Going On Tour: Art & Tourism

This is What Democracy Looks Like

2009-05-05T10:20:00.000-07:00

For folks who were interested in the video clip we watched on the 1999 WTO ministerial meeting and protests in Seattle, "This is What Democracy Looks Like" is the title and you can get it here.
The institution that was born out of one aspect of those protests is the Independent Media Center, which is now all over the world, including here in ChUrb.
Hope you all have a great summer!

Can I Get A Witness?

2009-04-28T08:41:00.000-07:00

Everyone should have received an email invitation to be a collaborator on a Google Map titled "Can I Get A Witness?". This map will serve as the repository for our final exercise in creating tours, and unfortunately with very little time to develop them.
Each person's map (you can also work in small groups) should incorporate 3 of the 4 kinds of knowledge/information listed below:
1. Personal (anecdotal)
2. Instructional, directive (Go here, do this, turn right at the tree, etc)
3. Descriptive, observational ("The food is great, but the wait staff is mean" or "The sounds here are loud")
4. Theoretical, historical (using material discussed in class - Lippard, Ulmer, MacCannell, etc)
Here is a good, thorough walk-through of how to make custom icons for your map - something we need to do to adequately differentiate our tours within the space of one map.
We'll talk about what people come up with and the final reading, "Political Tourism" by Rob Shields for our (sigh) last class.

Last Class: Monday, May 4 + May 1 Field Trip

2009-04-27T14:39:00.000-07:00

Wow... our last class is next week! We didn't get around to all the readings I prepared for us, but there is one more that I would like to discuss from the course packet: Rob Shield's "Political Tourism".
We will assemble our own tourist guidebook between now and then...
And everyone should have received info via email about the May 1 field trip to Funk's Grove. If you would like to go, we are meeting at 9am (you should be a little early, as we will be leaving as close to 9 as possible) in Flagg Hall (just across 4th and to the North from Art & Design).

Monday, April 20 and After

2009-04-20T08:31:00.000-07:00

Hi All.
Tonight, in my absence, I'm asking people to share the background and individual/group expectations of the walks you've all created. They should be posted to the discussion forum already.
Next week, we will do a more in depth report back, as I want everyone to actually experience at least one of the other walks produced. We'll talk about how the creators' intentions and your experiences aligned, or diverged.
We'll also discuss the final exercise (the group tour guide) and this reading by Gregory Ulmer. (You will have to sign in to the UIUC library system to access it).
See you all next week, when the weather will hopefully be better. It's raining in Virginia too...

UPDATE Monday, April 13

2009-04-13T10:46:00.000-07:00

So as many of you are probably aware, the likelihood of rain during our scheduled walk tonight is high. Therefore, we're going to "Plan B".
Plan B is to meet at Lincoln Square Village (otherwise known as Lincoln Square Mall) - at the entrance next to the post office, where Broadway dead ends at Elm. PLEASE BE THERE BY 7pm!
See you there!

For those who need to catch a bus:
Take the 10E Gold that runs on Peabody, right in front of At & Design. If you catch the 6:37pm bus, you'll get to Lincoln Square before 7pm, no problem.

AND: There will be a Friday, May 1 field trip! We will discuss details in class.

Walk On By

2009-04-07T08:16:00.000-07:00

There are 3 parts to this post.

1. The next exercise involves producing a guided walk. This can be done solo or as a group, and it can be the same groups you've been working in. Instructions follow:
Craft a walking tour, where the touristic experience is based on the mobility of walking, rather than on discrete sites. Emphasis should be on the movement of the tourist/audience and significant thought should be places on the linear, sequential aspect of space-time experience. A set of simple instructions for walkers should be produced - the walk will be plotted in Google Maps. Use your existing Google accounts (or create one if you haven't already) and rather than placing nodes (sites/sights) use the line tool to create a path. Write a short description for what your walk is, include any narrative or backstory you'd like to be considered during the walk.
Keep time in mind... your walks should be under 2 miles.
Copy and paste your Google Maps URL (*remember to copy the "link" to the map, don't just copy what's in the address field of your browser).
Have you map created and posted to the discussion forum by next class, Monday, April 13.

2. Some links that we looked at in class: Richard Long (some criticism that mentions Rasheed Araeen's parody of his Arctic Circle sculpture), Janet Cardiff/George Miller, Hamish Fulton, Nick Brown, Platform, Take Back the Night, Bus Rider's Union, Walk and Squawk.

