This is a video based on the original idea. The only way I was able to achieve public participation was through voyeurism.
Wednesday, March 10, 2010
Sunday, March 7, 2010
Soliciting Comments
As I propagate my requests for comments through the usual channels, thanks in advance for commenting.
Feel free to agree, share ideas for further development, expand, challenge, point out whats what, tell me how you'd take my idea and run, etc.
Thanks!
Feel free to agree, share ideas for further development, expand, challenge, point out whats what, tell me how you'd take my idea and run, etc.
Thanks!
I really thank you
I realize, I am actually sketching out my thoughts through this blog and my thoughts can be the "long-way" to the idea. So, I really appreciate your patients especially since it takes reading through all the blog posts to understand how my ideas transformed and how my perceptions transformed as well.
I find it funny, that I wanted to see how a governmental bodies choice of using traffic cameras transformed the act of driving and the perceptions of the driver. But, I realize that in my examination of traffic cameras, I started to see how traffic cameras can transform reality. If the traffic cameras turns a registered car into a brush of guilt that travels the city streets, then that same brush of guilt can paint new patterns across the city maps, states maps, country maps and world maps. Simple political decisions for "Public Safety"* can be turned into art. Wow! For this art to work. Not only does their need to be an artist to say go, but there needs to be people out on the streets allowed to take the ball and go with it.
My future hope is that I get the chance to implement this idea. Because I can see further unseen transformation learned from the implementation!
*Public Safety. If the traffic cameras were really for public safety, then the traffic citations would go on your driving record. When the citation acts more like a courtesy fine (i.e. put a dollar in the box if you accidentally swear or get caught drinking the last cup of coffee and not brewing a new pot), then no real safety is gained. My belief is it is the risk-takers who created need for the traffic cameras. Those risk-takers need real punitive punishment which may or may not encourage them to change their behavior. Most risk-takers will not be phased by a fine which will not impact your ability to get a driver's license or impact your insurance premiums or your ability to get insurance. What the traffic cameras smack of is an end run around the Constitution and the Burden of Proof. Other states have found it hard to enforce citations from traffic cameras when the state still must show that the person receiving the citation was also the driver at the time of the violation. Iowa figured out how to work around that and make sure revenue flows into municipalities. That is not safety, that is a money grab, another tax for registered vehicle owners. Those that founded this nation, may see how Iowa has implemented traffic cameras as a form of tyranny, no different than the unjust forms of taxation Great Britain yoked the Colonies with.
I find it funny, that I wanted to see how a governmental bodies choice of using traffic cameras transformed the act of driving and the perceptions of the driver. But, I realize that in my examination of traffic cameras, I started to see how traffic cameras can transform reality. If the traffic cameras turns a registered car into a brush of guilt that travels the city streets, then that same brush of guilt can paint new patterns across the city maps, states maps, country maps and world maps. Simple political decisions for "Public Safety"* can be turned into art. Wow! For this art to work. Not only does their need to be an artist to say go, but there needs to be people out on the streets allowed to take the ball and go with it.
My future hope is that I get the chance to implement this idea. Because I can see further unseen transformation learned from the implementation!
*Public Safety. If the traffic cameras were really for public safety, then the traffic citations would go on your driving record. When the citation acts more like a courtesy fine (i.e. put a dollar in the box if you accidentally swear or get caught drinking the last cup of coffee and not brewing a new pot), then no real safety is gained. My belief is it is the risk-takers who created need for the traffic cameras. Those risk-takers need real punitive punishment which may or may not encourage them to change their behavior. Most risk-takers will not be phased by a fine which will not impact your ability to get a driver's license or impact your insurance premiums or your ability to get insurance. What the traffic cameras smack of is an end run around the Constitution and the Burden of Proof. Other states have found it hard to enforce citations from traffic cameras when the state still must show that the person receiving the citation was also the driver at the time of the violation. Iowa figured out how to work around that and make sure revenue flows into municipalities. That is not safety, that is a money grab, another tax for registered vehicle owners. Those that founded this nation, may see how Iowa has implemented traffic cameras as a form of tyranny, no different than the unjust forms of taxation Great Britain yoked the Colonies with.
The Plan: I380
I380 can also make art.
Cedar Rapids' decision to use traffic cameras not only impacts the city, but also impacts the drivers that cross through the city. With that in mind, let's expand the "cut-out" "black-out" method.
After looking at the photograph which randomly captures traffic on I380, I will choose 14 vehicles. I380 is a north/south interstate, so its 7 cars for North and 7 cars for South. Because laws very by state, CARS DO NOT NEED TO BE REGISTERED/PLATED/TAGGED TO PARTICIPATE.
1. 14 cars will be fitted with GPS tracking devises.
2. Tracking data will be processed by software which will "cut-out" anywhere the cars drive. If the cars do encircle a "definable area" such as a state park, small-town, county, or etc., then that area will be "blacked-out" and lost to the map.
3. This process will be observable in a real time rendering via a website.
4. At the conclusion, a stand alone artwork will be generated which represents the new map created.
In all this, there is nothing preventing drivers from choosing routes which will purposely black-out a region. Also, there is nothing preventing car owners from letting multiple drivers use the car.
