participant/observer

Back to something more theoretical for me, that might lead to something tangible as well: in response to Alexis' 'document the cat', I am thinking more about the participant/observer conundrum and of ways that documentation becomes the event (for example: my 'meta-documentation' of events over the course of this project...)

I was reminded of something I read about in second order cybernetics, which is about studying systems in a way that includes and acknowledges the role of the observer. This seems to hit right at the core of the documentation problem: the idea behind cybernetics is that we can produce descriptions of anything (including performance) with it, but that our knowledge of what we describe is mediated by the description itself. The bias lies in that we make models that suit the purposes for which they built.

Elizabeth's post on symbolism and references of large-scale monuments is relevant; maybe all documents are imbued with symbolism in the same way, whether or not it is intentional. As a designer, I need to forget about being 'neutral' and accept that I will always put spin on content, because one can't exist without the other. Maybe I (and anyone else who is interested?) could build on being conscious of the inevitability of re-interpretation, like in the telephone game.

By the way, the Schroedinger's Cat metaphor seems a bit gruesome. It would be good to propose nicer terms for this phenomenon. Would certainly be interesting from a visual/language point of view to create words as part of the project. Something related to performance? Do you have terms for how audience mood and feedback affects your improvisational (or other) work?

pulling threads (1)

This post is an attempt to gather up some of the ideas that have been raised on the blog since it started. It's meant to highlight some concepts that have emerged, but don't think that comments are now closed on any previous posts or threads! In fact, if this inspires you to add a comment on any of the posts, go for it!

Here are a few threads, in no particular order:

*Observation changing the observer (see Document the cat , and discussion in comments)
1) performer as observer (making choices as she improvises/works)
2) observing audience - what the audience chooses to see
3) chain of comments on bias in documentation - that it is never really objective

Miriam's post Document This
*Documentation and power
*Documentation and freedom
*Documentation as proof of existence
*Documentation as a historical record - past/future or future of the past...(also in Alexis' Improvised Histories)

Motria's post "For what is and for what is missing"
*Documentation and the ephemeral - documenting a vision or moment that will never recur
*Accidents of light and time
*Documentation and what it doesn't capture

Elizabeth's "Monuments" and "Leaving a Message"
*Documentation and scale - statement, impact, symbol

hope you are having fun with this as we are!
(gulp)

monuments

IMG_0997
Originally uploaded by little bit1000.

Of course here i see lots of monuments... this one is of the great fire of London. Apparently it is 212 feet tall and if you lie it on one side it touches the point where the fire started (a bakery). The fire destroyed something like 4/5 of London, but very few people died. However, so many had died from the plague already...but the fire got rid of that!

Makes me think about the importance of scale in documentation - symbollically, reference-wise, literally, metaphorically...

document the cat

There has been a whole discussion about documentation and observation... (see the comments under Miriam's entry Document This...) which leads us quite directly to 'Schroedinger's Cat' and Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle and how the very act of observing of something changes it. As it's stated on the web site, The Big View:

"The notion of the observer becoming a part of the observed system is fundamentally new in physics. In quantum physics, the observer is no longer external and neutral, but through the act of measurement he becomes himself a part of observed reality. This marks the end of the neutrality of the experimenter. It also has huge implications on the epistemology of science: certain facts are no longer objectifiable in quantum theory. If in an exact science, such as physics, the outcome of an experiment depends on the view of the observer, then what does this imply for other fields of human knowledge? It would seem that in any faculty of science, there are different interpretations of the same phenomena. More often than occasionally, these interpretations are in conflict with each other. Does this mean that ultimate truth is unknowable?"

More food for thought...

Document This

So, this is my first bog entry in my entire life. So already Square Zero is a success in pushing boundaries through art.

I've been thinking about documentation almost every day since June 2004 when I decided to move to Canada as a Permanent Resident. In the process I have documented my relationship with my partner through photos, statutory letters from family and almighty bank statements, thus Proving our Love. I have documented my birth. I have a collection of police certificates that say I have no criminal record in every state I have lived in for over 6 months for the past 10 years. Minnesota, Connecticut, British Columbia and the federal department of Homeland Security all have prints of my unique fingers on file. I have submitted every employer and address since high school and every association of which I have been a member. I have written down the names of all of my family members along with their birth dates. I have held my breath when I handed the border gaurd papers that show my photo and declare my nationality. And now I hold my breath until I can cross back again.

It is a Process of filling out forms. Mailing them. Tracking them. Waiting for something back in the mail so it can be sent again to the correct final destination. A piece of paper says I can work. But I must fill out another piece of paper for a number so my taxes can be collected. Each paper, each process asks 'Who are you? ....Really? ....Prove it....note: only certain forms of evidence will be accepted." Amazingly, I am able to gather all these papers that say the Right things and Please the authorities.

The process makes me think of war and oppression. When a piece of paper could keep you from being put on a train to a work camp or worse. Or could let you cross a border to an ally. Or proved that your father is a person of power the 'wrong' political party and therefore you are an enemy. Or said that you are of a certain religion and therefore must not cross this line. How people create new papers to say the things they need to Prove about themselves to the people in power. To survive.

It makes me thankful to live in a relatively peaceful land. It makes me thankful for the privileges of my life. I try not to feel reduced to letters and numbers. I try not to treat my precious work permit like it is a small god on paper. Maybe my grandchildren will be able to look at these papers and enter my life in the year I kept track of everything for the sake of the freedom to live in the place of my choice.

How easily paper burns.

leaving a message

writing on a wall
Originally uploaded by little bit1000.

This is of an alley in Newcastle with writing down both sides of the walls. I was there this fall, a grey and misty Sunday, wandering about, and stumbled on this story. Hard to tell if it was a dream, non-rhyming poem or true tale of love and terror. Blue writing on white the most mundane thing in the world, but vertical and taller than you are, and you have to back up against the other wall to read the one you are looking at. Giving the document an impressive presence...