indians, astronauts, & magic

8/9/2019 Indians, Astronauts, & Magic

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indians, astronauts, & magicA Thesis

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masterof Fine Arts in Digital + Media in the Department of Digital + Media of theRhode Island School of Design

ByFrederick Witold Ostrenko2010

Masters Examination CommitteeApproved by:

Daniel Peltz, Associate Professor, Department of Digital + Media, Thesis Chair

Kelly Dobson, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Digital + Media, PrimaryAdvisor

Paul Badger, Critic, Department of Digital + Media, Secondary Advisor


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For my family, who are responsible for the title.For Rachel, who is responsible for the journey.


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contents5 Abstract

6 An Introductory Note

orientation

8 The Writing // Jennifer Liese

11 The Project // Daniel Peltz

36 Indians, Astronauts, & Magic // F.O.

indians

41 The Making Of A Serendipitous Hero // Joseph Campbell

44 Traveling The Unconscious // Carl Jung

astronauts

48 Geocaching // Davidt21 (David Tabuchi)

55 Ships Logs + Treasure Hunting // Taylor Zajonc

magic

62 Sacred Architecture // Chris Bertoni

65 Wayne Assing // Meditation

73 A Closing Note

82 Bibliography


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abstractMy thesis exhibition piece,Indians, Astronauts, & Magic exam-ines how small journeys in life can change someones mentalstate. I take participants on a journey over some body of waterand into the woods. At the end, the participant is asked todownload their brainwaves into a small sphere. Each sphereserves a dual purpose. First, it acts as a visual representation ofthe participants state of mind by blinking at the predominantbrainwave frequency of its beholder (determined using electro-encephalography, or EEG). Second, the spheres can be used as

a mode of brainwave entrainment. This works through a neu-ral hack that exploits the tendency of the mind to synchronizeto external flickering stimulus. I lead each journey to a placewhere we setup a metal tipi frame. Inside the frame, we uploadour brainwaves to the sphere and entrain each other to ourstates of mind. The spheres are then attached to the tipi frame.The journey tries to connect two people. First by putting themin a boat so they have to work together to go somewhere, andsecond through brainwave entrainment.

My thesis book, also titledIndians, Astronauts, & Magic, isloosely based on the format of a captains logbook. Each sectiondocuments my reaction to a meeting with a person who has arelationship to some aspect of my process. At the core, my phys-ical project is about revealing hidden networks of connectionsbetween people, so what better way to write about it then toconnect with people? Each section is dated and chronologicallyorganized and includes an introduction explaining how I cameto know or learn about the particular person. Some sections endwith a discoveries entry, which records subsequent researchand reflection on ideas suggested in a connection.


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an introductory noteReaders should feel free to read the sections in this thesis in theorder they choose. They should also feel free to skip sections.Each section stands on its own. This is not meant to dissuadeanyone from going through the entries chronologically toascertain a linear understanding of my processthat would beinteresting too.

This document is a thorough record of my process. I discuss sev-eral key iterations before talking about my final thesis project.

My final project is what is discussed in the abstract and consistsof the basic series of events listed below. Each event was chosenbased on my experience from previous iterations.

A. Find a place to travel to.1. Invite a willing participant on a boat trip.2. Bring the boat, two non-flickering orbs, a metal tipi frame,and a brainwave reader.3. Cross a body of water

4. Setup the tipi frame and sit inside of it5. The participant uploads their brainwaves into an orb.7. The orb flickers at the predominant brainwave frequencies ofthe participant.8. As the orb flickers I entrain my brain to the participantsthrough the orb9. We switch roles. (I control the orb and they entrain to it.)10. Attach the orb to the tipi frame with magnets and go home


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orientation


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the writing // jennifer lieseJennifer Liese is my thesis-writing advisor. I took her Digital +Media writing course in the Fall. We studied a variety of differ-ent artist writings during the class while trying to find a propervoice for our crowning artist writing the thesis.

march 3, 2010

A few days ago I met with Jen. It was halfway through the yearand I had some new ideas for my written thesis. By the end of

the meeting we came up with an entirely new structure andwriting style. Up until the meeting I had little idea what mythesis was going to look like. That is to say I had some doubts ina previous attempt at writing it. I had already written a substan-tial chunk, primarily the introduction and the first few chapters.It was an impersonal account of abstract concepts that I thoughtwere pivotal to my thesis project. Writing it helped me create adirection for my thesis project and it got me reading a lot.

The most difficult part about the process before this meetingwith Jen was writing about something that I had not yet done.The logic didnt work out. I would write about my project at onestage and then when I went to start making my project conceptswould evolve and eventually change completely. Consequently,the writing that I did a few days before was no longer relevant.To try to bridge the two worlds of writing and making I startedtwisting my project to fit the writing and vice versa. Soon, I feltboth the writing and the making became contrived and lifeless.

What lasted was the research I did and the people I met alongthe way. They meant that my process so far was not in vain.

The day before I met with Jen I began playing with ways ofmixing research and making. I thought that the two shouldcomplement each other. I wanted my research to give life tomy work instead of bending my work to the conclusions of oth-ers. Thus began this new form for my written thesis. SomeoneI know or met in one way or another inspires each writing. For

example, Jen Liese inspired this writing. Each writing serves to


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complement and grow a particular aspect of my project while Iam in the creation mode. These writings are also for others (and

perhaps myself at some point in the future) to understand myprocess and research.

The journal or diary format plays an relevant role in regardsto the audience of this work. While another thesis might beintended to help evolve a larger body of knowledge, I view thiswork as an account of my impressions and conclusions in the

journey of creating my thesis project. A major influence for thenew style and structure is the ships logbook or sea captains

diary. There will be here perhaps overly personal details andtidbits of little interest to those not begging to learn the me-ticulous facets of my process. Nonetheless, I hope this log willinform and inspire others.

Henry David Thoreaus Walden begins with a few conditionsthat inform the structure I have setup for myself:

I should not obtrude my affairs so much on the notice of my readers if veryparticular inquiries had not been made by my townsmen concerning my

mode of life I will therefore ask those of my readers who feel no par-ticular interest in me to pardon me if I undertake to answer some of thesequestions in this book. In most books, the I, or first person, is omitted; in thisit will be retained; that, in respect to egotism, is the main difference. Wecommonly do not remember that it is, after all, always the first person thatis speaking. I should not talk so much about myself if there were anybodyelse whom I knew as well. Unfortunately, I am confined to this theme by thenarrowness of my experience.1

Thoreau reveals himself as the only authority on his own ex-

perience at Walden Pond. He soon lets us know of the practi-cal details of his construction and living conditions. My thesis,like Thoreaus project, revolves around building a place in thewoods for contemplation. However, where Thoreau presentshimself as the only expert on his experience I am reaching outto others to broaden my experience at the same time I conductmy thesis work.

1. Henry David Thoreau, Walden (Boston, MA: Beacon Press, 2004), 27.


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The people I have chosen to meet will hopefully advance myunderstanding of my own project. I hope that by explaining my

idea for my project and asking them a few pertinent questionsabout their field of study that they can become a complemen-tary part of this creative process. I hope that by connecting withdifferent people I can learn what they find interesting aboutmy work and why. I feel there are many aspects of my workthat I have perhaps over-thought and on the other hand manyaspects that I have not thought enough about that might beglaring in the eyes of someone else. I hope that by talking withothers Ill find a vocabulary and path that will lead me on a

journey of discovery through my own project.


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the project // daniel peltzI had my first conversation with Daniel Peltz on September 17,2009. He was my new academic advisor and soon to be thesiscommittee chair. I knew little about Daniel besides him havinga background in film and anthropology. I had signed up for anindividualized research project class with him for my last Fallsemester at RISD. I had bi-weekly meetings with him for thatsemester, with the goal of a completed research project by theend. The next few entries are the precursors, theoretical devel-opments, inspirations, and metaphoric structures leading up to

my thesis project taking place now, in the Spring. They reflectthe conversations that Daniel and I had each time we met.

october 6, 2009

Space Disco Tipi A disco ball is placed on the floor inside astructure built of PVC to resemble a tipi. As participants movetheir hands over the disco ball a tiny projector at the struc-tures apex moves a beam of light in opposition to the hands

placement. Audio tracks originating from radio telescope spacerecordings play, also in response to hand movements.

This was the first in a series of projects involving a tipi. Im notsure where the idea for the tipi or the disco ball came frominitially. The structure with the two joined forms came to mequickly after some sketching. I knew I wanted to do somethingthat related to the outdoors and I knew I wanted to revealsomething within people.

