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.
10th Street & First Avenue E
These photographs were taken on a Saturday afternoon with moderate traffic.
A Place For Developing Thoughts
As I went out yesterday and took photographs of the intersections and major roadway that have seen use of traffic cameras, I started to understand better how this is art. I find that it is in the process of developing and idea into art the real art starts to take shape.
While driving, I saw myself creating a grid of every street, avenue and road I drove down. I envisioned it like an etch-a-sketch where if you draw enough vertical and horizontal lines, you'll clear the screen and reveal what is actually there.
I already knew that the traffic cameras were more than driving and more than cars. And the meaning is even beyond the legal implications. Traffic cameras show what we are saying about ourselves as a community.
Using traffic cameras is saying that motorists are guilty for driving. And further, do we want a community where the majority of the residents are "guilty". Is there a way to turn this into a concrete picture instead of an abstract concept?
Yes!
The grid. Let's remove everything on the surface and show the real idea behind it all.
It's hard to see until you turn it into small pieces to make the whole.
All owners of registered vehicles are participants. As we drive down the streets of Cedar Rapids, we a creating a grid which will eventually cover every street. The city blocks are sections, that as a car drives down it, that section gets cut out, revealing what is behind. You can also view it as a game of "Black-Out" in Bingo. Black-Out is where everyone has a Bingo card and the Bingo caller picks numbers until someone blacks out the whole card and call Bingo. Then an worker goes over to the person to verify the blacked out card and award a prize. The card only is a winner/has meaning when someone else verifies it is truly blacked-out. (I apologize for my long thoughts).
So instead of a black-out, we are doing a cut out.
Now, I need to come up with some logic for how to do a meaningful cut out and a proper scale.
While driving, I saw myself creating a grid of every street, avenue and road I drove down. I envisioned it like an etch-a-sketch where if you draw enough vertical and horizontal lines, you'll clear the screen and reveal what is actually there.
I already knew that the traffic cameras were more than driving and more than cars. And the meaning is even beyond the legal implications. Traffic cameras show what we are saying about ourselves as a community.
Using traffic cameras is saying that motorists are guilty for driving. And further, do we want a community where the majority of the residents are "guilty". Is there a way to turn this into a concrete picture instead of an abstract concept?
Yes!
The grid. Let's remove everything on the surface and show the real idea behind it all.
It's hard to see until you turn it into small pieces to make the whole.
All owners of registered vehicles are participants. As we drive down the streets of Cedar Rapids, we a creating a grid which will eventually cover every street. The city blocks are sections, that as a car drives down it, that section gets cut out, revealing what is behind. You can also view it as a game of "Black-Out" in Bingo. Black-Out is where everyone has a Bingo card and the Bingo caller picks numbers until someone blacks out the whole card and call Bingo. Then an worker goes over to the person to verify the blacked out card and award a prize. The card only is a winner/has meaning when someone else verifies it is truly blacked-out. (I apologize for my long thoughts).
So instead of a black-out, we are doing a cut out.
Now, I need to come up with some logic for how to do a meaningful cut out and a proper scale.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
Changing Perceptions
This is Art!
In the transformation of concepts is where I find the art. We, the citizens, are the participants in an event staged by the State. Our registered cars enter the City streets and create ordered paths that can be abstracted into maps of our existence. Normally, we are unaware of this map. We are just using the car as a tool to travel. Now our registered cars are weaving an abstract tapestry of guilt across the City streets. It is not that we the drivers are guilty, but the registered car is guilty.
It is the transformation that we participate in that I choose to document. Our vehicles are no longer just cars, but they are an abstract idea in movement.
How I became aware of the opportunity
In the city of Cedar Rapids, Iowa, traffic laws are now being enforced by traffic cameras. The Iowa legislature and the Iowa Supreme Court have made way for traffic cameras. At the same time, the traffic violation citations are civil and not criminal. No longer does the State need to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that YOU the citizen broke the law. Now it just needs to show that a car registered to you has violated an ordinance, a concept that appears to be counter to the 4th, 5th, 6th and 14th Amendments of the U.S. Constitution and the Presumption of Innocence affirmed by the Supreme Court in Coffin v. United States, 156 U.S. 432 (1895).
It has been argued by one of the Iowa Legislators that sat on the committee that helped pass the traffic camera legislation that you are not at risk if you don't speed or don't run red lights. Yet, he ignored how he participated in the transformation of law.
Now we can all see how we are active transformers in perception and reality.
First: What you need to know.
Amendment 4 - Search and Seizure. Ratified 12/15/1791.
The right of the people to be secure in their persons, houses, papers, and effects, against unreasonable searches and seizures, shall not be violated, and no Warrants shall issue, but upon probable cause, supported by Oath or affirmation, and particularly describing the place to be searched, and the persons or things to be seized.
Amendment 5 - Trial and Punishment, Compensation for Takings. Ratified 12/15/1791.
No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.
Amendment 6 - Right to Speedy Trial, Confrontation of Witnesses. Ratified 12/15/1791.
In all criminal prosecutions, the accused shall enjoy the right to a speedy and public trial, by an impartial jury of the State and district wherein the crime shall have been committed, which district shall have been previously ascertained by law, and to be informed of the nature and cause of the accusation; to be confronted with the witnesses against him; to have compulsory process for obtaining witnesses in his favor, and to have the Assistance of Counsel for his defence.
Amendment 14 - Citizenship Rights. Ratified 7/9/1868. Note History
1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
The Presumption of Innocence
"Coffin v. United States, 156 U.S. 432 (1895), was an appellate case before the United States Supreme Court in 1895 which established the presumption of innocence of persons accused of crimes" (from wikipedia.org)
A commentary on the Presumption of Innocence
"Aside from the related requirement of proof beyond a reasonable doubt, the presumption of innocence is largely symbolic. The reality is that no defendant would face trial unless somebody—the crime victim, the prosecutor, a police officer—believed that the defendant was guilty of a crime. After the government has presented enough evidence to constitute Probable Cause to believe that the defendant has committed a crime, the accused need not be treated as if he or she was innocent of a crime, and the defendant may be jailed with the approval of the court.
Nevertheless, the presumption of innocence is essential to the criminal process. The mere mention of the phrase presumed innocent keeps judges and juries focused on the ultimate issue at hand in a criminal case: whether the prosecution has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that the defendant committed the alleged acts. The people of the United States have rejected the alternative to a presumption of innocence—a presumption of guilt—as being inquisitorial and contrary to the principles of a free society." (http://legal-dictionary.thefreedictionary.com/Innocent+until+proven+guilty)
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