User:Menno Harder/reading, writing and research methodologies 2012

1.Am Kotti:

Am Kotti is a five minute film that shows a 3d model of the Kottbus- ser Tor square in Kreuzberg, Berlin. The model is build up using a collection of pictures taken on the square. The photographers are unknown in this model but all of the pictures are found on 4 dif- ferent kind of online image galleries. These galleries are Flickr, Picasa, Panoramio and Wikimedia and are labeled on the images by their logo’s.

While the movie plays the camera rotates around the model and by doing so pictures appear and disappear because of the direction and angle they are facing. Because of the depth of the movie the upper images cover and reveal underlaying pictures. Clusters of images can be found on several spots and also elevation is visible. A simplified map of the square including it’s buildings and streets is the lowest layer on which the images are placed on. The film loops.'

Although I had never been on this square before I was able to reconstruct it by carefully categorizing each picture and examining the buildings and places of interest in the background. The proces of creating this model was more about collecting and archiving then it was about designing. Because the design followed logically by creating rules about placement and visibility. The model shows not only spatial appearance but also social structures. For example: the Turkish community that resides in this area is visible, but also the touristic importance and drug-related problems can be found.

2.Toolkit for a Contemporary Protest:

The Toolkit for a Contemporary Protest is an interactive webpage, installation and poster series containing a collection of quotes and symbols used in counter cultures of the past and of the present.

All the quotations are categorized and reveal the person who it is linked to. These quotes are cut up in pieces and each one resembles an A4 sheet. The different quotes each have their own appearance by using different fonts and sym- bols. These digital A4 sheets can be moved freely and reorganized and can be placed on a blank canvas.

There is an option to download all these individual sheets and print them, to recreate the digital composition in real life. The protesters are fully able to create the posters and banners themselves by using these tools. The idea of this project is to reinterpretate quotes and give multiple generations the ability to speak up for any cause that is to be demonstrated about today.

To give an example for how it can be used: For a final project I printed these quotes on different kinds of writing-paper used by cultural instances in the Netherlands (W139 in Amsterdam, Boijmans van Beuningen in Rotterdam, De Vleeshal in Middelburg, Centraal Museum in Utrecht) that were severely cut down on subsidies due to the Dutch government at that time. This to make a statement about the cause, and to show the use of my kit on an important present-day issue.

Accessibility and 'easy-to-use' are important issues that come up and by making it accessible by a webpage I tried to merge printed matter and digital imagery. This is also of other importance, as it questions the notion of protesting online or actually showing up at the place where the protest is happening with your digital printed banners.