Much of my work in the past has been about other people;strangers interacting with something that brings to light a hid-den connection they had with another person or with the work.By choosing motifs that relate to my journey in life I am bring-ing my artwork closer to who I am. I am also creating a formof play between participants and myself. Im no longer makingwork that exists purely for others. This is a shift in my relation-ship to my work.


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Frederick Ostrenko,Space Disco Tipi, 2009


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Indians, astronauts, and magic are themes that I directly relateto my childhood. I even remember consecutive birthday parties

of mine each relating to a theme. I want to use my childhoodexperiences with these themes as a gateway of communicationwith my audience. I am looking for a balance between puttingme as the focus of my work and the experience of my partici-pants.

Merging the disco ball with the tipi in this magically interactiveenvironment was an attempt to mesh these childhood tropes ofmine. I wanted to find something out about myself by exposing

themes I had always held close within. Maybe I could also sharesome of the energy that I associated with these themes withother people. I found joy in these themes growing up withoutknowing why. Maybe by looking at them symbolically I canbegin to understand.

Am I developing a rite of passage for others? It seems strangeto do so for grown ups. Maybe Im letting them in on my jour-ney through a landscape of symbols that need sifting to learn

their meaning. Is it cheating if I use other people to help meunderstand myself?

december 10, 2009

Ganzfeld Tipi This was an attempt to recreate ganzfeld exper-iment, which tests for the presence of ESP. A group of peoplewatched footage of the first lunar landing being projected on awall facing the backside of a tipi. Two people were led inside a

tipi, trying to guess what the group was watching. They wereon thick foam staring up into a flickering light and listening tobinaural beats. There setting was meant to deprive them of us-ing there sense for anything other then what I was supplying tothem. They talked into a microphone hung from the apex of thetipi non-stop for five minutes trying to guess the content of thefootage.

ESP is a strange thing. Its sort of magical if you can ever prove

it. More Space, Indians, and Magic.


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december 18, 2009

Swallow Tipi Two participants are asked to swallow a red

pill and enter the tipi. Once inside they are invited to sit facingeach other in front of two laptops and fill out a questionnaireconsisting of found questions typical of a psychiatrist trying todissect a patients psyche. The questionnaire of each participantis projected onto the tipis canvas above their heads, revealingtheir answers for others to see.

What do people want to share with others? How personal arethey willing to be with a group watching? Does taking a red pill

beforehand give them an excuse to say whatever the want? Iwanted to look for different ways of breaking boundaries withinpeoples own minds and between them and others watchingthem.

january 4, 2010

Indians, Astronauts, and Magic This version of the tipi experi-ments involves one tipi that users are invited to lie down in.

Upon lying down they can put on goggles with frosted lensesand stare into a projection of video flashes coming from thetipis apex. They are also invited to put on headphones play-ing a binaural beat that is synchronized with the flashes oflight being projected onto them. The light and audio are bothtypical means of brainwave entrainment. The brainwave patternparticipants are being entrained to in this case is that of a monkmeditating.

Ive decided Im creating projects that revolve around activitiesfrom my past that I miss. I would like to go camping. I would liketo go boating. I would like to hang out with friends. These seemlike very basic even juvenile things to want. In fact they areexactly what I constantly wanted to do as a kid. Is there some-thing symbolic behind wanting to do these three things? Thisreminds me ofThe Little Prince, and makes me wonder: Whycant adults want the same things as children.


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Frederick Ostrenko, Ganzfeld Tipi, 2009


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Frederick Ostrenko,Swallow Tipi, 2009


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Going camping is essentially setting up a temporary home. Itsa way of gaining perspective on what you have. Ive always felt

that after going into the wilderness I come back having learnedsomething about myself that I would not have known if I stayedcomfortably at home. Camping is about setting up a new pathin life for a brief moment only to return to your old path. Toliterally go camping isnt really necessary to create a new path.Its about getting so completely out of the usual environmentthat you must focus on a new one. Can my project do this forpeople?

Going boating is a way of achieving a goal. Its about gettingsomewhere or finding something. Ive always had the urgeto go kayaking, canoeing, and sailing for the sake of gettingsomewhere new, and most often to get back to where I started.I felt I would find something along the way that would help meunderstand why routine is so easily formed and why that mightnot be a bad thing. Traveling is often a cyclical thing, starting atone point and eventually returning to it a changed person.

Hanging out with friends is about establishing connections. Itsabout building an identity and forming networks and relations.Perhaps I can use the way adventure tends to bring peoplecloser together in my thesis project? Why not examine theexperiences I want to have with my friends with people I dontnecessarily know very well? These experiences could help otherpeople connect.

march 9, 2010

Ive been having regular meetings with Daniel for almost sixmonths and I think it has taken me this long to decide ona structure for my physical thesis work. The work has gonethough many iterations over five months, culminating in a piecethat I installed for an alumni show at Stetson University in De-cember. For this piece I built a tipi out of five 9-foot tall inchwide PVC pipes. I wrapped the tipis with opaque painters tarpwith a small opening on one side. From the tipis apex I hung a

small projector and on the tipis floor I put two mats for people


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Frederick Ostrenko,Indians, Astronauts, and Magic v1, 2009


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to lie down on. On the mats I put safety goggles with the lensesfrosted over and headphones. I relied on people intuiting to lie

down on the mats, put on the goggles and headphones, andlook up into the projector. The headphones were playing audiomeant to entrain brainwaves to a particular state, one of a monkmeditating. The projector was flashing different colors onto theparticipants, which was meant to entrain the brainwaves as well.If two participants hung out inside the tipi long enough andeach were susceptible to the brainwave entrainment then theywould in fact be synchronized with each other.

march 20, 2010

At this point, my thesis project builds upon this idea of brain-wave entrainment by adding an element of adventure. There isone main tipi that will be constructed in the Convention Centerfor the MFA show in May. In this tipi there are two EEG ma-chines, each reading the brainwaves of someone inside the tipi.There are headphones and lights in the apex just like the firsttipi but the brainwave pattern the participants are entrained to

are the averages of the two people. For example if one personinside the tipi had active brainwaves while the other personhad relaxed brainwaves the entrainment pattern would besomething in-between active and relaxed the easiest transitionfor both subjects. I also plan to build three additional tipis, eachat a different location in Rhode Island. The tipis are roughly 6feet tall and made of natural tree limbs. At each tipis apex areLEDs flashing at a particular rate. The rate is synched to the tipiat the Convention Center so if anyone were to sit and stare into

the light of these tipis they would be subjected to the same en-trainment patterns as the two people in the Convention Center.The synchronization would be conducted via cell phones at thecentral location and at each node. After the MFA show the EEGequipment would be moved to one of the nodes and that wouldbecome the central location.


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In order for people to find the three tipis not in the Conven-tion Center they would have to follow directions at the projects

website or at the MFA show installation. The directions are notentirely finalized. They consist of starting off with latitude andlongitude points which direct them, depending on location, toa boat I have made or to a boat rental shop. After putting theboat in the water they must follow further directions to find thetipi.

april 3, 2010

The previous entry was very technical. Probably a bit tootechnical because Im sure its going to change, especially sinceI havent actually done it yet. Its all part of the journey, which isa word Ive been thinking about lately. Joseph Campbell writesabout the Heroes Journey, which is usually a solo endeavor. Iwant a group of people to rally around a common goal. Whatbetter way to do that than to send them on a journey, stick-ing people in a boat together and sending them on a treasurehunt?

This new sea-faring direction also came from my personal ex-perience with boats and hair-brained adventures. I can remem-ber as a teenager sailing to islands in Tampa Bay with friends,usually at night. This made it more of an adventure. We wouldrun aground, go through thunderstorms, hit bridges, breakparts of the boat, and get really badly hurt. We grew closerduring these experiences. There was an inner core of three orso people who went every time, and a revolving outer core of

like four others. I felt connected to those four during the trips asmuch as with the three. It was after the trips that I would loseconnection with those four others. I wonder why?

The journey taught us a little about ourselves, and a little abouteach other. The goal was not something physical but rather anexcuse to spend time doing something without a plan. How doyou construct a path without a plan?


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april 4, 2010

A new idea for the structure of my thesis work: a boat to get

you there, an LED attached to a tree branch, a stone on thefloor beneath the LED, a brainwave reader beneath the stone.In the Convention Center: a ceiling with LEDs each belongingto an individuals brainwaves, a stone in the center of the room,the LEDs flash in unison when someone rests their head on thestone.

april, 15 2010

Another meeting with Daniel; I decided to propose a new planfor my thesis. I am trying to make the project accessible to htpublic by making each step a complete experience so thatthe whole structure doesnt have to be followed all the waythrough.

