Topic 1 Development

When I first think of the word “skin”, I think of human skin, and how vital skin is to our survival. According to the Stanford Children’s Health website, skin serves as a protective shield against heat, light, injury, and infection for the human body. It regulates body temperature, stores fat and water, prevents water loss, and acts as barrier between us and the environment. When I think of the word “bark”, and how it relates to “skin”, I think how bark is the skin of trees, and how it is as equally vital to their survival. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s website, the tree’s outer bark is its protection from the outside world. Similar to how human skin heals and regenerates, bark continually renewed from within and prevents moisture from escaping in dry air.

Comparing human skin and tree bark makes one reflect on how humans and tree are both organisms on this earth how nature has evolved us to use similar methods for survival. Both of our species has a place on this planet, so it is important for us to recognize the importance of deforestation and how it effects our ecosystem.

Layers of human skin

The epidermis is the thin outer layer of the skin. It consists of 3 types of cells:

• Squamous cells. The outermost layer is continuously shed is called the stratum corneum.
• Basal cells. Basal cells are found just under the squamous cells, at the base of the epidermis.
• Melanocytes. Melanocytes are also found at the base of the epidermis and make melanin. This gives the skin its color.

The dermis is the middle layer of the skin. The dermis contains the following:

• Blood vessels
• Lymph vessels
• Hair follicles
• Sweat glands
• Collagen bundles
• Fibroblasts
• Nerves
• Sebaceous glands

The dermis is held together by a protein called collagen. This layergives skin flexibility and strength. The dermis also contains pain and touch receptors.

The subcutaneous fat layer is the deepest layer of skin. It consists of a network of collagen and fat cells. It helps conserve the body’s heat and protects the body from injury by acting as a shock absorber.

Layers of tree bark

The outer bark is the tree’s protection from the outside world. Continually renewed from within, it helps keep out moisture in the rain, and prevents the tree from losing moisture when the air is dry. It insulates against cold and heat and wards off insect enemies.

The inner bark, or “phloem”, is pipeline through which food is passed to the rest of the tree. It lives for only a short time, then dies and turns to cork to become part of the protective outer bark.

The cambium cell layer is the growing part of the trunk. It annually produces new bark and new wood in response to hormones that pass down through the phloem with food from the leaves. These hormones, called “auxins”, stimulate growth in cells. Auxins are produced by leaf buds at the ends of branches as soon as they start growing in spring.

Sapwood is the tree’s pipeline for water moving up to the leaves. Sapwood is new wood. As newer rings of sapwood are laid down, inner cells lose their vitality and turn to heartwood.

Heartwood is the central, supporting pillar of the tree. Although dead, it will not decay or lose strength while the outer layers are intact. A composite of hollow, needlelike cellulose fibers bound together by a chemical glue called lignin, it is in many ways as strong as steel. A piece 12” long and 1” by 2” in cross section set vertically can support a weight of twenty tons!

Experimental making

I juxtaposed two close-up images of a tree and human to show the similarities of the patterns are created on both tree and human skin.

My initial explorations around borders and gardens started with some reflection. I love nature, trees, and forests, and never thought I would live — and love living — in a city as big as Chicago. Over the last couple of years I started my own urban garden on my back porch as a way to connect more to nature, as something to nurture and cultivate, as something to take my mind off of the pandemic, and for a variety of other reasons I’m sure. So it strikes me that gardening for me could be creating a border between different mental states, building a border between myself and the outside world… I also wonder about what constitutes the border or boundary between nature and gardening.

I then started research with Wikipedia. I learned that people have been gardening since ancient times and that gardens have served a variety of purposes. They are status symbols, sources of food, and expressions of art and philosophy. I learned that there are different ideals of what gardens should be that vary from culture to culture and across time periods.

I read an essay called Gardens as a Metaphor, by Clare Cooper Marcus, who talks about gardens from the context of creating myths and paradise myths. In many cultures, there is a creation myth in which order is created out of chaos in the form of a paradise garden. People have searched for this paradise garden on earth, and have claimed to have found it in many places. Early European and other Medieval mapmakers put paradise on maps of the known world, usually depicting them around the borders.

Marcus goes on to describe Tibetan Buddhism’s concept of Shambhala, a hidden oasis beyond the Himalayas, and searches to find Shambhala. There are many guidebooks that have been created to help people find Shambhala, which I definitely want to look into. Edwin Bernbaum concluded that Shambhala is not a place, but a state of mind, and that “we can read the guidebooks into Shambhala as instructions for taking an inner journey from the familiar world of surface consciousness to the hidden sanctuaries of the superconscious.”

Marcus theorizes that we are drawn to gardening because it unites the different hemispheres of our brain, and it “requires knowledge and intuition, science and nuturance, planning and faith.” Perhaps this theory points to gardening as something that lives at the border between different modes of being, different ways of seeing and operating in the world, an activity that can live in some sort of intersectionality.

