The design objective for this project was to find a person to study through means of data collection, and then be able to take the information and pose it in a way that allows your subject to learn something new about themselves. The subject I chose was my roommate, Justin. The interesting thing to note was that while Justin and I were roommates, we see each other very little and know little about one another. In the beginning, I wrote down a list of all the facts I could list about my roommate, and came up with a list of 8 basic statements. However, Justin is a fellow Art Center student, like myself, and so a point of discovery to head toward was in revealing how two students that go to the same design college experience similarities and differences. The challenge I set for myself is to find out if this project can help the two of us find common ground, a natural conversation in the shared circumstances.

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I created an accordion book that can be unfolded to reveal all thirteen days of data. This book records what took place in the shared digital space between us, highlighting the fact that while some may see technology as cold and distancing, it can also be used as a tool of convenience to aid communication and thus break down barriers, even among two people that know one another very little.

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Butcher Paper as Archive

I embarked upon what could be termed incidental information gathering. What I wanted to capture was the individualistic yet commonplace moments in a person’s day-to-day existence. As both of us are design students it made sense to me that I attempt to archive the physical marks we make; the notes, doodles, and drawings. And so I covered both of our workspaces with carbon paper, and on top of that I placed butcher paper. What resulted was that the paper became an instant repository for the marks representing every project brainstorm and whimsical moment that occurs in the course of a rigorously creative life.

Shared Blog

I also set up a posterous blog that both of us could add content to with the utmost of convenience, by simply sending an email or text message the post becomes a piece of dialogue between us. It is a useful reflection of a person’s personality to see the conscious choices made to volunteer information that directs the conversation a certain way. I also used the blog to document the process of the project along every step of the way.

Webcam & Shared Screen

Both of our workspaces had a webcam pointed directly at it, creating a dataset in the form of timelapsed photographs. This is an objective representation of tangible activity, but to push that further I also utilized Skype screen sharing, enabling me to see the homework that Justin is working on at our apartment as I do my own work in my studio. I would then post a blog entry about what I see and initiate a real time blogged conversation, resulting in an explicit acknowledgement of respective work that is going on simultaneously in two different places.

Power Meter

Finally, a power meter was installed in the apartment to make clear the timeline of when Justin is at the apartment studying at his workspace. It also records the times when I come by to turn on or off the computer displaying the blog and the webcam image, appearing as periodic slight blips of power change.

Outcome

I wrestled with the nature of data collection, I felt the process to be very blunt and impenetrable in terms of revealing more specific human moments. I set about to find a way to use familiar tools for nontraditional means in a systematic manner, turning what I collect into data because of the way that I went about collecting it, and also because of what it revealed about both Justin and myself.

Justin Marking the Book from Dustin York on Vimeo.

The two of us were able to find a natural empathy and conversation about the projects that we both toil over, and both of us learned the most from one another in the interests that are revealed to dictate the directions our projects take. In the end, I made two identical books and Justin and I annotated the comments we had for one another. He got my marked book and I got his.

Looking forward, I believe I can use similar means of inquiry to learn about other people, about what drives them. I like the idea of relying upon what people are willing to volunteer about themselves, especially information revealed naturally and semi-unconsciously, with a minimum of consideration. I also enjoy the conversations that take place in a time-delayed and reflective atmosphere, and expect that I will explore similar themes dealing within a reflective and temporal context.