Revised-2-Research-theoretical-text

SM4140 Graduation Thesis

Name : Chan Kwun Yee, arfee (ID : 50692653)

Project title : “Body-landscape”

Advisor : Prof. Linda Lai

Research-theoretical-text

History is assumed to be based on facts and in the form of a coherent story. But I want to argue that facts and fiction are not always separable, and history is full of contradictions. In my project, I use maps, a spatial form, to subvert the simplifying single-line chronological conception of history.

The whole project has gone through several versions and there were lots of changes but the core thesis remained unchanged and I will discuss later in the text about the significance of changes along the journey.

Versions gone through：

- 1^st version： “Floating City, an Imaginary Landscape”;

- 2^nd version：“The Cartographer”;

- 2^nd 1/2 version：“A Journey’s Map, a Mapping Journey”;

- 3^rd version：“Body Landscape”.

History consists of fabrications and contradictions/

History is not a neutral account of past events

Inspired by works like Xixi’s My City, Oscar Ho’s Hong Kong Stories and 董啟章’s 天工開物．栩栩如真, in which compile an alternative writing of the city’s story, I concerned about fabrication components of history.

History appears as a form of narrative description of past events and was thought to be based on facts and authentic materials. However, the concept of “facts” is problematic. The assumption of “facts” holds an essentialist concept which suggests that, there is a reality which exists independent of, beneath or beyond, language and ideology. I want to argue that, ‘reality’ cannot be independent of ‘subjects’ who perceive it and the way one narrates it. Thus there are only multi-realities and they are unstable. And so, ‘who speaks’ and ‘how to speak’ is as important as ‘what to speak’.

Based on this query, I put my research area on the narratives and representations about Hong Kong’s stories created by artists instead of studying “historical records”. My approach first challenged the concept of ‘reality’ by accepting fabricated stories as a source of authentic materials.

History as narration

Collected the narratives, I then put them into a virtual-map-archive for audience to visit. The use of a form a map will be further discussed in later section. Here, I would like to address that this creative intervention also responds to the previous arguments built. My intervention is a composition of a new narrative based on the collected narratives. Hence, it could be considered as a second layer of narrative, which is self-reflexive and re-emphasizing that history itself is never a neutral presentation of facts but always a representation under a context.

As the research area is about famous artists and well-known works, the biases, personal point of views and frames of the authors are obvious rather than being invisible.

As the project morphed, the research area shifted but caught the same focus in the critical thinking of history-making.

I carried on the doubt of subject matter, and tried to map another issue: female bodily experience of their uterus. This pushes one step further, concerning what should be written in history. In feminist view of history, there are many issues ignored and under-discussed under the patriarchal ideology, which tends to think in a dualist way and de-power one of the duals. For example, “masculine” is superior than “feminine”, and “body” is considered “feminine” in contrast to “ration” is considered “masculine”. So here, I took bodily experience as a subject which worth to be written into history, and it actually is a deviant act to “his-story”. Bodily experience was not thought to be appropriate as historical record, since it is not “objective”. But rooted from discussion above, I have argued that, there is no independent reality and thus, females’ recalling of their own bodily experience of uterus is not less trustable than a government’s document about the changes of politics.

In writing history, historians based on their observations on the critical examination and selection of sources and synthesize them into a self-stand narrative.

History is ambiguous. There are authors. It is not objective truth. à intend to identify the “authors” or “protagonists” rather than being invisible.

Via visualizing the collected Hong Kong’s narratives in a virtual map-archive, the chronological convention of history-writing is broken down, whereas spatial relationships arise. The virtual-map-archive encourages a new understanding of history-writing which abandons any simple causal relationships and simplifying single-line narrative with the strong juxtaposition form. And the reading of such spatial-history-narrative is like a flâneur wandering in an imaginary space.

