Final Project- 12/9 Presentation

Our project is a culmination of the high emotions and extreme conflict we experienced in Glen Canyon. We decided to take this conflict to the extreme by putting these two contrasting sides/views in the context of war. There is always some kind of war happening in the world, and by 2510, there will be many wars. The Global Weapons Test Operatives is our fictitious militant group that has taken over the world. The only territory it has yet to capture is Islais Island, an island separated from the rest of the bay by long, narrow bridges. The GCR, or the Glen Canyon Resistance, is fighting to keep this land theirs. It is the last natural piece of land left on earth. We decided to design campaigns from the views of each side; both groups are trying to convince and persuade people to their side through lies and exaggeration. Below is the final version of the military book for our final project. We wanted it to feel corporate, cold, and almost cheesy, mocking past propaganda that tends to use really bold images with bold type. The GCR book is the exact opposite in that it is printed on recycled paper, and the images are more meant to show the consequences of war. It is hand-stitched, while the GWTO book is wire-bound on high-gloss paper. Both books end with the same image, representing that wars usually end the same, and sometimes it's hard to distinguish whether one side is really better than the other.

Critique on 12/9: Comments were that people liked that each side showed the other side as the "bad guy". Logo for GWTO works well. Criticism was that the front cover on the GCR book did not feel rebellious enough, and that the war images did not feel futuristic enough. Also questioned was the book format for the rebels. Maybe pages should be ripped out and torn, pinned on wall like fliers, or blown up really big. Book format worked well for the military, did feel corporate. Thinking about trying to get pins made for the next presentation, and also changing up the GCR campaign.

GWTO Book (the military):

GCR Book (from the rebels):

Almost Finalized Prototype- GWTO Book

Prototype Roughs

Below are some rough ideas for the GCR campaign. GCR side of book will be printed on recycled, natural-looking paper, while the GWTO side will be printed on high quality gloss. Still thinking of how to bind book...

 

Final Project Summary & Sketches

It is 2510 and it is a time of war. The Glen Canyon Resistance (GCR) is comprised of rebels fighting against the GWTO (Global Weapons Test Operatives). The GCR's territory is Islais Island, separated from the rest of the bay by long, narrow bridges. Our project is influenced by our recent experiences in the canyon. During our time there we experienced conflict and much political turmoil, especially between the coyote lovers and the dog walkers. And so we decided to create a series of propaganda from the point of view of both the GCR and the GWTO. A book will be comprised of both sides, one half showing propaganda from the GCR, and the other half from the GWTO.

Thoughts on Library Presentation

I feel the presentation went well for us over all. We were much more organized in delegating what each person in our group had to say. However, I was a bit surprised at the end of the presentations that none of the audience members had any comments or questions. This may be because there were so many presentations that the audience may not have remembered what they exactly felt about each presentation. If there was more time, it would have been nice to have feedback/comments after each presentation. I feel some of the presentations could have been a bit more organized as there were some moments of awkward silence. Otherwise, it was nice to see everyone's condensed versions of their presentations.

Final Proposal- Lindsey Little & Carlos Rubio

Islais Creek in 500 years:

A post-apocalyptic world where everyone is living in underground tunnels. Islais Island is testing ground for bombs, separated from the rest of the bay by long narrow bridges. The land is barren and torched. Those who are left to live on the island are underground rebels, fighting against the omnipresent and oppressive military. We will be producing a series of propaganda posters made by the military, and posters made by the rebels, each trying to convince people to support their cause. Final deliverable will most likely be book documenting the view of the island from each group's point of view, or a series of posters and other propoganda.

Revised Brochure

Presentation Talk at the Glen Park Library

This is rough outline of the important points we want to talk about in the presentation at the library.