The Convention Center will house a 10x15 foot room for myinstallation. Inside the room is a 7-foot metal tree with magneticwhite spheres the size of oranges attached to it. A few feet from

the tree is a log with a brainwave sensor headband hangingabove it. Inside the log is a speaker playing a subtle binauralbeat generated from participants brainwaves. Seven flat moni-tors are hung from the ceiling facing downward, showing blink-ing stars. On each of the four walls of the room slide-projecteddiagrams reveal the steps to participate in the experience Ihave created.

The first step is to sit on the log and put the headband on

and look at the stars on the ceiling. Second, wait until a whitesphere on the tree begins to blink and go pick it off. The rateat which the sphere blinks corresponds to the participantspredominant brainwave frequency. The third step is optional itshows two people holding the flickering sphere up to their faces,bathing their closed eyes in flickering light. By doing so, thetwo people are subjecting their brains to a frequency capableof entraining their brainwaves. They can in essence sync theirbrains with each other.


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The fourth step can be one of two things. The participant cantake the magnetized sphere with them and attach it wherever

they want. Or the participant can text-message a provided num-ber in order to receive picture messages on their cell phonethat guide the participant to a predetermined place to attachthe sphere. Each picture shows a key frame depicting whereto go with the flickering sphere and what to do along the way.The pictures eventually lead to a small wooden boat in a parknear a river. The pictures will show how to unlock the boat fromits rack and where to paddle it. The final pictures will show howto get to a metal tipi in the woods. The last step is to affix the

flickering sphere to the frame of the tipi. While at the tipi theparticipant can choose to entrain their brainwaves to any of thepast participants by taking their sphere and holding it to theirface.

The function of the sphere is symbolic of the function of thejourney. The sphere entrains people through a neurologicalhack that exploits a direct connection to the behavior of thefrequencies radiating from the skull. The journey doesnt exploit

any weakness in our sensory input. Instead, it uses what oursenses naturally perceive to create an experience. The presentexperience of participants is what shapes their mental states.The steps that they take along the journey are similar to stepstaken by someone while meditating attempting to transcend toa particular mental state. The flickering of the sphere representsthe steps along the journey. The end of the journey amounts totranscendence beyond the participants single brain state as heor she gains access to the brain states of all of those that camebefore. The end is where the participant gains both perspec-tive and control, completing their quest and thereby releasingthemselves of its constraints.


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may 2, 2010

Ive made a few slight changes to the structure of my project.

Ive added an LED array shining down from the apex of each ofthe two tipis. The array flickers at the average of all past partici-pants from the opposing tipi. If someone were at the conventioncenter they could entrain themselves to a post-journey brainstate without having to go on the journey. Ive removed the flatpanel monitors displaying stars and instead am instructing peo-ple to sit on the log and look at the tipi while uploading theirbrainwaves. The first step and second step are the same, uploadbrainwaves while at the convention center into a sphere. Then

take the sphere to the tipi in the woods and attach it to the met-al frame. Once this is done brainwaves are downloaded to thetipi in the woods and the flickering LED array averages the newfrequency into the flickering pattern. Ive added another stephere where the participant has the opportunity to upload theirbrain state after their journey. They then can take a new sphereback to the convention center. These added steps allow theuser to upload brain states before and after their journey. Thisemphasizes the role of the journey in creating a new brain state.

The LED array is a way for people not to go on the journey toentrain to a particular brain state. This emphasizes the potentialthat technology has to replace experience from the physicalworld. Here is a diagram of the new framework for my thesis.

may 20, 2010

This was the day of the RISD MFA thesis show. Leading up tothis day I took seven people on a journey over water. Each jour-

ney took place at one of three locations: Lincoln Woods StatePark, Georgiaville Pond, or Goddard Memorial Sate Park. Eachplace had a body of water that I crossed with another voyager.I think that a series of photographs will best convey the experi-ence I had with these individuals.


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TipiintheConventionCenter

ProjectorFlashesatAverage

Post-JourneyEEGFrequencies

Tipiin

theWoods

ProjectorFlashesa

tAverage

Pre-JourneyEEGF

requencies

PaddleBoat

Step-by-S

tep

1.Up

loadPredominantEEGFrequencyintoBrainwav

eBulb

2.TextMessageCellPhoneN

umber

3.Fo

llowReceivedCellPhonePicturesandBringBrainwaveBulb

4.At

tachBrainwaveBulbtoSiblingTipi

5.Repeat

ArrowsDenotePathofP

articpant

CarryingBrainwaveBulb

Post-Journey

Pre-Journey

Projector

MagneticBrainwaveBulb

Log


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0. Map - These photos are evidence of a series of events composed for a willing voy-ager and myself. Each experience was intended to establish a connection between twopeople as we traveled into the woods.


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1. Boat - The journey begins with a boat. Its cargo contains: a metal tipi frame, two non-flickering orbs, and a portable electroencephalography (EEG) headset.


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2. Paddling - We sit facing each other. In order to efficiently cross the water, we mustsynchronize our paddling.


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3. Arriving - After we arrive at the shoreline of the woods, we work together to unloadour cargo.


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4. Setup - We search for/seek out a contemplative clearing in the woods. Our coordi-nated efforts allow us to setup the five-sided tipi.


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5. Entrainment - By exploiting the brains tendency to synchronize to pulsing stimulus,we entrain our brainwaves to one another. As one person wears the brainwave sensorthe other stares into the flickering orb with eyes closed. The orb stores the brainwaves

after one persons journey, and projects it onto the other person.


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6. Left Behind - The orbs are attached to the tipi, each a portrait of our symbiotic expe-rience.


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7. Travel Back - These orbs were brought to the MFA show to share the brainwaves ofpast voyagers. After their exhibition, they travel back to their corresponding tipis in thewoods.


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discoveries

The tipi is like a chest of gold at the end of a treasure hunt. But

instead of having gold that would be exchanged for goods, itsuggests a continuation of the journey that brought the treasurehunter to their goal. This goal gives people a chance to connectwith others who have visited the same spot in the past. Thevalue of treasures wealth is in the variety of brain states thatcan be entrained to.

The eyes are the interface that people can use to download newbrain states, and the unconscious is what transforms the mind

to entrain to a new predominant frequency. By subjecting ourminds to the sphere we are forgoing our bodies for a moment.All that matters is the flickering light. It is like directly inputtingbinary information directly into the mind.

My cell phone treasure hunt virtualizes reality. Participantsuse their cell phone to access a virtual representation of theirenvironment and rely completely on the pictures they receiveto move through their environment. By following the pictures,

their agency is stripped of physical stimulus. Their decisions arebased solely on virtual factors. The normal hierarchy of physicalenvironment over the virtual is switched. Rules become muchmore important in the man-made virtual. Slovenian theoristregulated universe the rules are laid down, although it isnecessary to discover them, nothing inconsistent can interferewith them as in real life.1 By augmenting reality with the vir-tual in the form of photos I have created a regulated universe

out of the participants physical environment.

Regulation over the participants universe allows the artist tocraft the intended experience. Myron Krueger, the father ofvirtual reality, says this about the roles of artist, participant,and machine:

1. ReadingDigital Culture (Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell, 2001), 20.


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For the artist the environment augurs new relation-ships with his audience and his art. He operates at

the metalevel. The participant provides the directperformance of the experience. The environmentalhardware is the instrument. The computer acts muchas an orchestra conductor controlling the broad rela-tionships while the artist provides the score to whichboth performer and conductor are bound.2

In my thesis work I have created an elaborate stage for partici-pant as performer, computer as conductor, and artist as com-

poser in performance that spans gallery and wilderness. I havetaken great care to craft a score that will guide my performersalong each step from putting on the brainwave sensor to findingthe tipi in the woods. I put faith into my technological compo-nents that they will operate correctly. Brainwaves must be read,transferred to the spheres, and the spheres should blink accord-ingly. Finally I have to trust my participants that they performaccording to the score.

I found a writing by Umberto Eco soon after reading Kruegerthat takes the music analogy a bit further. He writes in TheOpen Work about a Stockhausen score where the performer ispresented with a series of note groupings and asks them to de-cide the order of grouping in the performance. Eco writes aboutthe score as quite literally unfinished the author [Stockhausen]seems to hand them on to the performer more or less like thecomponents of a construction kit. He seems to be unconcernedabout the manner of their eventual deployment.3 Eco then talks

about why open work is appealing to contemporary artists,the poetics of open work tends to encourage acts of consciousfreedom on the part of the performer and place him at the focalpoint of a network of limitless interrelations.4

2. Myron W. Krueger, Responsive Environments, inProceedings of the June 13-16, 1977,National Computer Conference (Dallas, Texas: ACM, 1977), 432, http://portal.acm.org/cita-tion.cfm?id=1499402.1499476.3. Umberto Eco, The Open Work (Harvard University Press, 1989), 4.

4. Ibid.


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Within my Krueger-like score decisions are left open to theparticipant. This allows the participant to not only be a per-

former but also a composer. In other words the participant doesnot just interact within the score I have made but also has thechance to compose a piece of the score on their own. The third,fourth, and fifth steps in my piece are open to interpretationby the participant. The third step invites the participant to offertheir recently activated sphere to another person so that theymight be entrained. The fourth step gives the participants achoice whether to follow the predetermined cell phone path orto create their own. The fifth and final step is completely open

once the participant affixes their sphere to the tipi in the woodsthey can do whatever they want. In regards to responsiveenvironments Krueger writes, the experience is controlled by acomposition which anticipates the participants actions and flirtswith his (or her) expectations.5 By giving participants a stageand rules my project becomes a performance where responseis the medium.6 Because I contextualize the performance as a

journey with open-ended choices it is not just the response ofmy participants but their experience that is my medium.

5. Krueger, Responsive Environments, 423.6. Myron Krueger coined this phrase. See [Introduction] Responsive Environments, NoahWardrip-Fruin and Nick Montfort, eds., The New Media Reader (The MIT Press, 2003),

377.


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indians, astronauts, & magic // f.o.I have chosen to use Indians, astronauts, and magic, as themesin my thesis because of their influence on me while growingup. Each theme has influenced a moment in my life that I oftenfind myself reflecting upon. They have also shaped who I amtoday. By replicating similar contexts, symbols, and feelings I amusing these themes as a gateway to share my experiences withmy audience. I am counting on my audience to have the abilityto think of Indians, astronauts, or magic as linked to child hoodfantasy. This creates the gateway from their symbolic concep-

tion of childhood to mine.

april 28, 2010

My experiences while growing up are the medium for mywork. Why build a gateway for others to my past? I would liketo transport them to a place in the imagination or to a time intheir life when everyday was an adventure, when small actslike taking a hike in the woods could lead to secret treasure.

Adults often forget how to transcend limitations of the imagina-tion. I want to give adults back their childlike mind. In The Little

Prince Antoine de Saint-Exupry describes an experiment hisprotagonist would undertake to discern the imaginative capac-ity of anyone he would meet. He would show them a drawing ofwhat appeared to be a hat, but was in fact, he says it is a boaconstrictor digesting an elephant. He notes that adults wouldinevitably say it was a hat. The journey participants take is agateway to reorient to a childlike state of mind.

may 2, 2010

indians

Indians, astronauts, and magic were themes instilled in me inpart by my parents. I remember having birthday parties focus-ing on each one. On my 7th or 8th birthday, my dad worked ata science museum with a small forest on its property. He told

me he had a surprise for me and took me on a treasure hunt


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down one of the paths in the woods. At the end was a smallIndian encampment with real Indians and real tipis! All of my

friends were there- I could not believe it! The Indians showedus things like how to eat palm tree hearts, make jewelry, andbuild a fire. I remember thinking I really was an Indian that day.The Indians I thought of as a child were from books and mov-ies. They lived in tipis, talked with forest spirits, hunted buffalo,danced around the fire. They symbolized the magic in nature asopposed to the magic in technology.

The tipi forms in my work are inspired by my experiences with

Native American culture growing up. Today, I think about theNative American respect for what nature can offer to us, theidea of spirituality in all things, and an embracing of naturalinstincts. I expect some participants in my work to lack anawareness of nature. The journey gives people an excuse tobe outside and reconnect with nature. Ironically, it is throughtechnology that I am able to bring people into nature.1 Perhapsthis is only appropriate due to the growing divide between thetwo arenas of human experience.

astronauts

Unlike the Indians, astronauts symbolized not nature, buttechnology. At the science museum where my father worked,they had something called the GTE Challenger Center. Itwas a role-playing installation focused around a space mission.You could choose to be a part of mission control or a part ofa shuttle crew. In each section there were different roles you

could play: ships captain, doctor, scientist or mission controlcommunication, navigation etc. I played these roles dozens oftimes and had most of the missions memorized. The museumhad a planetarium. Everything about it was magical and serene.Inside, I remember feeling like my mind had wandered outsidemy body and was travelling amongst the stars.

1. See the entries under the section DavidT21. DavidT21 is a geocacher who uses the

internet, photos, and a GPS to hunt for bits of treasure in the natural world.


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The orbs that connect to the tipis stem from my experience withastronauts and the stars. Each orb is like a flickering star that

can be picked off a tipi and carried to a new home. I imagineeach star as the center of a solar system. By translating brain-waves into the orb the participant in my work is creating thesymbol of a star to represent something from inside them. Mov-ing the star from one tipi to another creates a new horizon fromwhich to perceive the universe.

magic

The last major interest of my childhood was magic. I saw a showby magician David Copperfield for my 10th or 11th birthday. Fora few years after that I knew I wanted to be a magician whenI grew up. I did everything I could to prepare. At one point,my parents found a cluttered magic shop behind a grocerystore right next to my school. It reminded me of somethingright out of a movie, where the kid finds a real magic book orall-powerful amulet. The first thing I bought there was magicstring. It was completely invisible once stretched out. You could

crumple dollar bills to it and it would look like they were float-ing between outstretched hands. The shopkeeper told me it was

just like what David Copperfield used during his shows. Soon Ibegan putting on magic shows for my family. I even recruitedmy best friend at the time to play the keyboard highlightingdramatic moments. Playing magician gave me experience find-ing what others found mysterious and using it as a medium forperformance.

It is magic that connects the world of astronauts to the worldof Indians. I use the term magic here keeping in mind ArthurC. Clarkes third law of prediction: Any sufficiently advancedtechnology is indistinguishable from magic.2 Clarke is describ-ing magic as something like technology that can be a part ofeveryday life. It is not a magician who is always the producerof magic. As a child, I believed what astronauts and Indians didwas as unbelievable as what any magician did, and perhaps

2. Arthur Clarke,Profiles of the Future (New York: Harper & Row, 1958), 21.


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even more so because they werent just creators of illusion. Thisis part of the reason I have chosen to work with brainwaves.

Brainwaves remain mysterious even to the scientists workingwith them. What happens inside of people is often so discon-nected from how people actually think it could be easily labeledas indistinguishable from magic. By using magic as technol-ogy in my work I hope that it will further enforce the gatewayto ones childhood where magic doesnt only exist in the latestelectronic technology but also in the most rudimentary mechan-ical aspects of life.


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indians


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the making of a serendipitous hero

// joseph campbellI first learned about Joseph Campbell from reading about Carl

Jung. I noticed that Campbell doesnt try to guess the inner mo-tivations within us but instead relies on connecting the resultsof humans desire to create metaphorical structures for findingpurpose in life. I feel Jung tries to guess the inner desires thatresult from the myth that humans have already created. It wasthe dreams of patients that Jung interpreted over and over that

I believe wove a similar path between he and Campbell. Adreamer typically fulfills the role of a hero in dreams and whatbetter way to understand that role than by studying about themin myth. Campbell could answer what happens in a dream,while Jung could tell you why those same things happened.

march 31, 2010

Chris Bertoni suggested that I might be interested in the video

series, The Power of Myth. The series is comprised of six, one-hour long, interviews between Bill Moyers and anthropologist

Joseph Campbell1. It was finished shortly after Campbells death.The dialogue that resulted felt like a culmination of Campbellsstudy of the hero and mythology. I was most impressed withthe ease at how Campbell could relate his views to a broadaudience. I felt that by concentrating my efforts on studying hisinterviews first and literature second I might be able to bet-ter connect with his ideas and process. It also seemed fitting to

keep the concept of an interview as the starting point for eachof these journal entries.

1. The interviews were conducted at George Lucas Skywalker Ranch. According to Lucas,Campbell was a mentor to him during the creation of Star Wars. George Lucas and BillMoyers, The Mythology of Star Wars with George Lucas and Bill Moyers (Films for the

Humanities & Sciences, 2004)..


