Etc Portal to Contamination

etc filter as an entry point, to look into rejected space and this action can be a starting point

An etc filter as an entry point/door to address/look into negative space/rejected space which can be a starting point, yet to be defined.

overview

In the beginning, Gersande's(G) interest in the rejection list was 'rejection as a starting point', and Chae(C)'s was: 'rejection as a turning point-a trigger for an action/a change/a different direction'.
C was stuck with the word, 'et cetera' because:
1) MICHEL FOUCAULT Order of Things (Preface)
2) C was curious to know what goes under this ambiguous category, et cetera(and others) boundary.
G's interest started from the work of an AI researcher, Sennay Gebhreab.
As C and G were learning how to analyze/process txt. files and categorize/structurize using NLTK functions for several weeks, C and G thought what if we shine a light on the usage of 'etc.' which is usually neglected in text and dialogues. With an intention to see 'et cetera' as a negative space, C and G invite ppl to negative space where concept/a word/.../ resides, and encourage readers to imagine what concept/a word/.../ is under that space in an attempt to reflect our way of talking, our way of categorizing and our way of writing text.

week 7, 1st of November / Prototyping

During the class, Manetta and Michael introduced us to the concept of corpora and filter. C and G were in a group (cuz we were sitting next to each other(=´∀｀)人(´∀｀=)) and we started a discussion about our interest in regards to the topic of 'rejection'. G mentioned Sennay Gebhreab(will be filled in) who focuses on the racial bias in A.I. and the relation between colonialism and technology.(maybe not correct.. G, plz feel free to edit) C talked about her fascination with the 'other' category and et cetera.

During the class, Manetta helped C and G to write code that goes through the NLTK corpus('mobydick', 'pride and prejudice', etc.)

etc filter

C and G's intention was:
1) make a et cetera & co filter
2) to give readers a context, not only print/return the target sentence(a sentence that contains etc.) but also print/return previous and next to the target sentence
3) ...(to be continued...)

here are some snippets from G and C's Jupyter notebook.

from nltk.corpus import Gutenberg
gutenberg.fileids()
print(body)
counter = 0 etcetera = ['et cetera', ' etc ', ' etc.', '...', '[...]', 'and-so-on', 'and-so-forth', 'and others', 'et al.', 'and all the rest', 'and on and on', 'along with others']

for sentence in body:

   for cet in etcetera:
       sentence_str = " ".join(sentence)
       sentence_punc = sentence_str.replace(" ,", ",").replace(" .", ".").replace(" ;", ";")
       
       if cet in sentence_punc:
           prev_sentence = body[counter - 1]
           target_sentence = sentence_punc
           nex_sentence = body[counter + 1]
           print(prev_sentence, target_sentence, nex_sentence)
           print('______')

Our first result was this: ...(to be continued...)

week 8, 8th of November / Prototyping

Before class

before the prototyping class, G and C had a meeting about what they thought about et cetera. This meeting was a brainstorming session for both of us. Here is the list of keywords that C and G talked:

• cut-ups
• filters
• functions(adj)
• etc rebuilder
• Jane Austen flirting tool
• time-saving tool
• incomplete info, infinite list of things
• direction that is continuous (like and...)
• do we see etc. or others categories in a contemporary context?

During class

G and C learned how to make input-etc etherpad and output-etc etherpad using API!! C IS SUPER EXCITED ABOUT THIS METHOD.

Input Etc
Output Etc

week 8, 9th of November / Class with Cristina

After having a check-in moment and group discussion with Cristina from 10:00 - 17:30(!!), G and C agreed on the following things:

1) filter etc & co
→ synonyms
→ gate to the negative space
in notebook/logbook (Jupyter-like layout),

2) Run the filter etc & co
→ use the filter to find negative space in content online(things that we wrote in etherpads, NLTK corpora, references gathered by XPUB1 and Cristina, Steve, Manetta, and Michael)

3) yet-to-be-named-publication
→ physical publication
→ annotations/updates can go back to the notebook
→ logbook as intro
→ the instructions
→ negative space waiting to be filled

4) And others(Mainly documentation)
→ track and tracing nomadic publication
→ C and G delivery service, pick-up
→ hand-to-hand
→ last reader/author chooses the next one

...back to number 1), full circle ⥀

week 8, 13th of November / meeting at C's house

for the proposal to the group meeting on the 16th of Tuesday, C and G had a meeting. Then came to these points(yet these points are still draft):

1/ What is the content?
A step-by-step journey in our research Gather SI16 Research (since September: Pads, Glossary, Prototype) → edit research Picking and gathering in the field of thoughts, our vernacular content, our fragmented yet somewhat related contents

2.1/ Editorial Process
The online and printed publications are two sides of the same publication, they do not echo each-other but complete one another. (publish content that is more suitable for online goes online) Make a research-catalogue/reader (a printed-part and an online one that can be filled in different ways). (ex: the space try-out platform where everyone can add comments on the screen-content)

Both printed&online publications should have a negative space/blanks for the public to fill-in —> enable different publics/ways to interact with content

2.2/ Curatorial Process
Curate publications in the space of VARIA Within event that also needs a shape Find Identity SI16 Prepare interaction with public (how do we encourage them to be part of our research?)

