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Anney Norton

Final Project Topic

Topic:

The lifecycle of covert/hidden meanings of emojis. How image association creates new subcultures.
From my research:
◦A lot of emojis have apparent visual meanings. For example, the noodle emoji could mean noodles, it can also mean send nudes (noods), an expression of interest in another person, or an invitation to have a conversation.
◦The sub-meanings or “hidden” meanings typically originate through social media, then gradually become part of an emojis meaning, like the eggplant emoji meaning either eggplant or penis.
◦Most of these are context and platform specific and users of certain emojis may not use a particular emoji with a particular person because of the association around that emoji within a particular subculture or group. For example, someone who typically uses the brain emoji to mean oral sex wouldn’t send that emoji to a parent even if the context for sending that emoji might not be sexual at all.

Questions:

◦How do groups assign meaning to emojis?
◦In general, very interesting to explore how word associations come about and the expansion of emoji meanings given the vastness of language and human communication relative to the size of the emoji dictionary.

Maps:

Written Reflections

What did you learn?

Going into this project, I knew absolutely nothing about DMZs. Basically all of the information I was able to research about what DMZs actually are, how they are established, how they are protected, how they are contested, how they are governed, and how they are dissolved was new information was new to me. I chose to focus my research on the Korean DMZ, and I was able to learn more about the history of violence between North and South Korea as well as how the Korean DMZ fits into the modern landscape of the two countries. Through my research, I also unexpectedly learned information about DMZ tourism and new efforts to open up the DMZ to more civilians.

What feedback did you receive? Any reflections on critique itself?

My chose guide format was a Museum Map, and one piece of feedback was to include more text elements and descriptions. I think that would be very helpful to include in the future to allow a bit more space for my voice and personal opinions. Also, there was feedback about the sizing of certain elements. I could try to vary font and text size to achieve a better outcome.

I thought the critique process was very helpful since it allowed me to see how others were interpreting my work without my own biases getting in the way. I also felt like everyone was understanding and not very judgmental which made me feel comfortable sharing my work.

What might you do differently in terms of process or content?

I think my process was a bit disorganized. Since I found the segment of my topic that I wanted to focus on later in the research process, I kind of had a mad dash to the end. I’m actually very happy with the final content itself. I wish I had more time to add some nuance and refine the language/imagery, but given the time constraints, I’m proud of what I made.

What was inspiring? What parts?

I’m not sure I would say anything was inspiring per se, but I was definitely not expecting to be able to make such a put together product in just a few weeks. In the past, research projects and art projects could take months if not more, so I was surprised at what I was able to produce.

Revisit the assignment prompts: how did your project relate to the original prompts, in terms of critical lens, audience, tone, etc.

I think the audience, tone, and metaphor were definitely in line with the original prompt. I think my critical lens was not as pronounced, but I do think my point of view was there. Especially in the satire commentary.

How did you balance research and experimentation? Which is easier for you? How can you focus more on the areas that you shy away from?

I spent a lot more time on research and it was the harder of the two for me. I knew absolutely nothing about my topic, so I needed to focus on the research in order to get oriented for experimentation. I also found a lot of the articles etc. to be really dry and hard to get through. That made the research even more tough. I wouldn’t say I avoided any areas, but I wish I had more time to focus on the experimentation aspect.

Borders: DMZ Final Project

Intentions:

My intentions for this project were to create a map style guide that highlights various tourist attractions within the Korean DMZ. I wanted to use the metaphor of a museum map to show how an area which is known for being dangerous has transformed into an attraction that people actively go to to sightsee and enjoy. 

Another intention was to show the return of wildlife to the area. A lot of vulnerable and endangered species have thrived in the DMZ with the absence of human presence and lack of development. Now, they are becoming a tourist attraction which will increase human presence and potentially cause harm to their new ecosystem. 

 

Research:

I started my research with two systems maps. The first was a mind map to help organize my thoughts and the second was a casualty loop which illustrates some of the tension inherent to DMZs.

From the systems map, I thought I was going to focus on doing some sort of war map or realistic map of a specific DMZ. I chose the Korean DMZ since it’s the most dangerous places in the world. When I started diving deeper into that particular DMZ, I discovered a branch of stakeholders that I had completely overlooked – tourists!