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So what were Campbells views on myths? He posits in TheHero with a Thousand Faces that myths from around the world

follow a similar structure, which he names the monomyth.2

Thestandard path of the mythological adventure of the hero is amagnification of the formula represented in the rites of passage:separation-initiation-return: which might be named the nuclearunit of the monomyth3 Campbell breaks down the formulainto possible themes that often exist in myth:

1. Separation (or Departure): The Call to Adventure, Refusal ofthe Call, Supernatural Aid, The Crossing of the first Threshold,

The Belly of the Whale

2. Initiation: The Road of Trials, The Meeting with the Goddess,Woman as the Temptress, Atonement with the Father, Apotheo-sis, The Ultimate Boon

3. Return: Refusal of the Return, The Magic Flight, Rescue fromWithout, The Crossing of the Return Threshold, Master of theTwo Worlds, Freedom to Live 4

Most of these mythical sub-themes are immediately familiar topeople, as key events in popular narratives of any culture. Theyare even reminiscent of the three of acts of many Hollywoodscreenplays: set-up, confrontation, and resolution.5 All of thestages amount to a hero leaving one condition and finding thesource of life to bring [the hero] forth into a richer more maturecondition.6 In an interview with Campbell he was asked, Whyare there so many stories of the hero in mythology? Campbell

replied Because thats whats worth writing about A hero is

2.Joseph Campbell, The Hero with a Thousand Faces (San Francisco: New World Library,2008), 23.3. Ibid.4. Ibid., vii.5. Syd Field, The Screenwriters Problem Solver: How to Recognize, Identify, and Define

Screenwriting Problems (New York: Dell, 1998), 26.

6.Joseph Campbell, The Power of Myth (New York: Anchor, 1991), 152.


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someone who has given his or her life to something bigger thanoneself7 I wonder if Campbells description of a hero can be ap-

plied to a viewer or participant of art?

Certainly there are particular changes that people experiencewithin themselves as they view art. Do these changes constitutethe viewer becoming a serendipitous hero?8 I put forth thatart can act and often does as a living mythical framework thatpeople can subject themselves to and experience a heroic trans-formation of consciousness.9

Campbell describes myth as in many different ways. Whentalking about scientific discovery he relates myth to science bysaying both act as the interface between what can be knownand what is never to be discovered.10 Is art not also an inter-face between two realities? Campbell goes on to describe whatmyths can do for people. He gives the example of walking intoa church and observing the ornamentation and by praying onecan be transported to another plan of spiritual consciousness.He says myths are to bring us into a level of consciousness that

is spiritual.11

Campbell describes metaphor as a primary meansof transporting someones consciousness, as is often the case inreligion.

I am trying to create a story as my thesis project. I think thatby understanding the structure of myth then a story could betransposed into reality. The structure of myth is already set upto transform the hero. Why not use the same structure to trans-form a participant in my thesis work?

7. Ibid., 151.8.Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth (6pc) [VHS](Mystic Fire Video, 1998).9. Ibid.10. Campbell, The Power of Myth, 162.

11. Ibid., 19.


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traveling the unconscious

// carl jungCarl Jung, co-founder of analytical psychology along with Sig-mund Freud, was a man interested in looking within for lifesspiritual answers and sharing that knowledge: I feel it is theduty of one who goes his own way to inform society on what hefinds on his voyage of discovery.1

The first time I remember hearing the name Carl Jung was a lit-

tle bit later in life then I would have wished or expected. None-theless it seems appropriate that I discovered him just beforemy final year of graduate school at RISD, as I prepare to leavethe embrace of academia and struggle to find a new vocation.A few weeks before the beginning of the school year I orderedtheNew York Times Sunday paper by subscription, and in theSeptember 2009 Times magazine cover was plastered withthe title, The Holy Grail of the Unconscious.2 Behind the largewhite letters of the title was a dark, dingy, mysterious-looking,

big, red, book.

november 1, 2010

After reading the article and parts of the book it I wasnt quitesure how Carl Jungs Red Book might progress the collectiveknowledge of any field of study, let alone psychology. It seemedto be just musings on an inward journey. The myth-like journeythat Jung writes about takes place mainly inside his own mind.

He has lost his soul, goes looking for it, and then finds it again.3It didnt seem to fit in with the majority of academic writingsthat I was accustomed to. Yet, while writing the book he de-

1. Carl Gustav Jung, Two Essays on Analytical Psychology (New York: Routledge, 1992),119.2. Sara Corbett, The Holy Grail of the Unconscious, The New York Times, September 20,2009, sec. Magazine, http://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/20/magazine/20jung-t.html?_r=1&scp=1&sq=the%20holy%20grail%20of%20the%20unconscious&st=cse.

3. Ibid.


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veloped several of his most prominent psychological theoriesincluding those of the collective unconscious, individuation, and

archetypes.4

The book was like a peek into Jungs thought process, absent ofexplicit (academic) prose and filled with metaphor, poetry, andsymbols. I feel like Jung was searching within himself for an-swers disguised in connotation. Perhaps he felt that by studyingwhat he already knew he didnt understand within himself, hecould learn about the inner workings of the human psyche inus all. It helped that Jung was a scholar of both myth and the

real narratives of hundreds of patients. Over years of traininghe had gained access to a lifetime of symbols within the uncon-scious. Knowing what a symbol stood for within the psyche wasessential to understanding the motivations and healing processfor others. In Man and His Symbols Jung describes the processof understanding dreams as one without ground rules. Eachdreamers symbols are unique to themselves.

By writing his Liber Novus (New Book) he was crafting a story

from his unconscious. All the while trying to know the symbols,which arose, might stand for. By analyzing the plethora of mate-rial the unconscious produces an architecture could possibly beoutlined. Of course the architecture is also only pertinent to thesource and privy to the analyst. This is why The Red Book isquoted simultaneously as the work of a psychotic and the mostinfluential unpublished work in the history of psychology.56

Jung provides us a glimpse into his reasoning when presumablytalking about The Red Book:

The years when I pursued the inner images, were the most importanttime of my life. Everything else is to be derived from this. It began at thattime, and the later details hardly matter anymore. My entire life consistedin elaborating what had burst forth from the unconscious and flooded melike an enigmatic stream and threatened to break me. That was the stuff and

4. Rubin Museum of Art:Current Exhibitions at the Rubin Museum of Art, n.d., http://www.rmanyc.org/nav/exhibitions/view/308.5. Corbett, The Holy Grail of the Unconscious.

6. Rubin Museum of Art:Current Exhibitions at the Rubin Museum of Art.


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material for more than one life. Everything later was merely the outer classi-fication, scientific elaboration, and the integration into life. But the numinousbeginning, which contained everything, was then.7

I had found a framework that I wanted to use as inspiration fora new project. The new project has since turned into my thesiswork.

april 4, 2010

Since I first read the article on The Holy Grail of the Uncon-scious Ive developed an appreciation for how the work of Jung

occasionally sheds light onto my own project-based musings.My thesis project is continuously bifurcating from unconsciousurges. My inspiration comes from a spark seemingly generatedfrom nowhere. It takes effort to cause the spark and a carefuleye to notice it. Theres always a seed that causes the spark.The seed is always there but rarely accessible. The seed issimultaneously a metaphor and its meaning. The spark is thegateway between the conscious and the unconscious. This is aconvoluted way of saying that I trust my unconscious to come

up with good ideas. I tend to have a spark and then I analyzeits origin. Once the origin or seed is found then a structure for aproject can be created.

I am using what I learn from Jung to help me analyze my ownsymbols. I can easily pick forms but to know what they couldmean is what I care about.

7. Carl Gustav Jung,Man and His Symbols (New York: Dell, 1968), 62.


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astronauts


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geocaching

// davidt21 (david tabuchi)For those who dont know about geocaching, here is an excerptfrom their website: Geocaching is a high-tech treasure hunt-ing game played throughout the world by adventure seekersequipped with GPS devices. The basic idea is to locate hiddencontainers, called geocaches, outdoors and then share yourexperiences online.1 DavidT21 is one of the top geocachers inthe world. What follows is my experience with geocaching and

my experience talking with DavidT21.

march 7, 2010

I came up with a structure for my thesis project just a few daysago. I started thinking of creating a journey for people and im-mediately thought of creating a treasure hunt. I began to worryabout a lack of participants, until I remembered geocaching. Itwas something that a friend told me about a few years back and

it always stuck with me as something fun to do. It was an excuseto get outside on a self-imposed adventure.

I decided to try it out and see if I could use the geocachingcommunity / framework in respect to my work. I checked to seeif there were any caches around my apartment on geocaching.com. To my surprise there were three, all within walking dis-tance. I talked my girlfriend Rachel into coming with me, and offwe went on a Sunday afternoon geocaching! Well not quite,

first we had to go back online and find write down the descrip-tions of each cache, draw some maps, and hope for the best. Wedecided that was too difficult and paid $10 for an iPhone appthat included access to the location, map, description, photos,everything we needed to find any cache in the world. Ok nowwe were set to go.

