One possible script for the presentation

It's long-winded and overly emotional. But that's just how I write. P:
Perhaps our audience would be motivated if there were free drinks in a little cooler, just next to our bench? Just sayin'.
———————————————————————————————————
Ladies and Gentlemen, could you please join us by the lawn.

Thank you all for coming with us. We've worked very hard all semester to present you this: *remove covers*

What you see before you appears to be a simple bench and box with an interface. In brief… it is. And these are the bench and box that will alter how people interact with Saint James Park in a fundamental way. By combining elements familiar with the park with those that are of a more unique nature to it, we stir up a compulsion within members of the community to confront and interface with the park in ways that are relevant to both themselves and the park.

Let's start with the box, shall we? This box is meant to represent the interface members of the community will use to interact with the park. By leaving what they have to say in text, audio or video form, they will be adding to Saint James Park's immense and important history by contributing the MOST important history— theirs. In fact, anyone who would like to experience how this will go, we have a partially functional version of the system on the box itself, which any one of you are free to experience for yourselves. These shared experiences can be perused and browsed either through this box or on our website, ___________. Several of these will also be experienced on our benches.

…which brings me to the bench. You see here our, er… SUBTLY modified bench, with an LED ticker and speakers. This is the prototype of our bench that will have scrolling text experiences along the front AND back of the bench, with buttons that can be used to start and stop audio experiences at the armrests. This way, simply by sitting in the bench, members of the community are able to experience the park in ways unlike ever before. And, of course, if they simply want to relax without taking in ALL there is to the park, they may simply choose to do so as well.

And, as you can see, it's still perfectly useful for sleeping in. :)

But these are worthless, ladies and gentlemen, without a cause. Why bother modifying benches or constructing computer-like boxes, after all, if they won't serve a purpose? This is something our group has discussed for quite some time, and we can provide this. Our box and bench experiences provide a means of connecting with the park… because it is a park worthy of lively communication with its community.

Saint James Park is one-of-a-kind. For being so rich in political history, it suffers such an immense amount of neglect. It has played host for the raising of political spirits and the rising of lynch mobs. It has simultaneously hosted the movers and shakers of the Silicon Valley and those who are shaking from a drug high or for lack of a blanket for decades, no, centuries. The area, whether taken in as a collection of experiences or as one interdependent whole, is drowning in historical relevance!

But with its wealth of history comes a price— people simply don't care. A site that once hosted a presidential speech is now more of an unofficial public lavatory. A statue of our 25th president with a formerly working cannon now stands as a hangout for hoodlums. A once-flowing and beautiful fountain that has represented the park for much of its life is now as dead and desolate as the rest of the park. So few people care. It's not that they don't want to— many of the citizens we spoke to had high opinions of the park— it's just that there's such an immense DISCONNECT. There's so much historical importance that it's hard to see how it matters TODAY, in the here-and-now. "Who are we to care of this place's history?"

That is precisely how we addressed it. These members of the community, like most of us, don't realize that we are connected to such a place's history because we ARE the history! Our collections of experiences are exactly what shape the areas in which we interact! By walking our dogs, by going for a stroll, simply by BEING THERE, we shape the future of Saint James Park every time we set foot in it! This idea is why we decided to create the interface— it presents members of the community with the fact that they ARE the movers and shapers of that park, and it wants to know HOW. And everyone has a HOW. They just don't know it, until they realize that it's the little things that they very often brush off— being propositioned for marijuana or sex by a passer-by, playing frisbee, being late for the bus— it's these little things that are precisely what make the park what it is!

You may notice that I've used the word "Experience" a lot. It sounds like a cheap tactic to sell you something, right? And, yes, perhaps the nature of this presentation IS to sell you on the idea of how these work. But to merely get you enthusiastic about the idea isn't the point I'm trying to make. The point is, history is made up of experiences. Not of events, like many would suggest. Events happen all the time. When you blink, that's an event. When you take a bath or shower or otherwise groom yourself, that's an event. When I MOVE my ARMS in a WAY of EMPHASIZING each WORD, that's an event. (Or maybe a collection of them?) But that's not what makes history. A collision of events, usually about two of them, or one shared event, is what makes an experience happen. The interactions that happen, the feelings that are aroused in these events, THESE are the experiences I refer to so often! And by collecting these experiences and re-expressing them across the park, we display to its members the wealth and importance of their simply being there, how it makes sun an impact on St. James Park, and, in turn, the rest of San Jose!

…awfully fiery words for a box and a bench. But the point holds true; without presenting the park to its participants in a way that is relevant to them— and, in turn, giving THEM a chance to interact with it— nobody will care. Because the park, as it stands, does not appeal to its citizens on a personal, unhindered level, they will not care for it on a personal level. And that's why our little duo here is important. These two are what will reacquaint the park with its world-changing audience.

Interface for Box

I'm currently uploading the SWF and HTML of the Flash-based interface for the box. Not everything on it works, but I did manage to get:

• Updating text/comments for sharing text in the "Share // Text" section
• Several audio clips being selected at random in the "Experience // Audio" section
• Microphone presence in the "Share // Audio" section
• Navigation across the entire interface

At this point it's just a matter of picking the aesthetics for the interface itself. I'll post the link to the existing interface shortly.

