-14 in a larger map
View 2011-02-10 22:59:10 in a larger map
The smart phone as it orchestrates our experience of the landscape
So begins an exploration of the relationship between the smart phone, the urban terrain and humans. This blog will serve as a public dialogue of how the smart phone aids in our interaction with and connection to each other and the surrounding environment. It is also the topic for my masters thesis and an arena for my committee members and peers to post comments and give feedback. Over the next several weeks I will document my progress, the physical manifestation of this thesis will be in the form of walking paths throughout the city of Albuquerque, NM and a visual record of the interactions that take place between myself, the smart phone and the urban terrain...the hope is to garner a deeper understanding of place through this process.
Subscribe to:
Comments (Atom)