Here are the itineraries (will add as they come in):

Chris & Isaac's Tour of proposed Ornithological Beautification

Sarah: texture:the feel, appearance, or consistency of a surface or a substance

Courtney: A Keg's Eye View

Malley/Allie/Megan: A Tour of the Anthropomorphic Distortions in the Graffiti Sector

Julia, Angie, Cara: Wind Casts the Malleable Landscape

Ironic Names of Student Culture Tour

Rob/Anna: Miss. America Itinerary

Your group or individual sightseeing itineraries are due on Friday, February 26 (sorry I said March 2 earlier). They should be "turned in" via Google Maps - meeting the requirements outlined in the project description. The reason for the earlier date is so that each of us can perform some of the itineraries before our next meeting.
Please email me a link to your Google Maps - I will post links on the course site as they come in.
Oh, and the next readings (MacCannell's "Staged Authenticity" and Lippard's "The Tourist At Home") are not due until the March 9th meeting.
Just in case anyone wanted this info and missed it, these are the films we recently watched:
1. In the Light of Reverence, by Christopher McLeod and Malinda Maynor
2. The Cruise, by Bennett Miller (1998, featuring "Speed" Levitch)
3. Buffalo Commons, by Bill Brown

Everyone (as groups or individuals) should be working on their sightseeing itineraries. See the class projects page for a reminder of the details. Don't worry about doing anything with Google Maps as of yet - we'll discuss this in class on the 23rd. What everyone should be focusing on is the development of their itinerary - locating sights that you want to transform into attractions - the Google map will be one way that we think about the marker component. Think of sights that are interesting to you, but that are not already attractions. Your itinerary should somehow tell a story through the collective grouping of sights/sites - what is your tour about?
Begin to document your sights (remember the role of pictures in the prefiguring of attractions that we looked at in class).
The final itineraries will be completed in the form of a Google map, and will be due on March 2.
Here's an interview with the artist Nils Norman (on Archinect) I mentioned, who wrote a book called "The Contemporary Picturesque". It's a difficult book to come by and not many reproduced images out there. I'll try to remember to bring the book in next class. Along with CLUI and the Field Guide to Roadside Technology that I brought in a couple of weeks ago, his project is an interesting form of critical sightseeing. Also, if you have the time, check out this article about the Hudson River, featuring CLUI and a video tour from the NY Times.
Also, I meant to say yesterday that those of you who are commenting on the readings - great job! Your comments have been very thoughtful, insightful and generally interesting. Please keep it up!
If you're not responding to the readings on the forum... we know who you are.

For the remainder of the semester, we'll be meeting in 229. Any changes to that will be announced.

1. We will discuss the results of the scavenger hunt
* You should have your pictures uploaded to Flickr in the class photo pool. If you don't have an account, please establish one. (We will discuss photo compression, resolution and dimensions)
Tag your pictures "campusterritory".
You can download a desktop uploader here that will allow you to resize pictures (you set this in the application's preferences, under "Upload Actions"). Just download the version for your operating system.
If you use a Mac, I recommend this application instead.
If you don't want a desktop uploader (or are working in the compuer labs), just remember to resize your pictures to be no larger that 800x600 ppi. And rememember to add them to the class group/pool.

2. The next reading is from Dean MacCannell's "The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class" - a chapter titled Sightseeing and Social Structure.
As always, make a short comment about this on the discussion forum before class.

Following our conversation on "the everyday", I was talking about Lewis' 1979 classic text with a friend currently working on a PhD in Landscape Architecture, who pointed me to a recently published article by a geographer named Don Mitchell (who gave a great lecture on campus last semester). Mitchell's essay is titled "New Axioms for Reading the Landscape" and is both critical of, and inspired by, Lewis' original axioms. More...
Link to Mitchell's text via Google Books

A. Selective mapping of your journal
1. Create images for selected "territories" culled from your journal/travelogue - at least 10 instances. These don't need to be thought of as static locations, but can be mobile territories (think a sidewalk, car, bus). Basically, the idea of a territory is a bounded space of some kind (the reading should help with this).
These images can be photo-based, hand drawn, written descriptions, but need to be rendered on a consistent format (e.g. letter size paper OR 6 in square paper OR half letter size paper, etc). You can mix up the method of rendering to have a combination of drawings, photos, text - but think about cohesion and the relationship between your images.
2. Combine these 10+ images into one fold-out map that takes into consideration your spatial experience. You're experience of moving through this place is not comprehensive, but has gaps, holes and layers. Our experience does not equate to a solid, equally focused rectangle of data, so your maps should reflect these gaps, holes and partial nature of experience. Arrange your map so that it compositionally reflects/interprets your specific experience of space/place - what could it mean to open a section of the map to the right, while another opens above? This is a partial map of your territorial boundaries. Use tape, stitching, tabs, whatever devices work best for you to link the images so that they can fold into one unit (like a roadmap).

B. The next reading is on the language of "territory" - and is the third text in the course reader. Remember to comment on the reading on the discussion forum before we meet for class.

To maybe help us think visually/metaphorically about the folds as transitions between territories, look at the Italian research group Multiplicity's new vocabulary for borders (select "Border Devices" then "Border Matrix").
And Denis Wood's neighborhood mapping.

The everyday + art lecture/presentation images are available here as a PDF (minus the video - see links for those below):
Beat of the System (video on Taylorism/Scientific Management)
Charlie Chaplin's Modern Times
Martha Rosler's Semiotics of the Kitchen
Todd Haynes' Safe clip

Also, check out this episode of the Twilight Zone (if you have the time/interest), which relates to the phantasmagoric nature of the everyday discussed by Highmore.

Also of importance: everyone has paid a facility fee for the use of the computer labs (rm 336) on the third floor of the art building. We will begin using these facilities more as part of the class, but you can use the computers and printers there for this project if desired. You will need to add money to your printing account at the check out window (just down the hall from the lab, same side). Everyone's I Card should open the lab door. Let me know if they do not.

Another useful guide for reading cultural landscapes. Kind of like a bird watching guide, but for banal objects on the side of the road. Via Google Books.