UPDATE: http://dma.sjsu.edu/art101a/t_stebbins/interface/interface_design.html
It takes a while to load (LARGE piece 'a Flash— 62.8 MB!! That's for all the audio and features to work though).

St. James Park "Talk to Me"

Current Cost of Materials

Most of which I have receipts to back up... I'm not counting tax, I can eat that:

• One King-Size Black sheet: $15
• One Bench: $88
• One Ticker: $65
• One pair of mini-speakers: $15

Thus far: $173. Let me know if there's anything for which I've forgotten to account.

St.James animation

About the Ticker

The ticker we just got is called the MediaBrite Classic 213C-1. It requires "programming" in a simple WYSIWYG editor that, in the exclusive case of this particular ticker, can only run on Windows 2000 or ME. As in, anything XP and beyond won't work (or so they claim, I imagine if it runs in DOS it'll run for XP just fine). As of yet there is no programming resource for Mac that I can find.

EDIT: I stand gladly corrected! "MacBrite" will do the trick nicely. :3 I need a different cable than the Ethernet that goes between our modern-day laptops and a wired connection (it appears to need a phone cable of sorts!) but ultimately... WE CAN PROGRAM IT. WE HAVE THE TECHNOLOGY.

EDIT 2: So we'll need to use Macbrite on a computer that has a SERIAL PORT. Tomorrow I'll check to see if such a resource exists in the CADRE lab or the IRC (USB to Serial adapters exist and are quite cheap, if a bit hard to find) ; if not, we'll have to use a Windows computer running XP (at the earliest) to run it.

SJP sketch

Here are the Google SketchUp design if u want me to change anything jst holla back.

Our Last To-Do

• Make Bench
°Gather/buy and assemble Bench, LED Ticker
°Design Larger-scale idea of bench (incorporating other media?)
°Estimated Time of Completion (ETC) : One (full) day (Saturday May 7th, I propose)
•Make Box
°Materials
°Design larger-scale idea
°Complete small-scale prototype
• Document our entire project
°Collect 'important bits' for website
°Create basic website (DreamWeaver? Flash? CONSIDER THE AESTHETIC OF THE FINAL VERSION)
°Provide link to THIS blog
°ETC: 2-3 (non-full) days as a full group (These next two days), One (full) day with entire group, 5 (non-full) days individually.

ETC OF PROJECT: Two days (full-efficiency, no regard for other courses), 3-4 days (including time for other courses), 6 days (lowest efficiency)

OUR ALLOTTED TIMESPAN BEFORE JOEL LEAVES: 7 days

GET FIRED UP! If we act now we will have a project that can activate the park!

UPDATE: Here are the sketches of the non-touchscreen and touchscreen versions of "the Box" and the interface workflow. Click on the image for a larger, higher-resolution version of it:

WORKFLOW

BUTTON VARIETIES:

NON-TOUCHSCREEN:

TOUCHSCREEN:

Sketches and Interfaces

By tomorrow I should have the sound effects on the art101a server, sketches of the boxes, and a sense of the on-screen workflow (for the larger project).

UPDATE: Sounds are now on the server. Will upload scans of my designs tomorrow. Currently working on interface design. I would also encourage all of you to come up with some designs of your own, be it through Google Sketchup or pencil and paper or anything in between.

Blast Theory

Hey guys i know weve talked about it but this was very inspiring to me. They used this software called Asterisk which turns your computer into a communication server. In the project A Machine To See With, it is a film where you play the lead. There are screening every 15 minutes and you sign up on line and give up your number. Then on the day, they will text you to be at a location and lead you through the city. I really like this idea of playing with fiction and reality

System for one of the inspiration

<!--[if gte mso 9]> Normal 0 false false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE

Inspiration of a system

The Spaghetti Tower

Time Allowed: 30 min

Objective: To construct a tower as high as possible using spaghetti and marshmallows. Limited supplies of material are available. Pieces of spaghetti may be broke into desire lengths.

Material: spaghetti (c. 50g/team)

Team size: Suggested team size is three

Rules:

1. Only the material provided may be used the highest tower at the end of the day will be the winner.

2. The judge’s decision in all matter is final.

This is the system that inspired me because it has a simple concept with a difficult task. It seems easy but it’s not. When I attempted this challenge it was a fail. When you see the video of who constructs the tower the best, and its children because they don’t think of failing. It’s not an artist but it’s the idea of the system.

a spectacle?

One thing that St James may be lacking is the aspect of the "SPECTACLE."
As we have already discovered...the history has been swept under the rug-- so how do we create a new sense of wonderment in the park? and still include the history........

What if there were integrated elements of the park that re-produced the feedback of our stations?
Things that would mostly come alive at night...
A drear and dark place...becomes a "spectacle" to passerbys, transit users, and downtown hoppers in the night!

