M.A.R.I.N. camp forum

We’re in the midst of completing work on a first version of an Android smart phone app (built in Processing) that will detect GPS and allow users to record and playback sounds from their environment. We’re almost done work on the programming and are currently using it to create a sound walk for the art/farm kultivator, on Sweden’s idyllic island Oland.

Kultivator is a working example of the cooperation between art and agriculture. It is a farm and an art centre with many stories to tell and lots of perspective on the overlapping issues of environment, food production and consumption, the intersection of nature and culture, and human responsibility to the land.

We decided to interview the main players here - Malin Lindmark Vrijman, Mathieu Vrijman, Henric Stigeborn, and Mia Lindmark - and ask them to tell us about how the farm began, their interest in developing the connection between art and agriculture, and any relevant and important stories about the place.

They took us on little walks around the farm and pointed out significant places, which we logged as GPS points for the app.  When we move on to Lithuania the end of this week, we plan to leave behind a walking tour for use by visitors to the farm.

More details about the app development itself will follow soon …

Oland has a rich landscape full of wild fruit. Hazelnut, Sloeberry and its cousin the wild Plum are spread all over the surroundings of Kultivator on the East Coast of the island. During the M.A.R.I.N. workshop a database of these wild apples and pears is made.

The data collected includes: location (GPS coordinates mapped on Boskoi), the amount of fruits on the tree (roughly) and a photograph of the location. The collected fruit samples are described in taste, size, outer shape, core shape, and length of  the stalk. Also each apple gets its portrait taken.

More about the project in this interview for local radio station DITT P4 Kalmar

Two excerpts of the show presented by Erika Norberg:

Lyssna: Därför kartlägger Theun vildäpplen...

Lyssna: "Det godaste vildäpplet hittade jag i Åkerby..."

Very large mushrooms

Last week, a few of us took some hours to wander around the land near Kultivator and look for good things to eat.  We were mostly hunting for mushrooms, and while at the end of the day we were lead to some very sizeable specimens, we also came back with an armload of late asparagus, some wild marjoram, and a batch of young hazelnuts.  These were all cooked-up and we shared the food with our fellow residents, as a late-evening dinner, complete with three courses.

Through food gathering / production and consumption, we reaffirm again and again our connection to the land.  Place, landscape, ecology, and cultivation are all implicated as we establish a relationship to the edible possibilities afforded by a particular locality.  In the case of farming, this includes traditional cultivation techniques and strategies, which of course are always mitigated by culture.

Our stay at Kultivator is a real education in the processes of organic farming. Our hosts are constantly working to create a local, healthy, and humane approach to dairy (and other) production.  For example, the cows here are fed almost exclusively with feed (grass and hay), which can be cultivated year-round on the farm.

Of course, foraging for wild foods implicates an entirely different set of systems. Foraging is a simple and direct way to connect to those natural systems in which we are embedded.  Going out to search for food reminded me of the wild and seemingly unpredictable processes of propagation and growth occurring among a myriad of plant and animal species, all the time.  It was a way of connecting to these systems in a sensory way, as we wandered and sampled wild berries, nuts, and the like.

Our search through the forested paths and brush yielded several edibles, however, some were a surprise.  It was an unpredictable journey and we were quite happy with the results. However, we had to be flexible with our responses to what we found … and come up with an innovative menu plan. In the context of M.A.R.I.N., this was a valuable and tasty exercise in our human connection to ecological systems. Also, most simply, it was a great way for the group to gather and share a meal.

Caught on 6.6.11

DIY tool for measuring and communicating radiation in fish.

I had been thinking very hard about the scientific process of collecting samples for radiation measuring. I broke down the areas concerned and tried to figure out the relationships between them – the science – the samples – the public. Who are these elements I wondered, what is their character?

I found myself thinking as scientist, interpreter and citizen. I incorporated all roles in the process of figuring out how to respond to this very small activity in the hugely important and massive activity of radiation as a phenomenon overall: what of the radiation in fish in the Baltic Sea?

And so, as citizen first, I decided to become a scientist and engage in the process, however flawed my attempt, and would then try and communicate my findings, however flawed the effort. So I built my own measuring station where fish are lured into an escapable cage, measured for radiation, and the radiation is stored in a publicly accessible data transmission house above water. The last idea is an attempt to create a ‘seamark’ or ‘beacon’ that communicates both the data, and the act of collecting data.

Expedition 1:    6.6.11     13:00 Depart Hogsara harbour and travel south around the island.

Crew: Tapio Makela, Tuomo Tammenpaa, Ben Dromey

Conditions: Sunny, medium-strong easterly wind

Intention was to catch pike, for food as well as data sample. Stopped in several spots around the coast but without much success. At 16:00 in the space of two minutes we caught two pike, 4.5kg (Tuomo) and 1.6kg(Tapio).

Upon return to Villa Cecillia at 18:00, I made a quick attempt to see if the geiger counter clocked a reading from our catch. At first it seemed that there was a slight peak near the belly of the larger fish, this slight peak appeared to happen on repeated passes over the body of the fish but this may have been a coinicidence and could have been background radiation.

In any case, the 1.6kg fish is packed and in the freezer.

The 4.5kg fish is about to be served.

Sample 01:

Date: 6.6.11 Time:16:01 Type: Pike  Weight: 1.6kg Location:

pre bq/kg measurement: no dosimeter yet

video coming

The MARIN effect:

The expertise of Tapio and Tuomo on where to catch the fish and which lures to use was integral. A great learning experience on how to catch pike.

The pike generally sit close to shore, in relatively shallow water. Higher chance of  a catch near reeds.

__________________________________________________________

Expedition 2:    10.6.11      20:30

Crew: Tapio Makela, Tuomo Tammenpaa, Miska Tammenpaa

Conditions: Calm, sunny

Sample 02:

Date: 10.6.11 Time:20:40 Type: Pike  Details: __ Weight: 1kg approx Location:

pre bq/kg measurement: 28.5 N.B. dosimeter battery may be low

Sample 03:

Date: 10.6.11 Time:22:25 Type: Pike  Details: scar on left side Weight: 1kg approx Location:

pre bq/kg measurement: 25 N.B. dosimeter battery may be low

The MARIN effect:

While the expedition took the Buster. I went for a leisurely row on the row boat, so thanks once again to the guys for catching the fish.

Initial Plan

I would like to explore a few things while Im here.

I am interested in exploring and identifying the nature of the relationship people have with data. I mean those who collect data and those who experience it, who are these people and how does their relationship to the data or the topic in question affect their experience of the data? Or, is their experience of the data or topic, the thing that defines that relationship?

My interest in this began during the radiation scare in Japan. The scientific reporting could not quell the fear being stoked by the media. The fear that was demonstrated was phenomenal and the public seemed prepared to react on that fear rather than wait to see how the situation panned out. The threat of radiation appeared to be so provocative that any attempts at rational reporting were viewed through a heavy filter of fear.

For this residency I would like to explore the use of data relating to the artificial radionuclide levels in Baltic fish. For me, this area of study carries potential to cross the borders of exploration between science, technology and artistic/design practise. The Baltic Sea is one of the most radioactive seas in the world. However, according to constant monitoring, the  levels of radiation are not harmful.

I would like to be involved in the entire process, from sample collection, to data measurement, to data reporting. I will collect several samples of Pike, Herring and Cod and bring them to STUK (Radiation and Nuclear Safety Authority) in Helsinki where radionuclide levels will be measured. I am not expecting the results to show any different than the current data that show very low levels of the artificial radionuclides Cs 137, Cs134  and Sr90 but I feel it is integral to the process, to fully understand all contexts that create the data.

I have a data set from STUK that contains radiation measurements from the three fish mentioned, data from 1984-2008. I will start to use this data and develop concepts and prototypes for people to experience the data. Particular emphasis will be placed on creating concepts with specific audiences in mind. For example, one approach is the data visualisation approach of which there is much theory about the ‘correct’ way to visualise information. However, I am interested in creating responses based on my understanding of the different types of relationships different groups of people will have with the data. The overall aim is that this will form a basis to build a language of experience design/art that uses data relationships and audience identification as primary drivers in the realisation process.

Context

The work that I would like to do will involve collaboration with fellow residency members, both in the collection of samples and the discussion and creation of concepts for experience.

While perhaps not publishing an academic report on my scientific findings, it is integral to the process that the data collection and measurement are of an academic standard. The data after all is the primary medium and representing it in whatever context requires that scientific standards are maintained.

Something that would be very useful in the context of this type of residency and this type of data collection would be to also explore the data relationship of people living close by the data source. This could take the form of interviews with local residents to explain what it is that I/we are doing and also in the realisation of concepts specifically aimed at experiences for local residents. Actually it would be very useful to try both things at the same time, explain the type of data being collected and concepts for experience.

Documentation Plan

A vital methodology for me will be the documentation of the process especially within the unique context of the MARIN residency. Collaboration on concepts, practical building and discussions on the merits or otherwise of the ideas forming will be emphasised within the documentation as it relates all aspects of the residency, my own project, others, our impact as a residency overall.

I will document everything on this blog.