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ITP Thesis Midterm Presentation - Memory Vending Machine
- 1. MEMORY VENDING MACHINE NATALIE TSCHECHANIUK ITP THESIS MIDTERM PRESENTATION MARCH 4, 2014
- 2. MY STORY
- 3. MY STORY
- 4. MEMORY VENDING MACHINE • Site Specific • Vending Machine • Audio Collection of Personal Histories • Participatory
- 5. CITY OF PEOPLE Jason Polan, Every Person in New York blog
- 6. CITY OF CHANGE Vacated by Justin Blinder, a commission by More Art for Envision NY 2017
- 7. INSPIRATION AND CONTEXT Interactive ad on bus stop Original City Hall subway station Parking garage periscope
- 8. INSPIRATION AND CONTEXT Janet Cardiff Her Long Black Hair 2004 StoryCorps oral history project
- 9. INSPIRATION AND CONTEXT Jeremiah’s Vanishing New York blog “a bitterly nostalgic look at a city in the process of going extinct” Museum of the Phantom City “…transforms the city into a living museum”
- 10. STORYBOARD
- 11. STORYBOARD
- 12. STORYBOARD
- 13. STORYBOARD
- 14. STORYBOARD
- 15. STORYBOARD
- 16. BUILD Outside: Inside: Speaker for sound + Microcontroller handles everything Printer for souvenir
- 17. PROTOTYPE BUILD • Arduino • Processing • Laptop • 6 Buttons • 6 WAV files • Thermal Printer
- 18. EXTERIOR • Replace Graphic Design • Describe Project • Provide Information
- 19. CONTENT Initially: • Interviews to Collect Personal Histories • Range of Experiences and Contributors • Set the Tone of the Project Ongoing: • Users Contribute Via Voicemail Database • I Edit and Make Available
- 20. POST THESIS WEEK
- 21. NEW YORKERS LOVE NEW YORK No matter how long you have been here, you are a New Yorker the first time you say, That used to be Munsey’s, or That used to be the Tic Toc Lounge. –Colson Whitehead, The Colossus of New York
- 23. QUESTIONS • Potential pitfalls? • Reactions to using the words “vending machine” in the project title? • Suggestions for getting the attention of potential users? • Suggestions for collecting relevant narrative – better to ask specific questions or get stories to come out in conversation?
Editor's Notes
- Good Afternoon. My name is Natalie Tschechaniuk and today I'm going to present my thesis project, Memory Vending Machine.
- Before I tell you about my project, I'd like to tell a short story. When I moved to New York 10 years ago, I lived on the Upper West Side in a sprawling apartment owned by my friend's parents. I relied on the 1/9 train, there was a stop just a block away. I hated taking the 1/9 - the stops are so close together, those IRT cars are so narrow, it felt crowded and slow and I longed for the day when I would live in Brooklyn and could leave this line behind.
- Then, in May of 2005 the MTA discontinued the 9 train. While I didn't care about that train at all and I knew this change wouldn't effect my commute, I remember thinking even though I hadn't been in New York for very long I had already experienced a part of the city that was about to become history.
- Memory Vending Machine is a site-specific installation. It's a vending machine that holds a collection of personal histories of the city, stories about places and things that have changed or no longer exist. At the press of a button, these histories are dispensed as audio for anyone passing by to hear. At the end of the story, a souvenir card prints out - a reminder of the experience. The machine also accepts contributions through a simple voicemail database.
- New York is a city of its people. There is an undeniable energy that emerges from so many lives being lived so close together. When we share our personal histories we honor the natural curiosity we have about each other and we reject the idea that to live here you have to ignore what's going on around you. Our experience offers a unique perspective of this city.
- New York is also a city of change. Instead of expanding outward it's continually erasing and replacing itself - tearing down, building up, tearing down again. Everyone, newcomers and old-timers, tourists and born-and-bred New Yorkers, are part of that change. The Memory Vending Machine acknowledges this participation and offers a chance to contribute our own lived histories to others and to the City itself.
- When I began this process, I was looking to create a project that would encourage people to look up and take notice, engage with their environment, and learn something. But both the form and content eluded me, so I started to research. For inspiration on form I looked to exhibition design, advertising,and public art. On the content side I wanted to explore a topic connected to New York so I started to talk with people about their own experiences here and what they find interesting. I also researched those hidden in plain view parts of the city.
- This process led me to consider developing a more personal project - one built around the inclination to fill in the gaps about people and places around us, a desire to know more about this city in which we live.I felt a vending machine was a suitable form for this content because it's tied to a place and it offers what you need just when you need it. The Memory Vending Machine doesn't contain everything there is to know, but it can give you a story that satisfies your curiosity in that moment.
- I was particularly inspired by the work of Janet Cardiff, Storycorps, Jeremiah's Vanishing New York blog and the Museum of the Phantom City project
- Now I'll take you through a storyboard that depicts the interaction I'm trying to achieve:
- The Memory Vending Machine sits in a specific place, in this scenario near the corner of Flatbush and DeKalb avenues in Brooklyn. The stories in the machine are relevant to that particular place.
- Anyone on the street can access the content of the machine, you don't have to have a particular device or any specific knowledge. The familiar form slightly out of context is meant to grab the attention of people as they pass by.
- People select the story by pressing a button.
- Once selected, the story begins to play out loud from a speaker on the front of the machine. The listener can literally look around and see the change that is being described. At the conclusion, a souvenir card unique to that personal history prints out.
- Anyone can contribute his or her own history to the machine by calling a phone number and leaving a message. The stories are then edited and made available.Having heard this story, the listener walks away with a different perspective of this place.
- For thesis week I plan to have a repurposed vending machine stocked with relevant content.This is my vending machine. The only part of the machine I'll be using are the buttons, which I intend to wire to a micro controller. The input from a button press will trigger a unique sound file to play. The micro controller will also be connected to a printer.
- Right now, I have a simple setup using Arduino and Processing and with six buttons on a breadboard. Each button triggers an audio file and then prints a receipt. I hope to take the laptop out of this configuration and allow the micro controller to handle the entire process.
- On the outside, I intend to completely alter the graphic design in order to identify and describe the project. I will also replace the graphic content of the buttons with information about the narrative.
- The starter content will be seeded by me. I intend to conduct interviews to collect personal histories that represent a range of experiences. By soliciting and editing the initial content myself, I can set the tone of the project which will give users who choose to contribute their own histories a model to either work within or push against.
- Post Thesis Week I'd like to install the project in its intended location, which has yet to be determined. I see the Memory Vending Machine connecting to organizations like the Museum of the City of New York and I intend to explore opportunities for collaboration.
- New Yorkers love talking about New York. We love to be an authority on the city, even if we only know one corner. The Memory Vending Machine is a chance for anyone who feels a connection to the city to contribute their own authority, personal history, lived experience to others. It's an opportunity for a new perspective about the people and places familiar to us.