Lindsey: When we first started our project we were interested in the activity of the area, whether it be human activity, animal activity or water activity. And so everyday for a week, we woke up at 7am in hopes of talking to the Glen Park regulars, the people that are involved with the park on a daily basis. As we talked to more and more of these regulars, we actually became more invested in the emotional activity of the area, and so our map transformed into a subjective representation of the emotional patterns we found. (Point to emotional key and explain what each dot means.) As you can see on the map, as we traveled deeper into the canyon, we received more passionate, emotional responses.
Carlos: The topographic elevation lines in the background serve to show that many of the more passionate conversations held were also at higher elevations. (Read a few quotes from bottom to top.) So the content of the conversations held shifts as you read from the bottom (near the entrance) where there are more open trails, to the top where the canyon is more overgrown. Our project serves to reveal the intimacy between a person and a place. A person has to put in some effort in order to read many of the quotes, which represents the time and effort it takes to get to know a place just through talking to strangers.
Alice: At first impression, Glen Canyon seems to be a quiet, hidden escape from city life, but when you talk to the people that go there on a regular basis, you discover that the canyon is bursting with emotional energy. The smaller version of the map we have handed out shows the emotion spots on one side, and the other side shows all of the quotes. Behind the quotes are portraits of some of the people we talked to, and their emotional responses are what shape the body of the canyon. The candidness of the portraits communicate the very personal and passionate feelings a person can have toward a place. We hope that our project inspires others to discover more about their environment by going outside of their comfort zone, and talking to people they wouldn't normally have a conversation with. By doing this, we were able to create a map that shows a pattern in people's emotional responses, which is not always easily seen by an outsider.

We would like to thank you all for allowing us to share with you our experience at Glen Canyon, and we invite you to come and take a closer look at our map at the end of the presentations. 

Final Midterm Poster & Small Map

This is the inside of the small version of  the final poster. It was said that scale of where Glen Canyon is in San Francisco needs to be added for a revision. We will experiment with printing on recycled paper as well.

This is the other side of the small map. Quotes are distinguished by color. Left panel contains info about our project and the research we did. Right panel is the front.

Rough Draft of Printed Map

This is a rough layout. Typeface Impact does not work so that needs to change. Color needs work and final size will be much bigger than tabloid. Somehow quotes need to be incorporated without overpowering the topographic outlines of the canyon.

The Emotional State of the Canyon & Trends

Our map is in process...New developments have occurred since our original intentions for our research. After visiting the canyon several times, observing the social interactions between the visitors there, and even getting involved in some of the actual controversy happening, I've found myself more and more interested in the emotions invested in this place. An interesting observation is that we've discovered more and more about the canyon and the people there as we hiked higher up the hills. We've now thought about overlaying quotes over an elevation map to show what is being said and where, to show that the content of the conversation shifts. Today we made map fold prototypes, and considered making a circle map as Glen Canyon has been said to be a "microcosm of social issues", its own little world of problems that represents larger controversies that exist in other parts of the world. I imagined the map to represent the psyche of the canyon, and how humans' actions and words can place an environment in a certain emotional state. When we were conducting interviews, people on the lower trails were mostly dogwalkers who did not know much about the history of the creek, but were pro-restoration. As we hiked up the creek, we met other people who were passionate about the wildlife in the area, and disagreed with humans interfering with the plant growth (ie. restoration). A distinct line between these two positions began to form, and we even witnessed the opposition when a mother coyote ran after an unleashed dog who was barking at a coyote pup. Not all of the dogwalkers in the canyon are against the coyotes, but a strong group of them has made their voices heard. The digital version will still replicate the emotion spots on the physical map, but will contain videos/sound of the quote when the coordinate is clicked on.

Our biggest issue now in creating this "emotion/experience map" is finding trends in our interview research in order to classify the quotes. There needs to be some way that these classifications can be rated on a scale.
Some ideas:
dogwalkers vs. non-dogwalkers
high awareness of the creek vs. low awareness (knowledgeable)
friendly vs. non-friendly
small talk vs. meaningful content
willingness/open to engaging in conversation vs. reluctance/must be constantly engaged by interviewer
emotional/passionate/aggressive vs. unemotional/apathetic/passive
short conversation vs. long conversation
local vs. non-local
young vs. old
male vs. female

Response to "The Beholding Eye"

