First Draft- Documenting the Processes.

Alison Stewart

December 19, 2011

Lets Take A Stroll

“Observe the street from time to time, with some concern of system perhaps. Apply yourself. Take your time… Note down what you can see. Anything worthy of not going on. Do you know how to see what’s worthy of note? Is there anything that strikes you? Nothing strikes you. You don’t know how to see. You must set about it more slowly, almost stupidly. Force yourself to write down what is of no interest, what is most obvious, most common, most colourless” (Perec 50).

I step out the sliding double doors and I walk.  Quick, directed steps lead me out into the brisk December air and my journey of the Brooklyn streets begins. It is a familiar journey that I have taken many, many times (often as much as four times a day) and I am not alone on this journey, but I am one of many. I am walking to the subway. The universal means of transportation that most every New Yorker takes, rich or poor, but however, today’s journey is no focused on the actual subway at all, today I am focus of the walk itself. Today I explore the sidewalks, the street lamps, the gates, the dogs on leashes. Today I explore the overlooked, unnoticed, and often disregarded treasures that the sidewalks of St. James Place and Dekalb have to offer.  Today I explore the graffiti, markings, the posters, and the stickers placed by hidden on the streets of Clinton Hill and through these markings I am able to map my journey. I explore the etchings on the sidewalk, the stickers behind the one-way sign, and the piled and layered posters of want ads and missing dog signs on the street light post. Through the graffiti I am able to map the chosen area by exploring art placed in areas and on objects that they were unintended for as well as observing the people, the places, and the things that make up our everyday lives in close detail.

In the essay, “Walking in the City,” by Michael De Certeau, De Certeau speaks about the importance of walking and “seeing” a city from the ground, rather than seen from above in a birds-eye-view so often seen in maps. “To be lifted to the summit of the World Trade Center is to be lifted out of the city’s grasp,” states De Certeau (157).  De Certeau believes that by viewing a city from above, the viewer can easily misunderstand what he or she is seeing and is not able to appreciate the location. De Certeau strongly argues the only way to understand an area is to walk it, and he explains that walking down below is the threshold at which visibility begins. (158). So, in order to fully appreciate and accurately map my location I have no other choice than to walk, and so my journey begins.

With De Certeau’s words in mind I put one foot in front of the other. I walk, I walk, and I walk. My pace at first is fast; so habituated to the quick steps I normally take, I must remind myself to slow down. I have no time schedule, no one I need to meet, and no place I need to be. I have time to observe, explore, and examine.  In James Corner’s essay, “The Agency of Mapping: Speculation, Critique and Invention” Corner writes about a concept of mapping called drifting in which an area is mapped by walking aimlessly, with no particular path or stopping point and this idea concept  much so applies to my technique as well. Drifting forms a “more cognitive mapping than mimetic description of the cityscape,” states Corner (231). By walking aimlessly the walkers’ map beings to reflects subjective, personal experiences rather than just purely factual. To walk and to explore with no sense of time and direction allows to walker to experience their walk and take in a new understanding of the journey.  Things such as cracks in the sidewalks become craters. Puddles of rainwater in the road become ponds, and parks become forests in the mind of the walker. The everyday now becomes the terrain. Every terrain becomes projected on a larger scale

Graffiti is everywhere. Black marker, white marker, yellow maker—graffiti artists use them all. Small stickers, large stickers, colorful and dark ones can be seen on the sides of trashcans and the backs of street signs. Etchings in the concrete and paint on the brick all contribute to the graffiti artwork in Clinton Hill.  Why did these artists leave these marks, I wonder? What message are they trying to bare? Is there a certain meaning behind these images?

As I walk, not only do I notice the graffiti, but I also notice the people around me as we. As Perec states in the essay, “The Street” in Species of Spaces and other Pieces, “The people in the streets: where are they coming from? Where are they going? Who are they?” I must observe everything and everyone in order to truly map in detail. As I walk slowly, the others walk quickly and hurriedly. As I talk time to notice the small writing in the corner of the gate, others only notice their cell phones and watches. I judge them as they walk speedily walk away from me thinking “Why are you in such a hurry?” when I have to remind myself that I am normally one of those people on any other day of the week. slowly walk, the other walkers quickly step around me. It seems as though because I am not walking quickly enough, I am in their way, like a brick wall in the middle of the sidewalk. In one incidence I stop walking to take a picture of graffiti I saw marked on a private fence and someone yells at me, “You can’t just stand in the middle of the sidewalk like that!” as the walk around me. On this walk I have learned about more than just graffiti, I have learned about the people that occupy the streets as well.  So caught up are they in their lives and routines that even something as innocent as stopping in the sidewalk  becomes and inconvenience to them,

As I walk, the concept of drifting comes to mind, explained in James Corner’s essay, “The Agency of Mapping; Speculation, Critique and Invention.” Corner, as well as De Certeau, comments on the importance of walking in mapping a cit yTo Corner, walking is one of the most important activities involved in mapping and in order to fully take in a city one must walk.  So this is what I am doing, I am walking and documenting. Drifting is a way of mapping that Corner writes about and although I know where I am going, the method of drifting applies directly to the way I am mapping my journey. “They were less interested in art objects and stylistic concerns than with the engaging life situations and social formations.” Through walking aimlessly the walkers’ map reflects subjective, personal experiences rather than just purely factual.  To walk and to explore with no sense of time and direction allows to walker to experience their walk and take in a new understanding of the journey.  Things such as cracks in the sidewalks become craters. Puddles of rainwater in the road become ponds, and parks become forests in the mind of the walker. Every terrain becomes projected on what they seeing front of time because this is their everyday life.

As do most people, my normal walk to the subway is often rushed, quick, and direct. Whether it is I’m running late for work or I simply want to get out of the cold, my walk to the subway is not often leisurely. Although quick walking is good exercise, it does not, however, allow much time for me to take notice of the art around me and by art I mean graffiti, markings, stickers, and signs left by one person for another to see in an area unintended for such purposes.