It would be interesting to see how car owners react to the ability to nullify any place on the map by the creative application of driving routes!
Cedar Rapids' decision to use traffic cameras not only impacts the city, but also impacts the drivers that cross through the city. With that in mind, let's expand the "cut-out" "black-out" method.
After looking at the photograph which randomly captures traffic on I380, I will choose 14 vehicles. I380 is a north/south interstate, so its 7 cars for North and 7 cars for South. Because laws very by state, CARS DO NOT NEED TO BE REGISTERED/PLATED/TAGGED TO PARTICIPATE.
1. 14 cars will be fitted with GPS tracking devises.
2. Tracking data will be processed by software which will "cut-out" anywhere the cars drive. If the cars do encircle a "definable area" such as a state park, small-town, county, or etc., then that area will be "blacked-out" and lost to the map.
3. This process will be observable in a real time rendering via a website.
4. At the conclusion, a stand alone artwork will be generated which represents the new map created.
In all this, there is nothing preventing drivers from choosing routes which will purposely black-out a region. Also, there is nothing preventing car owners from letting multiple drivers use the car.
It would be interesting to see how car owners react to the ability to nullify any place on the map by the creative application of driving routes!
The Plan
The purpose is to allow people to participate in the creation of art. The "art" is trying to reveal what traffic cameras say about my city, Cedar Rapids.
I've chosen 16 cars, 4 for each city quadrant (NE, SE, SW, NW) and determined 1 starting point, the 10th Street & 1st Avenue E intersection (will call the GATE) where the first traffic camera was installed. ALL CARS MUST BE REGISTERED. No unregistered cars will be used.
1. Outfit each car with a GPS tracking device that will report in real time the streets being driven.
2. Create software that will "cut-out" streets "block-by-block" as driven by the participating cars.
3. Set a simultaneous start time for all cars to enter the process through the GATE.
4. Over a set period of time, show the "cutting-out" of Cedar Rapids in real time via a website. The cut-out streets would be "blacked-out." As all streets surrounding a city block are cut-out, then that block gets blacked-out.
5. The final resulting image of the transformed map will be the ART. It will be realized into a standalone artwork and donated to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art or other like institution.
Any car that looses its registration or leaves the city, can be replaced by another Registered Vehicle. Replacement vehicles should come from same quadrant.
I also have a thought about I380. I will post that next.
I've chosen 16 cars, 4 for each city quadrant (NE, SE, SW, NW) and determined 1 starting point, the 10th Street & 1st Avenue E intersection (will call the GATE) where the first traffic camera was installed. ALL CARS MUST BE REGISTERED. No unregistered cars will be used.
1. Outfit each car with a GPS tracking device that will report in real time the streets being driven.
2. Create software that will "cut-out" streets "block-by-block" as driven by the participating cars.
3. Set a simultaneous start time for all cars to enter the process through the GATE.
4. Over a set period of time, show the "cutting-out" of Cedar Rapids in real time via a website. The cut-out streets would be "blacked-out." As all streets surrounding a city block are cut-out, then that block gets blacked-out.
5. The final resulting image of the transformed map will be the ART. It will be realized into a standalone artwork and donated to the Cedar Rapids Museum of Art or other like institution.
Any car that looses its registration or leaves the city, can be replaced by another Registered Vehicle. Replacement vehicles should come from same quadrant.
I also have a thought about I380. I will post that next.
Purpose of Photographs
At first, I thought I use the photographs to document the guilty, but then I realized that didn't have much meaning. I have been encouraged to think "bigger."
The photographs also serve to give a sampling of traffic at those intersections and on the Interstate. Why is this important?
Building blocks.
To create a system of "cutting-out" streets "block-by-block" from the map of Cedar Rapids, I need a system. It must be simple and implementable (I admit at this point, I'm not in the position to implement the plan. Still, I now have a plan to realize or for someone else to realize).
I'll use the photographs as a starting point. I want a manageable amount of cars to track. I don't want to use peak traffic because the amount of cars going through those intersections would make the tracking meaningless. I want to show progression. It is more meaningful to show the ground gradually crumbling under your feet, than it is for the ground to disappear all of a sudden (meaningful as in ability to mentally process).
After counting cars at both 6th Street & 2nd Avenue SW and 10th Street & 1st Avenue E, I am going to choose 16 cars to participate. I will post next on how they will participate.
The photographs also serve to give a sampling of traffic at those intersections and on the Interstate. Why is this important?
Building blocks.
To create a system of "cutting-out" streets "block-by-block" from the map of Cedar Rapids, I need a system. It must be simple and implementable (I admit at this point, I'm not in the position to implement the plan. Still, I now have a plan to realize or for someone else to realize).
I'll use the photographs as a starting point. I want a manageable amount of cars to track. I don't want to use peak traffic because the amount of cars going through those intersections would make the tracking meaningless. I want to show progression. It is more meaningful to show the ground gradually crumbling under your feet, than it is for the ground to disappear all of a sudden (meaningful as in ability to mentally process).
After counting cars at both 6th Street & 2nd Avenue SW and 10th Street & 1st Avenue E, I am going to choose 16 cars to participate. I will post next on how they will participate.
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