Project by Alexis McNutt - Alyssa Traitz - Alex Smyrnos.

I Can See You from Alyssa Traitz on Vimeo.

Project Presentation (pdf)

Exploring Social Checkpoints

Project by Annie Bunyavadhana, Bri Padilla, Molly Schneider, and Elise Springuel

Our project is inspired by how these connections are established--and the social checkpoints involved in their creation. We create social checkpoints with every single interaction we have. Our actions and interactions are informed by stereotypes, prejudices and our own awareness of what is considered acceptable within our social networks. In many ways, our social identities are molded by these checkpoints. Using the varied population of Ithaca, NY as a case study, InMyHood explores how different social groups interact with each other and the identities associated with different demographic groups of the area.

View the website and take the survey!

Project by Evan Spitzer, Sam Sheldon, and Cöelis Mendoza

The Alone Phone from Evan Spitzer on Vimeo.

Eye C

Project by Gautam Singhani, Julian Weisner, and Theo Mongeau

Eye C was created to reveal the flaws in our systems of surveillance and control on Ithaca College campus. There are a large amount of college students, specifically at Ithaca College, who are involved in illicit activities, be it misuse of alcohol, other illegal drugs or other potentially hazardous activities. Several systems have been set up to handle these occurrences and provide a safe environment for all on campus. These systems are the Campus Police, the Student Auxiliary Safety Patrol (SASP), the Closed Circuit TV cameras, and the Blue Light system. These can be organized into two categories; dynamic and static surveillance. Dynamic, being the active, mobile and thinking Campus Police and SASP. While the CCTVs and Blue Lights are static in that they lack movement and the capacity to actively influence these occurrences. Using that criteria we created an app for use on an android phone, which tracts these surveillance modes across the campus. The direct aim of the app is to help people evade security, while the actual aim is to incite conversation about both the actions of students and the use and effectiveness of security on college campuses.

Our project incorporates aspects of geography. Similar to Trevor Paglen’s work, we have mapped the security of campus. We noticed areas of extra security, such as the circle apartments and the Park School, and areas with less security, such as the woods behind Boothroyd Hall and the trail between the Terraces parking lot and the Circles apartments, affectionately called the “rape trail”. We have put all of our information to use in an accessible app for students to use. This is similar to Paglen’s mapping of CIA cover businesses, covert operations, and movements. Unlike Paglen, who only sought to expose his material, we have an intended target and use for our app.

Eye C also has a strong tie to aspects of nomadic power. Nomadic power is characterized by the unification of a group that can assert a force from multiple directions without a defined center or location. An excellent example of which was the Zapatistas rebellion in the Mexican state of Chiapas. This relates to our app because, Our app incorporates an open chat system, with a quick feed so students can actively keep track of and update the actions of the security in specific sites, allowing students to plan routes to evade the security and surveillance systems. With this tool students can “attack” the security from any location. It is not an “attack” in reality, but by usurping the aspects of surprise from security it is difficult for them to apprehend students partaking in illicit activities. This undermines the security and “attacks” their ability to effectively control the student body. This system is resemblant of the actions of anonymous demonstrated in Gabriella Coleman’s article “What It’s Like to Participate in Anonymous‘ Actions”. By allowing the users of the app to stay anonymous we ensure the app’s survival. This is because as long as the users are anonymous it is impossible to prosecute anyone using or helping the app.

As with the Institute for Applied Autonomy project, our primary subject is surveillance. The most prominent surveillance question we want people to ask is “Who or what is the surveillance benefiting?” We want people think about why surveillance is in place. Is all of our surveillance to keep the students safe, or is it to keep the students at bay. After all, it is clear that we are being watched.

