update

Over the last century there has been more change than in the previous two thousand years, the rate of change is accelerating. The glory of the human animal is no longer individual vision but rather a cognitive vision, such as the building of the Brooklyn Bridge. Our fates are now interrelated and no longer localized as global warming poses a challenge to the entire planet. Language has made it possible to share a collective vision. Yes dolphins squeak and bees dance but it’s a hell of a step to writing Shakespeare. Tools have long transformed history and the invention of the computer as a tool has been world changing. The floating of information on the internet has allowed us to explore our brains through computers. The adoption of the phonetic alphabet was intensified by movable type but this is being left behind as we move into a cybernetic lifestyle. The nature of computers and computer gaming is much like a psychedelic experience in a virtual reality. Cell phones give us a power similar to telepathy that would allow us to transmit our thoughts directly to another. The production of integrated objects into our civilization, which have ideas and purpose lodged within them is distancing us from the animal domain. Culture has become our operating system and it will continue to build on the foundation already in place. With the invention of the internet, we now have permission to explore irrational behaviors. Porn and violence are easily accessible to our youth. Our levels of tolerance has changed. The internet has brought us more forms of connectedness. It used to be that your ideology was dictated to you by your geography, if you were born in India than your idea of the cosmos was different than if you had been born in Brooklyn. We can now transcend these localized ideologies. The internet is not something that the government gave to its people, it was dreamed up by hackers, freaks and heads. Reality can be hacked and identity can be stolen. We are living in an increasingly psychedelicesque society.

Terence McKenna

I've begun to explore the mind of Terence McKenna as way of understanding where we are headed.

tools

I've explored the use of tools and compared them with each other. For example gardening tools such as a shovel and wheelbarrow compared to construction equipment. Pic will be added on later.

My thoughts on NJ

New Jersey is a well oiled machine from the roads to the justice system to schools, all of which help you to go to work. Jersey is the crossroads of New York City and Philly. It's a work emphasized culture. The stores are the size of warehouses and from a business point of view seem overwhelming to start your own. There is little sentiment to mom and pop shops and people would much rather shop at a Walmart or department store than care about a small business run by a resident. The houses aren't much bigger than the plot of land they are built on and everything and everyone is squeezed in. Fast food is widely available. The design of NJ is formulaic and with little personality so as to get the most function and money out of small uses of land. The people who live here are suspicious of people they meet cause their is such a high volume of people living in small spaces. Most people in this state don't know their neighbors. Products are designed to sell to a broad range of consumers and are mass produced with little individuality. People who seek individuality still shop at brand stores (how many hot topics have you seen?). So I think the value and demands put up on us by growing up in this state are different than the ideals we were taught and that's very confusing. New Jersey is like a snowball from when I watched Ducktails as a child, its starts off as a snowball rolling down a mountain then picks up more and more snow and momentum until it's so big and call roll over anything.

Things I'm thinking about

Here are some themes I've been brainstorming:

People that you run into everyday who you have small one minute conversations with and get to know them through routine (could make a cool commercial).
Places that are so large they are overlooked.
Places everyone goes to during the day but at night they are empty.
Private places in Public Spaces (could even be thinking with everything going on around you).
Places you've been to so many times but never got to know.
Bringing a sense of intimacy into NJ.
Things that aren't desirable but have personal attachment.
Traces of people in the environment, things people leave behind.
NJ as the crossroads.

METAPHORS FOR ROADS
fork in the road - choice between two directions in a persons life
the road not taken - the path in life a person didn't go down
crossroads - when people lives cross each others
it's a bumpy road ahead - life won't be easy in the foreseeable future
the long and winding road - life is long and there are many turns
along the way
the information super highway - the fast exchange of information
on the internet
road rage - a frustrated driver

NIGHT ASSOCIATIONS
night as fear
night as unconsciousness
night as loneliness
night as peace
night as death
night as a dreaminess
night as rest
night as intimacy

last week (test)

Last week I ran a test to see if reproducing the image used as inspiration was possible. I shot the resulting image on the right at 100 ISO at F6.7 on a tripod. One thing worth pointing out on the original image is that the camera appears to be looking downward but we are looking upward at the light. This change in perspective could have been accomplished in Photoshop or a wider lens may have been used. The light itself looks scaled down to more human proportions than the enormous light I found. I photographed from 2am to 6am, it was freezing outside. The photo was taken in a shopping center near Target in Middletown.

