Welcome

SITE

          Integral to my thesis is a relationship between physical site and web site...and the space in between.  Documenting events and sharing my work involved bridging emerging technologies and traditional media.  This blended process allowed me to explore independent, complementary options for navigating space.

Physical Site

          My thesis first took shape when I began to focus on the thesis show; a looming hurtle in the MFA program.  Suddenly, abstract ambitions had to fill a definitive space.  Each permutation of my thesis was forced to face this space, which was where most of them seemed to unravel.  In frustration, I eventually gave up trying to export my ideas and began simply with the gallery. 

           The Bevier Gallery had specifications unique to itself: rules of use, regulations for the art it contained, staff with their own preferences and quirks, and the anticipated three events shared by MFA students from all throughout the School of Art. While the first line of gallery parameters almost put my thesis out of business, it was the defining shared space that the gallery represented which brought it all together in the space that I created online. Deciding to limit my focus to my fellow MFA candidates meant I suddenly had a specific group of collaborators who were not only working along side me but required to use the same space. I framed my entire thesis around the gravity created by our three shared events.

          Between each of the shows, the gallery was completely repainted, redesigned, and rebuilt.  The video below was taken during the third and final opening in the series.  It gives a 360 degree view of the space from my corner of the gallery as I mingled with patrons.  The sound is unimportant to its purpose in sharing the context of the opening and the voices in the crowd are unintelligible, so I chose not to include captioning. 

Web Site

          Using an online space as the source for my notes and thesis was fundamental in my aims to make my project accessible, engaging, and interactive.  All of the online services I enlisted into my thesis will be free to host and maintain after my domain name expires in April 2012.  The space was created using two conjoined blogs for the framework, and an integration with Facebook to allow for open feedback.  The first blog functions as storehouse for all of my multimedia notes, while the second includes the content describing my work.  All of my documentation in both spaces is organized together within a web of interconnections; a kind of navigation unique to online use. 

 

Web Navigation 

          There are many different ways you can navigate the notes through the Archive; by artist, chronologically, and by overlapping themes using both word and image tags. Below you will find a description of how you can use each of these to guide you through the space. 

          A list of all the artist's names can be found within the Note Archive in a scrollable bar at the top, entitled 'Artist Community'. Each artist created a personal graphic to represent their identity in relation to their work. The individual graphics accompany each name within the bar, and you can click on them to find all notes created with each artist. 

          Below the Artist Community bar and on the left side of the window you will find a vertical bar entitled 'Note Index'. This contains thumbnails of all the notes within the archive organized chronologically, beginning with the most recent. Scroll down and click on the images to access the content.  

          Opposite of the 'Note Index' are the Word and Image Overlaps, one stacked on top of the other. Both display only the tags that were found in multiple sets of notes; overlaps within content between different artists and throughout the progression of their project development. The numbers paired next to the words and below the images describe frequency within the collective content. When clicking on any of the overlaps, whether word or image, you will be linked to a list of all the content where the tag is found. You can visually scan each document to find the specific tag in each set of notes, and click on these to watch or listen to related points in various conversations. If the notes are paired with video, you can line up the timelines between documents to find content.  Feel free to drag the time bar at the bottom of each set of notes ahead or back to hear more of the context of the conversation. If you have any problems, visit the 'Troubleshooting' section of the 'Media' page. 

Blending Space

          The decision to use both physical site and web site within my thesis centered around accessibility and interactivity.  Although there are plenty of traditional mediums that allow for personal documentation of experience and context, I was interested in creating a series of documents that would not only describe my journey but elicit experiential exploration from the audience; encouraging participation on a variety of levels rather than one-size-fits-all passive viewing. 

I was able to combine the user-adaptability and unique navigation of the web 

with the spontaneity and presence of physical interaction.   

Navigating Space

          The independent sites used for my thesis were complementary, but the navigation involved with each was different.   During the development of my project, the interactions I had with artists involved an intimate physicality with their various works and processes; rich, layered experiences with a focused but limited scope.  My documentation from these experiences was stored and organized online, allowing for a detailed exploration of relationships between the recorded conversations.  This provided a less dimensional experience but comprehensively connected the dots between projects and concepts.  This process, involving both these experiences working together, was fundamental in my understanding and appreciating their works.  I needed to personally navigate the physical space and create a document in order to benefit from the document later.  I realized that most visitors at the opening wouldn't have the hard-earned prior knowledge I had of the works, but get it all at once within a sea of other people.  All the divergent projects side by side could be just as overwhelming as all my pages of notes condensed on a website. 

           I decided to create a printed booklet to provide visitors with an alternative bridge to lead people between the physical site and web site.  It traced a path through the gallery between different projects and found commonalities between elements relating to movement, a theme rooted in physicality.  It asked simple questions and encouraged visitors to respond within the booklet and online.  A video of the booklet is included below: