Topic 1 Development

I really liked all 3 of the readings and the video as well. For me the three have somewhat of a common thread. Space exists, kind of by definition, in between things. So in order to define a space we need to first have a division between two things. In the case of The Forgotten Space the sea is a division between where goods are produced and ultimately purchased or distributed. In The Poetics of Space, spaces are defined by the structure of a house and objects within it. In Archipelagos of Design spaces are the characterized by the categories and labels placed on people and places. I guess a way to think about the three pieces together might be that a physical space (like in Poetics) is built from physical materials that arrive via the “forgotten” space of the ocean via shipping container. These materials and objects are then the building blocks that form the foundation, basement, walls, floors, and roof of the building. Then from Archipelagos there is the question of who is allowed to fill that space and how are they to do it? I’m not sure if that makes sense at all, but it kind of helped me connect the three of them.

As some additional thoughts, I like how Forgotten Space highlights how as consumer and a society as a whole we are very disconnected with how goods actually reach us. I am totally one of the people who assumed almost everything comes by land or sky and that boats are kind of a thing of the past. I intuitively knew that was not wrong (since I see boats going through NYC) but I definitely didn’t think that 90% of goods are transported by ship! Also, I loved the idea brought up in Poetics about how a space is changed by what an individual brings into that space. When we fill a house with objects and memories it becomes a home and takes on its own personality and traits. I also really liked the idea that those traits transcend the individual and become part of the space itself. It totally explains why certain spaces have a vibe or feeling associated with them. It’s like hearing the echoes of everyone and everything that once occupied that space in some capacity or another. I also really like how Archipelagos touches on that idea as well but from the opposite perspective. That empty spaces have a resonance because of what they were and what they may one day become.

I am struggling to capture a specific structure towards my post for our readings, so I wanted to write out a few of my responses and how they resonated with me. Maybe they will act as foder for discussion within our group or start the thread or spark of curiosity to lead to a larger through line.

The reading from Gloria Anzaldua’s Borderlands has particularly resonated with me. Outside of my general curiosity on the topic of borders that I noted in our first class meeting, paired with my recent travels across many state borders, driving from the east to west coasts, this topic has been very timely as I have skimmed the US/Mexico border multiple times on this trip. This sentiment of “other” was extremely poignant entering into California from a US state and still being subject to a giant checkpoint to enter the state. I found this very jarring, and could only imagine what it is like to live in the boarder lands, living your normal life, minding your business with this ominous structure and feeling attached to it, as Anzaldua notes:

Hatred, anger and exploitation are the prominent features of this landscape.

When I think of the necessity of borders, I think back to our readings in Emergent Strategy, as well as some of the topics we discussed in the summer in Concepts, Cultures, & Critiques class; regarding who holds the power and the gaze that interprets, draws and enforces these borders?

Going further and exploring the topic of borders as parameters explored in society, self, sexuality, and norms was also very interesting to delve into in the context of “otherness” within your own community. As Anzaldua writes:

The queer are the mirror reflecting the heterosexual tribe’s fear: being different, being other and therefore lesser, therefore sub-human, non-human.

So again, I wonder, what is the true purpose of borders? A line of demarkation to enforce different laws, whether from a government, our gender expectations, or familial obligations. Shouldn’t we all as humans should be living under the basic laws, freedoms, and choice?

I am reminded of an exhibit I saw the the Brooklyn Museum this summer from artist Guadalupe Maravilla, titled; Tierra Blance Joven (Young White Earth). In this work, Maravilla showcases the life of an undocumented cancer patient, exploring the themes of care and migrant crisis from El Salvador. While slightly different context, the idea of freedoms and rights, and who is deserving of them rang true to me.

Additionally, I spent this past weekend with my future mother in law and sister in law, both immigrants of the Phillipines. As I spoke about wedding and family traditions and the desire to fuse my American traditions with my fiance’s Filipino heritage, the topic of the assimilation in the context of migration and American culture was largely discussed. I found our conversation harkening back to some of the ideas and themes described in the Borderlands text. Especially around otherness/whiteness, gender roles, and marriage. No matter the culture, these constructs, or borders, are a universal topic that both separates and unites us. (An idea I am fixated on when thinking about my sub-topic of canals as well.)

There were so many quotes I jotted down and noted while reading Anzaldua’s text, but this one stood out most:

Like a turtle wherever I go I carry home on my back.

