Linguistic Underpinnings

John Meada wows me again with with an excellent TED talk on simplicity.

I recently attended an Alternative Economies symposium held in Pittsburgh organized by my friends Carolyn Lambert and Robin Hewlett. Up for discussion was the potential positive implications of local currencies. As both Pittsburgh and the neighboring city of Braddock try to find ways to stabilize their uncertain population and economies, all sorts of strategies are on the table.

When I told people I would be attending this event, many asked me ” What is an alternative economy? Hmmm. Not so easy to answer. As far as I can tell this is a term relating specifically to western ideas of any economy that’s not like the one we experience most often. An example might be a gift economy, a mixed economy (depending on whether or not that’s what you think is going on in the US), or some version of an anarchist economy.

I think I’ve often encountered settings in which anarchist economies are what’s being discussed when the term “alternative economy” is brought up, but the key factor in isolating the word’s identity will depend on who you’re chatting with and where they’re from. Different social/economic classes and different countries  will simply think of what we refer to as an alternative as an un-welcomed  necessity.  I find some people telling me that they are participating in an alternative economy and it simply means they are getting paid an under the table wage, often per Diem, and as a given there are no benefits in sight. Will an alternative economic model be able to find a way to connect us to health and dental care? The core of what I’m trying to say here is that “alternative” does not necessarily mean better.

Before talking about what I’m talking about becomes any more complicated, please enjoy this interesting perspective on local currencies.

Also of interest: Oliver Ressler’s book ( I’m not going to say the title for fear of being redundant) documenting an exhibition of artworks exploring alternative economies.

There are a plethora of perspectives available. Much of what I’ve found originates from artist’s projects.

Art on paper: “Alternative Economies”

Spruce Roots: “Hour Islands,..”

Steve Lambert: “The Samaras Project”

Julie Graham: “Imagining and Enacting Noncapitalist Futures”

Blackberries, Ipod generations, the new but now old computer- Americans today apparently are using more and getting rid of more electronic devices than ever before. You didn’t have to tell me that. After a friend gave me their 3 year “old” ipod last year and a parts store could make hide nor hare of what the alien device I had handed them was as I searched for a power cable, the truth of the matter crept a little closer to home. It’s simply harder to stay hip than it used to be and that means our not so hip gadgets will be hitting the curb quicker than Angelina Jolie adopts babies. Where is all of this stuff going to go?

The bad news: In 2005 the EPA estimated there was 2.2 million tons of e-waste that missed the recycling loop, inserting a significant amount of cadmium, lead and mercury into our environment.

The good news: There are a number of groups setting up e-recycling programs such as the Bryant Park Project, E-Cycling Central (which can direct you to specific sorts of recycling programs in your own state), and the somewhat-good-ole EPA who can tell us where we can take our TV and shove it……into a recycling bin.

If all goes as planned I’ll be spending the summer of 2008 working on a robotic/mobile sculpture called the Look-See Tree. I’m designing it to be a part of the 250th anniversary of the founding of Pittsburgh (which happens to be a robot-themed!??!?)

The Look-See* Tree is a mobile artwork housing 6 motion activated mini-theatres. The small theatres contain robotic animals in somewhat natural settings within a large tree structure.

From afar, viewers will see a large, sparsely limbed tree trunk lying on its side, supported by wheels, and connected to a bike. As they approach, viewers will notice the leaves of the tree, which sprout and are withdrawn repeatedly and irregularly implying an unusual fluctuation in seasons. Closer inspection, will reveal several glowing hollows in the tree trunk. As viewers approach and peak in, they will see fictional animals that will respond to their presence by either beginning or ending a gesture- hiding vocalizing, shifting, or jumping, and otherwise reacting to visitors. The setting which the animals inhabit will be littered with detritus and various signs of technology, in an attempt to create in miniature version of some of the strange innovations and reapportions that take place when nature meets urban space. For example- birds whose calls mimic cell phone rings and car alarms, and animals that collect scraps from city spaces that are then used as nesting material.

