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| Currently pervasive locative media are becoming more integrated into our experiences of space and culture. Our attention is divided between the events in the physical (real) and virtual (media) space. In understanding the basemap which illustrates the geographic features of the city and how location sensing technologies can create a sense of awareness between people and their environment, I can begin my project with my interest in creating narratives that reveals a perspective to engage interaction in a community. The work encourages people to appreciate the aesthetic, unfamiliar and changing environment. There are many places that we are completely ignorant of or have never taken the time to stop at. As Joseph Hart (2004) pointed out in his article, “A New Way of Walking,” psychogeography allow new experiences to places that are not the typical path you follow from day to day. We need to break people from their normal experience, stressed by Guy Debord (1955). Narrative is a medium that can create awareness between people and their environment. The narratives I created help people learn something interesting about their surrounding. This allows for social and cultural readings of space and disclosing information to the public and subject to reinterpretation. These places are often overlooked, are unfamiliar to the public eye or insignificant spaces. | ||
| The project “The Perfect View” is connected to my project. “The Perfect View” is an exploration of sublimity using the geocaching community to travel to different sites across the US and photograph the landscape. The fascination to C5’s work draws from their interest in how people interact with data and how we use this data to relate to our surroundings. I am using a similar approach to gather the general public who are already familiar with using GIS (Geographic Information Systems). I am intergrating my artwork in the geocaching community. Instead of having people document a site, I am inviting them to visit my own art installations. | ||
| There are two kinds of players in the frame of the game. One is the primary user and the other, the secondary player, presented in Alison Harvey’s (2006) essay on “The Liminal Magic Circle." The primary user is a player in the game. The performer understands the boundaries, limits and goals within the magic circle (places of play). The spectator is a non-player who gets pulled into the game whether by choice or not. The lines of the magic circle begin to blur between the two worlds of the player and the non-player. | ||
| My work facilitates two communities, the art community and geocachers. Artists have continued to re-examine the urban context and re-define the artistic landscape. Artists have turned to locative media to reconfigure our everyday life as well by renewing our sense of place in the world. The art community will show a significant amount of interest because my artwork references the location and can create a new experience to the place. People can learn something interesting about their surroundings. Geocachers also play a role in the community. Geocaching enthusiasts participate in the game for a different reason. People geocache to enjoy the challenge of finding hidden treasures, to visit wonderful historical and natural areas people might miss if they just follow a travel guide, and for fun and exercise. Most people expect to find the usual objects in a cache. Generally, a cache is items stored in a container with a small notebook for geocachers to sign their name and experience of the hunt. The most common objects people put are inexpensive toys and trinkets (silly putty and action figures), a disposable camera, CDs, business cards, rare coins or other desirable items. | ||
| I am using an existing website, Geocaching.com for my research. Geocaching is a worldwide game of hide and seek game. The name of the game is a combination of "Geo" from geography and "Caching" from the action of hiding the cache (or treasure). Geocaching is also referred to as GPS Stash Hunt. Participants use a hand-held GPS unit to find the locations of hidden treasures. Geocaching is an excellent way to explore the environment and a fantastic vessel for critique and to provide awareness to undiscovered places. First, I created an account online. The website allowed you to search for caches by zipcode or state within the United States and by country worldwide and another option to hide caches. | ||
| For my research project, I created and hidden caches at 6 specific locations at the University of California, San Diego. I have crafted 6 miniature installations that are site specific and significantly meaningful to the locations. I prepared each cache in a tubberware container. Each container consists of a micro installation, a fact or description to the purpose of the artwork and a stash note to welcome the cache finder and let them know what geocaching is all about (if they accidentally found the cache). I also labeled the cache so that someone who doesn’t play can figure out what it is. Once I reached the location of my cache, I recorded its position with the exact coordinates from my GPS unit. After I documented the waypoint, I concealed the cache with dead braches, leaves and dirt. I took photographs of the hidden cache and the surrounding environment. I reported the hidden caches on the Internet along with geographical coordinates and information about the geocache. | ||
The 6 caches and locations are:
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| The Geisel Library and Sun God caches were unable to publish on the website, Geocaching.com. The problem with the two caches were due to the close proximity from other existing caches. The general guideline for cache density is that caches placed within .10 miles of another cache may not be listed and more importantly to reduce the number of caches hidden in a particular area to reduce confusion that might otherwise result when one cache is found while looking for another. Although I have tried to replace the caches, the distances were still not far apart enough. | ||
| I have already received numerous emails from geocachers who have visited and found my caches. So far, all the feedbacks are positive. Geocachers really enjoyed the micro art installations I created. | ||
| References:
Debord,Guy. "Introduction to a Critique of Urban Geography." Situationist International Online. Hart, Joseph. "A New Way of Walking." Utne Magazine. July/August 2004 Harvey, Alison. "The Liminal Magic Circle: Boundaries, Frames, and Participation in Pervasive Mobile Games." C5: "The Perfect View." http://www.c5corp.com/projects/perfectview/index.shtml |