1. Geocaching - The Official Global GPS Cache Hunt Site, n.d., http://www.geocaching.

com/default.aspx.


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I felt like the act really did become a self-imposed adventure.Perhaps we would become heroes in our own myth. We fol-

lowed the iPhone down to a park on the water in East Green-wich, RI and found our first cache under a cement stairwayalong a small nature path. The cache was in the form of a bigflashlight without batteries. We opened it up signed our namein the log and took a small plastic rhino from inside. I had takenwith me a small plastic Lisa Simpson figurine, so I put that in therhinos place. I felt happy after I found the cache. I felt like I hadaccomplished something for the day. I also felt connected to thetwo people that were there hours before me. I thought of it as a

kinship I had with them. We were in this together. We have tofind the hidden caches all over the world and put our mark onthem.

By the third cache of the day I felt a little disappointed by whatwas inside. I took a silicon gel pack. I got a little perturbed thatI had to keep staring at my iPhone in order to find these things.I was physically in nature but mentally in my iPhone. I felt like Iwas on a never-ending mission. Each goal was exciting but once

found, quickly forgotten. Like anything else, it was the journeythat mattered. I did like the idea of the geocaching community.I thought that the really serious geocachers were like machinesracing to put their mark on hidden treasure without getting achance to revel in the find. How can I tap into this community ofself-imposed adventurers? What about the geocaching contextmakes it so popular, and what can I learn about the role of ad-venture in geocachers and non-geocacher alike?

march 28, 2010

DavidT21 is a geocacher from Pleasonton, CA. He is currentlyranked number 8 out of the 81,625 people that are countedon chacherstats.com. He is mentioned in a few books aboutgeocaching including The Joy of Geocaching by Paul andDana Gillin. This pretty much makes him a celebrity at leastfor 82,000 people around the world who are trying to beat hisrecord. With his find count at 21,381 he will probably be one


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of top geocachers for quite some time. So when I got a responsefrom him after writing to a dozen top geocachers I was quite

excited. This is what I wrote to him:Hello,My name is Frederick Ostrenko. Im writing an article on the journeyinvolved in treasure hunting as part of my masters thesis at the RhodeIsland School of Design and I would really like to ask you a few questionsabout what motivates your geocaching passion. Ive known about geocach-ing for a few years and love the spirit that surrounds it. Im writing about ageocaching related project that I am creating in a few parks around RhodeIsland. Im interviewing just a few people that have an appetite for discov-ery and searching within the unknown. I want to find out how self-imposed

adventures might change people or might bring people closer together. Iwas hoping you could share some insight on your geocaching process. Itwould be great if we could talk over the phone, through skype, or even justthrough email. Im available anytime in the next few days. Is there a goodtime at which I can reach you? Do you have a phone number or skype username that I can use?

Thank you for your time,

Frederick

This is what he wrote back:

Hi Frederick,

I would love to answer any questions you have about geocaching. Emailwould be best as my schedule is pretty bust these days, and when we havefree time my wide and I are usually out cachign somewhere.

David

I quickly wrote up another email to ask him a few questions

about geocaching and to tell him about my project to see if hehad any advice. Before sending it I wanted to make sure hehadnt been asked similar questions before and I wanted tomake sure I had enough background knowledge about geo-caching before engaging in some quick email dialoguing. Afterglancing over a few mediocre geocaching books I was reallyhappy to find The Joy of Geocaching that I mentioned before.They were able to put together a nice sampling of studies aboutgeocachers including what motivates them to go geocaching.


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One such study was entitled Importance of Geocaching experi-ence. It listed enjoying the scenery of the woods, experienc-

ing new and different things, and getting exercise as the mostimportant aspects of geocaching.2

april 2, 2010

After reading through the Joy of Geocaching I rewrote myquestions to him. Here is a copy of my email to DavidT21.

Im a little new to geocaching. I find myself geocaching only in near vicini-ties of my usual life-path. Ive been reading through the new book, The

Joy of Geocaching and was really intrigued about the profiles of differentgeocachers, and what motivates them. I just had a few questions about youand a few questions about a geocaching project that I am putting together.

My first question is who got you involved with geocaching and how didthey show it to you?

Do you promote geocaching for other people? If so then what do you tellothers to go do it?

How has geocaching changed who you are?

What changes do you experience within yourself after a day of geocaching?

How would you describe the spirit of geocaching?

Is there a spirituality that is a part of geocaching? If so then what would itentail?

Is there a collective consciousness in geocaching?

How do you see individual geocachers as being connected?

Do see any similarities between the role of a geocacher in the wildernessand the role a hero in myth? If so then what?

I really appreciate your answers. Ill make sure to send you some pictures ofthe geocache I setup over here in RI.

2. Paul Gillin and Dana Gillin, The Joy of Geocaching: How to Find Health, Happiness andCreative Energy Through a Worldwide Treasure Hunt (Fresno, CA: Quill Driver Books,

2010), 5.


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april 28, 2010

I never heard back from David and I dont think I will. I decided

to email a batch of geocachers with finds over 500. I also de-cided to cut down the number of questions. Here are the ques-tions: 1. How would you describe the spirit of geocaching? 2.How do you relate to other geocachers? 3. How does geocach-ing change you? Here are a few of the responses I received:

This was a response from geocacher peasinapod (rank: 16 of85,000).

Hi Frederick,

Question 1. I think the spirit of geocaching is rooted in adventure. Ad-venture comes in the form of discovering new places, new challenges andnew people. We are a curious sort that tends to always want to see what isaround the next corner.

Question 2. Other cachers are fellow adventurers that we dont need tocompete against necessarily. I would rather work with than against anothercacher. It is a social game with no prizes other than cheap bragging rightswhich takes away most (but not all) of the competitive nature of most similaractivities. We are, for the most part, a mellow crowd. I see other cachers a s

friends that have a common interest.

Question 3. I look at the world now as a giant playground. I see every-thing as a potential hiding spot and every day as a potential play day. My

job as a pilot allows me to travel to lots of different cities (playgrounds) andgets me out of my hotel room. I walk a lot more now and use every day toits fullest to find more caches. My wife says I am obsessed. 18,000 cacheslater....maybe I am.

Good luck on your study.

Ray

Peasinapod

This was a response from geocacher sole seaker (rank: 121 of85,000).

1. Hard to put this into words. But I will say the spirit of geocaching isthe enthusiasm it brings to everyone. The challenge to be FTF or just thechallenge to find the cache.


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2. Other geocachers have really become my family. We keep in touchwith each other and enjoy our get togethers like family reunions.

3. Geocaching has given me more purpose. It has provided me withincentive to get outdoors and reap the benefits of exercise. Ive done muchlonger hikes than I thought I ever would, or could, do. It has also taken meto many, many places I would never have seen otherwise.

Hope this helps your project.

Bob (sole seeker)

This was the very efficient response from geocacher kwvers!(rank: 23 of 85,000).

How would you describe the spirit of geocaching?

friendly,competitive,challenging,rewarding

How do you relate to other geocachers?

Always have something to talk about

How does geocaching change you?

promotes interaction,willing to try physical challenges, encourages physicalstamina

Geocaching clearly lives in the world of locative media. My the-sis work is also within this realm but is predominantly art basedas opposed to just experience. In an article for the journalLeon-ardo Drew Hemment says of locative art that is must exceedthe sterile precision of its own axiomatic system, it needs to actupon or through material bodies and substances, engage in the

ambiguity, dirt, sweat and smells of the world.3

My project usesthese attributes inherent to any location to craft a unique brainstate in each person. Hemment describes an entire taxonomy oflocative arts with the categories: mapping, geo-annotation, andambulant. While describing geo-annotation Hemment comparesparticipants to the cursor - navigating digital media located inthe world.4

3. Drew. Hemment, Locative Arts,Leonardo 39, no. 4 (2006): 354.

4. Ibid., 350.


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The nature of mixed-reality is a part of locative media projectsand is demonstrated well in geocaching. The GPS is the mean

by which geocachers become cursors. They arent quite tak-ing advantage of the fact that they exist in the two worlds atonce. It is as if they are just using technology to augment theirexperience in reality rather than experiencing the two worldssimultaneously. My project uses that natural world more as atool to craft the state of mind and technology to not augmentbut just to be a part of the world they are navigating. Hemmentcites works that create their own reality by folding the virtual,physical, data space, and geographical space.5 I believe it is the

narrative in my work that creates the reality for my participants.Geocaching is a mission with a beginning and an end the struc-ture is does not create its own reality. Instead I believe that thecommunity that geocaching is a part of creates its own reality.The geocaching website filled with comments, log entries, andphotos creates a layer of reality overlaid on top of society. Somegeocachers even go as far as to call non-geocachers mugglesfrom the alternate reality from Harry Potter. My work doesntrely on an explicit online community to create its reality, but

instead on its structure.