Often times when one walks in New York City, one is walking with a purpose. Especially as the weather begins to turn colder it is even less common to see anyone taking a leisurely stroll, perhaps hand in hand with his or her child or spouse, or by themselves just enjoying the day. With the bustle and everyday grind of life it is easy for people to get preoccupied in their own problems.  In my journey I am doing  he opposite of what most  of the travelers around me are doing. I am taking a stroll. I am walking without a pressing purpose and I am walking slowly.  Graffiti is everywhere. No, not blatantly so as in the subway train from the 1980’s seen in “Style Wars,” but at the bottom of street light posts and the back of signs.  It is drawn on the corner of the fire hydrant and seen on the bottom of the trash can.

As I slowly walk, the other walkers quickly step around me. It seems as though because I am not walking quickly enough, I am in their way, like a brick wall in the middle of the sidewalk. In one incidence I stop walking to take a picture of graffiti I saw marked on a private fence and someone yells at me, “You can’t just stand in the middle of the sidewalk like that!” as the walk around me. On this walk I have learned about more than just graffiti, I have learned about the people that occupy the streets as well.  So caught up are they in their lives and routines that even something as innocent as stopping in the sidewalk  becomes and inconvenience to them,

Graffiti by definition is writing or drawings scribbled, scratched, or sprayed illicitly on a wall of other surface in a public place.  To some graffiti is art; to others it is vandalism. To some it enhances a neighborhood with character and liveliness; to others it is an eye sore.  To some it exemplifies an urban and thriving culture; to others it is a never-ending plague. In the documentary “Style Wars” that debuted in 1983 and directed by Tony Silver, Silver documents the effect that graffiti and graffiti artists have on the community. “I’ll show you graffiti… Is that an art form?” states Detective Bernie Jenkins who is the crime prevention coordinator for the New York City transit police department, “I don’t know but I sure as hell can tell you that’s a crime.”

However one thinks of graffiti, whether fondly or not, one cannot deny that it is everywhere. Sure because of modern technology and laws, graffiti such as “train bombing” which is seen in Style Wars, is no longer around but artists still find ways to leave their mark regardless. I run into my first graffiti quickly after walking out my door. On the back of a sign screwed into the gate at 215 Willoughby, I see several stickers piled up on top of each other.  The top one states “PTOSIS.”  I quickly move down the street, heading west on Willoughby and I run into my second encounter with graffiti. The U.S. postal service mailbox has been tagged in red and silver paint.

                          

The graffiti that I find is miniscule, small at most. Gone are the days of radical art pieces seen on subway trains and city walls. All that is left are small markings seen on parking signs and fire hydrants here in Clinton Hill, but they remain nonetheless. Graffiti has been around for ages, dating back to prehistoric times in the form of historic cave paintings and still to this day they live. Although there are many graffiti pieces in Brooklyn, lots of which are commissioned, in my walk I only encounter the small and minor, drawn in the corner or down low as not to be seen.

    

Lets Take A Stroll

                                    Street Post seem to be an easy target for graffiti and signs.

 

Leaving initials in cement marks your name forever.

 

"BANG BANG"

If you look closely you can often times find the most interesting things.

Key Words of "Walking in the City"

1) voyeur
2) walker
3)concept city
4) urban pratices
5) migrationL, metaphorical
6) style
7) rhetorics of walking
8) fiction of knowledge
9) waste products
10) optical knowledge
11) legibility
12) spatialized
13) threshold
14) accepted framework
15) imposed order


The walker is " writing the city" without reading it. It is a poem "signed by many others" that cannot be legible.

The walker maps thru the body, they explores the thresholds not visible thru a birds-eye view.

Free Write- Style Wars

Graffiti maps the city through an artists point of view. The main image if grafitti are words, normally names that artists wish to be recognized and remembered. Colors and graphs are a big part of graffiti but more often than not, it is not the most important part. Graffiti relays a message. A message from the artists so it's viewers and a message from the artists to other artists.

Grafiti maps the young generation, he "hip-hop generation" and the ideas of these people. Grafitti maps the routes of the subway trains through the city. Graffiti can start in one place and be carried though a plethora of places. If nothing else it is remembered through

Graffiti makes in some cases social issues visible. It is not always just about the artwork or the colors but it is about the messGe the art is trying to portray.

By painting graffiti on the subway trains it is so much more visible to a wider audience. This way the artists work is seen everyday by hundreds if not thousands of people.

Writing IN the city. It becomes the city, it is part of the city. It no longer just affects the artists, it now effects EVERYBODY'S everyday.

A way for Marginalized groups express themsleves. A way to make these minority groups visible in a city where they are often made to feel invisible.

Graffiti makes a place become theirs. They make their mark, they make it their own.

Proposal

Territory/ Text

            - I will be analyzing and mapping the walk from my dorm room to the subway by exploring different "artists marks", or graffiti, posters, and signs. I will explore mapping by examining art that is created in a place it is not necessarily intended for, such as missing dog signs and graffiti. I will use the movie “Style War’s” as my primary text as well as “The Cruise” and “The Agency of Mapping.”

Specific Aspects of the Everyday that I will be Mapping

            - I will be mapping graffiti and urban artwork that can be seen, but commonly overlooked, on my walk to the subway. I will take pictures and video to try to grasp a deeper understanding of the message the artist was trying to portray through his or her artwork.

Concepts of Corner

1) Drifitng – explore different routes I can take to get to subway. What is the different graffiti I see going each way?

2) Extracting- the “de-territorialization” of my surroundings. The extraction of architecture, landscape, people.

3) Landscape and architectural arts- explore what the graffiti is drawn on.  Is there more graffiti is certain areas than others? Is it drawn on certain

4) Plotting- to track, to trace, to explore.

Critical Questions

1) How does the appearance of graffiti and signs affect my walk?

2) How does it interact with the body, the eyes, the senses?

3) How has technology affected the appearance and creation of graffiti?

4) How does this graffiti affect my everyday life, the walk I take everyday to get to the subway?