And finally Marcus points to the idea that gardens are often set apart, held sacred, held dear. This definitely relates to the idea of borders.

I also read an essay called Nature is More Than A Garden by Ian L. Harg. It was not terribly informative, but illustrated Harg’s perspective that gardens present nature as orderly, benign, abundant, and peaceful, which is in contrast with some of the realities of nature untended by humans.

Things to research more

• Tibetan guidebooks for Shambhala
• T in O maps from the middle ages
• Rain gardens
• Victory gardens –> what would be a current form of victory garden?
• Gardens as a tool in response to climate change
• Gaia Hypothesis
• Findhorn Community garden

Explore

• Border bw nature and gardens, wilds and gardens
• trees and gardens and borders
• garden as collaboration bw humans and nature
• gardens and the idea of home
• “the known world” –> what is our version of the known world. and the unknown world?

Could make

• T in O maps
• Guide to Shambhala
• Seed collection book, survivalist seedkit
• garden quilt or a map as a quilt

Here is a mind map I made based on the general research on the topic of plantation.

For the topic of plantation, there are two main aspects that are worth digging into: economic and ecological impact. These two aspects contains more detailed topics, for example:

• slave economy (past and present)
• world market influences
• local economy influences
• biodiversity
• habitat
• genetically altered crops

There are other topics that drove my attention when I was researching, for instance, why different crops are planted in different countries/regions; technology applications in modern plantation industry; the history of plantation, etc.

upsides:

• produce cash crops
• make money
• grow crops efficiently
• create jobs for local people
• a key component in the world market
• if planted on degraded lands, it can help increase biodiversity and habitat

downsides:

• low wages for the workers
• increase inequality
• decrease biodiversity and habitat

cultural differences: 

• different crops:
  • China: bamboo
  • Far East: teak
  • Australia: eucalyptus
  • Caribbean: Sugar-cane
  • America: Christmas trees
• different historical background (colonialism and slavery):
  • America
  • Europ
  • Afica
  • Asia

problems:

• worker’s condition
• environmental damage

norms: 

• forest plantation management

experimental making:

 

I started with the definition of “Fenestra” (Since it is my first time seeing this word):

From Collins English Dictionary:

1. Biology: a small opening in or between bones, esp one of the openings between the middle and inner ears
2. Zoology: a transparent marking or spot, as on the wings of moths
3. Architecture: a window or window-like opening in the outside wall of a building

After searching for the definition, I was amazed that Fenestra could be associated with many disciplines.  The fact that it is a biological word at first but also has an architectural meaning truly attracts me.  I was curious about whether there is bionic architecture related to Fenestra and plan to do some research on it later.

Before diving in, I also went to the Wikipedia page and more pages related to it to learn more about the word itself, and here is some information that interests me:

1.  It is the Latin word for “window.”
2.  It is used in various fields to describe a pore in an anatomical structure.
3. In microanatomy, fenestrae are found in the endothelium of fenestrated capillaries, enabling the rapid exchange of molecules between the blood and surrounding tissue.
4. In plant biology, the perforations in a perforate leaf are also described as fenestrae, and the leaf is called a fenestrate leaf.
5. Fenestrae are also used to distinguish the three types of amniote.

For now, I understand that Fenestra is mostly about describing a kind of structure. More disciplines and systems are mentioned, and this makes me think that exploring and introducing how much knowledge and infomations behind this world to the public would be exciting.

Two research directions appear :

1. For The Future:  Dive deep into bionic architecture (or bionic itself) and check how Fenestra can be used in non-biologic way. Future possiblilities of this structure and how it can contributed to the society.
   1. Problems and questions:
      1. Who should be the audience/readers/users for this topic?
      2. Need a expert in this area to help since this is too technical.
      3. Is there enough infomation I can final under this time limitaion?
2. From The Past:  For “Fenestra” is not a common word in daily life. I want to focus on the meaning of this word in different systems. Introducing this structure’s beauty to the public shows that there are always some common points in this changeable world.
   1. Problems and questions:
      1. Some people may feel unconfortable with this structure, like intensive phobia. How to recudce the discomfortableness?
      2. It is a technical term. How to shorten the distance between it and the public? How to make it easy to understand and attractive?
      3. It might be too much information for the public. How to control the balance?

 

The moth with a skull pattern: Both holes on bone and the transparent marking on the wings of the moth called Fenestra

Notes from research so far
• DMZ is area where no military personnel, activities, or installments are allowed
• Usually the result of a treaty or agreement
• They can form a kind of border (example separation of North and South Korea) but don’t necessarily need to
• Space is a DMZ! So is Antarctica!
• There are currently thirteen DMZs on Earth and they are pretty spread out.
• A lot of DMZs become wildlife preserves or even just stay demilitarized
• There are fourteen former DMZs
• They can vary pretty dramatically in size from a few kilometers or less to massive (all of space)
• They are actually a subcategory of buffer zone which is a neutral zone between two+ bodies of land, and they are usually set up to avoid violence like in the case of a DMZ
• Demilitarization is the reduction of a country’s military forces usually through the reduction of soldiers or military equipment
• Demilitarization is often imposed after wars, particularly to the losing side, as a means of punishment and to prevent future violence
• There are usually towns or other gathering places within DMZs that become neutral zones
• Just because a region is marked as a DMZ does not necessarily mean that the border the DMZ creates is enforced. In the case of North/South Korean DMZ, there have been troop crossings and continued violence throughout the years especially during the initial years of the DMZ. This means that the DMZ is not totally effective in stopping violence or avoiding conflict.
• The most prominent DMZ is the Korean DMZ between North and South Korea
• DMZs are formed by verbal or written agreements. They are usually very detailed and outline how a DMZ should be fortified and watched. Sometimes there are even policing forces placed within or around the DMZ to ensure that both sides are abiding by the terms of their agreement.
• There is also a type of DMZ called a DMZ Network that works as a border between a private and public server. Basically, you use the DMZ Network to protect your private server from potentially untrustworthy public servers.

At the beginning of my research, I found the basic meaning of quilting from wikipedia, “Quilting is the term given to the process of joining a minimum of three layers of fabric together either through stitching manually using a needle and thread, or mechanically with a sewing machine or specialised longarm quilting system.” It basically stitches different fabrics together for decoration or increase thickness. The use of quilting could be found in a variety of textile products that includes “bed coverings, home furnishings, garments and costumes, wall hangings, artistic objects and cultural artefacts.”  

Historically, quilting could be the early format of upcycling because it use of remnants and offcuts for the creation of new products.

Originally, the word “quilt” is associated with the Latin word culctia which means cushion. The term is firstly used in England in the 13th century. However, this technique of quilting has long history that can be traced back to the ancient Egyptian first dynasty. 

Quilting could represent different meanings and roles in different culture. For example, From the book Sweet Clara and the Freedom Quilt, enslaved people used quilts as a means to share secret messages in order to escape slavery. For Native American, they learned quilting and use star quilts to replace buffalo robes which were used in births, marriages and ceremonies. 

Relationship between kinship and quilting:

From my basic research, quilting played an important role in some country’s society. It is a good way to maintain relationship between friends, family and community. For example, in Pakistan and India, Friends and relatives gather to make a ralli for a dowry quilt. Community helps to stitch different layers of cloth. 

Moreover, in the history, quilting also reflect women’s “voices” which cultural studies has overlooked. According to the quilts women made, they don’t only tied family and friends together, but also show female’s social value. Quilts became presentations which showed women’s concerns, vision and aesthetics. 

Problem:

For the future research, I am concerned the connection between quilting with poverty, female and society.  For the reason, historically, quilting is the method to connect leftover material, and in Chinese background about poor family, women always take the role to stitch different cloths together for the family. Therefore, what is the function of quilting and what does it means to women in a poor family?

Related words: Patchwork, quilters, quilt, textiles

Quilting in different country:

China:

Africa:

Native American:

experimental making:

I tried to simulate quilting by using some image textures as the leftover material. Then i do some operation to these fabrics(cutting, sewing, patching) for making different designs of patterns.

Related article reference:

Beeman, L. L. (2003). Connecting Centuries, Countries, and Cultures: Quilting and Patchwork in South Asia. Piecework, 11(6), 61–65.

Colleen R. Hall-Patton. (2008). Quilts and everyday life. Emerald Group Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0163-2396(08)31008-4

Research Questions:

1.What is “Coat of Arms”? 

Coat of arms, the principal part of a system of hereditary symbols dating back to early medieval Europe, is used primarily to establish identity in battle. Arms evolved to denote family descent, adoption, alliance, property ownership, and, eventually, profession.

 

2.Origin and Evolution

The term coat of arms itself in origin refers to the surcoat with heraldic designs worn by combatants, especially in the knightly tournament, in Old French cote a armer. The sense is transferred to the heraldic design itself in Middle English, in the mid-14th century.

In the 17th to 19th centuries, the period known to armorists as “the Decadence,” arms were embellished to record personal or family history, often in ways that ignored the traditions of heraldry’s origins. Arms were designed for organizations far removed from war—schools, universities, guilds, churches, fraternal societies, and even modern corporations—to symbolize the meanings of their mottoes or to hint at their histories. During the 20th century, however, there was a return to the classical simplicity of the early heraldic art, exemplified in the medieval rolls that were compiled when arms were slowly being organized into a disciplined system.