This reading discusses the various ways in which people can view a landscape. While reading this piece, I kept Glen Canyon in mind, and the conversations our group has had with the visitors of the park. Much of the conversations we have had with these people have much to do with this reading, especially how humans have affected the canyon over time through their own physical and social actions.
     Landscape as Nature: This part reminded me of the current restoration efforts going on in Glen Canyon. We discussed these efforts with a woman we met in the canyon, and she told us "they are trying to make it look like it did in 1776". The idea that nature should be kept to its natural state sounds endearing, but when considered under this comment, it is comical. First of all, what is "natural" anymore? The landscape has changed so much (especially since 1776), and is in a constant state of change. Birds fly in and drop seeds, animals use the land for what they need and move on. The fact is that you cannot travel back in time to change the past, so it is best to just let the landscape be. The people who are trying to restore the area may think that humans are separate from nature, but really we are very much a part of it.
     Landscape as Artifact: When I first visited Glen Canyon and Islais Creek, I believe I held this point of view. Everywhere I looked I saw evidence of human control; the man made bridges, the man holes, and even graffiti marks on the rocks all caught my eye. Even the restoration signs telling people not to enter the area conveyed a blatant message to me. Humans have always tried to conquer nature, instead of living harmoniously with it. What is left to see of Islais Creek is clear, sad evidence of this.
     Landscape as Wealth: When talking to Glen Canyon dog-walkers about the restoration process, some of them had made comments about how they hoped that the restoration would boost the worth of their houses.
     Landscape as Ideology: The other day I was thinking about how humans love to be surrounded by beautiful things, and how this has affected our environment. The California coastline used to be made of sand dunes with very few plants and trees we would consider beautiful today. It makes me wonder why certain things embody this beauty ideal, while others don't. And how has our idea of what it means to be beautiful come to be? A rose is considered to be beautiful, while tumbleweed is not, and so let us rid our world of the tumbleweed even though it is natural, and the rose is not. This seems to have been the kind of reasoning that has led to "unnatural" plants and trees taking over what was once natural. "Beauty" is a human perception that has been forced upon the landscape as a means of control, and eerily reminds me of plastic surgery.

Activity for Thursday. October 7.

We get to the park on time, and it is a clear day without much wind. We hope to see some new people to get some new information, and to capture sound since it is less windy. 
7:10- A woman in exercise gear playing frisbee with a black dog sees us setting up a camera and leaves.
7:11- See "Beatrice" again with her dog. On a cellphone.
7:14- See "Peter" again with his dog.
7:15- Same woman with black dog has already run around the lower trail, and is running toward us.
7:16- Middle-aged man with dog.
7:17- Female runner we have seen before with headphones.
7:26- Three women with three dogs hanging out in rocks to the right of the trail. As they approach us they are gossiping and laughing.
7:28- A black woman with two dogs dressed in warm winter attire walking on opposite trail.
7:30- Walking along the bridge halfway to the summit we meet older man (white, late 60s) who lives on Portola with dog. Stops to talk to us and is friendly. Comes to the canyon everyday.
7:35- Meet with "Leslie" again on the summit. She talks to us a bit more about the history of the canyon. It used to be a motorcycle way in the 1950s where people would race their motorcycles. There also used to be a gun factory located there until an explosion killed/injured several people. She also told us that many of the trees located there were planted as a wind barrier. While we are talking we see a coyote sitting on a mount above the summit. We bolt to the location so we can take pictures, and she tells us it is the mother. All of a sudden she starts barking very loud, and bolts across the canyon to the other side. We run down the trails after it so we can witness the commotion. Apparently a dog off leash started barking/bothering one of the coyote pups, and the mother ran off to its rescue. All of the dog walkers began putting leashes on their dogs, and a man with a toddler child and dog walks away from the scene. The coyote is still howling and barking, warning all of the dogs to stay away. The dog walkers are huddled together near the nursery school saying that the coyote started the commotion, and that the coyotes are no longer afraid of people due to the people that photograph them. They place the blame on the photographers, and take no responsibility for their dogs being off leash. There are signs everywhere warning walkers of the presence of coyotes. It was clear at this point that there was a distinct separation between the dog walkers and the people who support the coyotes. We filmed some of the conversation as it was happening, and soon we felt as if we were involved in the controversy.
8:30- We leave the canyon.

Activity for Tuesday. October 5.

