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
I did have a final destination planned for my walk today and that was the pedestrian bridge that crosses I-40 near Louisiana. The interstate is such a presence, essentially quartering the city in perfect cardinal sections; NW, NE, SE, and SW. Cars have multiple crossing points that bridge and subvert the interstate and provide connection but as far as strictly human scales of movement there are very few connections to the various quarters of Albuquerque. These quarters have, over time, developed their own identities and with the boundaries of each area experiencing a slight overlap. With the car we are free to move about the whole city with ease but when on foot the desire to wander outside of a quarter requires added effort. It is my intent to explore all 4 quarters with equal emphasis and look for paths that facilitate exploration across quarters.
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