False Creek Project- False Creek 1800s
In the 1800s, Southeast False Creek was covered with a thick forest and in the marshy land near shoreline was a dense growth of crabapple bushes. The waters off the large tidal beach area where home to sole, perch, sturgeon and variety of water foul, while elk, deer, bear and beaver were at home on the land. It is really hard for us to image what was like, because now False Creek is packed with hundreds of residential buildings with no trace of wildlife. In my project, I want to bring all of us back to that era when False Creek was still the habitat of the wildlife and natives. My project consists a series of small projects to bring the audience back to 1800s where natives and wildlife still coexist in that area. By remembering the old, I strive to convey my audience that nature conservation shall be part of our daily live.
The first part of my project is the bear footprint. I use bear footprint made of moss grass to symbolize the presence of wildlife. This is the poster for part one.
Part two is about the natives who coexisted with the wildlife in False Creek.
Part 3 is the about sturgeons. There was plenty of them before all the civilization and industrialization took place. However, they are no longer live in the area.
For this semester, I only finished the first part of my project, because my idea was developing through the process. I was thinking to focus on just the bear footprint, but now I think my idea can be further develop into something more conceptual and meaningful. Due to the time constraint, I can only make mockups for my future plan: the natives campaign and wild salmon habitat issue. I will continue working on this project in my spare time.
Part two of the bear footprint
This time I choose to start the footprints from the grass as if the bear comes out from the forest. The foot prints indicates that the bear is going to the trash can to search for some food.
I began in the morning around 7 am. The view in False Creek was so beautiful.
Finished.
Bear footprint
I tried to follow the recipe from the last post to make the moss smoothy. But I didn’t use it for my project because:
1, I don’t have a blender to blend the mixture smooth enough. So the mixture was too watery, it couldn’t stick on the wall.
3, It takes a few weeks to grow. Maybe the mixture is working but by the time it grows, the school is over already.
I then found another to make moss footprints. It is a recipe to make a special glue and use the glue to stick the moss to the place I want.
The glue contains beer, yogurt, suger and flour. It needs to be heated up on low heat for a while.
When the glue was finished, I brought the moss that my dad collected in the morning and the glue I made to False Creek to work on the project.
I chose this location because I want to people to imagine the bear is walking down to the beach to hunt for fish.
My dad was helping me making the footprint.
This is the first part of the project. The second part is to make the foot print begins from the grass.
Moss graffiti-bear footprint
For the project, I decided to paint a trail of bear foot print with living moss on the sea wall in False Creek. The purpose is to remind people living there that there were once a lot of animal and tree there.
Here is the recipe to make moss mixture
1 can of beer
1/2 teaspoon sugar
Several clumps garden moss
To begin the recipe, first of all gather together several clumps of moss (moss can usually be found in moist, shady places) and crumble them into a blender. Then add the beer and sugar and blend just long enough to create a smooth, creamy consistency. Now pour the mixture into a plastic container.
Find a suitable damp and shady wall on to which you can apply your moss milkshake. Paint your chosen design onto the wall (either free-hand or using a stencil). If possible try to return to the area over the following weeks to ensure that the mixture is kept moist. Soon the bits of blended moss should begin to re-couperate into a whole rooted plant – maintaining your chosen design before eventually colonising the whole area.
Field Works – Masaki Fujihata
Masaki Fujihata’s project
“Field-Works” is a series of projects which reconstrust collective memories into cyberspace as a kind of video archive by using position data captured by GPS and moving image captured by Video. The project started from 1992
“Simultaneous Echoes” is a project of “Field-works.” It is a music piece a collaboration with music composer, Frank Lyons who lives in Northern Ireland.
The piece premiere on 25th of August 2009 along ISEA festival at Londonderry, UK.
Here is the video of the project: http://www.fujihata.jp/s_echoes_09/
http://youtu.be/OGoZktCzMS4
I want to share a Interactive installation that I found in Youtube to the class
It is an Interactive wall that generates graphics based on motion.
The tracking is done using a Wide Angle webcam.
I have Skin allergy
I had the skin allergy since yesterday. There are red bums all over my body and they are so itchy. I don’t know what I am allergic to. I took a Reactine last night but when I woke up this morning, they got worse. I will find out what happened to me when I see the doctor tomorrow.
So Simon, sorry. I can’t make it to class tomorrow. I will bring the doctor’s note to you in next class.
false creek proposal
Nowadays every major urban development plan has raised the issue about sustainability. In 1991 Vancouver City Council had proposed a vision of waterfront city where land and water combine to meet the environmental, cultural and economic need of the city. Southeast False Creek was designed and aimed to be a sustainable, equitable and high quality living space for its people. Now False Creek is one of the most sustainable neighborhood in the heart of Vancouver. Due to many new condo development projects and convenient lifestyle, young folks and families have settled into this area. Sidewalks are along the shore so pedestrians are encouraged to stroll and enjoy the beautiful view of downtown Vancouver. However, it is not the full picture. Decades ago False Creek used to be a great habitat for wildlife. Seabirds such as cormorants, ducks, herons, kingfishers, owls, geese, crows and gulls have returned to this harbor, but now they do not. Factors working against the further return of wildlife include residual industrial contaminants, spillage from the sewer overflow system to the creek, and the seawall that constrains the shoreline with little habitat value.
There was a saying from the First Nation who lived in False Creek thousands year ago: “When the tide is out, the table is set.” My proposal is to create some camouflaged seabird and seafood and place them along the rocks besides the seawall. My goal is to remind the residents who are walking along the seawall that the water in False Creek was once clean and clear. Also I want the residents to realize that they could make a great impact as well by making sure they are not pouring any toxin down the storm drain, eliminating pesticide use and driving less.
Interactive LED Art Responds to Traffic
This interactive art display takes data it collects on passing traffic and displays moving images which react to vehicles as they drive by. Designed by artist Markus Lerner for lighting company OSRAM, the installation samples traffic patterns and maps them onto seven colourful light towers side of the road, each containing over 110,000 individual LEDs.The waves at the bottom of each panel represent the amount of traffic that has recently passed, while a “spark” that flashes across each screen whenever a new car passes by. The more cars that pass the sensors, the bigger the waves, and the faster the motion.reactive sparks
Apeel
Appeel is a virus spreading through interacting individuals. Surfaces are covered by thousands of colored stickers laid out in a grid. Peeling a sticker off leaves a white spot in the grid, hence people start individually and collectively changing its appearance. Once off the wall, the stickers ask to be stuck somewhere: people begin putting them on objects, walls, people; they collect them, they compose new images, they write messages. Slowly, the little stickers spread, appearing further away from their source and occupying space.