Link to systems map: https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/critex-monika/2022/09/19/systems-map-dmz/
Link to interview: https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/critex-monika/2022/09/26/topic-1-interviews/

 

Making the Guide:

For my guide, I wanted to create a museum style map to evoke the feeling of exploring an exhibition. Typically we think of tourist destinations as relatively safe areas where people go to rest and relax. I wanted to turn that on its head a bit since the DMZ is completely the opposite. It’s a very dangerous area. There’s tons of security and military personnel on the DMZ borders and physical dangers within, like landmines.  

The map consists of a cover page with a realistic map noting the location of the Korean DMZ. The floor maps are stylized to bordered rectangles, some with dark lines noting various “rooms”. 

The first floor showcases wildlife, highlighting the best areas to go to to see endangered birds, deer, bears, foxes, and more. The Korean DMZ lacks a human presence, so many of these animals are able to thrive in peace. The irony is, of course, that people are now actively going into the DMZ to find and watch the wildlife. 

The second floor is a historical sites map. Most of the sites are areas where famous battles took place. Others are temples, palaces, tunnels, and Truce Village (where North and South Korean diplomats meet). 

The third floor displays three new hiking/walking trails that were recently established within the DMZ. All of the trails pass near active minefields, though they are said to be landmine free themselves. I thought showcasing the closeness of the trails to the landmines is an effective way to illustrate how dangerous the area is. It’s honestly shocking that people actively go to walk directly next to unexploded landmines for a photo op.

 

Sources:

Wikipedia:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Demilitarized_zone
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_Demilitarized_Zone

Trip Advisor:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attraction_Products-g1872665-d2076201-DMZ-Paju_Gyeonggi_do.html

NPR:
https://www.npr.org/2019/04/20/710054899/in-korean-dmz-wildlife-thrives-some-conservationists-worry-peace-could-disrupt-i
https://www.npr.org/2019/08/27/754811189/hundreds-of-thousands-of-landmines-remain-from-korean-war-but-serve-no-purpose

Asia Society:
https://asiasociety.org/korea/koreas-dmz-offers-safe-haven-diverse-wildlife-now

Washington Post:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/asia_pacific/wildlife-thrives-among-the-land-mines-along-koreas-dmz-but-for-how-long/2019/08/27/ef76f3fe-c29e-11e9-8bf7-cde2d9e09055_story.html

Korea Herald:
https://www.koreaherald.com/view.php?ud=20191028000683

Reuters:
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-northkorea-southkorea-dmz/north-south-korea-begin-removing-landmines-along-fortified-border-idUSKCN1MB1BG

Korea Times:
https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/culture/2022/08/141_334629.html

LA Times:
https://www.latimes.com/world/asia/la-fg-koreas-peace-trail-20190625-story.html

Progress Post: DMZ

I’m going for a tourism guide in the style of a museum map. Tourism in the Korean DMZ is something I came across during my research. It was super interesting since the Korean DMZ is considered one of the most dangerous places in the world due to military tensions, landmines, covert operations, etc.

Topic 1 Form Analysis

I chose to do a map for my guide, like a museum map or something similar. There are metaphors around what is considered to be an attraction and also in terms of what is highlighted on the map vs what isn’t. Usually this is used for the showcasing of art or laying out a space for a functional understanding and as an accurate depiction of what an area will look like. I’m going to subvert it by taking the actual map of the Korean DMZ and creating a rigid box structure (like a museum map) with general areas highlighting an aspect of the DMZ. It will resemble the actual map of the DMZ in terms of orientation and general geography, but is a huge oversimplification adding structure to an area that is quite fluid. If I were to do a different form I might need to highlight the history of the DMZ, but I’m much more interested in the present and how the DMZ shapes the modern landscape.

Metaphors We Live By

• Lakoff + Johnson give several examples throughout the text of linguistic metaphorical systems. Are there any you found odd, outdated, or different from metaphorical systems that you use, either personally or in your language, culture, or social sphere? For instance, do you speak about conversation as battle, or use orientational metaphors the same way the authors describe?
I think most of the examples that Lakoff + Johnson clicked with me. I may not use all of them or be aware of them, but after reading them I could definitely see the connections between the different concepts described. There were a few that I thought were dated like “I’m feeling up today.” I don’t think I’ve ever heard anyone say that, but the reverse is obviously very widely used (“I’m feeling down”).
•Can you identify a metaphorical system that you commonly use? What do you think is the motivating rationale (“experiential basis”) behind that system – or is there one? Have you ever intentionally (or unintentionally) changed the metaphorical system that you use to speak about a certain subject, to reflect a different experience or worldview?
This question is really tough. I feel like I was not aware of any of the ones presented by Lakoff + Johnson until they put them into words. One might be Right is right and Left is wrong. I think this comes from culture biases (being right handed is far more common) as well as the fact that right (direction) and right (correct) are homonyms. Examples would be “You’re right!” vs “That’s way out of left field.” It probably doesn’t work as well because of the whole homonym thing but it’s the only one I could think of.
•What metaphors/systems of metaphor are commonly used when discussing your topic? If “the essence of a metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” (5), what other kinds of metaphors might be useful for discussing your topic, or an aspect of your topic?
I’m not quite sure. Borders are kind of like containers, so maybe I can use that in some way to illustrate the ways in which DMZs create a contained space for certain things to happen (like wildlife returning and thriving). Borders can also be separations, so that’s another way I might be able to use metaphor to get the theme across.