At first glance the app seems set up as a tool for evading security measures, and that is exactly what it is. Just with the Trans-Border Immigrant tool which appeared to many as simply a GPS phone designed to assist illegal immigrants in their passage across the border, our apps actual goal is to incite conversation. We want people to notice that some of the campus security is not to protect the students, but to protect the campus from the students. For instance the abundance of cameras in the Park school that guard the expensive equipment located there. We also want people to discuss the efficiency of campus security. Is security preventing anything or simply being a nuisance? It appears they are not deterring too much mischief, since a fair amount still goes on as is evident by sights and smells on campus on any weekend. This aspect of our project also relates to Dunne and Raby’s critical design projects. As they say in Design Noir the goal of critical design is to “stimulate discussion and debate amongst designers, industry and the public” (58). Our project was created to help people look outwardly and inwardly in different ways.

Eye C is a practical tool for students that would be feasible on the market, but above all it is a tool to incite change. As a piece of critical design its use is as a check point to subvert the boarder where the student body and the surveillance and security systems meet. As a tool for change it is a check point along the way to bringing all of the aspects of this boarder to a new light.

Works Cited

Alex Dunbar, "FOLLOW THE GPS, ÉSE: The Transborder Immigrant Tool Helps Mexicans Cross Over Safely”, 2009, (accessed January 23, 2011).

Anthony Dunne and Fiona Raby, Design Noir: The Secret Life of Electronic Objects (Basel, Switzerland: Birkhäuser, 2002), 57–73

Critical Art Ensemble, The Electronic Disturbance (Autonomedia, 1994), 10–33, "Nomadic Power and Cultural Resistance", http://www.critical-art.net/books/ted/.

Gabriella Coleman, “What It’s Like to Participate in Anonymous’ Actions - Gabriella Coleman - Technology - The Atlantic”, December 10, 2010 (accessed January 23, 2011)

Institute for Applied Autonomy, "i-SEE 'Now more than ever.'", (accessed January 23, 2011).

Trevor Paglen, "Experimental Geography: From Cultural Production to the Production of Space - The Brooklyn Rail", 2009 (accessed January 23, 2011).

Dunne & Raby, Between Reality and the Impossible (2010)

IAA, iSee (2001).

Each student was part of a group for the final project.  Four groups produced four amazing projects, and we're pleased to reveal them to the readers of this blog.  The students brought all of their talents to their work and it is evident in the care that went into the projects.  Many of these projects can be taken further, and we hope that some of the students do so in the future.  If you're interested in the works, please be sure to comment or to contact the students directly.  Great job!

We were privileged to have three wonderful presentations during our FLEFF Lab: Checkpoints Project panel. Monica Haller and Elvira Dyangani Ose appeared in person, and Leslie Garcia appeared remotely due to circumstances beyond her control (but was able to come two weeks later to give a well-received workshop to the class). We'd like to feature a selection of summaries from the panel to show the diversity of responses and projects discussed.

Annie Bunyavadhana

The FLEFF Panel: Activist Retooling was taken place on Tuesday, April 12, 2011. It featured three guest panelists: Monica Haller, Elvira Dyangani, and Leslie Garcia. The panel’s concentration was on the guest panelists’ projects that focused on the importance of media activism. It was significant to see that all three panelists were females who emphasized the role of women empowerment in the realm of media and the arts. The three projects underline the uses of media technologies and arts to convey the political structure of our cultures. It was interesting to see the diverse background of the panelists who were united on the issue of social change and empowerment through the use of collaboration in arts.

The panel started off with Monica Haller’s Veteran’s Book Project. Haller works with many U.S. veterans who were deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan to create a book that archived and displayed their lived experience affected by the U.S. wars. The books were a collection of images, photos, postcards, letters, and journal entries that the veterans have invited to share with us, the public. It is a door into their memories and experiences. The books combined the use of photography, writing and printmaking. Though we did not go through the same experiences they did, the books had a striking impact on a reader once opened because of the lack of text, just raw images and personal handwriting. There were no Photoshop alternations. I admired Haller’s projects and its intended purpose to share a collected memory of a bleak and opaque war we sometimes forget we are having through the individual experience of the experts. The books are not mass-produced but made to order and much of the profit will go to the veterans and their families. Currently, Haller is hoping to work with the Iraqi people who are most directly affected by the war.