This week I meet with a couple writers, who are interested in helping me create written material for my thesis project. I sought them out because I want to create a larger pool of written material with which to draw from. The broader viewpoints will also help to make my campaign more believable and add personality. These writers though are helping me for free so there is no guarantee they will stick.

When brainstorming my deliverables (hitting my head against the wall) for my project, I hit upon a dilemma that needed to be attended to first. The questions I needed to solve were, who was my campaign for and who would buy my campaign? Would it be the state itself, the NJ department or tourism or the chamber of commerce? Who would benefit the most from changing from the garden state into an identity that is more urban? And what is the chamber of commerce anyway? After doing research, I found out that the chamber of commerce is an association run by individual business people, civic leaders and business firms, whose interest it is to develop and promote commercial and industrial opportunities. The need for a chamber of commerce arose because businessmen needed an organization to represent their interests in the community. The chamber of commerce than would be a good client to think of when deciding on the appropriate deliverables. They would seem the most likely to run a campaign about the ungarden state.

The NJ department of tourism would also be fun but seem more content to keep things the way they are. Sill I will develop a set of appropriate deliverables for both groups.

transitions

I think there is an opportunity in this photo to think of it as a stage where a verity of people and things can enter onto. The transition from person to person, to thing to animal, to historical figure, to even a revolutionary war hero could be very interesting. This photo could be seen in New Jersey at a mall, a drug store, a bank, a library, a pizza shop and anywhere else in NJ. Here is a list characters that could enter this stage:

1. Skateboarders
2. People Loitering
3. People Making Out
4. A Shopping Cart
5. A person walking the dog
6. A deer
7. Someone listening to music in their car
8. Person on a cell phone or smoking
9. Camera on the light pole
10. Cops hanging out
11. Businessman
12. Family

Things could also happen within the stage such as the going out, the light flickering, the weather changes

Crown Fountain





Interesting use of materials that blend and shape the landscape. Materials for NJ could include concrete, metals, plastics, woods, glass and rubber. Using what’s around you to describe yourself.

The standard-issue plate is yellow with black lettering and displays the state's motto, "Garden State," across the bottom.



































LIST of DELIVERABLES
1. License Plate
2. Drivers License
3. Lottery
4. New Identity for The Garden State Parkway
5. Murals on the sound barriers that highlight parts of the town behind them, which block the view of the town.
6. State Flag
7. The seal of the state
8. Police Uniform and car
9. Stamps
10.Fire hydrants
11. School bell ring
12. EZ Pass
13. Website
14. State Slogan

project list

Policeman’s uniform
Parking meters
Fireman’s uniform
Streetlamps
Governor’s office website
Post office
School buses
School bell ring
Railroad chime
NJ Giants logo
Landscaping
Fire hydrants
Basketball courts
Judge outfit
Newark International Airport
Jersey girl Statue
EZ Pass
Licenses
License Plates
Tollbooths
Street signs
Change the identity of the Garden State Parkway
Badges
Parks
Event
Motifs
Pencils and pens
Telephone book
Murals on sound barriers for NJ Garden State Parkway
Meter maids

Murals on sound barriers for NJ Garden State Parkway
Uniforms for Meter maids
Redesign exterior of meter maid vehicle
Design NJ Giants and NJ Jets logo
Uniforms for Policeman
Uniform for Fireman
Statewide school bell chime/ring that is less like prison
Modernize fire Hydrants
Redesign State flag
Redesign Licenses
Redesign License Plates
Change identity of EZ Pass
Change identity of the Garden State Parkway
Create NJ motif
Light bulb monument to Thomas Edison
Newark International Airport monument
Make toll Booths friendly
Uniforms for toll booth operators

Thesis II - project paragraph

My Thesis II project will transform the identity of New Jersey as the Garden State into an identity that is appropriate, credible and distinct. The identity will explore an aesthetic that is unsentimental while filled with juxtapositions and visual soliloquies. A verbal or written soliloquy or sonnet may also be used or to add another level to the overall experience. Vernacular may be explored. Ways in which a state can communicate its identity will also be explored. A tagline/slogan will be created to complement the aesthetic and personality of the state. Unlike the tagline “The Garden State,” which is far from describing cities like Newark and Trenton, I aim to create an identity that celebrates NJ’s artificiality (produced, planned and zoned by humans instead of by nature). If New Jersey had a genuine identity than it would create increased economic growth, a feeling of wellness and a positive vision of itself for the future.