Topic 1 Interviews

(Q1) Have you ever heard of a DMZ?
(A1) Yes.

(Q2) Great! Would you be able to explain what it is?
(A2) It’s some line in Korea that keeps the North part and the South part divided. It cuts the country in half so that the North one can’t attack the South one. You can’t keep your military in there.

(Q3) Did you know there are other DMZs in the world?
(A3) I only heard about that one.

(Q4) Would it surprise you that space is a DMZ?
(A4) Yeah, that does make sense. But they have satellites in space that they can use to attack with. So does that really mean that there is no military in space.

(Q5) Why do you think DMZs need to exist?
(A5) Because when two countries fight each other a lot of people will get hurt. People will die. Also people’s living situation can get really bad. It’s really sad. So when you make a DMZ you can stop them from attacking each other and it makes things more safe.

(Q6) Did you know that a lot of animals come back to live in DMZs?
(A6) No, I did not.

(Q7) Why do you think they would go to the DMZ?
(A7) Probably because there are not as many people. So they can live there and not be disturbed.

(Q8) Do you think DMZs are effective?
(A8) I think it depends. It helps create some space, so people need to talk. I think that aspect is definitely very good. But if two countries hate each other they will still find ways to attack each other even with an are that is no military allowed.

What I learned:

So, I interviewed my mom (who is not an expert in DMZs at all) to see what people know about the topic of DMZs in general. Like me, she didn’t seem to know much beyond the basics. It just shows how niche some of these issues can be on a global scale but how vital on the local scale. I’m sure if I interviewed anyone in Korea about the DMZ they would have strong opinions and know a lot more about it’s structure and history.

Systems Map DMZ

Things I learned:

I learned that the more I thought through the various outcomes DMZs cause/create the more complicated the web would become. It was very disorganized at first, so creating subgrouping and combining certain outcomes helped me clarify the topic and see areas of opportunity to explore.

I also liked the spiraling nature of the causal loop. Wars lead to DMZs which in turn lead to fewer wars then fewer DMZs etc. Very cool and simple visual to have!

Group Reading Borders

Captives of the Cloud, Part III: All Tomorrow’s Clouds

I feel like my key takeaways from this one is that adding borders to a seemingly borderless space may actually make it safer for the average person on the internet. I never really thought about the internet as a borderless space, but with concepts like the “cloud” and even something as simple as WiFi, it does make sense to frame it that way. I found it interesting that this borderlessness is also precisely what makes the internet so vulnerable to exploitation. The idea that subdividing and localizing the physical servers that comprise the internet to protect individuals that reside in distinct jurisdictions is super interesting. I feel like the use cases cited of China and Russia show the potential downsides of government control and restricted internet access while the potential for governments to regulate how corporations gather and analyze data on the internet is more hopeful. It seems like an interesting double edged sword. I wonder if it will lead to digital demilitarized zones where countries need to allow for a grey area between local servers!

Borderlands/La Frontera

This piece was far more emotional for me, and I loved the way it touches on the invisible nature of borders themselves. While some border may appear physical like lines on a map or a fence, they are often hazy, blurred, and outright invisible. The changing nature of borders highlighted in the first chapter with the expansion of the US border and the diminishing of the Mexican border, shows how arbitrary many borders are. People might wake up one day to find that the place they call home is now something else entirely, and they are now labelled as the “other” when they had been living there for generations. It’s honestly heartbreaking. For the second chapter, the highlighting of the way we separate “others” using social and cultural borders was fascinating. Even the simple act of labeling someone or something as “other” creates a kind of border around that person/place/thing that not only bind the “others” to each other by giving them a sense of community and commonality but also ostracizes them from communities that seek to reject them. It’s a really interesting dynamic that shows the ways in which the concept of a “border” extends beyond the division between two physical places.