Format

My essay will be mapped using photographs and written text and possible video.

Research

“Style Wars” and “The Cruise” will be used in my research greatly. Research of the neighborhoods of Brooklyn, the subway, and the laws surrounding graffiti would also be helpful in my paper.

Style War Notes

Graffiti is thought to ruin the "quality of life"
- what then is the definition of quality?
- who's life does it ruin?

Is graffiti art? Or is it just a crime?

Grafitti is is the written work of the "hip-hop" culture. Break dancing is the movement, and rap is the music.

What is the rewason for graffiti?
- the artist want to immortalize himself. This way his name can live forever. It will be seen everywhere, all over the city.

The grafitti "bombing" is a very organized process. Sketches, meetings, and teamwork all play a big part. Graffiti is an idea of style and all the artists are competing for the best style. They want to be the most recognized, the most respected.

Yep, That’s a Monument

What is thought of when one hears the word monument? Is it grand, large, importance, sculpture? By definition monument is a noun that means a statue, building, or other structure erected to commemorate a famous or notable person or event. However in Smithson’s article, “The Monuments of Passaic,” published in Art Forum in 1967, he explores types of monuments that are rather unexpected. Construction sights, rusty bridges, and parking lots are now places of importance, standing monuments in the city of Passaic, New Jersey. By placing importance on these overlooked and deserted places, Smithson makes the viewer question what exactly is a monument while mapping and recording urban spaces and sites that are so often ignored by the masses, yet are so important to the makeup of a city and urban space. These deserted places better depict the everyday life and history of humans than any monument could.

As you begin reading the article, the story recalls a bus trip that Smithson took to Passaic, New Jersey in which he photographed desolate places and locations.  “The bus passed over the first monument. I pulled the buzzer-cord and got off at the corner of Union Avenue and River Drive” (70). These unassuming places, normally ruins of some type of architecture, are now regarded in glory as Smithson photographs the sites calling them monuments that “define the memory traces of an abandoned set of futures” (72). Nothing goes unnoticed with Smithson—used car lots become “new territory”, old sandboxes become “model deserts,” and idle machines become “mechanical dinosaurs stripped of their skin.” Smithson is trying to accurately record what, in this mind, should be considered monuments, what should be admired by the masses and revered as phenomenal.

 But why? Why would Smithson go through the trouble of photographing a rusty sign, concrete abutments, and old pipes? How are these structures even important, yet alone worthy of being called monuments? To answer this question perhaps we should look at another definition of the word monument in which it means, “ any building, megalith, etc., surviving from a past age, and regarded as of historical or archaeological importance.” Smithson is taking this definition literally by addressing any building, megalith, etc. as monumental. By calling these sites monuments, Smithson makes the viewer question his or her definition of a monument. Why is this place memorable? What makes a monument important and what we should actually be regarding as important enough to be considered a monument? In the eyes of Smithson, these sites tell more about our future and past than do most traditional monuments in which one person or place is idolized. The past and the future cannot accurately be judged and discovered by remember the acts of just one person. The past and future can only be discovered and explored by remember how the everyday and how people lived and live their everyday life. Everyday life is about rusty pipes, abandoned lots, and old bridges. These objects reveal the everyday more than anything else because they reveal

 By recoding these forgotten places in the city of Passaic, New Jersey, Smithson tries to question the definition of a monument. Why shouldn’t the abandoned lot and old construction ruins not be considered just as important as the Gateway Arch or Washington Monument? Things happened in the places as well, did they not? Through his art, Smithson is trying to draw attention to the everyday forgotten places that make up the country of the United States. They are everywhere, in county, city, and state yet no one seems to deem them important enough to give them a second look. Well in “A Tour of the Monuments of Passaic, New Jersey” Smithson gives them the attention they deserve.

The Colossus of New York: A City in Thirteen Different Parts

In Colson Whitehead’s The Colossus of New York: A City in Thirteen Different Parts Whitehead examines the many intricacies of what it means to be a “New Yorker” living in New York. What examines what it means to live in different apartments, maneuver through subway systems; walk down Broadway, and to create your own skyline of the city. Colson explains what it means to truly be a New Yorker, more so than any tourist book ever could. He writes about street corners, mom and pop shops, and gum underneath the subway seats. He describes the personal relationship that he has with his city, a relationship that is different than every other relationship he has.

            Colson describes so personally his relationship with the city of Manhattan in the section “Broadway.” Walking down the street Broadway, “there will be no destination. No map. Live her long enough and you have a compass” (73). Sometimes the only way to truly understand a city is to walk with no destination. So he walks down Broadway. He walks past children; pass going-out-of-business sales, and past cracked sidewalks. He comments of no matter how much you walk, “you will always end up where you begin,” meaning the city is never going anywhere. You can push against it and flee from it, but Broadway will always be here.

            The things you learn about ones self through living, walking, moving, and breathing in a city is astronomical. “Day by day you contribute to it,” writes Colson and day-by-day it contributes to you and you begin to create your own city, your own skyline. “You start building your private New York the first time you lay eyes on it.” What you witness from the very first time you set your eyes on New York City to the time you leave becomes the city you build. Each person has built a different city in their mind, yet they are all the same place. Each place you go, each person you see, each sidewalk you cross, and each train you take contributes its attributes to “your city.” They way you saw it then is how you will always remember it, even if places go and new buildings are built, you will always recall how it was when you first laid eyes on it.

Proposal of Mapping Neuromancer

In order to map a city with no location, it seems you would have to do the impossible. Mapping nueromancer goes beyond typical physical aspects of terrain, buildings, and streets, and challenges the mapper. into figuring out how one would put such as city on paper. Corner speaks on the idea that to fully map an area, town, city, or country you must imagine and create something outside the normal.


As far as mapping nueromancer goes, I see this as much more of a creative and experimental process rather than just a "tracing," which Corner warns us so spirited against. Mapping becomes the process of projecting a mental image into the "spacial imaginative."