Characteristics of a green brand are transparency, credibility, accountability, being a visionary and an enabler. Interestingly these are also the characteristics spoken about in the Democratic debates to which candidates measure themselves upon. Barack Obama has questioned Hillary’s transparency, while Hillary has concerns with Barack’s credibility. All of the candidates have different stances for removing the troops from Iraq.

The National Brand Index evaluates national brands on assets, geography, exports, people, governance, tourism, culture, immigration and investment.

Wal-Mart

Wal-Mart has been criticized for its handing of employees, putting mom and pop shops out of business and impact on the environment. To counter the negative perception of their brand Wal-Mart has created Sustainability 360, which is a website where consumers can voice to Wal-Mart ways in which it could help sustain the environment. By hosting this site, Wal-Mart aims to show the public they can be accountable, transparent, an enabler and a visionary. To further influence the consumer, Wal-Mart has updated its tagline to “Save money. Live better.” A noteworthy product Wal-Mart has been pushing is its organic cotton yoga outfits. By aligning itself with a social cause, Wal-Mart aims to sustain its business by staying ahead of consumer expectations.

With the Olympic games taking place in China in 2008 and Canada in 2010, these nations are working to strengthen their brand images. It’s expected that the juxtaposition of these two countries will create discussions in how each national brand relates to the environment. Air pollution in cities is leading higher rates lung diseases, which has caused concerns amongst Olympic athletes who may withdraw from the event. China’s reputation suffered from lead paint in children’s toys, poisonous pet food and polluted cities. Concerns about the quality of China’s exports has resulted in a decline of China’s brand value. In contrast, Canada is seeking to base its national brand on sustainability. It wants to slow the extraction of its national resources and increase its brand value through quality.

Kellogg’s is staying ahead of consumer trends and competition by placing green banners that read “Organic” onto their iconic cereal boxes. By updating their brand they are staying current to the times to create new customers, while remaining familiar to its loyal customers.

Nintendo repositioned itself in the videogame market with the Wii. The Wii uses an innovative controller that creates a distinct gaming experience, which can only be found on the Wii. Instead of focusing on creating the most powerful gaming system, as its competitors Sony and Microsoft had, Nintendo leapfrogged them both to make itself visible to the consumer.

A new tactic in advertising being used is to blur the line between the advertising and the desirable content. These ads aren’t intended to just fill the holes between the content but be perceived and distributed as part of the content itself. Banners on myspace advertise ring tones and you’ll get a free ring tone if you’re able to slap the sumo’s belly faster than your opponent. These ads/games are often just as fun as the site itself and fits into the emotion experience that myspace creates. A company called Massive is developing ways to place ads into video games since young males are no longer being reached through television. Here a TV ad for Toyota uses the game World of Warcraft to advertise the emotional experience of driving a truck to young males. The truck battles a dragon and returns to the group with the dragon’s beating heart its bed, worthy of bragging rights. Dove created a string of commercials that proclaim themselves as films. The label of being a film is more positive than having the negative label of being a commercial.

Mr. & Ms. New Jersey

Bill Hicks has a sense of how humanity is evolving and he is unsentimental to the traditionalists. He finds empowerment in the weakening of tradition and believes their are new beliefs to be explored that are relevant to the times.


Kathy Griffin is unapologetic, unsentimental and it seems an atheist. She deviously sought to create controversy.

Words describing my choices
Unsentimental - facing facts or difficulties realistically and with determination
Evolving - to develop or achieve gradually
Empowerment - to invest with power
Relevant to the times
Social Commentary - the act of expressing an opinion on the nature of society
Unapologetic - unwilling to make or express an apology
Atheism - the doctrine that there is no God
Controversy - dispute, especially a public one, between sides holding opposing views
Devious - not straightforward

Runners up

Gloria Swanson, Billie Holiday, Pablo Picasso & Martin Scorsese

Thesis Statement (2nd attempt)

The aesthetic beauty of New Jersey is an unsentimental soliloquy of juxtapositions.