Illuminated park benches....that rehearse the vlogs...and texts of people from the past....this could be where the "historical" emphasis can come to life! The park benches could have an animated, pre-programmed methodology of remixing the information in the data-base. This information being the real-time, current "knowledge" contributed by park goers, and also the historical pre-programmed information.
Imagine text and imagery running along these benches like in a ticker-tape fashion....
A healthy foliage of trees could be the perfect "surface" for projection....illuminating the mundane darkness of the night with new life. There could even be a "whispering tree" that becomes illuminated at night...and "whispers" or basically replays audio from the feedback captured at our stations! Can't help but think of the large elm by adjacent to the fountain.
The Church of Christ Science is a perfect "canvas" begging for projection...It is not being used for anything...what if we could use it as a projection surface!Keep in mind the active hours of some of the buildings. The Post Office and Court House do not likely function after 6. Perfect time to project something....light up the space! Imagine projecting this onto the courthouse! (possibly reworked with a modern twist?)


This could be a way to juxtapose the "textbook" history, and the history being made today...a live rendition of a facebook or twitter....as people online document their lives...and introduce events...the people of San Jose can do the same! and contribute to the spectacle of the park.

The presence of light in the park brings the "spectacle" aspect, and also brings a sense of security...people feel safe in the presence of light. This may encourage the park to be more attended at night...and possibly change the attitude associated with the park.
The day becomes primarily as a time for contribution to the knowledge being collected, which would still be housed on a website.

our "goal"

Lets simplify this a bit.....
-reach out to people in the physical place
-engage participants in the park by incorporating their own personal history/story
-gain interest in the park through personal experience contributing to a knowledge economy
-archive history

-----------simplify this?

St James

This is so we get a feel of the environment of the park
when were not there. I like the linking idea....but we should
do it in a interesting and fun way. The history does not have to be accurate
for example...(cannon on McKinley statue was activated by some teenagers to blow up the court house, and they were hired by the Freemasons).
I believe we should play off some conspiracy theories of the Freemasons.
Or have fun with church of science i belive we could bring these things to life by streching the truth because i feel people dont give a fudge of accurate history so we have to give what the people want something funny, odd, or evil. Ill try to come up wit some more ideas.

A Flash in the Pan

I understand the hypocrisy of saying we should "sleep on it" and suddenly posting an idea, but I fear if I don't post this now I may lose it to the æther.

I understand that recently I may have come across as a great bit demanding and as something of an asshole. While I do hope that I may be forgiven the latter trespass, I will not allow myself to apologize for incessantly striving for the optimal result for this project. In less floral language, I'm not going to let my sense of etiquette deny this project becoming the best thing it can be. We can safely assume that, with further work and development, we will all be able to leave the class with satisfactory A's and/or B's and the fact that we endured something of great scale together. This is minor in comparison to what could be accomplished by going beyond what is merely required to leave the class with high marks, and I am glad to be amongst company that agrees.

Now, then, to my recent (if reluctant!) brainstorming.

Upon returning to my room on the 8th floor I could not shake from my mind the ideas Mr. Slayton had presented regarding our project. With those in mind and our current established elements, I began to map them out, and included Joel's input:

• Repository of History, both distant past and immediate present
• Presented by fictional ghosts who have a first-person view of the past and therefore a more passionate and immersive connection with participants/players than mere presentation (as well as distancing ourselves from straight plagiarism of Joel's idea with mere information alone)
• SMS/Text-related interface (Possibly multi-media— if people have a photo or video of their exploits, should we account for that? Possibilities for abuse also remain, such as people posting genitalia or shock/terror images)
• Prioritized Event/History Choices (meaning, we pick from a select few important sites, i.e, the MOST important ones)

...and, yes, I struggled to put these into the context of a game. I understand that we have considered straying from this point, but I am firm in the notion that there is absolutely no equally immersive and stimulating form for this to exist. However, the project need not be strictly in the form of a game alone... this, I kept in mind as I explored the elements of this project out loud.

Then it hit me.

Joel had presented the idea of, by streamlining our history options, creating these 'essential networks' which would stem from those few events. By selecting a few elements that represent many more, we would create a large 'net' that would span the entire park without needing to spread ourselves too thin. These networks would consist, in our case, of the histories presented by these ghosts, differing by location/event.

...what if these ghosts had never met? What would they want to know from each other, with each being from a different time? Wouldn't these relationships be unique networks in and of themselves, representing what the two 'ghosts' have in common? What if the game were ABOUT these networks?

By visiting these spots and connecting them to each other, the network expands by that much more. Certain 'hot-item' networks/"chains" could be seen as an achievement or victory condition for something. Perhaps this is where we could reignite the flames for potential links with local businesses and bring back the game-specific coupon idea?

With this network idea, those familiar with the area's history may have a small incentive to make the connections if only for a mere couple bucks off food. Those who know it moderately have an interest to learn more (and leave their own history) as well as the monetary incentive. Those new to the area may be interested in discovering the area in which they're about to make their own history, and while a coupon may not be of immediate interest, it does nothing to reverse their intrigue.