Time-based history and space-based maps

History is a time-based narrative, it often appears in a chronological form. Such chronological convention offers a easy way to read and seems to be neat and tidy. However, it is not without implications. The chronological convention assumes things happened to be in a causal relationship and it is deterministic. (historical materialism/ determinism) It over-simplifies the world and appears in an excuse that : makes the story easy to tell. In moving images, there have been arguments from Deleuze to challenge such concept. And in history-making, Michel Foucault has also pointed out that

Using a spatial form as a tactic to subvert the chronological convention is political, whereas it provides constellations of narratives rather than causal linearity. (~ tableaux vivant > Hollywood : progression ) There is a rejection to story comprehension tradition with over emphasis on progression and through the form of a 2D plane, I aim to explore a multi-focus narrative strategy and thus, the work encourages active reading.

Map as spatial narrative

Possibilities of map as spatial narrative

- sequence of images

- constellation of elements

How to deal with human experience

- fabrication of history, experimental history, post-modern history writing

- history as narratives, ambiguity and open-ness of history

- ethnography

a spatial form (2D)

- mapping, cartography, geography

my intention

- subversions of grand narratives (mapping those were not considered to be mapped):

- (in 1^st version) research on “stories” which are not considered as “historical records”,

- (in 2^nd version) maps based on personal experience,

- (in 2^nd version) intend to map areas being ignored,

- (in 3^rd version) personal bodily experience as landscape to be mapped. (maps tend to show something more “permanent”, “general”, “shared/public places”)

- binary positions breaking

- personal – public

- stories, fabrications – history, truth

- flourish – permanent

- micro – macro

- subjective – objective

- metaphor : body ~ landscape

-

Mapping as a method to intervene a place/ history

(seems better to use “mapping” than “cartography”)

(what word is more appropriate than “history”?)

mapping as ethnography

3種地圖

如何勘探或介入一個地方/空間的歷史, 並以視覺圖像方式呈現

3種地圖作為表述的試驗.

1) 時間面向 : 男女體交合的地形圖

2) 拓印 : 背痛

3) 曼茶羅 : 想像世界的地圖

(1) 時間面向

- 嘗試把一貫地圖顯示的時間微量化, 以至於是分鐘單位的

- 強調邊界

- 符號替換

- 地圖作為一種比喻

- recognizability

(2) 拓印 : 背痛

- 近似投影法, 拓出「地理表徵」

- 如水墨畫

- 也是一種visual ethnography

- 在地理及空間意義上, 比例最為接近原物

- 幾乎沒有可供詮釋的符號

- recognizability 的反面

- 製圖過程中對製圖對象的加深認識

(3) 曼茶羅 : 想像世界的地圖

- 結合了訪問, 並把口述歷史以視覺想像出來 (visual fabrication)

- 極微觀的口述史

- 地圖的多視點表現形式

- 結合畫像與錄像, 有聲音元素.

- 極多symbol

- 主觀想像最多

- 製圖過程中對製圖對象的加深認識

- 因不是對應物理上的地方, 因而recognizability不適用.

閱讀身體的方法

極不同的風格與取向

2nd day of shooting- preparation

Apr 10th

金魚

魚缸

玻璃樽

花紅粉

玻璃杯

with Video Choreography

- draw on body and shoot

- choose a place, choose a costume, choose a part 用camera 觀察自己

e.g. fee : 肚腩 + 飲水 + 畫地形線 / 背, 脊椎, 家族的曲線 / 痛的線

Women Make Waves

- 女性自拍

mapping exercise

- body parts, in touch with

maps of body; our maps

The video = my own map creating process

 

Mapping workshop, mapping exercises as visual ethnography

- in touch with your body parts

- body parts, adjectives, metaphor (an automatic writing exercise)

- creating your own legend

 

Research-theoretical text

Mapping/ Cartography as a method to intervene a place/ history

What is a map? (theoretical definition)

• graphical form

graph (i mean not geographical map, but like mindmaps, conceptual maps)

geographical maps, atlas

Process of mapping

• investigation of a place

measurement, statistics

being there… ethnography?

• COMPRESSION : put into a 2D plane, which includes 3D, 4D information
• Geo-spatial relationship + other information
• Provide knowledge : history making?