5. Ibid., 354.


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ships logs + treasure hunting

// taylor zajoncMy cousin Taylor Zajonc works for a treasure hunting companybased out of Washington State. We grew up on opposite sidesof the country, me in Tampa, FL and he in Spokane, WA. Irarely saw him growing up until he moved to my home city totake a job with a treasure hunting company (Odyssey Marine),at which his father already worked. His father, Guy is a lawyerby training and few years prior to working at Odyssey began

working for various other sea exploration and recovery com-panies, chasing the myths of the Titanic, Amelia Earhart, andtreasure filled battleships. While growing up the next wreckthat Guy was looking for / salvaging / filming was always bignews in my family.

Back to Taylor I thought that his accounts could help medevelop not only an understanding of treasure hunting but aconnection to it as well.

march 15, 2010

Upon adopting a logbook style for the written thesis I foundout quickly I didnt really know much about them. I wanted tosee what real ships logbooks looked like, particularly the olderones. The most exciting logbooks to me are those that detailthe exploration of uncharted territory. I felt like these wouldrelate most to my thesis work. I believed that by learning about

the contents of real ships logs I could better understand theirpurpose and figure out some of the subtle motivations behindexploration and adventure. I wanted to know what makespeople want to hunt for treasure or explore the unknown. Wasthere anything else besides glory, fame, and money? Perhapsit has something to do with human nature? Finally I wanted to


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know what happens to these journeymen after their quest hasfinished. Could they be serendipitous adventurers searching to

become heroes?1

To aid in my investigation into logbooks I decided to call Taylorwho used to work for the treasure hunting company Odys-sey Marine Exploration, a company responsible for hundredsof millions of dollars worth of findings in the last decade. Theyeven had a show about them on Discovery Channel TreasureQuest. He was a researcher for them with the task of lookingfor potential shipwrecks in maritime archives. A primary part

of his job was in fact reading ships logs. He currently works foranother treasure hunting company out of Washington State andlives near the National Archives in DC.

Before I gave Taylor a call I read through some of the morepopular ships logs. The logs that caught my eye first were thoseof the Arctic explorers. One of the most prevalent of these isthat of British Naval Officer Robert Falcon Scott during the TerraNova Expedition. This was a race against Norway through the

uncharted Arctic to the geographical South Pole.2

Two mo-mentous entries that I found show Scotts style of writing andstructure:

Tuesday, January 16. Camp 68. Height 9760. T. -23.5. The worst has hap-pened, or nearly the worst ... we started off in high spirits in the afternoon,feeling that to-morrow would see us at our destination. About the secondhour of the March, Bowers sharp eyes detected what he thought was acairn; ... Half an hour later he detected a black speck ahead ... We marchedon, found that it was a black flag tied to a sledge bearer; near by theremains of a camp; sledge tracks and ski tracks going and coming and theclear trace of dogs pawsmany dogs. This told us the whole story. TheNorwegians have forestalled us and are first at the Pole. It is a terrible disap-pointment, and I am very sorry for my loyal companions ... To-morrow wemust march on to the Pole and then hasten home with all the speed we cancompass. All the day dreams must go; it will be a wearisome return.3

1.Joseph Campbell and the Power of Myth (6pc) [VHS](Mystic Fire Video, 1998).2. The British Library > Virtual books, The British Library Online Gallery, n.d., http://www.bl.uk/onlinegallery/virtualbooks/index.html.3. Rober Falcon Scott, Diaries of Robert Falcon Scott, The British Library Online Gallery,n.d., 35, http://ttpdownload.bl.uk/app_files/silverlight/default.html?id=12878B6A-36B9-

44DB-A940-365B21BFE524.


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Since the 21st we have had a continuous gale from W.S.W. and S.W. Wehad fuel to make two cups of tea apiece and bare food for two days on the20th. Every day we have been ready to start for our depot 11 miles away,

but outside the door of the tent it remains a scene of whirling drift. I do notthink we can hope for any better things now. We shall stick it out to the end,but we are getting weaker, of course, and the end cannot be far.

It seems a pity, but I do not think I can write more.

For Gods look after our people4

After more digging, I found a plethora of material in relationto ships logs ranging from elaborate illustrations like those

in Captain Watsons Travels in America to straightforwardaccounts by date like those in The May-flower and Her Log.With the huge range of documents I was able to find it becameclear that to I needed some guidance. I called Taylor. He firsttold me about Mystic Seaport Museum of America and the Seaand their huge archive of logbooks, among other manuscripts,digitized online. The passion he had for seafarer narrativesbecame immediately clear when talking to him. He mentionedthat there were a variety of log types from a variety of types

of people at sea. He made special mention of narratives thatrecounted of stories around Florida where we had both lived fora while. Taylor unfortunately had to end the conversation early,and promised he would call later.

After speaking with him I looked through the archives from theMystic Seaport Museum of America. They had an online da-tabase with hundreds scanned logbooks, journals, and letters.5All of the material I looked at were manuscripts that had been

transcribed. Many of the logbooks were divided into columns.There were often headings entitled wind speed, bearing,sightings, time. These columns would typically be followedby a description of the days accounts. Most of the time thelogbooks were written by one person. The author had a greatamount of leeway as to how much they should divulge on pa-

4. Ibid., 39.5. Mystic Seaport: Digital Library Subject Listing,Mystic Seaport: The Museum of

America and the Sea, n.d., http://library.mysticseaport.org/initiative/SubjectList.cfm.


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per. There was everything from poems to days condensed intosmall phrases. Fine Day - but a head Wind. The Captains Wife

Presented him, with a fine son yesterday afternoon.6

One winters morn in a suny bayA noble ship at anchor layHer signal gay now floats on highWhich tells her sailing time is nighFor from A foreign Land their cameGreat tales of welth with none to claimFrom month to month the storys toldThat California filled with Gold7

It was intriguing reading the logbooks. It wasnt anything likea novel. I wasnt sure if anything was going to happen at all.There wasnt any plot or adventure that was set in motion.Nonetheless in the authors reveled in the details. Even fromthe most sparse entries one could appreciate the anecdotes offresh fish or a passing ships. Every logbook had some mentionof storms, hardships, and rewards. It seemed like adventure wasinevitable for these sailors.

march 22, 2010

I talked with Taylor for a second time today. Instead of talkingabout ship logbooks I decided to interview him on his treasurehunting process.

april 15, 2010

It has been a little while since I talked with my cousin Taylor.I am not sure what has sunk in since I interviewed him on histreasure hunting process, but I will try to recount our conversa-tion from notes and then explain how his words have affectedme.

6. Benjamin Bailey, Logbook, 1849,Mystic Seaport: The Museum of Amer-ica and the Sea, n.d., 42, http://library.mysticseaport.org/initiative/PageText.cfm?PageNum=42&BibID=31716.7. William Lord Stevens, Logbook, 1849-1850,Mystic Seaport: The Museum of

America and the Sea, n.d., 2, http://library.mysticseaport.org/initiative/PageText.

cfm?PageNum=2&BibID=33158.


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I began by asking Taylor what motivates companies like the twohe has worked for in the past to look for treasure. He mentioned

words like ego, big dog, greed, and money. I asked him whyhe works for companies like this. Its about finding somethingleft behind. He tells me its about solving a puzzle. Whether isfinding a potential ship or locating a specific ship you spendsix months living and breathing one project your mission is tolearn everything about the ship.8 Taylor tells me he is alwaysbrutally honest when researching shipwrecks. It is tempting tolie to yourself when looking for treasure. It is often better tocut your losses then to chase a dream. Is a pessimistic treasure

hunter not a contradiction? Looking for treasure is a guidedendeavor. Inherent to the nature of treasure is the difficulty inobtaining it. So it really is like putting together a puzzle onethat can only come from the parsing of records, logs, journals,and of course scientific evidence.