In this, we retain a game mechanism without making it the 'point' of the project, we generate interest in what makes St. James Park what it is, we create an artistically compelling work, drive local business and ultimately have a system of concepts that I think would ignite a spark under St. James Park. By allowing for the personalized touch of leaving one's own history (which could be accessed on some sort of online database), we also tap into the ever-growing (and Silicon-Valley nurtured) world of user-driven material, placing the participant immediately in the work itself and therefore increasing their interest/investment in the park.

...I personally see little wrong with it, which has historically meant that there's a flaw in the mix SOMEWHERE. I welcome and encourage your critiques.

Two inspirations

Images "roam" and "mingle" through people's cellular telephones.

-> Shona Kitchen's "FLIRT" &
"Datanature"

-> NYU Interactive Telecommunication's "Pac-Manhattan"

Inspiration

Improv Everywhere's Cellphone Symphony is one of the inspirations for my "Texts from Ghosts Past"

IE's project is disrupting the library with cellphone ringtones.

http://improveverywhere.com/2006/02/18/cell-phone-symphony/

Elements

Place- historical
People- many different kinds of people
Virtual
struggle....how do we get people involved in the space besides the city. what about the common person?
text messaging....
how did people in the 1930s organize groups so quickly- such as the lynching
a reenactment in Second Life

possible inspirations
-Brody Condon
-Blast Theory
-Glow Lab
-Park Whore

Disconnect

So.

In my fervor of having a rounded product I failed to consider the strength of the idea, and it has visibly crumbled upon first tap of the chisel. Joel is absolutely right to ask us what the driving force would be to bring people to St. James Park. How do we capture the disconnect in such a way that will cause the average person to consider the space more than once?

My deflation provides an opening for meditation on the subject, as mere thought proves once again to be insufficient. We have the shell of the game, with the Augmented Reality/QR code bullspunk. But I have neglected to find a driving force, something that will make people WANT to play. And without a drive, we have only a playground of great information, and nobody to play in it.

A Machine To See With, Banff

Disconnect?

How do we bring awareness to the disconnection between the historical relevance of Saint James and its role in our present society?
How do we bring to life this disconnection, and possibly connect the people to this place.

We may have to bring the game out of the park. Maybe the game isn't in the park.
????????????????????

Basic layout of previous game board- an explication of St. James Park

here is how we "explicated" our information regarding St. James Square

Narrative to be submitted....and the actions to come...

Saint James Historic District: Narrative

- presented by group 2 -

Locale : Today Saint James Park is an area of high traffic, with many public figures passing through, as well as the average joe. Here is where lawyers, peddlers, work out enthusiasts, business partners, court attendees, homeless, transit users, church goers, and post office senders and receivers traffic through. As busy sidewalks, streets, and light rail tracks continue a moving crowd around the park, the buildings themselves and the encompassment of the park welcome a momentary station of rest. As Saint James Square once served as the “heart” of the city of San Jose in the early 1900’s, there is still that sensibility today, yet with an awkward twist.

Situation : The City of San Jose along with the Redevelopment Agency has taken interest in the future of Saint James Park, and where it will go in the 21^st century. The abundant nature of technological presence is something to consider when the revamp of Saint James is to occur but more importantly- to distinguish the historical significance of the site as it stands today. Being surrounded by buildings on the National Register of Historical Places, this park must retain its historical stamina, and continue it’s important relevance as a historic district. A need to “activate” Saint James in such a way, that its reputation leans away from its current standings, is a goal that the City of San Jose would like to reach.

What if… we took Saint James into the 21^st century? Connect this historically rich park into the wires and airwaves. In a sense it is literally connected to the current technologies of today, with its prominent presence of a light rail train station, and the kind of people that traffic through, but there could be a deeper connection. It is already evident that Saint James Park has an online presence, through pages such as Yelp and iPhone Apps such as foursquare and Gowalla, but what if we could keep these check-inners entertained? What if we placed an interactive game throughout the park that encouraged movement, like a scavenger-hunt, and a little education at the same time?

Assume … THE TRICKSTER OF ST. JAMES PARK (working title)

BASIC PREMISE: Players 'collect' points by triggering specific ordered groups of QR codes and/or Augmented Reality triggers within 15 minute time spans.

SPECIFICS: AR and/or QR codes are placed around monuments in and around St. James Park. If a participant is not currently in the game, these codes simply reveal a bit of history about that particular landmark and/or area. However, every 30 minutes from the park's opening to the park's closing, participants will have 15 minutes to pick a category or group of these codes, activate them in an order specified by that group (for instance, one would retrace the three main stops of the lynch mob in the mid 1900s or find 3 former clubs/bars/businesses/etc), and clear all those categories before a virtual "trickster" does by the time 15 minutes is up.

PROCESS: Online, a server with an internal clock (in such a way that relates to when the games start and stop, most likely synchronized with an offline clock) sends out the start times and alerts players who 'opt in' with an app to start the game. As players pick a category, the server tracks, which codes have been triggered in order. If a QR code is picked out of order the player must restart the group from the first code. Completion of a category would consist of activating 3-4 codes in specific order, verified by the app's server.

VICTORY CONDITION: One game-exclusive coupon to a local business (e.g., 10% a purchase at local eatery or $5 a week at the Health Club), only good by 11:59PM that day.
FAILURE CONDITION: Player is encouraged to try again in half an hour and to read the QR codes in the meantime.

