this drawing was a first attempt at trying to visualize the complexity of a retail environment and the technology involved while we occupy it. while inhabiting and passing through the physical space of the store (here a walmart in saline, michigan), our body is extended through the data trail that is registered in various databases in locations that are remote from the actual physical location we occupy.
to demonstrate the tracking culture that we all are inevitably a part of, i prepared profile cards for each of the guests at our critical conversation using www.spokeo.com. included in the data are things like economic health, interests, children (including names), value of house, and a google street view of the person’s house. interestingly enough, while most were spot-on, the profile for professor claire zimmerman was significantly inaccurate: she is not, in fact, single and childless. nevertheless, all of the critics found my profile cards disturbing on some level.
QR code map of the united states.
i designed this map to begin exploring crossings between digital and physical space.
the QR code starts out as data: using google maps to locate each of the 50 states, i created a QR code using the free kaywa QR code generator of the link to the google map page. the map is then printed out to be scanned in physical space by a person using a smartphone. the person is then taken back into virtual space by clicking on the link to the google map page, viewed on their smartphone. their location in physical space is tracked by their smartphone, as well as the locations they’ve visited in cyberspace.
interestingly, the complexity of the link (number of characters), dictates the size of the QR code. the US is reconfigured as each state is represented by squares of varying sizes. for example, rhode island, the nation’s smallest state, is rendered as one of the largest QR codes because of the large numbers of characters in its link.
THIS IS A TEST.
just linked my tumblr page to my facebook page and i’m trying it out.
“Calculations take place…” that “disturb the simple logic of security, which is very politically determined.” -Eyal Weizman
The line of the border fence is a territory of disruption.
Bioregions do not coincide with geopolitical borders. The construction of the border fence between the U.S. and Mexico disrupts existing ecologies by imposing this unnatural border on local bioregions. In effect, the construction of the fence (as well as the Department of Homeland Security’s use of its authority to waive environmental laws) reveals calculations on the part of the national government: security and commerce over life.
In the United States, only a half dozen jaguars remain. All of them are male.
In contrast to the movement north by those seeking economic opportunity, the jaguar desires to head south for breeding purposes.
Border disruptions.
These interventions seek to exploit weaknesses of the various border fence typologies for the jaguar’s benefit, privileging the preservation of life over security.