Viewers will also notice a unique feature of the Look-See Tree Big-Bot – which is that its power source is supplied on-site from a bicycle generator. The source of locomotion for the sculpture is also a point of interest- an electric bike. The Look-See Tree proposes technologies that are of low environmental impact. This approach means low-cost to no cost in sustaining a means of showing the sculpture, while showcasing species that seem to gracefully and disturbingly have found ways to adapt to settings irrevocably affected by human-related environmental augmentation.

*The term “look-see tree” is taken from a name given to trees that have been converted to fire watch or simply observation towers. This name was of interest to me because it designates a tree as a place to go for observation and contemplation- in this case, however, the view is inside the tree rather than beyond it.

Technical Support: Technical Support will be provided by Thiago Hersan. Thiago Hersan has a M.S. in Electrical and Computer Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, and now works designing computer chips for a small company in Pittsburgh. He gained some experience working with electronics as part of his class work at CMU, including experience with simple vehicular robots.

A few insights into the overall form of the sculpture and a bit about the mini-theaters:

Look-See Tree/ Bike and Tree structure

This side view of the bike shows how the structure will be attached to the bike and fold in for easier transport. The tree structure will be mounted on a tandem bike attachment. A generator unit built from an open source design found at www.scienceshareware.com/bike_gen.htm

The bike will be moved from place to place and attended by the artist, Ally Reeves.

Close up of knothole

This view shows a design for a grouping of birds that tip forward to peck the ground, and sing in cell phone tones. All birds are deactivated by one motion sensor. When viewers approach they continue to move are “scared” into silence for 10sec.

Tree-Dwelling Highway Fox

Left alone, this robot raises it’s head and howls intermittently. When viewers approach it ducks down and “hides” for 2min. This robot is intended to get viewers to hold still and observe for a few minutes, replicating the way someone might encounter an animal in the wild. The form of the Fox is inspired by an extinct marsupial called a Tassie, and an abnormal fox that has been in the news lately, known as the “Tyco fox”. It’s howl sounds like a distant car horn(s).

The Nest Builder

Visitors are encouraged to place a small metal object (I am guessing people will use soda tabs and bottle caps and the like) in this bird’s mouth. The angle of the bird’s mouth and a small magnet will ensure that only metal objects are “collected”. A motion program will be activated by a sensor in the bird’s mouth and the bird will toss the metal object back into its nest. The nest is filled by a l mixed brood of baby birds that play a continual sound loop of “chirps” comprised of computer operation sound effects, i.e. trash sounds, start-up sounds, inbox sounds…

Here’s a bit of plant and region (PA) related inquiry…

Plant related…where are we? What do the growing zones on the back of seed packages mean? We’re in 5a and 6b….
 

Hardiness zone map:

http://www.usna.usda.gov/Hardzone/ushzmap.html

Farmer’s alamanac shizzle which is deliciously in between fact and hear-say:

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/home_garden/gardening

They have a blog you can subscribe to which will tell you the kind of shit I really want to know about, like how far a jackrabbit can jump and which days you should REALLY be chopping wood and baking on ..WTF?

http://www.farmersalmanac.com/best_days/month

Who knew we needed to think more about which days we are castrating animals on? This whole site indulges my interests far too much..if you look on the weather link, there’s a little “game” where you can find out what the weather was like in your area (enter zip code) as far back as 1945…

Here also, is a park I have heard of and finally looked up. Perhaps the destination of future dreamy camping trips? It’s a “dark sky” preserve- good for star gazing…

http://www.dcnr.state.pa.us/stateparks/parks/cherrysprings.aspx

I have been thinking about privialge, wealth, behavior, and reasoning based on these things. I dredged up a little economic overview of Appalachia,  which we are a part of here in the lovely Pittsy-burghy.

http://www.arc.gov/index.do?nodeId=26