The second panelist was Elvira Dyangani, an Equatorial Guinean who is a Spanish curator of Contemporary Art. She focused on Contemporary African Art and Culture. She showed a lot of examples of the projects she worked in Africa dealing with community activism and reclaiming the urban space. An interesting project she showed us was called “Dikalo de Bessengue” which involved artists working with a group of young local people from Douala to create an experimental radio for the whole town. They were all rapping in French and bonding with each other in the collective experience. The radio was made to be a radio for the people by the people, empowering local communities. She talked a lot about the African art movement in modernism and showed us links from the Nishio workshop, Dak’art, the Chimurenga Library, WikiAfrica, AfroPixel, and Ker Thiossane. Although presenting us with the many examples of projects and art establishments she has worked with, I was lost and confused in her presentation because she did not explain the main focus and theme of her presentation.

The third and final panelists was Leslie Garcia, who unfortunately was not able to physically come to the states but we were able to skype her from Mexico City. Leslie’s collaboration on the Dream Addictive project was very innovative in combining applied science, from computing, visual programming, hardware production with art and design. They work through Open Source publicly and freely sharing their ideas and knowledge on research. Based in Mexico, she said it was challenging to have Mexicans support and display their work; usually they have to come to the U.S. They also develop workshops under Upgrade! to teach women about technology and those who are interested. I am curious to see where they get funding to develop such technological projects and where they can be able to install their exhibitions on a larger scale to the public. A lot of times media labs are supported by corporate sponsorships in aims of creative and innovative marketing. However, Dream Addictive seems to still have the indie and underground appeal that is meant to be shared, enjoyed and educated to all. Having the Open Source ideals in their best interest and McLuhan’s quote as their motto, Dream Addictive seeks to empower, distribute and promote knowledge of electronic culture and raise awareness of sustainability in their projects.

Bri Padilla

Checkpoints Panel and Changing Public Space

During the FLEFF panel, some of the most intriguing works presented involved how artists and activists in Africa used public space as a means of expressing and reclaiming identity. Throughout the course of our class, notions about public space--and our relations with them--have consistently been a topic of conversation.

At its most organic, public space typically refers to "an area or place that is open and accessible to all citizens, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, age or socio-economic level."

When put into practice, public space is far more limiting than such a definition explains. For example in the "Game on Public Space and Women," Andrha Pradesh explored the relationship that women have with public space and nuances inherent in that relationship. For example, the project, which was based on three years of research, highlighted how, “There is still a very conditional access to public spaces for women in the society. A loitering woman is looked upon as one with loose morals unlike the ‘good private woman’ who is out in a public space with a ‘purpose.' Only when men and women have the freedom to move about in public spaces without any purpose, can the boundaries and divisions within a society be removed.” (Shilpa Ranade)

Another group whose work focused on reshaping cultural relations through public space was the Critical Art Ensemble, a collective of "tactical media practitioners of various specializations" who explore "the intersections between art, critical theory, technology and political activism." Public space is in many ways the epitomization of these intersections which are, at least in my opinion, defining factors in the establishment of identity; not just on an individual level, but a cultural one as well. For this reason, art that looks at reclaiming or reshaping the nature of a public space by the community can also be seen as a call for the reshaping of societal dynamics. The work of artists in Africa that were shown during last week’s panel highlighted how activism can be used to influence notions of public space and societal relations, particularly in terms of community relations with what is considered public.

Molly Schneider

Stories of Which We Are Unaware

Out of all the presentations given, I found I was most passionate about Monica Haller’s project. The artist is concerned with social justice and strives to produce a product that highlights the individual’s experience. In her project she explained on Wednesday, Haller presented a series of books. These books are authored by various kinds of people affected by the American wars in Iraq and Afghanistan with the help from Haller as the editor and consultant.