We arrived at the park this morning, and it was much less windy. We started to walk the same trail at 7:10 AM hoping to see a pattern with the people who visit the park. We took note of the types of cars parked in the lot next to the entrance, which was much more packed than yesterday. The cars included a Toyota Sienna, VW Toureg, VW Jetta, Toyota Corolla, an old green jaguar, and a VW Golf (majority are volkswagons).

Breakdown of the activity:
7:10 AM- Male jogger. Begin filming trail.
7:11 AM- Male (early 30s, white, tall) with 2 hyper "Lassie" dogs. Talks to us but in a hurry. Says the creek runs underneath his house.
7:13 AM- Two women (30s, one white I'll call "Ashley" and the other Hispanic I'll call "Cheryl") fast-paced walking with 1 dog (spotted terrier with spiked collar named Ozzie). Talk to us about coyotes. We listen to Ashley's recording of coyote howls on her iPhone, and she says the coyotes are packing and there are 6 of them.
7:16 AM- Woman (50s, tall, white) walking two large dogs. Talks to us about history of the creek. Local and friendly, wise personality.
7:20 AM- Male jogger. See "Beatrice" again walking dog Charlie.
7:21 AM- Man (white, 40s, serious features) walking two dogs. Can't talk. In a hurry.
7:22 AM- Female jogger (20s).
7:25 AM- Young woman with growling black dog crossing bridge.
7:26 AM- Hear large group of people on the opposite (left to us) trail. Sounds like a school trip?
7:30 AM- Reach summit. See man sitting behind a rock smoking. Meet woman I'll call "Leslie" who proceeds to give us her own personal tour of hidden trails after there is some tension with the man behind the rock. Given the opportunity to gain some personal insight we skip the filming of traffic. As she leads us through the steep inclines and dense brush, she fills us in on the politics and drama surrounding the park. She is passionately all for the wildlife in the area and discusses how humans always have to control everything. Talks about the negative rumors surrounding the coyotes, and considers herself a protector of them. Shows us hidden spots in the trails, and warns us not to enter some of them. Vibrant, highly educated, local, and passionate about the wildlife.
8:13 AM- Proceed to walk back to entrance. See "Greg" again with dogs.
8:20 AM- Get back to parking lot. Review notes.
8:25 AM- "Aida" arrives in parking lot with dog. We leave.

Activity for Monday. October 4.

Today was our first day documenting activity in Glen Canyon Park. It went well as we were able to get testimonies from the people we met concerning their experiences and what they know about Islais Creek. We began our walk to the "summit" (a rocky cliff area that overlooks the canyon below, and the car traffic across the canyon). We chose to walk this same trail everyday in hopes of seeing a pattern in the visitors we see on a daily basis. It was very cold and windy, so sound may have been difficult to capture. Some questions we tried to ask all interviewees were the following:
1. What kind of dog do you have? (icebreaker)
2. What do you know about Islais Creek?
3. How often do you visit the park?
4. Do you live close by?