I feel the best way to begin mapping nueromancer would be to do it in different levels, layers, or sections. I believe not only should geographical elements be involved in mapping (which is easy to do in places such as Chiba City, Istanbul, and Japan) but aspects such as people and cultural elements should be considered as well (especially in the ageographical spaces such as the matrix, ROM and nueromancer)


In order to map cyberspace, I have come to the conclusion that it becomes more of an interactive discussion rather than an actual physical map. I believe that only way to map cyberspace is to map by observing the interaction between people and space IN cyberspace. What are the relationships between people? How do they move within the matrix?

Free Write oct. 26

Mapping, I believe, is so important in science fiction novels because, in general, the reader is taken to a different place when reading a science fiction novels. Most science fiction novels involve some far off place, whether on Earth of not, that is normally exotic, magical, and above all different than anything we are used to. As humans, we relate so much to what our surroundings are and before we can truly understand something we must understand WHERE we are. So perhaps, even subconsiously, we begin to map out what the described sorroundings may be.

To understand a reading that involves geography so much, one must be able to picture some type of mental map in their head.

Mapping can become a way of close reading because the reader is taken an in depth look at the surroundings of the characters. So much about a person involves where they are from that by closing mapping out the location you can learn so much about your heroin or hero.

How people move through cities tells a lot about their character. How he body relates to a city tells a lot about the character. There is a connection between self and city.

Free Write- October 24th

What does social life look like in Rue Jules Verne? How are relationships structured? Mediated?

Rue Jules Verne, as described in the book is a resort place, well an artificial resort. The people who are visiting this city or who live her are of the wealthier group. Gibson writes of families, children, and teenagers all staying there. " Case went on to thteur balconey and watched a trio of tanned French teenagers ride simple hang gliders a few meters above the spray, triangles of nylon in bright primary colors."

However this seems to be more of a free city, or less conservative because Gibson writes if case spotting a teenager hang gliding naked as well. The impression I get of the city is somewhat like a european beach resort. There are grand hotels, wealthy families, and beaches, and many tourists.

"He rode up with an Italian girl in spotless whites, cheekbones and nose daubed with something black and non reflective." this quote gives insight into the way people dress, very sophisticated, clean, and above all expensive. Gibson speaks of visitors sunbathing on the rooftop.

FOLlOW UP QUESTIONS

Why do you thing Armitage took Case and Molly to this city when they so clearly don't fit in?

How are these people different from this in Chiba city?

Free Write - Chapter 8 ZION

Zion is a place of zero gravity.

I know Zion to be Ethiopa, but the book describes Zion as "founded by five workers who refused to return, who turned their back on the well and started  building."

Zion is about thirty years old and is a Colony filled with Rastafarians.

The people of Zion suffer calcium loss and heart shrinkage due to non gravity.

Geographical and Ageographical 

-in the center is a spindle that involves rotational gravity or no gravity at all. Hard to tell

-music pulses constantly through the "cluster." it was worship music

-"Zion smelled of cooked vegetables, humanity and ganja."Zion is a place of zero gravity.

I know Zion to be Ethiopa, but the book describes Zion as "founded by five workers who refused to return, who turned their back on the well and started  building."

Zion is about thirty years old and is a Colony filled with Rastafarians.

The people of Zion suffer calcium loss and heart shrinkage due to non gravity.

Geographical and Ageographical 

-in the center is a spindle that involves rotational gravity or no gravity at all. Hard to tell

-music pulses constantly through the "cluster." it was worship music

-"Zion smelled of cooked vegetables, humanity and ganja."

What does Zion mean, Zion means Holy land
So we know that Zion is a religious place
A city Built on a rebellion or revolt, by founders from Los Angelos.

Where is Zion?

They must travel through space to get to it, seems to be in a dome.

Mapping the Shopping expedition becomes difficult due to the fact that most of this section of the book takes place in the "matrix" or the "sprawl." While Molly recieves the shopping list she enters e spawl to buy the items and Case is abke to see what she is viewing ghrough simstim.

Before entering the spawn, in chapter 3, Case recalls making trips around the world. "He remembered Amsterdam, another room, in the Old City section of the Centrum, buildings centuries old." So the reader now knows from the text they are no longer just in Japan, non longer soley in Chiba City. They speak of traveling to Denmark, Paris, and Italy on shopping trips.

At the end of chapter 6 Armitage calls case and says "We're going to Istanbul."

 When Case and they crew make a trip to Zion, the story becomes much more interesting. Zion is some artificial world with zero gravity in space. In order to go to the city of Zion, Zion meaning "holy place" you must travel through space. Zion is in inhabited by Rastafarian's who built the city over the last 30 years.

Mapping this city is interesting as well and very challenging. The reader must make a lot of infrences when referring to the city because one is not entirely sure of how it looks. We know that there is zero gravity and the city seems to be built inside a bubble, or dome of some sorts. The city is pulsating with music at all times, a religious/ ceremonial music that runs through the "freefall corridor." The freefall corridor is a section of the city, in the center that has zero gravity and is filled with ropes and tubes to climb through with.

Another interesting city where Case and the crew visits is the "Rue Jules Verne." This is an artificial city, made from light and image projections. The sky isn't real, the sunlight is unreal, the sounds aren't real, the foliage, plants, flowers, and water all all computer generated images. "He knew that sunlight was pumped into Lado-Acheson system who two-millimeter armature ran the length of the spindle, that they generated a rotating library of sky effects around it..."

Rue Jules Vern is described as a resort spot, a place where the wealthy come to get tan and enjoy the computer generated sun. Hang gliders and hotel rooftops provide the atmosphere along with meadows, waterfalls, and beaches.

Mapping Chiba City

When reading about Chiba City in William Gibson’s novel, Nueromancer his words begin to paint a picture in your head. Chiba City is grimy, dingy, and rough yet a big city nonetheless. There are countless alleyways and back corners where illegal drug and weapon trades happen.