The series is called “Objects of Deployment” and is part of what is called the Veterans Book Project. Each book acts as a separate archive of one person’s perspective. The author’s are war veterans, mothers of soldiers, and citizens of the countries personally involved in the current global issue. The author’s incorporate personal photographs, letters, journal entries, and poems from their experience in the war.

Haller has set up workshops for the bookmaker to fully form their approach and lay out of their personal archive. These workshops travel and meet the authors at their desired locations. It is here that their message or plan becomes more directed. The software provided was viewed as incredibly easy for the participants. When un-hashing a part of his or her lives that is difficult to ponder about, the last thing needed is a frustrating template.

Looking through the books during the presentation, I found that I became very connected with the bookmakers and their final product. The project takes on a life that is unrecognizable to the general public. The books provide voices and perspectives that go unheard. These are books are archives. In class discussion we spoke of Derrida, who had spoke of a multiplicity of ways to read a text. In this project, it is interpretation of perspective that provides the most interesting components. For instance, the photographs taken and incorporated by each author truly exemplifies the phrase “a picture is worth a thousand words.”

The series seems to unlock a latent world to the true reality life in the war life. However, the project is not solely for the public, but for the bookmakers themselves. It is therapeutic and releasing process, as if to say, “here, this is what my life truly is.” In one book a young soldier states how the truth was he never shot a gun. Confessions like this truly form an intimate connection between author and reader.

These books are beyond beautiful. While some images maybe disheartening and grotesque, that is the point of the project; to depict the reality of it all. The project puts a face to a generalized group. No longer are these individuals just labeled among the masses as “soldier,” “citizen,” or other, but are acknowledged as Jim Wilson, Jon Turner, and Pamela Olson.

This project is provided to the public for free as a PDF or print on demand. The availability of this piece incorporates the series as a more global interaction. The presentation and the ultimate product have been inspiring in a beautifully simple and complex way.

Elise Springuel

As we learned back in February from Derrida, archives are conglomerations of data, which help form our vision of the past, present, and future. The authority of an archive is granted because it contains and controls the presentation of information, the building blocks of our knowledge. There is particular power in the way in which the information is presented, the form of the archive, because it shapes how certain aspects are valued. A fairly simple example of this would be an archive of music arranged by producer versus one arranged by artist.

The power an archive has in shaping popular perception can be more potent, and also, more subtle. Archives have the power to reinforce or contradict popular beliefs through the information they contain and the way it is presented. the Veterans Book Project is an example of an archive working counter to the mainstream narrative.

Veterans Book Project is a collaborative art project directed by artist Monica Haller. Haller operates as consultant, editor and publisher for Veterans, families and people effected by the war to make books of their stories. The books contain mementos from the authors time with war: photos, postcards, letters and rerecorded memories. There are currently 31 books completed, however through workshops Haller runs across the country, more will soon join the ranks.

The library of books created by this project is a powerful archive of the US’s current involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan. The cover of each book is decorated with a name and a photo, with little indication of the heart wrenching stories that will follow. Through the presentation of data in these books a new narrative of the wars is created: a narrative on the ground, an intimate narrative.

One could argue that much of the information in the books is already offered through news sources, both mainstream and alternative. However, the presentation of these books reforms the narrative, changing its impact by decreasing the amount of check points through which the information must pass. Instead of a long chain of information sources and nodes diluting the personal aspect of the war, there very few checkpoints between teller and receiver. In fact, the main check point is the book, offer recipients direct access to an archive of data about the war and its individualized effects.

This week's student summary is by Molly Schneider.

The Cost of a Cookie

The word “cookies” never seemed intimidating until the emergence of the World Wide Web. Cookies were constructed by Lou Montulli, the founding engineer of Netscape. The web cookie was meant to solve the “shopping cart problem.” The text file was invented to allow online shoppers to leave the site without worrying about losing their items in their shopping cart as time passes. Even from the beginning Montulli, had concerns about privacy. Today these concerns are more than justified.

