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Governor's School Residency
Concept
Show the connectedness of the spaces on campus, and display the possible paths throughout the campus in an interactive display. Explanation
Research
- The Garden of Forking Paths
A short story by Jorge Luis Borges.
- The Death and Life of Great American Cities, by Jane Jacobs
A classic, eye-opening book on urban planning filled with interesting examples and anecdotes. A lot of interesting insights into how the layout of an urban area effects the traffic flow, and therefore the life, economics, safety, and interest of the area.
- Space Syntax
- Cellular Automata
- Synchronous fireflies
By some coincidence, some of my friends knew about these synchronous fireflies that get together for 21 days a year in the Great Smoky Mountains National Park. I went to see them on the weekend before starting this residency. We found a quiet spot where not many other people were, and looked out into the forest. The forest would be dark, and then a cluster of fireflies would start blinking at the same time. The blinking would spread to their neighbors, and their neighbors, and form a wave of blinking that spread deep into the forest. The small, synchronized blinking lights related well to the piece I was about to make.
Here's a radio show starting with synchronized fireflies in Thailand, and linking them to a discussion on emergence.
Student Participation
Students participated in the research for this project by drawing topological maps of their homes or some other place familiar to them, and adding comments to the maps. Their research was added to mine under Space Syntax.
Site
The original plan was to propose a piece for the Sakas Lobby on the same wall as John Warren's. As a plan for the piece came together, Mr. Gilliam proposed to site the piece in the library, since it is a central, highly connected space, and it is about information. This also places it right in between John's piece, which is very much about connections, and Elaine's piece, which responds to the spaces of the campus.