___________________________________________________________________
I just added a mini background to lay down the basics of why we would like to propose such a project.
I will try to get together a page of "inspiration" with photos,etc. kind of like what Shona did, just in case we have to present so that we can have a visual. (i'll try, not guaranteed)

I think we need to acknowledge our next step to making this possible.
I think our NEXT STEP should be a trip to St. James Park on Friday, to seek out suitable areas that would be god for the Q&R scans.
We should also narrow down a few "stories" we would like to explore.
For example...
-McKinley statue
- The last lynching
- Scottish Rite history
- Post office history (this could even link to the original post office, which is the cafe attached to the SJ museum of art)

etc...
Let me know what you think!

The Mobile Phone Booth

hey guys thought i share it had fun doing this project for art101a

Game Idea/Concept

THE TRICKSTER OF ST. JAMES PARK

BASIC PREMISE: Players 'collect' points by triggering specific ordered groups of QR codes and/or Augmented Reality triggers within 15 minute time spans.

SPECIFICS: AR and/or QR codes are placed around monuments in and around St. James Park. If a participant is not currently in the game, these codes simply reveal a bit of history about that particular landmark and/or area. However, every 30 minutes from the park's opening to the park's closing, participants will have 15 minutes to pick a category or group of these codes, activate them in an order specified by that group (for instance, one would retrace the three main stops of the lynch mob in the mid 1900s or find 3 former clubs/bars/businesses/etc), and clear all those categories before a virtual "trickster" does by the time 15 minutes is up.

VICTORY CONDITION: One game-exclusive coupon to a local business (e.g, 10% a purchase at local eatery or $5 a week at the Health Club), only good by 11:59PM that day.

FAILURE CONDITION: Player is encouraged to try again in half an hour and to read the QR codes in the meantime.

PROCESS: Online, a server with an internal clock (in such a way that relates to when the games start and stop, most likely synchronized with an offline clock) sends out the start times and alerts players who 'opt in' with an app to start the game. As players pick a category, the server tracks which codes have been triggered in order. If a QR code is picked out of order the player must restart the group from the first code. Completion of a category would consist of activating 3-4 codes in specific order, verified by the app's server.

interactive voice response

interactive voice response

a recommendation

A friendly classmate recommended a source for our possible programming needs
It is called ODesk.
In the case that we may need to program something such as an "App" for a phone, this may be a good place to seek out for skills....unless someone in our group is holding out on us ;) ?

For the proposal, Travis has mentioned he has created a brief overview of what we will submit.
Reflecting on Shona's presentation- I enjoyed how she incorporated pages of "inspiration" as an addition to her research. These pages brought a visual element to the thinking process, which I feel may be helpful for us in further developing our ideas.
I would be willing to gather some inspiration pages, and create a PDF to display these. This could include artists of interest with similar tactics ( joel recommended a few in our meeting), devices and methodolgies of interest, snippets of what we have already created (the game, photos, etc.), historical elements, and more!

As a reminder...we should move our game in a "playful" direction, that has an "awe" factor, whether it be negative or compassionate. We also must acknowledge that we cannot ignore history. We could second guess the idea of incorporating the ever-arising fact of the last lynching in California, but think about this : Remember when you were a third grader playing the Oregon Trail ....
....and your entire family died off one by one from a fever or diarrhea?
These are the facts and they must be confronted...

A few research elements we could consider to further develop our ideas (please feel free to add more) ...
- interactive game for phone
- Q & R codes
- Geo caching

Blast Theory

Blast Theory

st. james construction

St. James Construction

check out what we missed

Darn...if only we were more on the ball we could have attended this. Maybe we can get in contact with the man that held the meeting, and find out if there is any public record of this event. Would be a great source of information.

heys guys

He guys i found this interesting artical check it out here

Idea

I had an idea to incorporate system we have to involve the city and the park and recreations and historical people because there part of the system.
im not to sure does he wants us 2 start giving ideas for the proposal for the event.

Travis' notes from 3-22-11

The inclusion of 'fun' has vastly improved the presentations.

ROOM FOR IMPROVEMENT? Sure. One of the things was keeping it to 15 minutes. Didn't work so well.
Let's pick up the pace, start tightening things up. Inevitably, one will never have that time in a presentation.
Let's consolidate these presentations to be more efficient. For now it's okay, but for the near future let's do that.

Goldstein will either be there on april 5th or 12th. SOMEONE will be here on the 5th. It may be Barbara or not. Depending on who that is, the schedule will change. When she comes, we will not have 4 presentations. We'll have about 5 minutes to lay out EVERYTHING. It's about illuminating the STRATEGY of our investigation, and a conversation about the OPPORTUNITIES.