3. For our next class, April 13 we will also take a walk. Our itinerary will be based on railroad lines that no longer exist that used to serve C-U in multiple ways, but our walk is also structured to take us through a variety of inhabited landscapes. The walk is just over 4 miles, so it should take us about 2 hours. We will start in East Urbana and end in Downtown Champaign - so wear comfortable shoes!
Here is a link to a map of our walk - PLEASE BE ON TIME, so that we can get started.
In the event of really bad weather (like a tornado warning) I will have a plan B.

For Monday April 6

2009-04-03T20:09:00.000-07:00

We'll be discussing John Urry's chapter "Pavements and Paths" from his book Mobilities, which looks at the shifting meaning of walking. Remember to make a comment in the discussion forum to start us off.
Also, depending on the conditions, we may be doing some walking of our own Monday night... so wear appropriate foot technology.
Have a great weekend and see you Monday.
And if you have some spare time (in April, you say?) check out this super ambitious project initiated a few years ago by one of our former MFA grads (currently a PhD candidate in Landscape Architecture), Nick Brown called Walking as Knowing as Making.
image above from the WaKaM website.

Spring Break Travels

2009-03-17T15:25:00.000-07:00

Hope everyone has a great break. I saw that there was an article in the recent DI that pointed to "alternative spring breaks" that relates to what some call "voluntourism" - where people travel to work as volunteers, such as relief work following a catastrophic event.
But, if you're not out saving the world, or even if you are and you find yourself with some down time in front of a computer, here are some of the audio based projects we looked at in class.
Remember - front/back presentations when we come back!
Christina Kubisch's Electrical Walks
New York Sound Map (lots of projects here)
Singing Bridges
David Byrne, Playing the Building
Stephen Vitiello
Folksongs for the Five Points
And if you do go on vacation, you can ask yourself, how authentic was it?

Hey - Check it out! Free Movie: Born into Brothels

2009-03-09T19:00:00.000-07:00

Movie: Born Into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids
Date: March 11th, Wednesday at 8pm
Place: Union (stage in courtyard cafe, next to Espresso)
Cost: FREE

Born into Brothels: Calcutta's Red Light Kids is a 2004 American documentary film about the children of prostitutes in Sonagachi, Calcutta's red light district. The widely acclaimed film, written and directed by Zana Briski and Ross Kauffman, won a string of accolades including the Academy Award for Documentary Feature in 2004.

For Monday, March 9

2009-03-03T12:16:00.000-08:00

There are 3 short readings:
1. MacCannell's "Staged Authenticity" (from The Tourist: A New Theory of the Leisure Class)
2. Lucy Lippard's "The Tourist at Home" (From On the Beaten Track)
3. Part 1 of Jamaica Kincaid's A Small Place (handed out last class)
Remember to post your response to the discussion forum. All three readings will be responded to in one discussion.

For those of you that wanted to follow up on some of the examples from the last class. Here are some links.
Superfund 365 by Brooke Singer
A Brief and Incomplete History of Resistance at the University of Illinois by Heath Schultz
Some notes on "toxic tourism" & "pollution tourism"
New Yorker's Guide to Military Recruitment by the Friends of William Blake
And in case you didn't get enough of the discussion about graffiti...
Style Wars (1982 documentary about graffiti in NYC) by Tony Silver and Henry Chalfant
And a decent discussion of Shepard Fairey's strategy of appropriation and "street art".

Sightseeing Interary List

2009-02-26T19:38:00.001-08:00

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

Sightseeing Itineraries!

2009-02-23T16:49:00.000-08:00

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

For Feb 23 + March 2 Meetings

2009-02-17T11:35:00.000-08:00

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.

Meeting in 229

2009-02-16T14:24:00.000-08:00

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

For Monday February 16

2009-02-09T16:19:00.000-08:00

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.

Challenging the Self-Evident

2009-02-04T13:32:00.000-08:00

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

Things to do before next class, Feb. 9

2009-02-03T11:19:00.000-08:00

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.

Field Guide to Roadside Technology

2009-02-02T14:05:00.000-08:00

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.

Using the forum

2009-01-31T10:16:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone. I just realized that some of you had registered for the forum, but were not approved. I have approved those of you who have registered, and will make sure to approve more quickly those of you who have yet to register.
Sorry for the delay.

Another Great Resource for "Reading Landscapes"

2009-01-27T11:28:00.000-08:00

Widely respected historian and scholar of landscape and wilderness, William Cronon (now at the UW Madison), offers a thorough guide to reading landscapes, produced with the help of a class.

Welcome To Art & Tourism

2008-12-16T18:34:00.000-08:00

News will be posted here.