 

3.Code of Arms in Different Regions (need to do deep-dive work)

• Europe: Britain, France, German
• North American: Canada, United States
• Asia: Japan
• Africa：South Africa, Nigeria
• Questions: why there are not Code of Arms in China? The initial finding is that there might be Coat of Arms in China in very ancient times for a short time. While with the evolution of patterns, oracle-bone inscriptions and pictograph, they became Chinese Characters. Also, another reason might relate to China’s history. Since Qin Dynasty, China was a highly centralized country, in which all the army forces were owned and controlled by the emperor. Therefore, troops didn’t have their own identity.

 

4.Design your own “Coat of Arms”

– thinking of provide elements for users to design and build up his/her “Coat of Arms”

 

• Experimental “Making”

 

 

 

Sources: 

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coat_of_arms#History

https://www.britannica.com/topic/coat-of-arms

https://www.english-heritage.org.uk/members-area/kids/kids-rule-things-to-make-and-do/design-your-own-coat-of-arms/

There are two definitions of the satellite:

1. Natural satellite which in the most common usage, an astronomical body that orbits a planet, dwarf planet, or small Solar System body (or sometimes another natural satellite)

2. Artificial satellite is an object intentionally placed into orbit in outer space.

However, the artificial satellite is mostly people referring to the satellite.

Satellites are placed from the surface to orbit by launch vehicles, and then change or maintain the orbit by propulsion. In 2018, about 90% of satellites orbiting Earth are in low Earth orbit or geostationary orbit, a small number of satellites orbit other bodies (such as the Moon, Mars, and the Sun) or many bodies at once (two for a halo orbit, three for a Lissajous orbit).

The first artificial satellite to be launched into the Earth’s orbit was the Soviet Union’s Sputnik 1, on 4 October 1957.

Earth observation satellites gather information for reconnaissance, mapping, monitoring the weather, ocean, forest, etc. Space telescopes take advantage of outer space’s near perfect vacuum to observe objects with the entire electromagnetic spectrum. Because satellites can see a large portion of the Earth at once, communications satellites can relay information to remote places. The signal delay from satellites and their orbit’s predictability are used in satellite navigation systems, such as GPS. Space probes are satellites designed for robotic space exploration outside of Earth, and space stations are in essence crewed satellites. There are lots of other usages of satellite,s for example, experimental satellites(Biosatellites) are satellites designed to carry living organisms, generally for scientific experimentation; Weapon satellites for Space weapons or Anti-satellite weapons.

Issues like space debris, radio and light pollution are increasing in magnitude and at the same time lack progress in national or international regulation.

1. Space debris poses dangers to spacecraft(including satellites) in or crossing geocentric orbits which could potentially curtail humanity from conducting space endeavors in the future.
2. With the increase in numbers of satellite constellations, like SpaceX Starlink, the astronomical community report that orbital pollution is getting increased significantly.
3. The effects of large satellite constellations can severely affect some astronomical research efforts.
4. Due to the low received signal strength of satellite transmissions, they are prone to jamming by land-based transmitters.
5. Also, it is very easy to transmit a carrier radio signal to a geostationary satellite and thus interfere with the legitimate uses of the satellite’s transponder. It is common for Earth stations to transmit at the wrong time or on the wrong frequency in commercial satellite space, and dual-illuminate the transponder, rendering the frequency unusable.

Experimental Sketch:

 

Data Source:

https://www.destinationspace.uk/how-we-use-satellites/how-far-away-close-are-satellites/

Possible Points:

(Read through the “Salt” article from Wikipedia to get basic ideas around “borders”.)

• essential for life
• food seasoning
• salting – food preservation
• civilization
  • the first city in Europe was a salt mine
  • around 6000BC, saltworks in Rome & China
  • different food resources of nomads and agriculturalists lead to different needs for salt
• an important article of trade
  • salt roads
  • barter
    • the obsidian trade in Anatolia in the Neolithic Era
    • about 2800 BC, the Egyptians began exporting salt fish to the Phoenicians in return for Lebanon cedar, glass, and the dye Tyrian purple
    • the Phoenicians traded Egyptian salted fish and salt from North Africa throughout their Mediterranean trade empire.
  • in Africa, as currency
• cities along the river Salzach related to salt
• wars & tax
  • Venice won a war with Genoa (? & relations with the American Revolution
  • Cities on overland trade routes levied duties
  • governments imposed salt taxes on people
    • The voyages of Christopher Columbus – were financed by salt production in southern Spain
    • the oppressive salt tax – the causes of the French Revolution
    • tax, pay for Napoleon’s foreign wars
    • Salt March in India
• Religion

Upsides:

• food seasoning & food preservation
• promote civilization
• promote business
• cities related to salt flourished
• government got tax

Downsides:

• cause wars
• salt tax increases the burden on the people

Cultural differences:

(Mainly related to religion… Or I can focus on the differences between salt in Chinese and other cultural histories