Notes:
• Thinking through what we're doing… as a kind of strategy for revealing SYSTEMS.
Systems are sets of inner parts that work together as individual wholes.
Our system was CLOSED (nothing comes in or goes out). A board game is restricted. St. James is NOT. Let's accommodate that.
NONSUMMATIVITY: Assertion that a system gets to a place where it may become a separate entity from its sum of its parts. (GESTALT)
The synergy of its parts makes it something more.
°A representational-only system is doomed to only be that. It lacks identity.
Systems have interdependence. This means every part of a system has an effect on every other part. A single cog missing in a watch/clock would cause it all to stop working. (Beckons Chaos theory) When designing systems, everything matters, one must know the relationships!
HOW DOES THE DESIGN OF ST JAMES PARK RELATE TO THE BUILDINGS' DESIGN? THE BUILDINGS LOOK THE WAY THEY LOOK FOR A REASON.
MOST SYSTEMS ARE DESIGNED TOP-DOWN. Hierarchy is key in this approach. (Not all systems work like this… some are FLAT.)
SOME ARE FLAT. When it works, it's very slow but everyone has equal footing. Top-down works quickly but puts off the people on bottom.
THE POINT IS as we compile strategies, we must also incorporate structures for how all this makes sense. How will this all work?
What is the management structure for the California Theater?
° Self-management/Self-control is inherent in stable systems.
The circle of Palms is a performance stage, and it's very clear in what it is NOT.
It's the stage for a skating rink, for instance.
° Environments impact these systems as well. The environment effects how the system operates & performs.
The California theater does not sit by itself. It is amongst other venues, managed by a team of many people. THAT'S its environment, with consequences political and social. St. James is in a similar situation. The landscape is situated in the Urban Plan of SJ. Unless we can equate where these relationships are, we're not going to be able to discern what the space is about. It's not just what it is today, it's what it's been as part of an urban plan.
WHAT IS THE DESTINY OF ST JAMES PARK?
IF YOU CANNOT ANSWER THIS QUESTION YOU DO NOT KNOW THE PARK.

° Balance. Systems fail when they cannot achieve balance.
All systems have points of imbalance, simply for being created and existing. Some gears are better optimized, but that in and of itself means there's imbalances between the gears! ALL THINGS ARE PRONE TO ENTROPY.
° Lastly, Change. Systems that survive are systems that adapt. What will be the thing that sustains our system as an organization over time? THAT'S WHERE THE MONEY IS. Not literally money… as in, the flip-switch, what drives the ability to get on the same page with us and get what we want to happen done. If we don't help the system become sustainable, we shan't succeed.

THAT'S WHY THIS IS NOT ABOUT DECORATION.

ARTISTS MAKE THE WORLD WORSE.
They insert gears into systems that don't understand it and therefore cause it to disintegrate. WE. ARE. DANGEROUS. BEINGS.
That's not a bad thing, per se! We disrupt systems, but sometimes that's necessary! Doing so in a way that doesn't play along the rules, THAT'S where things go wrong! Artists are not necessarily vandals!
So.

Moral of the Story: Don't decorate. Explicate.
FOLLOW. THE. PATH. Do so and you'll get to where you're going. If you think you SEE where you're going, you're not on the path.

St James as a SYSTEM

How do we achieve this?

Interdependence in a system- every part of a system has an effect on everything else in the system.
There is more to the reason why things become what they are.

Hierarchical organizations-
Systems are organized in hierarchical fashion. [Ex- business president vs. business workers (fast & efficient)]
Flat structure ("indian pow-wow") - everyone is on the same level and eventually comes to a consensus.
Self regulation & control- goal driven systems that are nearly self determining.
Environment- responsive to the environment in which it sits.
Balance
Change - what will this place become.

"Artist insert 'gears' into a world that they don't understand."
An artist can invest themselves in a system and interrupt a system.

"To know an environment is to know its destiny."
what is the destiny of St. James Park?
(Maybe we should speak to the National Register of Historical Places, or someone in charge of the historical districts in San Jose.)

Understand the system of St. James place. How is the space organized in terms of who calls the shots and who must comply.
Don't decorate, EXPLICATE!

Homeless in San Jose- Part 1

[conscience] part one

about homeless in st james park

1st Unitarian Church of SJ

Built in 1891 by a local architect G.W. Page with the Romanesque Revival style (Transylvania Unitarian Church).
- The Free Religious brand of Unitarianism rejected placing the source of religious authority solely in the Bible or in religious hierarchy; rather, it opted for inclusion of the intuitive and direct experience of God, ethical theism, unlimited spiritual freedom, and social activism. Those who embraced this approach were often known as the "Unity Men."(http://sanjoseuu.org/AboutUs/History.htm)
Pic is outside of the church wen it was first revealed.

scottish rite

I am the Scottish Rite Temple, i was built in 1924 by the great architect Carl Warner, i was built for the Scottish Rite Masonic Order (freemasons). I have a lot of Egyptian style designs all around me like the famous twin sphinxes. John Travolta and Dustin Hoffman made the movie mad city in the mid 90's. Now i am San Jose athletic club.

Is this the style that we should narrate our buildings in???

quick summary of this site

OLD COURTHOUSE INFO

San Jose was the location of California's first state capital.

- only two years, 1849 to 1851

Initial Senate sessions had to be held in a private residence

In 1866, Valley residents began erecting this Neo-Classical monument in an attempt to persuade the California government to re-locate the state capital to San Jose.

