26.11.04
earthworm systems
view presentation here
Posted by tommy at 02:07 | Comments (930)
05.11.04
lioncity day 32
31.10.04
once again, my blog falls upon a free day, so I will entertain with a little bit of studio venezia vocab; mostly pertaining to two major parallel social networks and the often uncomfortable points at which they interact. forgive me if I don’t include random group photos with no explanation of where we are, what we’re doing, or why the photo is relevant.
[strangers]
an entire city of them, from all over europe, north america, and the far east, bumping into each other, avoiding each other, blindly following each other. all of them come here to see the urban fabric. some without any higher purpose, and because their travel agent booked it for them, but some do come looking to experience venetian culture. but they do not get it. it is hidden from them. the strangers are a problem, but they will keep coming, and must be made into an agile participant in city life. they already are a member, but a very clumsy one. as individuals they are temporary inhabitants, but as a homogeneous group they are a permanent force.
[locals]
what’s a local? is it the aging native italian population? the italian governmental bureaucracy has failed to push real progress thru. the residents are being left behind and its not for a lack of discussion. the mose system alone has been debated for over a decade. lots of money and lots of studies, yet the venetians receive no action. or are the locals part of the growing immigrant population? as the young and upwardly mobile venetians leave for terra firma, foreign opportunists plug into the system, burrowing out a space for themselves. for example, the chinese shopkeepers who don’t take a three hour lunch. they don’t live on the Italian timescape, and they know that the city of strangers doesn’t either. and they can easily offer the same bad sandwiches. you don’t have to be a culinary genius to imitate what the venetians are peddling here. the newcomers can easily compete with the native population that should have an inherent advantage. it seems as though venetian culture is so hidden, it has taken itself out of the game.
[bad sandwiches]
whether it’s the round, frozen breaded chicken patty slapped on a bun or the ice cream scooped tuna ball on wonderbread, they are a metaphor for the quality of product thrown at the strangers. it makes sense because the strangers are mostly helpless, and will not be repeat customers, so who cares if they hate it. the strangers suffer from a lack of information and communication. in a normal city you can’t just make crap, as the word will get out and you won’t last. but not here, your customers live elsewhere.
[perspective]
2004 election coverage. I was blown away by the obsession with the american election. there was obvious support for john kerry. but more importantly a broader discussion of what seem, from this side of the pond, to be consensus core issues that are not even being mentioned in the states. the best example being the american policy on israel, from which many of the current problems spring.
[bad re-run o’the week] jake and the fatman.
Posted by tommy at 09:24 | Comments (2540)