The Art and Craft of Being Elsewhere

The Art and Craft of Being ElsewhereAndrea Resmini

Flextrack, IA Summit 2011, Denver

0

GREY HAVENS 8 days

MORDOR5 months 22 days

pervasive information architecturehttp://pervasiveia.com/

ANDREA RESMINI :: THE ART AND CRAFT OF BEING ELSEWHERE

how is that we do not get lost in movies?




#1 context is spatial


d resmini where's that pic of Parksy dancing naked on the table in the boss' office?


In your room with a friendhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/46037115@N04/4233027629/


@resmini where's that pic of Parksy dancing naked on the table in the boss' office?


In a stadium with a crowdhttp://gm25liveen.web-log.nl/george_michael_25_live_en/blog/index.html


media always imply spatial relationships


not understanding them = bad


(Note: not Parksy)


#2 communication is abstraction


Grotte GenovesiAbstraction and rhythm in cave paintings (Sicily, Italy)


#3 we understand the abstractby means of the concrete


Getting lost in spaceLe Petit Poucet, or Little Thumb


Getting lost in timeScarlett Johansson revives Cinderella for Disney


SPACE TIME

RHYTHM

LANGUAGE MUSIC

MATHEMATICS


what is space?


SpaceSome remote area of the Moon (http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:NASA_Apollo_11_photo_AS11-40-5967.jpg)


SpaceSome remote cold area of the Earth


space is the base experience of our embodiment as human beings, and it is objective, impersonal, undifferentiated


#4 semantic or digital space, or the Web, do not map precisely to a single physical representation


The InternetThe Internet as connected nodes in terms of abstract network traffic


The InternetThe Internet as a resource


they can be places, and they need to be places if they want to

provide satisfying experiences


what is place?


PlaceI swear this is not my workplace


PlaceTotem pole and community house in Tlingit, British Columbia


PlaceThe home of Bilbo Baggins, Esq. as Tolkien originally envisioned it


place involves, besides physical space, memories, experiences, and behavioral patterns: it is personal, subjective, and communitarian


Place is like homeJudith Mackey, Celebrate Me Home. Z-Bar Ranch in Snow, Flint Hills, Kansas (www.phnxgallery.com/page/page/2118275.htm)


The Internet is a placeA fake Facebook page for Pope Benedict XVI


so, how do we communicatespace and place?


we evolved languagesfor being elsewhere


Masaccio's Tribute Moneyhttp://2.bp.blogspot.com/_CijcaA9yq58/S7vaxhkeg_I/AAAAAAAAFd0/eFgqLjxkgn4/s1600/Good+Tribute+Money+copy.jpg



12 1 3The Tribute: structure


Miller's Dark Knight ReturnsDC Comics, 1986


1The Dark Knight Returns: structureDC Comics, 1986

1

1

1

Filming in studioSchneider – Sörensen, Vor Tids Dame, 1912

The Great Train RobberyEdwin S. Porter, 1903 (Library of Congress)

FrankensteinJ. Searle Dawley, 1910 (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcLxsOJK9bs)

TheatreActing conventions and fixed camera point of view contributed to placing the audience in front of the scene

SCENE

AUDIENCE

CAMERA POV


no spatial articulation

The Lonely VillaBiograph, 1909 (from Persson, P. (2005). Understanding Cinema)

The Lonely VillaBiograph, 1909 (from Persson, P. (2005). Understanding Cinema)

SCENE

CAMERA POV

AUDIENCE

OUTSIDE SPACE

The Musketeers of Pig AlleySight link establishes an adjacent space outside of the audience current view (1912)

The Musketeers of Pig AlleySight link establishes an adjacent space outside of the audience current view (1912)

SCENE 1 SCENE 2

CAMERA POV CAMERA POV

AUDIENCE AUDIENCE

Dr. Jekyll and Mr. HydeThanhouser, 1912 (from Persson, P. (2003). Understanding Cinema.)




The enlargement of the engraved wedding announcement appears as an entirely new picture. The room suddenly disappears and the hand which holds the card flashes up. Again when we have read the card, it suddenly disappears and we are in the same room again

““


1 2

SCENE SCENE

SOMEWHERE ELSE


not a technical constraint at allit's a semantic constraint


Another marked peculiarity of the Impressionists is the truncated composition, the placing in the foreground of the picture of fragments of figures and objects. There is thought and purpose in this apparent oddness.

““

Child, 1887


http://z.about.com/d/arthistory/1/0/I/n/gc_bm_0309_04.jpg

Oarsmen rowing on the YerresGustave Caillebotte, 1877 (http://z.about.com/d/arthistory/1/0/I/n/gc_bm_0309_04.jpg)


New Orleans Cotton ExchangeEdgar Degas, 1873 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cottonexchange1873-Degas.jpg)


Place de la ConcordeEdgar Degas, 1875 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Edgar_Degas_Place_de_la_Concorde.jpg)




we are inside the paintings


place-making in movies has evolved and allows now complex

narratives


Pulp FictionQ. Tarantino, 1994


Day of the TentacleLucasArts, 1993

SCENE

AUDIENCE

CAMERA POV

MystThe glorified theatre


Alone in the darkInfogrames, 1993


Alone in the darkInfogrames, 1993

place-making in videogames has evolved


#5 visual and narrative syntax might differ, but successful experiences strive for place-

making


A map of Arkham, MACentral Arkham in a handwritten map drawn by H. P. Lovecraft




it would even be an interesting place, if not for the fact that

it only exists in fiction

Dark Corners of the EarthA Call of Cthulhu game from Headfirst Productions, 2K and Bethesda, 2005

Dark Corners of the EarthA Call of Cthulhu game from Headfirst Productions, 2K and Bethesda, 2005


we need place, but place has nothing to do with 'real': it has to do with being there


FINE ARTS

CINEMA

VIDEOGAMES

CYBERSPACE

OUTSIDE INSIDE

OUTSIDE

OUTSIDE

INSIDE

INSIDE

STATIC DYNAMIC

SPACE PLACE


we are still figuring out how to do place-making in cross-

channel, pervasive information architectures


we need to figure out waysfor being there. Like this:


Visit the Shirehttp://www.hobbitontours.com/


Be inside the paintingThe home of Bilbo Baggins in New Zealand


Thank you

Twitter: @resmini Book: http://pervasiveia.com/

Design

The Art and Craft of Being Elsewhere