A contest for the building's design resulted in Levi I. Goodrich's architectural plans being chosen in 1860.

Begun in 1866 and completed by January 1, 1868 (at a cost of $200,000)

Didn’t convince the legislators to return

Today it serves as one of the numerous Superior Court of California facilities in Santa Clara County.

The Hall of Records was built adjacent to the Old Courthouse in 1893, and housed the offices of the county clerk, treasurer, auditor, surveyor, recorder and superintendent of schools.

Many old buildings were lost in the 1960's, and the Hall of Records went under the wrecker's ball in November 1966.

-hazard risk

- not worth saving

First Woman Lawyer in the State

Clara Foltz, the first woman ever admitted to the bar in California (in 1878) was a San Jose housewife and mother of five who went on to practice law in San Jose.

Foltz drafted a bill to change the law's wording for becoming an attorney from being just for "white males" to being "any citizen or person".

Foltz is also credited with writing the law that gave women the right to vote in 1911.

Outlaws in the Old Courthouse

Tiburcio Vasquez

convicted in Santa Clara County (after the trial was moved from Southern California) of leading a Wild West-style gang involving stage-coach holdups and murderous raids.

He was executed here for murder in 1875. Vasquez had a reputation as a gallant lady's man, and while on trial in San Jose, he received messages of sympathy, as well as candy and flowers, from women he scarcely knew or he had never met.

Courthouse Fire

Fire proved to be a bigger threat early on than earthquakes, and on May 18, 1931, a fire quickly spread through the courthouse, causing extensive damage including the loss of the dome.

The fire actually melted the dome to the point that the covering layer of copper dripped down the front steps of the building.

The dome, which had 172 steps to the iron-railed observation deck at the top, was no more. When the courthouse was restored in 1932 it was without the dome, but with the addition of a third floor and Spanish tile roof.

-At this time the portico was removed, and the columns recessed into the facade.

-Above the main entrance, the original frieze was inscribed with the motto "Justitia Dedicate" (Dedicated to Justice). This was replaced with the words "Santa Clara County Courthouse" after the post-fire repairs.

McKinley's Cannon

The bronze cannon on the bottom step of the McKinley monument (erected after President McKinley spoke in the St. James Park - see section on St. James Park, above) has played a part in the history of the Old Courthouse.

A Halloween "prank" in 1932 resulted in the cannon in the park being loaded with gun-powder and the fuse being lit.

The resulting explosion blew out the windows of the Santa Clara County Courthouse across the street.

It is believed that the current "cement plug" in the cannon was placed there in the hope of deterring any similar pranks in the future.

3 opportunities and 3 challenges the sites provide

Opportunities

-Use the projector onto the courthouse from the McKinleys Cannon as an reenactment of the 1932 prank (interactive)

-use projector on church of Christ scientist to show off its architecture

-open lot behind church of Christ scientist

Challenges

-Historic building

interesting site with basic info

heres a site i found that has basic info and some god photos. click!
may help you with some basic historical information

Excerpt from "Rehabilitation/Adaptive Reuse Study for First Church of Christ Scientist

"In 1978, the First Church of Christ Scientist became, along with eight other buildings, a contributing structure of the St. James quare Historic DIstrict, National Register of Historic Places, Washington D.C.. The building is also a Registered Historic Landmark of the City of San Jose.

The Historic Prservation Ordinance requires the submittal of a Historic Preservation (HP) Permit for approval of any exterior modifications to the COntributuing Structures within the Historic District. (Municipal Code Section 13.48.210). "

--The Office of Jerome King, 1991

[Possible one of the required 3 challenges]

Info on Buildins

Courthouse

Church of Christ Scientist -History in General

Scottish Rite History

Public Art Master Plan

New Info

For next week each team is to continue to conduct research including a more detailed mapping of the sites and the more informed historical/archeological/anthropological/social/political context. Teams will provide short updates (10 minutes) in class.

DO NOT read from PPT. DO NOT simply stand up in front of the class and rotate speaking roles. Create a coherent presentation by determining the character, roles and quality of the presentation as a matter of professional communication.
Begin to think of this more performatively, An important goal is to create a style that builds onfidence in your teams tactical and strategic approach to the sites.

For Tuesday I want each team to identify what it believes are 3 opportunities and 3 challenges the sites provide. This should be included in the 10 minute presentation.

http://www.sanjoseca.gov/planning/gp_update/meetings/6-22-09/Public_Art_Next_exec_summary.pdf

http://www.sanjoseculture.org/downloads/PAC042020f(a)b.pdf

http://www.sanjoseculture.org/?pid=11100

http://www.sanjoseculture.org/downloads/PAC04202010f(1)a.pdf

http://www.preservation.org/PACSJbrochure.pdf

http://sanjose.metblogs.com/2010/05/29/saint-james-historic-district-tour/

interesting downtown events

for next tuesday.....EXPLICATION

We have decided to embody one of the buildings in the area, including the park itself.
We will each do extensive research about the "quirky" stories or tales that give these buildings/places history.