The “cookie system” works through a step-by-step process. When an individual visits a website, that website assigns the user an ID number contained in a text file (the cookie). When information is sent back to the browser by the website the cookie travels with it. The cookie contains linked pages the individual visited, products they stored in their cart, and information the user provide such as name, billing address, and username (WSJ video). The cookie is linked to the name of the site visited and therefore every time the individual visits the site, their information will be recognized.

This original intent of the cookie has now been manipulated for behavioral targeting. Advertisers have found ways to track an individuals preferences and interests for the companies own benefit. Basically, a person’s interests and data can be targeted through a third party cookie. This third party cookie has implications of over stepping the boundaries of privacy.

The third party cookie allows trackers (ad networks) to follow an individual’s movement from site to site. Advertisers place this third party cookie by piggy backing off the original website visited. “The bigger the ad network the greater its potential to track your online habits” (WSJ video), and thus develop a profile for the user. This profile is created when companies use the information gathered by following the individual’s interests via website choices. Through this companies make assumptions about gender, age, marital status, and economic standing (Devries, par.4). This system is faulty and can create a person unlike the actual user.

Based on the uneasiness of impeding privacy the public has felt, big companies like Yahoo and Google have started “preference managers” that let the user view and change the profile that was created for them. “Some, but not all, of the preference managers let you halt tracking by that company. But none will block all tracking, or prevent you from seeing ads.” (Devries, par. 3).

This sidestepping around the problem has not resolved the issue. There is a call for more transparency and the ability for the individual to decide who can know their likes and dislikes.

However, sites continue to encourage just what the third party cookie is doing. Privacy seems to be a myth as websites like Blippy are in development. Blippy is a site dedicated to providing the user’s economic transactions online. The opt-in service’s mission, according to co-founder Philip Kaplan, is to “let consumers get side-by-side comparisons of specific products, such as gym memberships or airline tickets, then be able to negotiate or call out a merchant for overcharging.” (Pilon, par. 6).

So, I ask, at what point will society stop the contradictory practice of “privacy”? On one hand, we protest of society’s violation toward individual right. But then again, sites like Twitter, Flickr, and now Blippy are encouraging a life solely represented online and thus vulnerable.

The original intent of a cookie was for people’s convenience. But like all things in the technological world, what starts with good intentions, are then only manipulated for the profit of others.

WEEK 8: March 22: Point 4, Data Bodies

Our final week of discussion involved the materialization of our bodies within information and how that does and does not enable certain types of experiences.

Readings

World-Information.Org, “Data Bodies”, 2007, (accessed January 23, 2011).

Critical Art Ensemble, Flesh Machine; Cyborgs,Designer Babies, Eugenic Conscousness (New York, NY, USA: Autonomedia, 1998), 138–155, “Utopian Promises–Net Realities”.

Wall Street Journal, “What They Know - WSJ.com” (accessed January 23, 2011).

Mary Pilon, “Are You Ready to Tweet Credit and Debit Card Purchases? - Digits - WSJ”, January 24, 2010 (accessed January 23, 2011).

Projects

0100101110101101.ORG, Life Sharing (2000–2003)

Burak Arikan, MyPocket (2007)

Wafaa Bilal, 3rdI (2011)

Daniel C. Howe, Helen Nissenbaum, Track-me-not (ongoing)

Tor

We wanted to post a short update regarding the FLEFF Lab: Checkpoints Project course.  After an unfortunate delay due Leslie Garcia was able to come to IC and present a workshop on developing sonic experiments in the free/open-source software pure data.  We've now finished for the semester and will be updating this blog with the excellent student projects in the next couple of days.  We think these projects were wonderful and tie in extremely well with the texts and artistic works discussed in the course.  We hope that you'll comment on the projects and let them know what you think!

Until those are posted, we will update the blog with other goings on for the semester.

Thanks to Patty and Tom and Assistant Provost Saunders for again providing us with an opportunity to work with some wonderful students!