The form of map

 

Producing map as visual ethnography

• How does map tell story? (just like : how do photos tell story?)
• How to analyze maps and their hidden message? (vocabulary of maps, psychoanalysis)

Map as a narrative form

• sequence of maps : sequence of images
• maps : not linear, 2D

inter-linkage, zoom in/ out

layers (same place but different information)

Feminist approach : auto-ethnographical cartography

progress, auto-ethnography

哇看看上次post的日期真是嚇人!整整20天了!

• 拍了一些body landscape的footage
  • 沙與body parts
  • 微日光下的body parts (主要是臀跟股)
• 正在拍body parts的still image, 但因用holga不太熟練, 頭2筒都失敗。
• 第3筒終於成功! technical details : holga, 室內, 晚, 光源 : 燈泡, ISO800, shutter : 40秒. 出來很漂亮! 可以用來做第一階段的畫地圖 + 寫絮語。

今天GT堂, Linda教寫research-theoretical text.

some keywords noted down :

• investigation/visit, revisit
• journey
• mapping — geography — personal geographies
• ethnography, auto-ethnography
  
• map narrative
• performative
• feminism(?)

I started a journey of investigation my own histories and took myself as a landscape to discover. I created maps along the journey. It was an auto-ethnography which uses map as a narrative form and took mapping as a method to study oneself. It was also performative about how I narrate myself. It is a narrative game.

body as landscape

auto-ethnography : investigating personal histories

mapping personal geographies : personal histories as a landscape for investigating

“文字” <影像> [聲音] – 碎碎唸

<紅色蔓延, 迸出形, 如一幅一幅不固定的地圖, 在流變>

<矇矓的, 紅色一片片, 漸漸模糊不清>

<blur鏡入, 畫身體的sketch的close-up, 線條極簡>

<手指頭沾上紅色頻料, 塗抹在sketch之上>

<close-up沾上紅色的手指頭, 鏡頭隨著手指移動>

<手指降落在一片全白的畫紙上, 一拉, 拉出一條優美的弧度>

====出字幕,片頭======

“我嘗試透過觸碰, 撫摸, 指頭的流動, 探索, 並企圖熟知而且標示我的領土。”

“像一個容器”

[吹空樽的嗚嗚聲] <注入清水, 玻璃窗> <凝視, 吹奏, 傾聽>

<閃過是男的背>

“男子沒辦法了解我, 一如我亦沒辦法了解男子。”

<阿妹在喝水, 清水, 簡單的玻璃杯, 一杯接一杯>

<肚腩因為水的載入而漸漸隆起, 漲大>

<鏡頭在大肚腩上遊移, 圖紋漸漸浮現> – 那裏有好多記憶, 如同枝葉蔓生。

<接direction的繼續遊移, 但畫面變得grainy, 像超聲波圖像>

[像水底, 又像被機器干擾的低頻噪音]

<畫面裏像是有甚麼物質翻動, 但看不真切; 白色絲線繼續蔓展, 鏡頭在某處停了下來, 絲線捲成一幅地圖>

“流奶與蜜之地”

found footage : Breasts (in City U Lib)

“年年, 連連…”

“細細, 滔滔…”

<金魚的尾一翻, 蛟轉, 充斥整個畫面, 色調濃艷>

<水, 色彩>

<海藻飄動, 水, 色彩>

<流淌在地上的水, 淡紅, 染紅, 渲, 腥紅>

“是山水” “一幅一幅” “蜿蜒” “丘陵的曲線…”

– 像費蘭明高一般哀怨, 激烈, 旋轉並且扭動, 熱切, 傾注, 火紅朵朵在翻滾。

- 乳暈如同地圖上的標記, 高聳並且吸引著人們的視線。那裏樹立著甚麼。

“一艘船”

“大海上” “航行”