Here is a breakdown of the activity:
7:00 AM- Begin walk from entrance. Begin videotaping trail.
7:10 AM- Male runner to the left trail of entrance.
7:15 AM- Two women, two dogs. Male runner (possibly Hispanic?).
7:18 AM- Older woman I'll call "Laura" (mid-50s, Caucasian, coffee, sweats) with brown dog. Gives us video testimony. Very friendly. A Glen Park socialite. Lives on Conrad St.
7:20 AM- Two female runners, older woman, and dog.
7:21 AM- Older woman (mid-50s, gray hair and black glasses) with dog named Charlie. Meets with Laura, and says she does not want anyone else to know about Glen Park when she hears about project. A "secret".
7:23 AM- Middle-aged woman with 3 dogs. Male runner.
7:24 AM- Young woman with black dog.
7:26 AM- Young woman with another black dog (wearing beanie & sweats).
7:33 AM- Old man with red hat I'll call "Peter" (mid-70s, tired) and dog. Gives video testimony. Tells us he is late for his walk and sees a whole new group of walkers. Comes every morning at daybreak. Local.
7:37 AM- Young man and woman (20s) with 2 dogs.
7:39 AM- Two female hikers.
7:41 AM- Two more female hikers.
7:45 AM- We reach summit. Begin filming car traffic for 30 min.
7:50 AM- Older woman (60s) with dog hiking up summit.
7:53 AM- Old woman (70s) with middle-aged man hiking up summit. 
8:10 AM- Middle-aged woman in sweats with son and a dog. Walking to school?
8:15 AM- End videotaping of traffic. Begin walking down summit.
8:16 AM- Woman (late 20s) with black hair in ponytail walking through summit with dog. Friendly.
8:27 AM- Another woman (late 20s) with big white sunglasses and iPod walking through summit.
8:30 AM- Young woman walking dog with a ball.
8:32 AM- Young female jogger (early 20s) I'll call "Jennifer" running through summit.
8:35 AM- "Jennifer" is already at base of summit.
8:36 AM- Asian woman I'll call "Aida" (late 40s) walking Australian/Chow mix dog off leash. Gives video testimony. Doesn't know much about the creek. Heard about people getting tickets for $275 for having dog off leash so does not visit as much. Friendly.
8:38 AM- Family. Old woman (70s), Middle-aged man with son on shoulders. Two dogs.
8:41 AM- Old man (early 80s) with small black lab.
8:42 AM- Man I'll call "Greg" (late 60s) with two dogs (a black lab and coyote-looking dog). Gives video testimony. Visits the park twice a day. Lives on Lippard St. Friendly.
8:45 AM- Leave Glen Park.

Midterm Project Proposal

Group Members: Lindsey, Alice & Carlos

For our project, we are interested in documenting human and physical activity in Glen Canyon Park. We are interested in comparing human activity occurring next to the creek with traffic patterns and BART activity surrounding the canyon. During the process we will be talking to the creek visitors in order to get a sense of how the area is being used now, and what people think of the creek in general. Overall we would like to gather data on how people are interacting with the land physically and socially through personal testimony, sound, pictures, and video. Eventually an interactive, digital map will be created demonstrating the levels of activity in the area, and will most likely include accompanying sound and video. Over the next two weeks, we will be hiking along the same trail at the same time each day collecting data, and will choose an appropriate spot where we can set up a video camera in order to record human activity on the trails below and the traffic above.

Glen Canyon Park- Initial Observations

So I finally went to Glen Canyon Park to check out the area where you can see Islais Creek. I have to say that what there was to see was not much. Most of the water is covered by dense brush, and some of it is fenced off because it is under restoration (walking through the plants would disturb wildlife growth). As I walked along the trail beside the creek, I decided to document any sort of human activity. I was curious to see how many people I would see in just an hour, and what kind of activities these people perform while at the park. From the hour of 1 pm to 2 pm on a Friday afternoon, I saw a total of 29 people, and 10 dogs. Apparently, this park is a popular place to walk a dog, and also to jog along the trails. The majority of these people were Caucasian, and dressed in comfortable hiking attire (most of the women were wearing Birkenstock sandals).
              Here is a breakdown of the 29 people I saw and what they were doing:
              14 women- 5 walking dogs, 1 reading newspaper, 6 hiking, 2 jogging
              10 men- 5 walking dogs, 2 jogging, 1 hiking, 2 young teens smoking in bushes
              5 kids- all with hiking parents
Next time I would like to create a series of questions, and ask these people how often they visit the park, if they know about the history of the creek, etc. There is also a nursery school located in the park, along with a rec center. These people were excluded from the counting, as I was only counting people walking along the trails next to the creek.

A portion of the creek fenced off. 

Eucalyptus trees.

The creek as it disappears into dense shrub.

Looking up while standing in the canyon.

People hiking along different trails.

Shows how shallow and narrow creek is.

Trail shows activity (footprints, bicycles, etc.).

Coming out of the trails, there are houses lined up on the hill on Elk St. I wonder who lives in these houses and if they know about Islais Creek?

 When I was driving around the Glen Park residential area, I realized that Islais Creek is super hidden, and that people who live in this area may not even know that it exists. Compared to the congested 280 and the noisy Bart station close by, Glen Park is a quiet refuge for those who wish to escape city life.