3/ At Varia
Engage with the public on our research-catalogue/reader, talks on the different sections/chapters/subjects we engaged with Make public react to certain instructions to fill-in negative space with their process/thoughts (Ex: what is vernacular language? Maybe you have something for us to illustrate a kind of vernacular with us, what is the last message you send today? Can you add it to the publication?) Guided discussions to enable accessibility, welcome all kinds of discourse
sample instructions might be as such:

• pick and share your oldest memo in your memo app
• pick and share your latest text message
• pick and share one picture from your photo album
• pick and share one of the unclosed web page content

4/ outro
The launch of SI16 will be the occasion of welcoming the public into the publications, the process of a publication and its growth. The printed-parts will be distributed to the last visitors in order for them to keep adding to the content and the keys to the online-part of the publication will be spread for it to also continue growing. Has the publication an anonymous input or is it a thread of added authors? (Both options can also work together)

week 9, 15th of November / ETC a gate to contamination

What is contamination?

By combining the replace filter notion presented on Monday 15th by Mitsa and Erica, to our ETC filter, C and G could now target the etc&co, to find gates to infiltrate content.

As previously mentioned the etc&co is negative space, a gate to the unmentioned, unworthy, rejected by lack of time. We want to open up that negative space for others to investigate, contaminate, explore and enjoy. A space where no corners are left unseen.

The question is: what kind of content to contaminate?

Also, C and G decided to let go of the format of nomadic publication, a.k.a. yet-to-be-named-publication(See 'week 8, 9th of November / Class with Cristina'). Because (to be continued..)

week 9, 18th of November, individual session with Clara Balaguer

G: Ethics & description of the contamination tool

G, feel free to fill in! ʕʘ‿ʘʔ

C: ETC as a portal

C had this unsatisfactory feeling of the role that 'etc.' plays in the contamination(more specifically, replace function). C could not pinpoint what this discomfort was, but during the individual session with Clara, C had a chance to step back and approach 'etc' from a different point of view. Here are some of the interesting things that came up during the discussion with Clara:

• etc as a portal
• etc as a temporal space(etc is where present and future overlaps)
• etc is tightly connected to the context

week 10, 22nd of November, Prototyping class with Michael& Manetta

Michael and Manetta showed C&G how to combine API with HTML form tag. With the help of Manetta, C and G wrote what needs to be done, step by step.
Very importantly, Manetta gave great advice: keeping close to where we started, which is ET CETERA.

This structural sketch is C and G's compass/navigator for this SP16 project

=Queer API

Cristina introduced a project, 'Queer API'. SUPER NICE project!!! U can find more info >>>here(C will link URL tomorrow)<<<

ETC Portal/Contamination Tool

Here are some of the interesting points that came up during the discussion with Cristina:

• Each contaminated content added on to the text? Or every time the contaminated text rebooted so the reader/participant/user starts from the uncontaminated text?
• Interesting word choice: "contamination"=> COVID-related (of course ʅ（◞‿◟）ʃ), the word 'contamination is still a broad enough term allowing some space to the user, the word 'contamination is closely related to 'vernacular(literally meaning vulgar)'
• Which corpora? Which text should we choose?
• One text? Or multiple texts?
• Should we deliberately only give the target_sent(the sentence that contains 'etc.')? Or more(pre_sent/terget_sent/nex_sent) to give the reader some idea of the context? => element of surprise, you can read the whole text(contaminated ver.) later, at the very last. If you give the whole context, then it suddenly became a tool(well this is also nice but...). The gesture of contextualizing and decontextualizing.. those subtle/nuanced shifts of actions. This directly relates to G's interest in how knowledge is passed on, using de-contextualized(quotes, footnotes, references) knowledge to legitimise one's argument.
• What about instead of using a 'replace function'-> using an 'add function' => This is closely related to C's concern/discomfort(see week 9, 18th of November, individual session with Clara Balaguer) and if we add content instead of replacing the content, it stays true to the role of etc as a portal.
• Congratulation token(see C and G's compass thumbnail image):C and G, AGAIN, realize and appreciate C and G's common interest in how to encourage ppl to participate, make this project more accessible and playful.
• How can we push even further, the aspect of contamination?
• Need to be careful and mindful about the fact that you are inserting something into someone else's text => reminds Aymeric's lecture on copyright (=>MAYBE C and G can use Aymeric's PhD thesis?! 💥🤯 WILD 🤯💥)
• Queer API => goooood reference, customized error messages
• Which language will C and G choose to invite the reader/participant/user => put this info at the very end... G said something about easter egg
• Which format could be used in terms of the distribution? => button of share, print, display uncontaminated ver./contaminated ver., ...
• Collective authorship
• How should we deal with the contaminants? => moderation(?), list of words that rejects certain words
• ETC is used when the author, writer, speaker wants to give some examples to make a point => which resonates with the specificity in vernacular
• API closely connects to the aspect of contamination => extending and spreading, MORE PPL! MORE DISTRIBUTION! VIRAL!