While I understand the context in this situation, I believe this quote can be taken in many different ways, which makes it that much more beautiful. No matter our circumstances, immigrant or otherwise, this is a shared sentiment of the human experience. We all carry our homes on our backs, and it is what makes us who we are, for better or for worse, no matter how far or close we are from our homes.

Where reading Anzaldua’s text may inspire the thought of open borders, the reading from Metahaven Reading ” Captives of the Cloud” evokes the feeling of anxiety and need for security, when thinking of the 9/11 attacks and other spy activity on the internet.

The people on the internet live in territories. They have citizenship. But this feedback loop doesn’t activate political agency. What, after all, really is the connection between these things?

Alternatively, we walk a fine line when we think about personal data an shared data. When you throw in the fact that access to the internet is also a disproportionate scale, it further tangles the web of how do we shape this space to be both inclusive and safe for everyone?

Lastly, I find it very interesting that both of these readings have such relevance in what we are dealing with here in the US  between the controversial actions of DeSantis and transporting migrants to Martha’s Vineyard, or our former president not being held to similar standards of national security. Through this lens, it will be even more fascinating to see how these issues play out and how this study will further my insights in the matters at hand.

I hope this doesn’t read too much like rambling! I enjoyed the sentiments of both readings and look forward to discussing further with you all. 🙂

As I go through the readings assigned specifically about kinship, I have a lot of ideas swirling around my head, and am struggling to get them organized enough to have an idea to write about. So I thought I’d just get writing and see what comes out.

• With regard to colonial organisms:
  • In some types of colonial organisms, there are different zooid types, that have different jobs. Some are the protectors, some are the navigators, etc. At first I assumed that each zooid was equal with one another, regardless of their “job”.
  • I’ve been struggling a bit to understand the difference between colonial organisms, and organisms that live in a colony. My high level understanding of colonial organisms are organisms that are comprised of lots of smaller organisms (zooids). The zooids are attached to each other (I think), and would not survive without each other. Organisms such as coral are easy for me to identify as colonial organisms. But what about ants? They live in a colony, and I don’t think they would survive very well solo. But they’re not physically connected – is this a requirement to be considered a colonial organism?
  • After reading the introduction to Slanted Things by Lynn Margulis and Dorion Sagan, I couldn’t get the concept of Gaia out of my head, and Margulis and Sagan’s simple definition: “Gaia theory… views Earth’s biosphere (the place where life exists) as a single, self-regulating entity: the Earth is alive.” Could Earth be a colonial organism? Maybe my desire to have an exact definition of what a colonial organism is and is not really isn’t that helpful. Everything on earth is connected to each other in some way – even if it’s by air, and gravity, energy. And I think that all organisms on earth require some sort of relationship with another organism in order to survive.
  • “Strictly speaking, to be symbionts individual members of at least two species myst touch each other most of the time”
  • “… all living things on Earth are in physical contact through tis water, atmosphere and soils, and that they all dwell in a coating on the surface of a limited planet”
  • At some point, I began to wonder if there is any sort of hierarchy in the structures that zooids make. Are the navigators more important than the feeders for example? Is there any sort of subjugation amongst the zooids? Are the colonialist colonial organisms?
  • What does it mean to be an individual?
• With regard to my guide project:
  • At first I thought I wanted to do something similar to the Parable of the Polygon by Nikki Case. I was thinking of showing the relationship between zooids in a colonial organism by allowing the user to drag shapes that represent different zooids around on their screen. But as the past few weeks have shown, time spent doing technical work in front of a computer is not something my life is lacking at the moment. Between Connections Lab and my day-to-day work, I am in front of a screen a lot! Maybe it would be beneficial to do something a bit more analog for this class.
  • I’ve been thinking about kinship in terms of connection, and one way that I understand connection is through physical contact with the work that I’m doing. This would lend itself to a more analog exploration.
  • As I was brainstorming some ideas for my guide, this Instagram post came up, which shows people making paper doll cats out of paper with brass fasteners to hold the joints together. Something with paper form, that are connected with yarn or something could be an interesting physical representation of what a colonial organism is.

This is the concept map I made for the topic plantation.

This is a casual loop map.

This is a borderline map.

