nikos

The coin laundry project seems to me like a roller coaster ride, it involved a great deal of highs and lows. The story begins when 5 of us got together to form a group. Nothing would have prepared us for the amount of information that we were about to be exposed to.

In order to understand the media ecology of an area we had to construct a subjective and an objective map through the investigation of all channels, official and unofficial. As it is put forth by Matthew Fuller in Media Ecologies “Media ecology is a very slippery term. It is often used to refer to both an interlaced topological analysis of media objects, as an environ, as well as an accounting of their function” thus it becomes apparent that it is a very fluid term that contains multiple layers of signification.

But how can we properly research when no one knew what we were looking for ?  It was an overflow of information; we were spinning from history to geography and from local to global with no apparent purpose.  The problem for me revolved around the fact that we had no concrete base, no specific theoretical framework to work as foundation, to build upon. Since day one I found it very difficult to implement the project without a specific purpose, a certain goal.  No apparent purpose that is, cause ultimately the mapping process enabled us to transform something mundane, as washing your cloths to an orchestra, were everyone had a unique musical fingerprint. I struggled for some time but eventually managed to simply record and archive information with no specific purpose. Simply exploring the existing dynamics in place.

But back to the planning process, our first task at hand was to map out the media ecology of the coin laundry. But which coin laundry, and why that one specifically? What would be the project about? Will it be simultaneous through different spaces?  Who will take part on the actual event? Things did not look good during the initial gatherings as everyone had different ideas as to how we should proceed.Amidst all the confusion and as we all struggled to find our way I attempted to shift my attention from exploring ideas to there actual implementation.   To better explain my self I wanted to explore the technical/practical aspects of the project, but I have to admit that due to the luck of a specific task I could not focus my attention on a single idea. Confusion floated for a couple of weeks until we were able to pace our selves and breakdown the project into meaningful pieces.

From the beginning we decided that it would be better if we individually conduct research and then frequently meet up to report any progress. We had already marked 3 potential coin laundries all around Old Street with a close proximity to the city of London. In this light I thought we should somehow involve the City of London into our datajam. I was researching the “Street Care and Cleaning” code of conduct of the city of London were I discovered that they have guidelines and procedures for all kinds of dirt unfortunately nothing interesting came out and I quickly moved on.

At the same time as we were researching we tried to interact with people in the coin laundries (verbally, questioners) to find out how the spend there time while they wait, what made them choose the specific one and if they feel safe in it.

I was lucky enough to have a coin laundry at the ground level of the building I live in, so I thought it would be best if I start from there. I talked to the owner of the building and we explored the possibility of me having access at the electrical wiring and water pipe schematics of the laundry room but it soon became clear he had no intention of providing that access. At that point even he did give me all the schematics I wouldn’t know what to do with them. During the planning period of the coin laundry event I found my self looking into different variables that initially did not make any sense but were necessary in order to map out the media ecology.

Throughout the planning stage though no matter what was proposed we always came back to the idea of connecting people. We often talked about how people are lonely, how they do not communicate with one another and the isolation that comes with modern lifestyles. Also on a practical level, we didn’t want to perform an event were people would passively stood by and watch. We wanted to engage people to make them part of the event. All these factors lead us into birth of the Coin laundry orchestra

Coin Laundry Orchestra : A Culture Jam Event

During our research into the media ecology of coin laundries we discovered that once the laundry was an accepted space for socializing. Now however, the coin laundry is purely a space for utility. Through surveys and observation we found that people were no longer interacting with each other as previous generations once had. With this in mind we decided to put on an event that would inspire people to interact with each other.

Using sound samples indigenous to coin laundries, as well as interviews with the patrons, we created a set up that would allow people to produce their own orchestra. The production of this orchestra required the interaction and cooperation of multiple patrons, each controlling a layer of sound through a switch in order to create a unique melody.

More specifically using infrared as well as floor sensors we created a sound installation that actively engaged all participants. Customers had to interact with the pads/switches or the sensor to create a unique sound – some might go as far to call it music.   We had 5 layers of sound, four of them contained sounds that originated from the coin laundry and the fifth one contained interviews from customers that acted as lyrics to our “music”

We built a circuit board where the switches were connected digitally to an arduino board. An MAX/Msp patch detected the messages coming from the Arduino board and it translated them  into MIDI signals of “on” and “off”.

The day the actual event was performed we arrived to set up the installation and soon discovered we were missing a part – a small component of the ac power for the arduino board had vanished. A crisis quickly resolved by the discovery of the part in someone’s bag.  It also needs to be mention that there was no power available, so we had to plan ahead in order get power from the barbershop right beside the coin laundry. The owner initially suggested that he needs 50 pounds for us to power a laptop, a set of speakers and the arduino board  but quickly became reasonable as soon as I explained that the actual cost for him will be less than 5 pounds – that is if you call 25 pounds a  reasonable amount.

We managed to gather a lot of people, customers as well as people that simply popped by to see what was happening. It wasn’t left to chance, between Maria handing out leaflets on the street and Brittany’s free media tool , it was impossible  not know what was happening. Everyone seemed to be curious as they actively engage with the installation and I think that is a considerable factor that contributed towards the success of the project.

All and all on a personal level I have to say that the coin laundry project was a very exciting and informative task for me. I learned to appreciate information for what it is, without needing to know the end goal or a theoretical framework to base it upon. For me the project was a success as we managed to attract different demographics and most importantly make people that do not use coin laundries to come by, blend in and actively participate.