Chiba City is a port city in Japan, therefore when mapping the city it is important to remember the water and things affiliated with water. There would be many boats, water vehicles, and docks surrounding the city. Chiba City, because it is a greater metropolitan area, there would have many modern buildings and skyscrapers, but there would also be smaller, shack-like,  buildings in some of the poorer areas. Gibson writes of buildings with plastic roofs, so the reader knows that some building are decrepit and run down. As well as many buildings and shops, the city of Chiba would have a lot of street vendors selling food, electronics, gadgets, and clothes. It is important to add many bars

Imagine Tokyo meets Gotham city and I believe that would be an accurate depiction of how Chiba City looks.

Chiba City reminds me of Gotham City, dark and sinister yet still a metropolitan.

CHIBA CITY

Chiba city reminds me of Gotham City. An unsupervised urban area where "its a playground for technology itself." Chiba seems rough and grimy, definitely busy and bustling, but more of a slum area than anything. There seems to be little police supervision and there are many corrupt shops and people.

1) What does Gibson mean when he says, "cities cab be at thir experientially richest during periods of relative disjunction"?

Gibson means that cities that are somewhat disjunction or in a state of ruin can be extremely functional in other aspects. This disjunction allows for outbursts of creativity and randomization that can lead to many fantastic things, especially for young artists. Nobody wants to live in a "flat surface," a city needs to have depth and room to grow.

2) What according to Gibson, is the "risk of Disneylanding" that threatens the life of a city?

Gibson describes "Disneylanding" as a city "building themselves too permanently into a given day's vision of what they should be. There are cities that cease to provide choice and chance encounters that make cities interesting and exciting.

3) What does Gibson mean when he says "The future of cities will consist of two different modalities combined with the ageographical and largely unrecognized meat city that is the Internet"?

Gibson writes about how in this present day, technology allows people to master areas of expertise that previously required residence in a city. You no longer need to be in the actually city to be a part of it because of the Internet.

CYBERPUNK

"Classic cyberpunk characters were marginalized, alienated loners who lived on the edge of society in generally dystopic futures where daily life was impacted by rapid technological change, an ubiquitous datasphere of computerized information, and invasive modification of the human body." – Lawrence Person

Life in the Meta City

In William Gibson’s essay “Life in the Meta City,” he explores the concept of a new type of city—the “meta city.” As a writer, Gibson is no stranger to the importance of a city in a story line and centers his stories primarily on or around fantastical and unusual cities.  However, in “Life in the Meta City” he discusses a city that is different than all other cites before; he discusses a city that is ageograpical. Since the invention of the Internet, it has become possible for people in all areas of the world to be connected at all times. “We all inhabit the meta city,” states Gibson, “regardless of physical address.” It is no longer necessary to be physically in a certain city to experience all the city has to offer and in doing so has changed how people live and view cities.

Gibson explores the different aspects of a city and what makes a city successful versus unsuccessful in his essay. As a child, Gibson lived in a small town in southwest Virginia and dreamed of living in a big city.  Through books, such as Sherlock Holmes, his imagination took him to London and he “reversed-engineered” a concept of urban life in his small town through his imagination. However, as Gibson got older, he realized large cities were more than just an increase in size; they were an increase in choices. “Cities afforded more choices than small towns, and constantly, by increasing the number and randomization of potential human and cultural contacts.” Through these random encounters of people, a city can than become bustling, thriving, and exciting by allowing the phenomena’s needed to create an interesting narrative. As a fiction writer, Gibson explains the importance of these phenomena’s in writing and if an author is unable to create a city in which these phenomena’s occur, than the city becomes a dead city.

Gibson warns about the effects of “Disney-landing” a city, or “ building themselves too permanently into a given days vision of what they should be.” Gibson, for example, writes that Paris has become an example of this and New York City is quickly following. These cities have become the cliché versions of themselves by over controlling and not allowing for periods of relative disjunction. The city then “looses their spark” and often perishes. A city must be ever changing and growing in order to continue into the future. But Gibson also writes that now, “The future of cities will consist of two different modalities combined within the ageographical and largely unrecognized meta city that is the Internet,” meaning cities must now take into account factors such as the Internet that allows people to master areas of expertise that previously required residence in a city.

             This essay can be related greatly to Willaim Gibson’s book Neuromancer because so much of Neuromancer is based around the dystopia city of Chiba City, Japan. In fact, the city creates the storyline for Neuromancer and this essay allows the reader to get a greater insight on the importance of cities and urban spaces in literature through the author’s point of view.

 

Technology Hypnosis (Final Draft)

“BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!”

What is that sound? Where am I? What’s going on?

“BEEP BEEP BEEP!”

There it is again! What in God’s name is that sound?

“BEEP BEEP BEEP!” It is relentless. It is piercing. It is brash.  The sound punctures through my unconscious sleep haze like a sharp knife slicing through butter over and over again until finally, I jolt into reality.

My alarm, perhaps the most dreaded sound in the world, is ringing near my head on my phone. Nails screeching against a chalkboard would be more welcomed at this point and I sleepily reach over to turn off the wretched thing, realizing I need to start my day. However, as I reach over to dismiss the alarm I see a blinking light in the corner of my BlackBerry.  This blinking, wonderful light full of promises is telling me I have a message on my phone. A message of what kind, I do not know but before I even wipe the sleep out of my eyes I hurriedly check to see whom it could be from as my eyes slowly adjust to the small text and bright screen. I haven’t even been awake for 60 seconds and I am already plugged in. My name is Alison Stewart and I, like many others, am addicted to my cellular phone. I use it everyday for matters concerning much more than just phone calls and even though I know nothing about it is crucial to my existence, I still cannot be a minute without it.  The cell phone has effected and altered the everyday lives of people living in the 21^st century more than any other invention in the last 300 years by changing the way people communicate, and as a result, the way people live through texts, e-mails, voice messages, and the internet.