When I’m making the concept map based on my researches, I started to think in a more systematic way, especially inside each branches. Every branch forms a smaller system, and when thinking about the connections between each nodes, it became easier for me to find missing pieces in the system. If there was something I missed, the system would not be complete, driving me to do more research to fill up the gap. What’s more, my mind become clearer. Last time, my thought was mostly driven by the research results. I took down what I gathered from my researches and put them there. Now that I’m looking at the topic in a more systematic way, the processes of finding the connections in the system, completing the systems provide me with directions and smaller topics for me to research on.

All of these readings pointed to the fascinating connection and disconnection between digital space and physical space, and the limbo of living in interstitial space.

Kinship

1. Anthropological: Study Socialization of human 

Affinity / Consanguinity ; Family / marriage; Fictive kinship

Entity (border definition): cultural / Ontological origin / historical / social connections and shared characteristics (same-sex parenting / religious / godparents )

Biology: Coefficient relationship/consanguinity or genealogy.
“consanguinity basis for kinship ties is not universal across cultures， it may be a culturally specific symbol of kinship only in particular cultures”

2. Kinship across species/ Primates
domestication & loving kinship with other species
anthropocentric, anthropomorphic perspective of kinships

Human exceptionalism: “What we see in other species, then, becomes a reflection not of their own ways of being in the world per se, but rather a claim to human exceptionalism.” (Riggs, Damien W., and Elizabeth Peel. Critical Kinship Studies: An Introduction to the Field, 2016. )

3. Post-humanist kinship VS western human kinship

Grafting (Science and technology)

Definition by Wikipedia, “graft” or “grafting” may refer to definitions within different contexts. The word may refer to 1. a form of political corruption 2. clinical term of a surgical procedure 3. A process to improve decision trees commonly used in computer science 4. A horticultural technique, etc.

My research is mainly oriented toward its definition’s horticultural and botanical side.

Board aspect: Grafting (inosculation) is the joining of plant tissues

– Tissues of plants are joined so as to continue their growth together.

Natural & Artificial 

• natural grafting: roots/branches of the same species will sometimes naturally graft
  Advantageous: fire resistance / regeneration / protect from wind damages
  Problems: plant parasitism/transmission of pathogens
• artificial grafting
  Advantageous: disease-resistant / domesticate plants
  commonly used in asexual propagation of commercially grown plants

Graft chimera
“Such a plant can produce flowers and foliage of both plants as well as shoots intermediate between the two.” ( +Laburnocytisus ‘Adamii’)
– Grafting can potentially make a new species, a form of natural genetic engineering.

domestication of plants
To achieve desired quality (long-live, harvest, etc )

(Some of the examples that I found from Wikipedia)
“By 500 BCE grafting was well established and practiced in the region as the Mishna describes grafting as a commonplace technique used to grow grapevines.^[24]” – Fertile Crescent history

“Evidence for grafting in China is found in Jia Sixie’s 6th century CE agricultural treatise Qimin Yaoshu ” – China 2000 BC

“influx of foreign ornamentals to decorate these gardens, grafting was used much during this period.” – Arabic regions

“French Wine Pandemic”, a grafting history of American and French grapevine

progress

Going into branches of these two keywords, I found the concept of “domestication” appears in both and may further lead the research.
– “Domestication of animals” and building kinship with other species
– “Domestication of plants” to achieve better qualities for human usage

Definition of a Canal:

A canal is a human-made waterway that allows boats and ships to pass from one body of water to another. Canals are also used to transport water for irrigation and other human uses. While the advent of more efficient forms of transportation has reduced the need for canals, they still play a vital role as conduits for transportation and fostering global commerce.  – NOAA

What characteristics make a Canal a Canal?:

One of the first notable points I found from my initial research was the distinction between Canals and Channels. The biggest point is man-made (Canals) vs. natural(Channels).

This led me to research the use of Canals. As a man-made entity, there is a use or a need that these waterways are built to fulfill.

According to further research Wikipedia lists, that “Canals or artificial waterways are waterways or engineered channels built for drainage management (e.g. flood control and irrigation) or for conveyancing water transport vehicles (e.g. water taxi). They carry free, calm surface flow under atmospheric pressure, and can be thought of as artificial rivers.”

The main uses of a canal are drainage for safety, landscape protection, and transportation of people and goods. How do these topics connect to Borders?

