Happy Valentines Day Commuting

Down into the depths of Tenleytown-American University Metro stop. People are hurriedly making their way either up or down the escalator. People are dashing every which way trying to get on their respective trains . They are either commuting into Downtown DC or commuting from it. A man pushes past me to make it to the train I idly wonder when the next one is coming . . . ah yes two whole minutes.After getting on the train I snapped a quick picture as the doors close and the other train is ready to whisk it's passengers away.Only the woman in the lower right hand corner of the picture talks to someone the entire metro ride. Everyone else is buried reading the papers as if they were desperately trying to find someone way to actively ignore their fellow Metro riders. I try and talk to someone . . . I get a very queer look for my efforts.At Dupont circle even more people get on the metro. It is officially standing room only! The quietness however still prevails. A beacon of light shines above head. It is as if they lightness of day is permeating through. I hope I can get some friendly directions to the IFC World Bank.It seems as if more people should be occupying this street rushing through desperately trying to get somewhere.I try asking these ladies for directions. I guess I shouldn't have started out with "HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY!" but then again I did get to see that queer look however briefly before they turned around and nervously awaited till they could safely cross the street away from me. I stopped in this important looking building for directions. He told me I was on the right road just keep going. But to where I wanted to ask? He wouldn't let me take his picture.After thinking I was quite lost and was definitely quite cold I come upon the World Bank. It was very anticlimactic. There was no one to witness my small triumph. No one to care about my early morning journey. I try asking these fellows about the World Bank, whether or not they had an account there. They laughed and gave each other bemused looks. But they couldn't spare me a few words. At least they found my joke funny. At least I hope they knew it was a joke . . . Anyway.This woman stormed right into my back and kept walking. I guess World Bank people have never heard of the words Excuse and Me, and that pretty much sums up my entire commuting experience.

So I'm thinking that maybe I should get involved in this political thing that Washington DC has going on around here.

Scouting out a place to really get a feel for Washington DC. Will I get to see protestors or serious working types going about their day? Will anyone stop to take a picture with me or converse on their daily commute. I'm thinking that I should porbably get the early birds, those who go to work around seven or eight in the morning. I anticipate a lot of no comments and weird looks. People who work at these institutions seem to be a little be weary of people . . . maybe because everyone blames them for the state of the world.

INTERFACE: At the Fraser Gallery -- BETHESDA, MARYLAND

It was a delight to see both art and technology working in such a cohesive manner. I danced in front of a "painting," text-messaged the artist about his work like I was texting a friend back home, I played the blame game with other gallery go-ers and made a painting look at me like I was a shifty shoplifter and it were nervous shopkeeper. The gadgets, the bells and the whistles of the show, however didn't detract from the actual purpose of the show, art. It was interesting how artists used technology not just as an enhancement but as part of the experience of art. No matter how cool the technology maybe, without content with a message, without an actually purpose technology masquerading as art falls flat. I was pleased to note that for this show it was exactly the opposite. Yet what was so engaging? I understood what the artist was trying to convey, but I was also able in some of the pieces to give back, make my own impression upon the work. I felt as if it was necessary for me to be there in order for these works of art to come alive. Some pieces worked more effectively with merging two typically divergent themes, Art and technology, other's hinted at the possibilities that could be awaked with integrating technology that is so commonplace in our everyday lives in the fine arts world.

Conversations about Pain . . . Painful?

Unsettled Dialogue

In this art piece the viewer scrolls around a room and hears several different conversations about people's pain. They talk about whether or not their pain is real or perceived. I think this is an interesting work because it mimics a situation we've all been in, you know the conversation with that person who always seems to have something wrong with them. This piece gives a kind of unique voice to those who suffer chronic pain. The sudden car crashes gives the whole piece of sort of jarring je ne se quois. You feel like you can relax into this piece because of it's familiar if not aesthetically pleasing "room" but roaming around can bring you different voices and sometimes a bit of a jolt. Maybe this is to mimic the feelings of having chronic pain, unable to fully enjoy life or to be completely immersed in a situation because there is always that probability that bam! A crushing twinge of pain has arrived an you are now transported to a scene, or a feeling of intense pain, making everything else fade into the background.

Thoughts for the week
1. We call ourselves the Aristocrats
2. Voices tell me of evil thoughts that people think of me
3. Angry words get caught in throats as festering sores of regret, chocking and depriving one of coherent speech
4. Of course being jealous is wrong, but then so is wanting more than what you were given
5. I don't think many people appreciate the genius of Blur
6. It is a scary thing to let your arrogance ridicule your political adversary
7. The greats can make cold marble appear alive . . . what can you do?
8. Gossip is the loudest and most hurtful whisper
9. It makes my day that Mark Mothersbaugh is Devo
10. Just go to Target they've got food there
11. I'm feeling old. Twenty is such an old man's age. Conscious enough to desire drinking away your troubles but incompetent to do anything about your desires
12. You could really be going to two different universities the one that you must go to in order to get a degree and the other one where you learn about life. Seldom are both the same place.
13. You can talk to some one everyday for a month and still know absolutely nothing about them
14. After this I swear that I'm going to Disney World where all the other characters are.
15. It's not a compulsion just a maniac need to see the easiest possible exit of every room.
16. I'm not asking I'm telling you which means that the discussion which just has ended is now officially never started to begin with and over.
17. I think that maybe this will reveal some hidden aggression.
18. When did it become cool to be self involved, the same carbon copy of the person sitting next to you . . . when will this trend end?
19. I'm thinking that I'll never get through just writing . . . I'm picking up my gun Nikki!
20. To belittle someone's suffering is an endless spiral of devaluing the human experience
21. I could take drugs in order to concentrate but I'd rather take drugs to get away from here not become more aware of my surroundings.
22. Let me break it down for you. S T O P -- it's never worth it.
23. I'm not precise, nor am I correct in fact I'm wrong, but see that's the beauty of being me.
24. I'm tired of watching ever step fearing that one day someone will call me a hypocrite. I hope I become a hypocrite, perhaps then I will have evidence that I've grown up.
25. I'm short not an idiot.

Agency

Discussion Question:

How can we use agency in a politically driven net.art piece? How do we use agency in order to grab the audience and make them not only pay attention to the message but feel as if they were an integral part of creating that message?

Normally any kind of computer game would instantly be considered away for me to doze off in sheer boredom. It is exactly this kind of reaction that Janet Murray warns gamers about. It is simply not enough to have interaction . . . clicking on link after link, viewing the same variation of information is boring, no matter how you dress it up. It is not enough to have a really good story (people game so they can take part in the story telling, otherwise they would read a book.) The combining of these two elements to form an experience where the participant becomes a designer of his own fate. When the environment reacts to the decisions that you make no matter the medium a person becomes engaged. It is easy to see how Agency becomes important in designing the next wave of gaming, but it also has a place in other applications of multimedia. How can we use agency in a politically driven net.art piece? How do we use agency in order to grab the audience and make them not only pay attention to the message but feel as if they were an integral part of creating that message. How can you let a visitor leave a mark permanently, for all the world to see but also remain the designer the author the artist the creator of the site? How do you give the same experience of moral dilemma that we face with the infinite amount of decisions that we make each day?