It’s Monday morning, 7:30 am and upon sitting up I already have my cell phone in hand. Wherever I go, it goes and there is hardly a moment I am without it. Even in my sleep, my phone is no more than a couple of inches away from my head, plugged into the electrical strip near my bed. Each beautiful noise, each ding, ring, and dong that my phone jingles makes my heart swell with anticipation for the promises of what that noise might bring. Perhaps it is a message from my best friend, a picture from my sister, a call from my mother, a voicemail from my father. Who knows? The endless possibilities that my phone holds only add to my cravings for its unique technology. One thing is for certain though, I love my phone and my phone loves me. I use my phone more than any other piece of technology in my life, including my iPod, television and laptop.

What does it mean when I say I have an addiction to technology? Well for one everywhere I go, at all times, 24/7 I am plugged in. Whether it’s the headphone connected to my ears, the cell phone that’s always at my side, or the computer that rests in my lap, I am never without it. These forms of technology have become my best friends, my constant source of communication, and my means to everything. Nothing is more important in my daily communication than my cell phone; in fact it is my only sole means of communication—I have no house phone. My cellular phone works as my clock, my alarm, my calendar, my agenda, my notepad, and my camera. Without it, I am lost—literally (it is my GPS as well). Upon realizing that I may have left my phone at home or left it sitting on a subway seat somewhere in Manhattan, my heart begins to palpitate and my whole body tenses up with anxiety. My phone is my everything. And that statement alone is a little off-putting.  How did I become so attached to this inanimate, blinking rectangle? How does a piece of plastic make me feel more things than most alive human beings can? I know it just a material item but it means so much more to me than that.

My phone is constant reminder of just how connected I truly am. I have a BlackBerry Curve and through it I receive e-mails, facebook messages, voicemails, pictures, texts, and of course calls. It’s actually ironic that the amount of times I get real phone calls is minimal to the amount of texts or BBM’s I receive in a day, considering that is what a cell phones main purpose is—making phone calls. But since the development of smart phones and “apps,” calls seem somewhat elementary.  Cell phones have changed the way people communicate in great ways. Where before most people would speak to their friends or family by calling, now most communicating is done through texts. Rather than sending a birthday card or party invitation though the mail, all that is needed is a quick text to reach your friends immediately.  Long gone are the times of properly ringing the door bell and meeting families before picking up a date from his/her house, instead all that is needed is an “I’m outside,” text for the date to begin. Grammar no longer matters when concerning texts either, in fact it has practically been thrown out the window completely. Our elementary school teachers would look in horror at the way we abbreviate every word and completely ignore the use of punctuation and capitalization all together. Cell phones have transcended beyond communication. It really has revolutionized the way a whole generation thinks, talks, and functions.

Even when no one has called or messaged, I find myself constantly toying with my phone. Having it in my hand or near my body has become somewhat of a comfort blanket for me and I am almost never without it. Everyday my cell phone takes up copious amounts of my time and I don’t even realize it. When did this happen? When did most of my day become looking at a small cell phone screen and getting bewitched by the magic of its luminous being? As a young female in the 21^st century, I’m told I live in the “technology generation,” but what does that even mean? I find myself asking these questions, but do I really care about the answer? Perec states it best when he writes in his essay Approaches to What?, “To question the habitual. But that’s just it, were habituated to it. We don’t question it, it doesn’t question us” (210). The truth is, I don’t actually care about the answers to the questions or even care if I am addicted to technology. The point is, this is how it is and this is how it needs to stay.  It’s all I know.

 This technology has become so much apart of our everyday lives in the 21^st century, that it is hard to even fathom a time without it, but still it is important to do so. ,”[Q]uestion… the way we spend our time, our rythms,” writes Perec (210).  We must realize that there was indeed a time when cell phones and smart phones didn’t exist and people still lived a functional life. We must all remember that if need be, our lives will still go on if our phones were to disappear tomorrow. We need to ask ourselves, “is my phone really a matter of life or death? Can I in no way function without it?” If the answers to these questions are no, than it might be a good idea to step back a minute and really think about the importance we place on phones. Well at least think about it until the next person texts you…

 I know it’s obsessive, but from the minute I wake up, all throughout my day, and to the time I close my eyes at night, I am constantly connected through my cell phone. It is near me at all times and when it is gone I feel completely lost. Our generation has become so accustomed to having instant access to almost everything through the technology of a smart phones that I wonder, if it were all to go away tomorrow would be able to function normally? As Perec states, it is difficult to question something so much a matter of course that we forget its origins (210). The world would indeed be very different if the cell phone was to disappear. Appointments would be missed, alarms wouldn’t go off, and pictures wouldn’t be taken. The cell phone simply has revolutionized our world and there is no other way to put it. And although I realize that life could still go on if the cell phone were to disappear tomorrow, my life couldn’t go on and I have a feeling many of my peers would agree. It as becomes one of the most valued treasures I own, let alone the whole century.

Not a Day Without It

Technology Hypnosis

 “BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP!”

What is that sound? Where am I? What’s going on?

“BEEP BEEP BEEP!”

There it is again! What in God’s name is that sound?

“BEEP BEEP BEEP!” It is relentless. It is piercing. It is brash.  The sound punctures through my unconscious sleep haze like a sharp knife slicing through butter over and over again until finally, I jolt into reality.

My alarm, perhaps the most dreaded sound in the world, is going off near my head. Nails screeching against a chalkboard would be more welcomed at this point. Yet it keeps beeping and I unfortunately must force myself to get up.

“Where am I? What time is it? How did I get here? Why is this alarming going off?” All the daily routine of questions I ask myself every morning before my body finally comes into full consciousness. But alas, I’m awake and I begin to recognize my surroundings. What day is it? Tuesday. What time is it? 7:30 am. Where am I? My bed. Is this home? No, it’s my dorm. How do I feel? Angry. Or is it tired? Or is it a combination of both simply because I have to be awake. Upon sitting up, I turn off my phone (I always sleep with it right next to my head) and before I even wipe the sleep out o my eyes, I reach under my bed for my laptop. I haven’t even been awake for 60 seconds and I am already plugged in.