文字

• 線, 可以是連接, 也可以是疆界. 身體的接連, 身體的疆界。 //與另一個個體傾吐, 了解, 彼此容納, 是多麼的難。 即使當身體彼此融入。 繪畫自己的身體是否也很難。 // 生育是至今我認為最不可思議最美妙之事。 一封錄像的信, 致送予我未來的女兒。 // 禪修的每一天 : 每一天都觀察自己的身體。掌心, 臉, 誰吻過的的唇; 有多少人觸碰過的。 //intimate, inner landscape.
• 關於每一處的故事
  • 手 : 接觸, 自己看自己。掌紋。
  • 腳 : 路, 行經的。
  • 乳房 : 哺育, 美好, 豐沛。
  • 肚 (子宮, 肚腩) : 女性, 子房, 月事, 生育。
  • 腰 : 家族的曲線, 痛楚。

圖, 地圖

• 中醫經脉圖 (如香港地圖的玩法, 把沒有感覺的地方逐一剔除)
• 超聲波照片

碎的錄像, 片段

• 沖涼, 自己觀看自己
• 雙腿間的光
• 用白布包裹著自己
• 像 “影舞者瑪德”的舞動
• 慶祝身體的慶典

workshop/test/ game

• 在身體上寫字

Reading notes : Feminism in Philsophy

• embodiment, discontinuity
• 斷裂的身體經驗, an urge to construct, by deconstructing, trying to use methods to analyze. Not satisfied of the provided, taken-for-granted body landscape (or blueprint).
  
• body, emotion is not without significance.
  
• 和怎樣介入一個地方的關係… historians, geography, cartographers –> seems to be rational, objective, masculine mind sets. use a feminist approach to intervene a place. and why body landscape… also, this is worth drawing a map. emotions, bodily experience counts, they are essential. Maps need not to be with only about buildings, land property… .
  

• 2 criteria for continuing personal identity :  (can it be used as my structure? to separate scenes?)
  • bodily continuity
  • psychological continuity
    

reading about cartography, & revising concept

http://www.ruf.rice.edu/~asia/CartographyPaper.html

intention : suggest changes, ruptures, tension and conflicts.

the culture’s self image…

map-making : a revealing process, about the cartographer’s self image

again, how do I see my city?

not that political… not that rational… i m not such kind of people…

the changing shapes… i love to investigate, love to wander around the historical documents…

Map in同事三分親…?? map-making and story-telling… narrative…

my own : femin body, landscape/

recap from what I ‘ve learned in SCM… what I can acquire in the GT…

Micro Narratives

• X (causal) linearity
  • map as a narrative form : not linear. as a plane.
• X passive viewing contexts, continuity and narrative absorption, in scene or editing
• X equating perception/reception with story comprehension with an over-emphasis on progression and plot-development
• intra-shot possibility
  • setting of projection..
• “sigularism” –> multi-focus
• temporal and spatial scaling, multiplicity of time and space
• fabrication of noises

exercise + shooting day 01 : March 9th

Nam Cheong

Kayuen, Tsz Wai, Fee

(1) mapping exercise 01

1. instruction : create a map which shows how you get from home to here (Nam Cheong station), with graphics and texts
2. discussion
3. add “title” and “legend” for your map
4. discussion

(2) drifting around

Tasks :

• Shooting
• Photo-taking

(3) mapping exercise 02

1. Automatic writing (free) – 5 mins
2. Automatic writing (objects u saw while drifting) – 5 mins
3. Pass-around / circle 2 objects which u think interesting, and circle 1 u think irrelevant
4. Pass-around / base on the 1 circled as irrelevant –> mind image sequence — 5 mins
5. sharing & discussion
6. Get back own map : create a map base on texts written in step 2-4
7. discussion

Reivew of day01′s exercise

• about the drifting
  • in day01 I did not set rules for drifting, we were simply wandering around.
• mental maps created
  • The instructions were not strict and implicit, we are just creating very simple maps.
  • Improvement to make :
    • When designing exercises for next time, I should have to consider more about the map-making elements.
•  mapping exercise 02
  • Kayuen’s opinion : it’s good to have a pass-around session, as then participants can share POVs from others and discover something he/she originally did not notice. Memories were reminded.
• findings on location
  • Buildings/architectural :
    • 鐵絲網 & 荒地 : revealing on maps that we created, we all share that there are plenty of 鐵絲網 & 荒地 in the region.
      • we want to focus on these abandoned area. Next outing we will try to “hack” such areas, suggested ideas are :
      • Putting balloons into the areas;
      • breaking the lock without destroying it;
    • Regulations of behaviour in the station : revealing on maps that we created, we all recalled about the encounterment with the security guard in Nam Cheong MTR station.
  • d

d

More about mapping… ?

