GOING REMOTE:
credit:google earth
A dot on the landscape. On the ground the horizon extends 360 degrees and the silence rings in one's ears. From a plane passing overhead passengers can see a city in the distance, plumes of industrial life rise up to meet the clouds. Satellites circle the globe putting every place in relation through a system of fixed coordinates. Cell phone signals bounce through the atmosphere. Ships slide across the ocean, transporting the products of the global marketplace: natural resources, garbage, and recyclable materials. Fiber optic cables thread the continents together beneath the ocean floor. We work and play through virtual environments. Labor and locality have exploded. Geographic distances are collapsing.
We are humans existing in this landscape- living at the moving, folding edges of the remote. What does it feel like to make, exchange, and connect from here?
DAILY LIFE > > > GOING REMOTE IN THE CITY
credit: Dwell magazine
"The goal has been to make a peaceful small home, a kind of urban cave, where a person can withdraw to, and whenever wished, forget the intensity of the surrounding city for awhile." Meet Sami Rintala, architect for the Boxhome, first built on an urban rooftop in Oslo, Norway.
experience first responders in DAILY LIFE >>>
ART > > > INSPIRATION FROM GOING REMOTE
credit: eteam
In 2004 the art duo eteam purchased a 10-acre plot of land in Nevada off of eBay for $1,900. In collaboration with the 67 citizens of Montello, Nevada, a place inhabitants proudly refer to as “the town that refuses die”, they created the Montello International Airport.
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CONSUMER CULTURE > > > BUYING THE REMOTE
credit: Uncharted Outpost Safari & Travel Co.
"Have you ever thought about escaping the madness and expense of a big wedding? Have you ever dreamed of tying the knot under a clear blue African sky surrounded by chanting Masai warriors or in a remote Australian canyon with only two witnesses but views that go on forever? We can plan the most intimate and unforgettable wedding for you anywhere in the world. Plan on leaving the in and outlaws and all the stress behind and enjoy every moment of this magical journey together!"
experience first responders in CONSUMER CULTURE >>>
BUSINESS / ECONOMIES > > > EXTREMELY OFFSHORE
credit: google earth
"Nauru (pronounced NAH-oo-roo) is an island in the Pacific just south of the equator, about 2,500 mi (4,023 km) southwest of Honolulu. Phosphate mining has virtually destroyed the tiny nation's ecology, turning its tropical vegetation into a barren, rocky wasteland."
experience first responders in BUSINESS / ECONOMIES >>>
POLITICS > > > SURVEILLANCE GOES REMOTE
credit: google earth
"Ultima Thule was about a remarkably isolated American outpost at the top of the world, the largest northernmost community on the planet, a remote electronic American eyeball, staring out into space. Thule is at the terrestrial edge of communication, perception and imagination"
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BE A FIRST RESPONDER
Go remote from all electronic media devices for 24 hours (no tv, phone, video, etc.). Keep a written journal of the feelings that you experience while you are remote. Illustrate the journal without using electronic media (draw, scrapbook, collage found materials).
Inspirational data >>> 1001journals.com
You don't have to travel far to experience how remote forces shape your life. Choose a theme related to the remote (immigration, geographical distance, ecological reach, consumer trade) and go remote in your neighborhood looking for signs of this particular theme. Take a digital camera or camera cell phone with you and create a visual essay (without words) exploring how global flows of money/resources/culture/labor bring the remote to your local area. Write a decriptive paragraph describing why you chose your subjects and theme.
Go remote online. Search news stories, blogs, online journals and social networking sites to find a person or organization that you sense is remote from your way of life, but that you want to learn more about. Generate a series of 10 questions around the ideas and experiences that you feel makes them remote from you. Contact the person or organization and conduct an online audio interview through skype or ichat. Write a short paragraph reflecting on your conversation and how interacting remotely (through the internet) shaped your experience and creative process.
Make an imaginary packing list for going remote at Burning Man. What would you need during your week in the desert? Would you take media? If so, why? How might you use use it there? How would you power it, protect it, and share it? What might you design and build as a project for Burning Man?
http://forms.burningman.com/, http://www.burningman.com/
Submit your projects for publication in GEN U (the EMS showcase of user-generated work).
Help us update this flashpoint by posting your observations, documentations, and relevant links to the Tracking Flashpoints: GOING REMOTE section of the EMS blog.