I ended by asking Taylor How has searching for treasurechanged you? He sidestepped the question the first time Iasked it and then didnt really answer the question the second

time. However, reflecting on the answer he did give, I think herevealed some interesting aspects of why he does what he does.He said one of the most thrilling things he did while growing upwas scuba diving in the Bermuda Triangle. He said it changedhim forever. I expect it had to do with the stories of the Bermu-da Triangle and the inherent danger from merely being there.It seems this experience was the catalyst that set Taylor off todiscover the mysteries of the sea.

discoveries

An article in Cabinet magazine by Margaret Cohen entitledFluid States outlines an exciting notion that relates the life ofa sea captain to that of an artist. Both are continually modifyingtheir craft in response to scientific advancement. She cites anexample of Captain James Cook saving his crew because of theclose relationship between his craft and know-how as opposed

8. Taylor Zajonc, telephone interview with author, March 22, 2010.


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to know-that (the knowledge of philosophers and scientists).9To demonstrate the difference between the two she tells the

story of a sea captain who could tell his heading from migrationpaths of turtles (know-how). This craft was replaced by scienceonce it came up with a solution to find ones proper headingmechanically. Merely knowing that a machine can guide youaccurately destroys the craft.

Craft relies on the collective knowledge of a crew or comes fromthe assimilated wisdom passed on verbally or through logbooksand journals. Cohen says that the partial knowledge of a situ-

ation is often the only thing that artists and sea captains haveto base decisions and create works. The artist too is a crafts-man skilled in the knowledge of a collective, wielding art as atechnology to navigate partial knowledge.10 In my thesis I amleading people to a collective of brain states captured in flicker-ing orbs. This collective resembles the outcomes gained fromapplying ones craft. I am giving people partial knowledge ofthe path they must follow to go from tipi to tipi. The cell phonepictures they receive are like the migration paths of turtles to

follow instead of the machine that leads you blindly to the goal.By completing each journey the collective grows with accumu-lated know how by participants.

9. Margaret Cohen, Fluid States, Cabinet 16: The Sea(Cabinet, 2005), 76.

10. Ibid., 82.


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magic


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sacred architecture // chris bertoniI first heard of Chris Bertoni from a Digital+Media classmate,Miguel Elizalde. He took a class of hers called Addressing theSacred. He said she had an infinitely wise and generous souland that the class was one the most significant classes he hadever taken. Im paraphrasing, but it was pretty close to that. Ithought, wow I really wish I had taken that class instead of this3D modeling course.

However, one day while going to my 3D modeling course I

saw a note on the door about a meditation and mindfulnessmini series with Wayne Assing, who by the way has an entiresection in this book. After talking with Wayne after the secondsession he mentioned that I should really meet with Chris aboutmy project. Later that day I had a meeting with my thesis chairDaniel Peltz, who also has a section in this book. He also saidI should meet with Chris. It was about time I emailed her. OnFebruary 18, I emailed Chris and asked if I could meet withyou sometime in the next two weeks to talk about Jung and

some of the topics from your addressing the sacred class in rela-tion to my thesis. Chris gets back to me the same day and saidshe would be happy to speak with [me].

Little did I know that this meeting with her would shape myentire written thesis, and probably many of the aspects of myphysical work as well. I went into the meeting without any ques-tions to explicitly ask. Instead I chose to bring up a few subjectsand see where she took them. I described my work at a point

I felt appropriate and then noted what she thought about it. Ifelt like I gained so much more from talking with Chris then byemailing her and asking for sources then researching peopleI could never talk to. I showed this entry to my writing advi-sor Jen Liese and came up with a writing structure based onencounters with people.


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march 2, 2010

I talked with Chris Bertoni today. She had some interesting

things to say about my thesis project. A pivotal moment inour conversation occurred when she commented that the tipiwas like a temple. I described the tipi as two people on thefloor, slightly separated from each other. My goal is to bringpeople together inside this pyramid-like structure. They can usethe experience to reach a new way of thinking together. Shedescribed the apex of the tipi as an axis mundi, a gateway toanother realm.

I thought I knew what an axis mundi might be although I mustadmit I wasnt quite sure while speaking with Chris. What Iimagined it as while talking with her was some point wheretwo worlds touch and one can traverse, or transcend, betweenthem. Wikipedia search confirmed I wasnt too far off. The nameMircea Eliade was strewn about the Wikipedia article and Chrishad also mentioned his name as someone which I should defi-nitely research. So, I did.

Images and Symbols by Mircea Eliade speak exactly to many ofthe concepts I have been working on in my project. The sectionon which he speaks about the idea of axis mundi is Symbolismof Ascension. This is a section in the chapter Symbolism of theCentre both ideas very interesting in their own respect. Hedescribes the center of archaic dwellings to often be in line witha cosmic axis.1 As an example, Eliade describes a yurt with aslit in the center of its roof pointing to the Pole Star. The slitis used as a gateway for giving an offering to a higher realm.

During such an offering the dwelling becomes the center of theworld from the perspective of the inhabitant. Eliade describes aCosmic Mountain or staircase as positioned in the center of allthings as pivotal to various initiation ceremonies. While climb-ing the mountain one passes from the unreal to the real andtranscends to a new level of being.2

1. Mircea Eliade,Images and Symbols (Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press, 1991), 48.

2. Ibid., 51.


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Although I did not know of the term axis mundi, this idea of agateway to worlds is precisely what I meant when choosing the

tipi shape in my thesis work. Perhaps it is the axis mundi thatbrings the participants within the tipi together. The people inthe tipi transcend into the new world through the apex or axis,whichever you want to call it, and find a point of connection.The place where they find connection is a place whose purposeis to forgo chaos. It is a place that has an inner agency, unlikethe natural world. The inner agency stems from the intent of thetwo participants in the tipi, and the specifics of their intent arewhat defines the behaviors this new-formed shared universe.


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wayne assing // meditationWayne Assing is the director of Student Development andCounseling Services at RISD. The first time I heard about himwas early in the Fall semester from Daniel Peltz who mentionedthat Assing was bringing in a colleague of his from Portland togive a lecture on Jungian Perspective on Dreams, Play, and theCreative Self. I didnt have a chance to meet Assing in personuntil he began a workshop entitled Mindfulness and Medita-tion Mini-Series. Here he led meditations supplemented withreadings and topics for contemplation.

january 5, 2010

My first experience with formal meditation was with Wayne. Ihad seen a simple flyer on a door to the RISD Industrial De-sign building, advertising the session. I went to the RISD EwingHouse for the meeting at 12:15 on a Friday afternoon. Therewas a large room with chairs and sofas, which looked like itused to be the homes living room. One entire wall was a gi-

ant window going up to the vaulted ceiling, revealing a smallgarden outside. I sat down on a sofa amongst the 7 or 8 otherpeople there. To begin, Wayne had everyone introduce them-selves to the group. He then read a poem and rang a bell toget things started. For the first 10 minutes he told people whatto do. He would tell us how to breathe, what to think, how tosit. He often repeated what he said and told us to repeat thingsto ourselves: Breathe in what comes into your mind and thenbreathe it out.

At first I could feel my eyes twitching and hear the blood flow-ing in my head. The most noticeable difference was about 15minutes in when I could no longer sense these things. My eyeswere relaxed and all I could hear was my breath. After allow-ing thoughts to leave my mind as quickly as they had enteredI felt more aware of the present moment. I felt like my mindwas more focused, and in the moment it was focused almostcompletely on my breath. Even after the meditation, I acknowl-


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edged the presence of my daily concerns, but felt a confidencethat I could breathe them out when I needed to. I was able to

place my mind in the present rather than have it wander theresults of possible causalities. This feeling of self-control lastedfor a few hours, but seemed to dissipate a little bit each day. Idecided I would try to nurture meditation in my life, in order toregain a sense of control.

At the end of the session Wayne said something that strucka chord with me. He said that anyone has the ability to leadthese types of sessions. I already knew I wanted to incorporate

contemplation into my thesis project. The type of contemplationI had known prior to my first meditation with Wayne was of hik-ing alone in the woods, or even while driving. After the session,I felt even stronger about the incorporation of a contemplativespace into my thesis work.

I began to see the possibilities for contemplation within naturewith a bit of technology thrown into the mix. I thought aboutmeditation as typically a very individualistic ordeal. What about

connecting people somehow while meditating? People are oftenconnected virtually while doing very active things like emailing,gaming, and just living life. When people are trying to emptythe thoughts inside them instead of animating them is a connec-tion even possible? Perhaps this is how technology can help.The connection would have to be done unconsciously. If it weredone consciously, then the mind might be too active and medi-tation might not be possible.

This is how I came up with the idea of using brainwave entrain-ment. People can meditate and connect at the same time. Bymeditating on a flashing light and pulsating sound, one can freethe mind while getting in tuned to someone else. Brainwavesensors pickup the electromagnetic waves generated by thebrain while meditating. An entrainment pattern is created forthe flashing light and sound source equal to the original brain-waves. The entrainment

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