This is the very first time I really try to create maps on location. However, it seems that I am not applying anything I learnt from the books about cartography into it. But still, I find the experience very rewarding. Before really working it out (though in a raw sense), I am not really considering the PROCESS of making maps.

- How a cartographer encounter with the space/ place?

- Time is a very important dimension in maps actually, which I am not so aware of before.

-

My approach… why mapping?

• mapping is a representation of space.
• maps are “trivial” objects in our daily lives, which we may not be aware of its power and implications. (refer to reading : “Power of maps” )
• The process of mapping is a way of encountering with the space.
• Concern about urban space.

Round 1 :

Instruction : create a map which about how you get here from your home

<Kayuen’s map1>

<Tsz Wai’s map 1>

<Fee’s map 1>

Round 2 :

Instruction : automatic writing

  Kayuen’s

 Tsz Wai’s

Round 3 :

Step 1 : automatic writing : objects you’ve seen just now

Step 2 : pass / circle  2 objects you find interesting ; circle 1 object you find irrelevant

Step 3 : pass/ start from the one circled as irrelevant, automatic writing : mind-image

<Kayuen’s objects + Tsz Wai’s circle + Fee’s mind-image>

Tsz Wai’s objects, circled by Kayuen

Fee’s mind images based on circled object

<Kayuen’s objects + fee’s circle + Tsz Wai’s mind-images>

Kayuen’s object, circled by fee

 Tsz Wai’s mind images based on circled objects (1)

 Tsz Wai’s mind images based on circled objects (2)

<Fee’s objects + Tsz Wai’s circle + Kayuen’s mind-images>

Round 3

Instruction : based on your objects + circled and mind-images by others, using the elements on your paper, create a new map

<Kayuen’s map>

<Tsz Wai’s map>

<Fee’s map>

video, 暫名:

<繪圖者>, <製圖的人> ; “The Cartographer”

繪圖者 = 我

繪圖的世界, 紙本上的符號, 指向現實世界, 接連想像空間

• A place of NOWHERE    …      NOWHERE,     NOWHERE

My Team!! 

Producer : Kwok Ka Yuen

Assisting Director : Ngai Tsz Wai

Assisting Art Direction : Hui Sin Yi Pee

New thoughts??

好勒, 我嬲勒. 我唔做ethnographic research住勒. 好迷. 好迷…

好似唔係幾work到archive果件事.  好似唔係好夠料做found footage – hk map的archive, 同埋map的technical 問題so far未解決到. iMap係無用架原來. 聽日試下warCraft. 不過而家我又漸漸覺得我個project係唔關archive事的. 件事好似比較personal/感性,我係咪一路將佢過度複雜化/ theoretical咁諗? 或者試下 back to basic, 做返一個video會啱啲? web archive的形式又是不是a necessary?還是一個隨便的決定? 好像無法說服自己.

在想一個low tech的形式. 一個如舊式圖書館檢索櫃的physical archive又如何? archive物件?

今天又借了一堆地圖的書. 其中有本講不是”現實世界”或不是我們一般認知的地理指向地圖, 非常有趣. 怎樣apply地圖這form? 在錄像中能用 “地圖” 作為structure嗎? (像之前想用 “曼荼蘿” 式結構, 最後沒想好, 沒拍)

還是就把我自己個人經驗到的那種從別的文本/父母口中認知到的模糊過去想像拍出來, 這樣比較OK?

