From Ellis Island to Orchard Street with Victoria Confino takes you back to 1916…and on a journey to America. The experience begins in Europe, where players create a virtual identity and pack belongings for the trip to New York City. Once on the shores of their new country, players experience the inspection at Ellis Island and head to their new neighborhood: the Lower East Side. Along the way, players get advice from Victoria Confino, a young immigrant who is wise to the ways of America. Victoria even welcomes players into her crowded tenement apartment through a 360-degree panoramic experience, where they make choices about what they will do for money, food and fun in America. The final step is to write a postcard to Victoria about your new life on the Lower East Side- send it to her as an e-card or drop it in the mail!

Play at http://www.tenement.org/immigrate

Featured by:
Under Consideration Quipsologies | January 2009
Free Technology for Teachers | February 2009
Scholastic Instructor Magazine | March/April 2009
Education World® | A+ Review | April 2009
Time Out New York Kids | Staying In | June 2009

Awards:
SXSW Web Awards | Educational Resource Finalist | February 2009

Created for the Lower East Side Tenement Museum ©2008
Interaction and Visual Designer: Ariel Newland
Flash Developer: William Martin
Producer: Jeff Tancil
Victoria Confino Interpreter: Lily Paulina

Created using a data set from the United Nations Statistics Division.
Original poster dimensions: 60 by 40 inches.

]]> http://arielnewland.com/content/?feed=rss2&p=86 0 http://arielnewland.com/content/?p=84 http://arielnewland.com/content/?p=84#comments Tue, 17 Jul 2007 01:20:12 +0000 arielnew http://arielnewland.com/content/?p=84

In an exercise in measuring myself, I chose to measure myself as an American. How am I viewed in the world as an American? What is the “typical” American? Do I fit this profile? I compiled a series of data facts from various statistics that gave a profile of the average American in terms of physical traits, location, beliefs, politics, actions and food. Through physically interacting with the installation, one discovers my profile and that of the average American, while also forming a personal opinion and revealing the map images, one of United States and my interpretation of the United States.

Type of Project: Concept
When: Spring 2007
For: Parsons School of Design

I have observed social conditions of the sidewalks that are common to the everyday experience of New York City. Using categories from these observations, I conducted probe experiment in which participants documented requested images through disposable cameras. This study has led me to transform the street environment through the design of an installation in places where people linger that will impact New Yorkers by causing them to reflect on shared experience as city dwellers.

The installation reacts to the environment in multiple ways. Each location for the installation would have site-specific text reflecting upon experiences in relation to that location. By using programmable electroluminescent technology, the motif glows and grows as the sun sets and recedes as the sun rises. Although always visible on the site, the installation grows based on darkness, which creates a play on the nighttime experience in New York City, when one is less aware of nature and more aware of urbanity.

inhabit the public
bound by our territories
ask strangers
commute by foot
requests / rules / orders
be a regular
be irregular
enjoy the aroma
linger / go
invitation to the sidewalk
persistent edifice

enjoy the view
public city
pleasure or pain
freedom from the indoors
happiness in artifice

always a line
grand arrival
wait and weight
navigating the sea
brush with danger
construction is inevitable
no privacy
rule breakers / rule followers
withstand the elements

Glow Animation
This animation illustrates (at a faster rate) how the installation would grow as the sun sets and recede as the sun rises.

Click to view animation

Click to view large motif

For this probe experiment, I purchased disposable cameras, relabeled the backside asking for particular photographs, and distributed them among participants. The requested photos were based on specific categories related to activities centered around food vending, which include mobility, the sidewalk, waiting, eating, ordering and paying. I was also curious to find more information about what New Yorkers find joys and challenges in throughout their daily life.

Probe Participants

Emily, Student, Manhattan

Sheldon, Retail, Brooklyn

Rebecca, Food Vendor, Queens

Photos

Although in a similar age and socioeconomic group, each participant took very unique photos through wide interpretations of the requested images, which had significant evidence of their experience of the city in territory, transportation and activity. Below is a small sampling of the photos.

something you enjoy outdoors

something that makes you happy

a request or order

a public space

a social gathering in the street environment

This probe experiment informed the Luminous Twilight project.

Thousands of New Yorkers go hungry daily. Little do many know that the New York Human Resource Administration (HRA) has a toll-free number that can be dialed from any phone in order to locate the nearest soup kitchen or food pantry 24 hours a day. As a project with the HRA, I developed a branding solution, card and promotional sticker for the Hunger Hotline. The original design for the card was intended as a four-panel, multi-language card that functions with all seven government-required languages on a single card. This solves distribution problems and most importantly allows speakers of many different languages in any locale to use the information on the card. Through revisions with the HRA, the card has been reduced to a double-sided, English-only card which will be printed and distributed throughout New York City. The two color schemes are used to attach value to the card and create a desire to use it. The darker, warmer tones would be for fall and winter distribution where as the brighter, energetic colors would be used for spring and summer.

Click to watch Quicktime movie.