Lying under my bed, my computer sits like a spider. Silent and still, it’s perched near by never make a sound. And what am I? I am the helpless insect, buzzing freely about my day until I suddenly find myself unexpectedly trapped in the spider’s sticky home. At first, I buzz around frantically trying to get free, thinking there must be some way out. But soon I realize the web is too strong and I slowly give up the fight. I surrender, and I am at the will of the spider. The computer with all its magic and lights sucks me into its web and there is no looking back.

It might be an understatement to say I have an addiction to technology. Everywhere I go, at all times, 24/7 I am plugged in. Whether it’s the headphone connected to my ears, the cell phone that’s always at my side, or the computer that rests in my lap, I am never without it. These forms of technology have become my best friends, my constant source of communication, and my means to everything. So much so that at 7:30 am, before I can even attempt to think about the grueling day ahead of me or even process my surroundings, I am already logged on to my e-mail.

“Did anyone message me? Did anyone like my posts on facebook? Did I get a response to any of the job applications I sent out? Where any of my photos re-blogged on tumblr?” These are all typical thoughts while scrolling through my inbox in the morning. Only until after these questions are answered can I begin start my day.

Everyday my computer takes up copious amounts of my time. A day without my computer would be like a day without food. I need it for my vitality. It sustains me. Just thinking about the days before computers were invented sends chills up and down my spine. How could that be? How did anyone survive? What was life like before e-mails, before tumblrs, before skype, before facebook, before spell check? This 15-inch rectangle has changed the world and its really only been around for the last 15 years. Well, at least it’s changed my word. Or has it? I actually don’t even remember a world before computers. They are so much apart of my everyday that life without them would seem… odd. This is the 21^st century. This is my life. This is my everyday. This is all I know.

When did this happen? When did most of my day become looking at a computer screen and getting bewitched my the magic of its luminous being? As a young female in the 21^st century, I’m told I live in the “technology generation,” but what does that even mean? I find myself asking these questions, but do I really care about the answer? Perec states it best when he writes in his essay Approaches to What?, “To question the habitual. But that’s just it, were habituated to it. We don’t question it, it doesn’t question us” (210). The truth is, I don’t actually care about the answers to the questions or even care if I am addicted to technology. The point is, this is how it is and this is how it needs to stay.  It’s all I know.

Are they telling me there was a generation before technology? There was a generation before cell phones, before computers, before Internet? How did people get around? How could they get from point A to point B without GPS? How did people wake up in the morning without their phone alarms, let alone know the time? How, did people keep up with current events? How, how, how? Literally within a minute of waking up, I’ve already worked my way through two technological devices and you mean to tell me there was time when none of this existed? I know I sound like a naïve 20 something, but there is a real sincerity to my questions. This technology has become so much apart of my everyday life that it is hard to even fathom a time without it. How did I get this way? Is everyone like me? Are they in an “involved relationship” with their phones and computers too? Or do I just have a problem?

My cell phone, for example, is my everything. It is my sole means of communication, it is my clock, it is my alarm, it is my calendar, and it is my camera. Without it, I am lost—literally (it is my GPS as well). Upon realizing that I may have left my phone at home or left it sitting on a subway seat somewhere in Manhattan, my heart began to palpitate and my whole body tenses up with anxiety. My phone is my everything. And that alone frightens me.  How did I become so attached to this inanimate, blinking rectangle? How does a piece of plastic make me feel more things than most alive human beings can?

                                    *                                    *                                    *

A typical day with my cell phone can go something like this.

“DING DING!” goes my blackberry. Quickly I grab the device, excited from the possibilities of what I might find blinking beneath the smooth screen of my phone. That sound means I have BBM. Or is it an e-mail? No definitely a BBM. Quickly and instinctually my fingers glide over the sleek black keypad relying on an unconscious muscle memory that I have built up due to my repetitive use.

“WYD?” reads the message. Disappointment.  I hate those stupid text messages when people don’t actually say anything. Ugh, it’s just Blake. I have now lost all interest in the text and continue back to what I was doing before. And it wasn’t from Him, so I don’t respond.

“DING DONG!” goes my blackberry. That sounds means I got an SMS. Well this could be promising. He always sends me messages in SMS. Once again, my fingers grab for my phone before I even have time to process my actions.

“Hi beautiful,” reads the message. My heart skips a beat. It was from Him. An overwhelming feeling of happiness consumes me and I am in bliss for 2.3 seconds until I hear a “DA-DING” of another message. I quickly loose focus on what I had just been so excited about and I wonder, “Whom that could be from…”

Its all about the little things.

Even Elmer's is important.

Trust Me, It's Important

 Lets face it; everyone has those days where a whole lot of nothing happens. Nothing gets accomplished, the snooze button is hit multiple times, you barley leave the bed (let alone get dressed), the television is never turned off, and the pizza delivery boy makes constant appearances at your front door. Now for a country that prides itself on hard work, hearing about these types of days makes many people squirm. “Ohh, what a waste!” we all think, “So much we could have done!” However, the real issue here isn’t “wasting a day,” but rather that people feel a day can be wasted at all! It is a concept that many find hard to understand, but we have to realize that days such as the previous described are necessary and vital in every single persons life. Much may not happen or get accomplished but days like this still play a vital role in the story of your life. One must realize that even though a day may not consist of much action, a day still existed.

What makes and event or a day spectacular, extraordinary, or amazing? It’s no debate that when something special or out of the ordinary happens it is celebrated. But imagine if something spectacular happens everyday of the year or if something terrible or exciting were commonplace. Would it still be special? The fact is, without the ordinary there is no extraordinary. Without the simple, there is no complicated. Without the boring there is no exciting. Without ordinary, we have nothing to compare extraordinary to. People choose to brush off the everyday events of our lives without giving them second thought, but in reality they are more telling and vital than anything else. Our lives consist of ordinary, and that’s ok! Ordinary keeps us going, keeps us alive, and keeps us thriving.