Progress Report — 27 Jan 08

Format of my GT :

Visual ethnography

different type of maps (esp. HK)

HK real locations

Virtual landscapes (e.g. tourist brochure, photos/moving images about HK)

 1.2 Web archive

Virtual landscape built based on ethnographic research

1.3 Installation

Final output will be an installation

2   Library search and literature review

2.1  Literature review undertaken (Refer to appendix 1)

2.1.1    Other Histories

This book comprises of several essays written by seven European ethnographers. They worked in sub-dominant European places to study about others’ cultures and histories. Methodologies have been borrowed from anthropology and history.

It reminds me that while investigating histories, we have to concern about how the informants think about histories. Or to say, how the local community construct histories, how is their concept on time, space and memories.

2.1.2   地圖權力學

This book concerns about the hidden nature of maps which they are not neutral at all.

Interestingly points out the construction of a map and the historical transformation of cartography.

2.2   Case study

2.2.1    Green Map Hong Kong

Green Map is an organization which promotes map-making by local community

GOOD : map-making by local community

The project aims at emphasizing “green” or “cultural” sites which are often ignored by other maps we could find in cities. Through the map-making process, participants’ awareness of such places is enhanced.

As map-making is a legitimating process which empower the ignored places and also voices of the participants.

BAD: still stick to cartography conventions, lead by the so-called professionals, the sites picked are mostly famous places.

The process of map-making is not visible enough. I think the process is worth recording. For example, how they discuss what places should be included.

2.2.2   SOCO活在西九

Documenting the local regional histories of the minor groups.

Emphasis on oral histories and personal objects which are omitted in grand histories.

Exhibition in local places rather than in a museum. Linking history of the place with local space.

 2.3   Insight

2.3.1    Stick on investigations about maps

Methods and implications about different types of map-making

I am fond of collecting maps. The investigation of maps is a major research aspect and it would also help a lot about building the virtual landscape.

The power relationship about map-making and the hidden preferred images of a city in the maps are also concerned.

 2.3.2   Nostalgia and the disappearing cityscapes

After viewing films and animations about the city in recent years, I found that most of the films which state or posit themselves as a portraiture of Hong Kong or concerns about Hong Kong’s identity are not portraying today’s Hong Kong but the old Hong Kong. There is a nostalgia mood inside. This is the city which exists in the citizens’ imagination. Or to say, this is the projection of how the citizens hope the city to be.

3   Research plan/ schedule

Research areas :

Maps of Hong Kong

Tourist brochures

Old Hong Kong (nostalgia) in representations

Real places in Hong Kong today

Research schedule :

Jan 14 – Feb 9 – collecting maps, brochures

Feb 8 – 16 – collecting old HK in representations

Feb 8 – 29 – analyzing collected materials

Mar 1 – 10 – local places today

Mar 11 – 16 – analyzing research in local places

4   Data collection

4.1   On-going

4.1.1    Collecting maps of Hong Kong and tourist brochures

Road maps

Maps for tourists

Maps in advertisements

4.1.2    Collecting representations of old Hong Kong or disappearing cityscapes

Films

<細路祥> 陳果

功夫>

麥兜菠蘿油王子>

Animation

<i-City>

Literature

我城> 西西 My City, XiXi

<天工開物．翉栩如真＞ 董啟章

4.2     Limitation of the research

4.2.1    The collecting process is only completed by me. An open authorship is difficult to achieve as there is not enough time.

 5    Software/programming language

Design metaphor : a floating city

The website will be built as a virtual landscape, in which a cityscape would appear with features located in the research part.

The user can wander around in the virtual landscape to discover the city.

Most ideal

Warcraft + Maya

2^nd choice

Flash

 6   Problems

Technical problem : difficulty of building a virtual landscape with computing language

I have invited schoolmates from BSC to be my technical support

Worse case / backup plan : using Flash

7   Substantial changes

7.1    Focal point shifted : I found the research area of Hong Kong stories is too loose and not easy to handle, so I decided to limit my research area into nostalgia representation of old Hong Kong.

 8    Link for GT website

http://sweb.cityu.edu.hk/50692653/fyp/index.html