Borders & Connectors:

Reading more on the topic, I was reminded of my trip to Colorado and stopping at the Continental Divide on my drive between Denver and Aspen. The Continental Divide runs from the Bering Strait down the Americas to the Strait of Magellan in southern Chile. This Divide separates the watersheds that drain into the Atlantic, Pacific, and Arctic Oceans, the Gulf of Mexico, and the Caribbean Sea.

This creates boundaries in multiple countries and territories, including National Parks like Glacier National Park and, most notably, the Panama Canal.

The Panama Canal – Trade: 

Finished in 1914, the most notable canal in the Americas is the Panama Canal. It connects North and South America, the Pacific and Atlantic Oceans, and is the lowest point of the Continental Divide.

Most notably used for international trade, cargo ships can pass in either direction, with the most Trade between the east coast of the United States and East Asia dominating international canal traffic. (Britanica)

Amsterdam Canals – Defense & Protection:

The other area of research surrounds the idea of protection and safety.

The city was founded around 1250 with the building of the Dam that gave it its name. ‘Aeme Stelle Redamme’ is Medieval Dutch for: ‘Dam in a Watery Area.’ The first canals were dug for water management and defense. As the city expanded in the Middle Ages, successive defense moats ended up inside the walls and lost their function. But they acquired an important new one: local transport of merchandise. (https://www.amsterdam.info/canals/)

Further Exploration of Canals, Usage, Relation to Borders:

• Transportation – People & Commerce
• Protection – Defense & Climate
• Fishing/Food Sources

Skin / Puppets

To Begin:

My first thought and question when I see the assigned word “Puppets,” is whether I should go the literal route to learn about 1.) the actual puppets or 2.) the famous idiom puppet is used cross-culturally;  the installed political leaders or government with no legitimacy in itself. I thought I would give it a shot to understand the basics and origin of the art of puppetry first.

Basic Research:

When I first started my research in English, I was learning about how the origin of puppets goes as far as the 5th century BC in Ancient Greece. In fact, the famous philosopher Aristotle (384-322 BC) discusses puppets in his work On the Motion of Animals in detail.

However, almost every ancient civilisation have their own version of puppetry. Aside from the two simple ones: finger puppets and hand puppets, are still very popular in contemporary societies. Here’s a list of different famous puppetries from different regions:

Marionette (string puppet) – suspended and controlled by a number of strings
Rod Puppet (Marotte) – central rod secured to the head
Shadow puppet (Motekar) – cut-out figure held between a source of light and a translucent screen
Bunraku puppets – Japanese wood-carved puppet
ventriloquist’s dummy – a stagecraft that creates an illusion that the puppet is alive
carnival/body puppets – large puppets used in spectacle or parade
black light puppet – stage puppet using only ultraviolet lighting, influenced by Bunraku puppetry
Cantastoria – a whole stage production of storytelling using puppets, illustration, and other visuals
Human-arm puppet – similar to a hand puppet but larger
Light curtain puppet – use light to highlight a small portion so manipulators remain invisible
Tabletop puppet – operated by rod, influenced by Bunraku
Ticklebug – hand puppet with four legs, features are drawn on the actual hand
Object puppet – made using found items
Supermarionation – invented by Gerry Anderson for tv shows, marionettes with electronically moving mouths
Water puppet – Vietnamese puppet form from the 10th century. Built out of wood and performed in a pool
Rajasthani Puppet – Pained wooden puppet with huge expressive eyes in Indian culture

Out of all the different puppets, Shadow Puppet speaks to me the most, as it was what I grew up culturally familiar with as a Taiwanese. In fact, in Mandarin, it’s called “皮影戲”, which is directly translated into English as “Skin, Shadow, Theater.” While it varies by region, many shadow puppets are traditionally made with animal skin.

After reading about the art of puppetry, I decided to take a look at the word puppet as idioms and cultural expression. Unsurprisingly, there are a lot of interesting topics that I can dive into, such as famous puppet states, and regimes throughout history (e.g. Vidkun Quisling, Zhou Yi, the Khedivate of Egypt), and the term “sock puppet” to describe fake accounts online used to spread political disinformation.

After the initial research, I think I don’t have to choose to go either way but include both. My topic will cover both the artistry of puppetry as well as the cultural meaning of the term in today’s society. My topic statement will likely be something like, how Puppetery went from tool humans use to tell stories of our society to an idiom that people use in life when they see a real-life representation of a puppet-like situation.

Digital Painting is done by DALL.E 2 AI using the prompt “Puppets became the puppeteers and taking over the stage.”