Everything that happens during our day, during our week, during our life is of great importance because everything and anything we do affects our lives in one way or the other, whether it be immediate or somewhere later down the line. No matter how miniscule the action might be, it is important and necessary in our life and being. Think of it this way, the position in which you slept last night may not seem very significant upon first thought, but in reality it can affect you in ways you may never think of. For example, perhaps last night you slept on you neck oddly and when you awoke in the morning you are in a significant amount pain, enough so to make a trip down to the local convenient store. While you are waiting in the checkout line, browsing through the magazines, you happen to bump into an old friend whom you haven’t seen in years. Because of this, you decide to have lunch together and you end up catch up for hours. Now think if you had slept in a different position the previous night. Running into your friend would have never happened and you would have missed out on catching up. In other words, for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction. Yes, Newton’s law applies not only to physics but to life as well.

The actions of our lives cause chain reactions, affecting everything and anything from that point on. So you see, nothing you can do is unimportant. From the words you utter, to the books you read, from the juice you drink, the perfume you use— it all matters. Everything in your life has significance, whether big or small. And admittedly, some things are obviously more important than others and some events might make a bigger impact on your life, but nothing is irrelevant. Everything and anything that we do during the day plays a part in the greater aspects of our lives and it is important to not disregard that. To many, our day-to-day lives may seem like nothing, but without it we are nothing.

So with this in mind, take solace in the little things. Be appreciative, notice your day-by-day habits, notice the people on the streets, the graffiti on the walls, the gum stuck under your table. Question the ordinary and appreciate all it has to offer, because the “ordinary” tells more about your life than anything else possibly could. Freak accidents or fantastical events might make great headlines, but they don’t truly represent your life and your being. So remember to not over look the “little things.” What are your habits, what are you accustomed to, what are your quirks and your idiosyncrasies? If you can explore these questions you might be surprised at all you can learn about yourself and the world you live in.

The Space

Even as I write this blog entry, it is unique in its own right because it is a different type of writing. I am writing for an audience. I am writing for technically anyone to see. I am no longer just writing for my teacher, or myself but I have to now consider how my words sound to my classmates, my friends, my family, or whoever may want to read this. Because after all, once it is catalogued in the mysterious inter-webs of the World Wide Web— it is in there forever. It is so different from writing, pen or pencil in hand on a tangible sheet of paper, and so different than writing personal reflections in a journal.

                                                I want to sound personal, but not too personal.

                                                                                                                   I think.

Yet at the same time, it’s not different at all. Essentially, whatever I think or want to say I can still write it down. Just now, writing turns into typing. And thoughts can turn into website links or pictures.

The space of the blog is unlimited. I can post and post and post away to my hearts content and there will still be room for more. Is that not baffling? It is a virtual archive that will always be there for me to reference, always in my grasp yet I can never actually touch it.

However in the blink of an eye and the click of a button I can permanently erase every word I have ever written.

An Overview of "Approaches to What?"

In Georges Perec's "Approaches to What?" essay, Perec questions the importance that human beings place on extraordinary and uncommon circumstances in everyday life, as opposed the ordinary circumstances that affect us daily. Throughout the essay Perec makes a strong argument about how too much focus, whether it be from the television, newspapers, or magazines, is purely based on uncommon and unusual events that in fact don’t have much affect on how our everyday lives are lived. Only if something spectacular happens does it make headlines, states Perec , but he goes on to argue that the habitual and commonplace should be just as important, if not more, than these spectacular headlines. His essay explores the idea that the trivial and futile are extremely essential to our lives and writes how many people have forgotten this. 

“What is the true scandal”, questions the author.  Perec explains that true scandal is not what is read in the newspaper headlines, it is not the freak accidents reported on t.v., nor the natural disasters that strike some far off land.  On the contrary, the “true scandal” is that there is no documentation on the everyday life that leads to these events. If anything, states the author, these scandals only tell us not to worry, “as you can see life exists, with its ups and its downs.” Perec argues that rather what we need to question is the habitual.  Only through documenting such things as the small and trivial can all other questions in which we have tried in vain to answer can be solved.

So next time, “question your teaspoon,” states the author. Wonder at the ordinary, dig deeper into your everyday way of life and ask yourself “where is our life, where is our body, and where is our space.” These simple, unexplored questions might surprise you with the complexity of the answer.

The Everyday

I blog. Therefore I am.

Well, as of today I blog.

What does that even mean? It’s not even a word. Webster hasn’t put it in its lexicon yet.  <----- To blog or not to blog, 

that 

         is 

                the 

                      question?

W     come so quickly

O      now that I don’t need a pen and a pad.

R      No limitations.

D     Just as long as my fingers can press the black keys.

S

There are no blue straight lines or three repeating holes           to tell me where to write and when to stop. I can just keep going………………………..

…………………….. and going

I think to myself, I’m saving trees. Yet all the while my fingers crave for the firm grasp of a pen and the indelible marks they will produce.

                                                            …….. and going

Is it still

Consider

ed writing if it’

s not ta

ngible?

 Blogs are kind of rude when you think about it. What makes you think I want to read about your thoughts, your opinions, you trials and tribulations? What makes you think they are so interesting that I MUST read them? Huh? What makes you think I want to see EVERY picture you memory card holds? Huh? Huh? Maybe we have something better to do with our lives than to look at yours.  You’re not special. You’re just ordinary. You’re just you…

EUREKA! I got it. That's just it. It's not important. EXACTLY. Everyday is just that, everyday. My everyday is not your everyday, but regardless everyday is just that- everyday. Its run-of-the-mill and with out the everyday normality, we wouldn't have that one special day at all.  Everyday is necessary in order to have the sensational. The ordinary is just as important as the extraordinary, the boring is just as important and the fun, and the lame is just as important as the spectacular. Without the usual, the unusual wouldn’t even exist. The balance is more important then we even realize.

Perhaps these people writing these everyday blogs are more important than anyone else writing about the news, current events, or celebrity whereabouts. Maybe they deserve the awards for just being and documenting, rather than another English professor with a degree from an ivy league.