Well - nice first steps - all of you. It's good to see so varied a set of responses to this problem. My critique of these posts is below. I have combined them into one discussion for all of you. The comments name specific projects, but apply on some level to each of you. I applaud this effort, and look forward to the evolution of these ideas.
I wonder if some of your comments about the nature of waiting, questions of duration, actual time vs virtual time might be illustrated some how in the graphics.
Amr has taken the step of layering time, (represented by color) over an understandable space, an image of the US. Color works well in this regard, as does the transparancy. I read transparancy as a temporal state of color. It is not a full color yellow, for example, nor is it quite an orange. It is a color in a state of becomming, (in physics known as a phase change). I wonder if the bars might vary in length to describe variations in time. I also consider the image of the US as an icon, perhaps as a point of power.
Others have taken a more direct, step by step approach. I worry about the linearity of these steps. Aren't some of things occuring simultaneously? Ipods are being made in custom colors all the time. Is it important that one is selected, or is it pre-selected for you by virtue of availability? Similarly, transference of a product from one place to another is not brought out in these diagrams. The images become focused on the purchaser, not the live of the object as it travels toward you. What becomes "your" ipod (or another object), is simply one among many thousands. How can it's life be tracked along the journey to become yours; not only your trip to the cash register, but the simultenaity of transactions that allow meeting in the middle.
Further, can the steps be broken down to there essential components? If "going to the store" were reduced to "store", the "going" might be implied. The overall task is about acquisition of a thing. Can the rest be implied by the initial outsetting line?
This reduction and pursiut of simultaneity may yeild images and writting less literal. If thewords were to be interlaced with the graphic objects, how might they read? Apple has mastered packaging their objects / products to communicate enough understanding and elicit desire. One does not see their products in use as they appear on the package. But it is not packaging that screams at you either. It is a subtle mix of graphics and text, combined to draw attention.
Use of a motherboard as graphic background begins to hint at this. Keep in mind that we are not aiming for a model here. The building will come during the intensive. This is a way of analyzing distance. A mother board serves as a symbol, but doesn't get at the essence of linking distance. It is about technology and inner workings, but not inherent to space, and only linked to time in a limited way. The distance between Alberta Canada and Niagra falls can be revealed grahpically. It speaks of distance. An image of Niagra Falls also speaks of time; glacial time, real time of flowing water. As an image it evokes associations to greater ideas. It allows our imagination to travel. An image of a subway train or computer chip stop us a bit, limits our travel.
Housekeeping: I plan on posting the schedule for the intensive next week. The work you are doing now will influence the work you do in Boston, but may not be specifically tied to it. The problem here will be to design a building, and you will visit the site early in your stay. At the moment, the final presentation in Boston is August 25th. (now re-read the critique as that is the important issue)!
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