Instruction sets for strangers in Astor place

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Instruction sets for strangersin Astor place

• Drew, Sidney, Sun

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Astor Place History

• Astor place is in the old un-gridded part of NYC
• It was named for John Jacob Astor after his death
  in 1848 he was the richest man in US at time.
• - Astor place riot of 1849
• Spurred by protests against a British actor,
  William Charles Macready, in Macbeth at the Astor
  Place Theatre
• This was a class conflict when anti-British
  sentiments where high during Irish potato famine.

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Alamo Sculpture

• Installed in 1967, the sculpture is commonly
  called the Cube.
• Its named the Alamo because Tony Rosenthals
  wife commented it was as impenetrable as the San
  Antonio Alamo
• One of four similar cubes. Others in Ann-Arbor
  (sunk into the base, no platform, see pic),
  Miami FL, Hamilton OH
• Cube is 3000lbs

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Astor Place Site Precedents

• Graffiti Research Lab LED Throwies
  http//graffitiresearchlab.com/?page_id17
• All Too Flat Rubiks Cube simply applied
  card-board to the sides of the cube to make it a
  rubiks cube. http//www.youtube.com/watch?vy8XNK
  njQ-9Q
• Astor Playa, Burning Man temporary building of
  Astor Place. http//www.openplans.org/projects/ast
  or-playa/
• References
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Astor_Place_Riot
• http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alamo_28sculpture29
  
• http//www.everything2.com/index.pl?nodeCooper20
  Cube http//www.tonyrosenthal.com/CubeEndover.htm
• http//www.openplans.org/projects/astor-playa/

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Will you take our picture

• Will you take our picture how it would work
• - This project would target people using the site
  as a meeting point those waiting for others to
  join them.
• - It looks at the interaction of asking someone
  to take your picture at a site.
• - This project could happen around lunch (12-2)
  or in the late afternoon (4-6).
• - Group members would be acting as tourists
  (Astor place enthusiasts perhaps wearing Astor
  Place t-shirts).
• - People seen waiting on the squared would be ask
  if they would take our picture.
• - They will ask how we should post.
• - They will then be given a small cube with a URL
  where pictures will be posted

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Will you take our picture

• Benefits
• - This project plays with two existing
  populations currently using the Alamo space.
• - Because people are waiting for someone, they
  may be more inclined to do something to use the
  interim time.
• - People will hopefully be challenged to think
  about the role of tourists in New York.
• Issues
• - People are naturally wary of being approached
  for anything on the street. There would have to
  be a balancing of aggressiveness, but being
  approached for a picture is a pretty acceptable
  way to being interacting with strangers.
• - For people to really understand the
  project, theyd have to get on the
• website.

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Spinning - Light
- Become lighter - Number sign
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http//www.designboom.com/contest/view.php?contest
_pk19item_pk17291p1

• spiral

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http//www.jasonbruges.com/
wind to light
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Fog Effects 1

• Someone around the cube starts to smoke,
• fog is emerging

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Fog Effects 2

• Fog effect(Dryice) lazer or LED (Position)
• Low powered Visible Laser Diodes (VLDs) and
  Helium Neon (HeNe) lasers

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Shadow clock

• For waiting people
• Make zone of hour

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Shadow clock

• For waiting people
• Make zone of hour
• People used to sit in the shadow
• -gt their sitting area shows time
• Positive
• - people can easily know what time it is and how
  much time they spend for waiting
• - fun to watch shadow-gt not boring during
  waiting
• Difficult
• hard to do in cloudy and rainy day

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Precedents

• TIME CURTAIN by Soner Ozenc
• Ozencs Time Curtain is a transparent piece of
  hanging fabric that displays the time in
  elecroluminescent LED-style numbers.

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Leaving Messages_Magnet pieces
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• March 8 2005

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Iced Cube
On Tuesday, the Astor Place Cube that sits and
spins and shades skate punks, mysteriously
disappeared. One day it was there, and the next,
"The Alamo" was goneall 2,500 pounds of it. Was
Brooke Astor bored? Did the sculpture's spinning
attract derelict dervishes? Did its matte black
rigidity clash with Gwathmey Siegel's sparkling
glass curtain and undulating curves? A few
reactionsand a revelation Tobias Fields, a
local yoga teacher, was visibly moved by the
cube's absence. "Moving art is a positive thing
for the city. 'Moving' in the sense that it took
two people to turn the cube on its axis. Not
moving it in the 'taking it away'
sense." Conspiracy theory seemed to prevail
among a small group gathered close to the
abandoned bicycles. "Look, my friend once wrote
"NO WAR" on the cube, and it was huge, and they
just painted right over it, so come on, why would
they need to take it away to 'fix' it? Ooh, I'm
going to make a documentary about this for my
class," said NYU student Sarah Hoit. Another
take "Cleaning? No. I believe someone stole it.
Well, a bunch of people, since it was heavy. It's
sad. Someone should call the Ghostbusters,"
offered local resident Domingo Milella who
brought his companion, Giorgia Gambone, a tourist
from Florence, Italy to see the empty spot. "I've
never seen it, but I'm sad too, "she added. "We
rushed here. It's a shock. Jerry Delakas
presides over Astor Place from his newsstand.
And, in his heavily-accented, gravelly
mutterings, he set things straight. "That cube
has no competition. It comes 1. They took it
away. 60 days. They'll bring it back. People are
disappointed. This is what I call a piece of
landmark. I'm going into the hospital tomorrow.
Don't call me. I give this information to the
people as part of my business. I give newspapers.
I give information. It's business. It will be
back. I will be back."Parks Department officials
confirmed Jerry's pronouncement. About the cube
being taken away for cleaning. They didn't
comment on his medical condition.
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Leaving Messages_Magnet pieces
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Leaving Messages_Magnet pieces

• For leaving messages and for fun
• Make magnetic pieces
• People can attach or take out pieces -gt express
  anything!!
• Positive
• - people can easily play with
• - cube wont get dirty
• Difficult
• people can take pieces away

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Leaving Messages_Magnet pieces

• For fun and make interactions between people
• Make Rubiks cube with magnetic pieces
• People will recognize it and play with it.
• Try to make one side same color or make all
  things messed up
• Positive
• - people can easily play with
• - more interaactions
• Difficult
• people can take pieces away

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Leaving Messages_ respond by heat

• For fun and make interactions between people
• Make Rubiks cube with magnetic pieces
• People will recognize it and play with it.
• Try to make one side same color or make all
  things messed up
• Positive
• - people can easily play with
• - more interaactions
• Difficult
• people can take pieces away

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Precedents

• Karim Rashid
• Chromazone... heat sensitivepolymer

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• Studio HiMom.jp / Jeroen Bruls Krijn
  Christiaansen
• WHAT is it?? a bikefence with airpump(Heklucht),
  type Ypenburg The product has been conceived for
  an art project in Ypenburg (a newly build
  neighbourhood in the Netherlands). Eight products
  will be placed in front of eight houses. The goal
  of the project is to stimulate an interaction
  between neighbours, while pumping up the tyres of
  their bicycles. The hurdle is made out of
  polished stainless steel. Because of this, it
  shines like a jewel on the grey pavement.
  Available in every color.
• http//www.himom.jp/heklucht/
• A Village landmark goes missingby Jennifer
  SnowMarch 8th, 2005 834 PM