Cris - San Jose Athletic Club
Travis - Church of Christ Scientist
Nichole - Post Office
Mike - Court House
Teck - St. James Park

We will speak as if we are the building telling a story of how it became.

Also, on Friday we will meet up at St. James Park around 1-ish to talk to people. So there will be two sides to our presentations. We will be telling the stories that are usually never heard.

So for next week....

It looks like Joel is looking for an engaging presentation of what St. James is about.
He considers everything we are doing with St. James as the ART.

We should figure out what we will be doing for next week's presentation. Some ideas I've heard that we are interested in doing is:

-interviews with people there
-some sort of interaction with the people there
-games? stories? video? recording? storytime?

How are we going to execute the presentation?

-powerpoint presentation (Joel explicitly says that he hated this format and we need to level up)
-play video (boring and TIME-consuming; thus we should avoid this at all cost)
-play audio
-handouts
-showcasing artifacts from St. James and make a gallery out of them (any items found at the site)
-personal verbal accounts of our experience there as storytime?
-playing a game involving social themes?

my pick is along the lines of the last three suggestions for our execution.

interesting

on the nps.gov site there is no info. on st. james when you try to find it.
we could do it? for $? well not seriously, but it is a possibility.
check it here.

Explication not decoration - words from Joel (paraphrased)

Explication NOT Decoration
more substance = more possibilities
these places are RICH in what already exists in this place "in the dirt"
the public does not know what is here. just like we didn't know before.
what if you were an archeologist, anthropologist, architect.....the list goes on.
as artists we are not ONLY responsible to decorate San Jose. how do we explicate the site?
as artists we can make "non-art"- is there a different way to approach this?

some websites

Here are some website links that we should get familiar with. Just skim over it if you can!
We need to know what were talking about!
An important aspect of St. James Park is the historical qualities of the area.
http://www.parks.ca.gov/
http://www.cr.nps.gov/nr/

St james park p2

Check out this SlideShare Presentation: this is what i got so far, just noticed i put group 4. where group 2

St james park p2

View more presentations from 1michaelgarcia.

Direct relevant links on St. James

Though a bit outdated... even the San Jose department for Parks and Recreation stopped doing their annual report by 2009. I am assuming this lack of maintenance is due to the budget crisis:

Websites
St. James district homepage by SJ Downtown Dwellers Neighborhood Services
http://stjameshistoric.org/home
2009

St. James improvements by SJ Redevelopment Agency (with some pdf of construction, design, schedule, and master plan)
http://www.sjredevelopment.org/stjamesimprovements.html
2009


Documents
2002 St. James master plan by SJ Redevelopment Agency
http://www.sjredevelopment.org/PublicationsPlans/St%20James12_30all.pdf
2002

Family Rec. Area at St. James Park plan by SJ Redevelopment Agency
http://www.sjredevelopment.org/ProjectGallery/FamilyRecAreaatStJamesParkFacts.pdf
2002


Others
Downtown San Jose Association's description for St. James district
http://www.sjdowntown.com/Districts.html


Recent blurb from Silicon Valley Lofts
http://www.siliconvalleylofts.com/blog/living-in-downtown/what%E2%80%99s-going-on-at-st-james-park-in-downtown-san-jose/351/
1/19/11

Construction/View plans

google sketchup

answers to our questions

-Who is responsible for the site?
City of San Jose
Albert Balagso, Director of San Jose Parks, Recreation and Neighborhood Services
-Who are the stakeholders? (i.e. Parks and Rec. for St. James Park)
+Parks and Recreation
+homeless people
+bars and restaurants - Trials Pub, Tuskies Germania,
+VTA commuters/ VTA- Light Rail train runs right down the middle of St. James Park, two access the two segments of the park you must cross the Light Rail tracks
+businesses & law offices - SJAC (San Jose Athletic Club), Office Building, Unitarian Church,
+Post Office
+San Jose Court House
+Residents in nearby area- apartment building located at North West side of park, families with chilidren (playground in park)
-Who does this place matter to?
City of San Jose (parking meters located all around park), homeless people (they hang out here), squirrels ( may become an issue for environmentalists), Seniors (Senior Center used to be located at North East edge of park), VTA commuters, community, Historical Society of San Jose (multiple landmarks/statues in park), Parks and Recreation/Arborists (keep up the greenery- grass is very nice), San Jose Redevelopment Agency "master plan" (being executed now),
-What agendas are at work? What happens here already?
Music in the Other Park (Music in the Park occurs at Ceasar Chavez Park), Zero1, San Jose Redevelopment Agency has began construction of "master plan" demolishing the Senior Center,
-Politics?
[Permitting for buildings, food, grass, safety, fire, parking,events], City of San Jose regulates these issues, State- state level regulates city stuff,
imported palm trees
"St. James Park Master Plan of 2002. What is the St. James Park Master Plan you ask? It is a plan between the San Jose Redevelopment Agency and the City of San Jose to revitalize the St. James Historic District"
maintaining its National Register of Historic Places designation.
events financed by San Jose Downtown Residents Association

-Full diagrammatic/architectural renderings (blue-print/measurements)