To be honest I would have preferred it if I had managed to get more involved on the technical aspects of the project. My role mostly resembled what I usually do on a professional level as a producer planning, interviewing, filming and editing. I guess it comes easy to anyone to follow up on something already known instead of building something from scratch,its new and unfamiliar territory….next time!

If you want to see a clip of the actual event, access the video below
Coin Laundry Orchestra

My objectives:

Learn how to produce projects that deal with abstract concepts
Learn how to be more practical
To influence the behavior of customers inside the coin laundry and encourage them to interact

Encourage people that do not use  Coin Laundries, to participate in the event

The resources and strategies I will use:

Sounds from the coin laundry
Footage and pictures from all locations
Monitor the behavior of customers
Infrared sensors and pressure switches
Alan’s tutorials
Talk to the owners and customers of the coin laundry
Survey the area for official/unofficial channels of communication
Use local authority resources
Literature on the history of locations

The proof of accomplishing this activity will be:

Customers admitting that typical behavior patterns have been altered
To present the group with all drafts/ materials (footage, pictures, designs) that lead to the actual event

For the next practical project we had to achieve a rather unusual task, that of being completely aimless. As I was thinking of how I can be truly aimless it became increasingly apparent that it is very tricky. Intending not to have any aim/purpose has after all intent even if that is to have no intent at all.

In order to achieve aimlessness we must comprehend that the “view our immediate environment (…) depends on our social position and mental state” and on the other the “ city is build on aim, purpose, direction, the pursuit of wealth and production ”.  So we must first be prepared to shed part of our own identities as well as to look at the city differently not only as a place to promote wealth and production, but also as a place of experimentation and discovery.   As Debord puts it forth in his text The Theory of Derive (1968)  “To derive is to notice the way in which certain areas, streets, or buildings resonate with states of mind, inclinations, and desires, and to seek out reasons for movement other than those for which an environment was designed. It is very much a matter of using an environment for one’s own ends”

Under this light Sou, and me decided to explore the city. We used as an entry-point Liverpool street station and as an exit point Brick Lane. Following the proposed technique we choose places with significance, positive or negative. When I first arrived in London, for example Liverpool Street was the first entry point in the city for me. Unfortunately Sou’s signification was on the negative side as she got robbed in Brick lane.

Although I have been living in the area for a couple of months I never had noticed for example the former jubilee line train on top of a building nor would I know that it is today used as an art studio. I was also interested by the TEA building and its insignia and the character of the old Truman Brewery.

Walking, we often found ourselves a bit lost. We had some trouble choosing direction a matter evident on the map were we marked all our stops. But I think all and all, being aimless and just wonder around the city give us a unique perspective, of seeing and appreciating the city under a different light free from “spectacles”, daily mundane worries and routine tasks.

For the shop dropping project the instructions were pretty straight forward:  We had to choose two products available on a supermarket shelf, steam off the labels, reproduce them and then place them back. My working partner for this project was Maria. We worked on an Uncle Ben’s sauce jar and on a Veet foot cream.

As I was trying to contextualize my self around shop dropping I came across the website of an organization called the anti advertising agency that promoted several of their shop dropping projects that “ through constructive parody and gentle humor (…) asks passers by to critically consider the role and strategies of today’s marketing media as well as alternatives for the public arena”  (source) an idea I found brilliant as it uses the same tools and strategies that advertising agencies and PR companies use in order to promote alternative messages and question “established” practices.

Shop dropping is an excellent way to put your point across as you can manipulate the cultural capital that a product has to reinforce your own alternative message. The more recognizable the brand, the more easy it is to get the message across.  Also Instead of people worrying you will shop lift you are actually putting something back.  In a sense it works in allot of ways as graffiti does. As graffiti artists use the city as canvas to communicate the messages so can consumers by reclaiming the visual space of products.

Because I am no expert when it comes to digitally manipulating graphics, I wanted to minimize my intervention on the product label.  That is in order to maintain the products appeal and authenticity. I have to say that I am not used working around both vector and bitmap graphic software.  I know my way around adobe Photoshop for example but on a pretty basic level.  I asked Maria to give me her advice as to what level of skill is required to do the things I wanted and I have to admit that I had some help reproducing the label.

First thing is first, after a small brief, that introduced us to the idea, we were all asked to go to market near by and purchase a product in order to do the shop drop. I have to say that at this stage I had no idea what I wanted to do. That goes for the actual product as well as the message I wanted to communicate. That would explain why I ended up buying an air freshener that smells awful and still is in my drawer unused.

For me the idea came on one of those endless tube rides, that you end up looking at the same advertisement over and over again simply because there is nothing else to look at –don’t know if you do it, maybe its just me. Fortunately it acted as a trigger.  The advertisement was of the Times newspaper depicting the American flag and it just hit me, Uncle Sam! I thought what is the closest product I can use and about 5 seconds later it became clear that Uncle Ben’s was the obvious choice.

So I thought I can communicate a political message based upon popular conceptions. I intervened on 4 parts of the label using Adobe Photoshop to create a layer that covered the precious text and picture. I altered the picture of uncle Ben, the product name, the flavor and the recipe suggestion. More specifically I replaced the picture of Uncle Ben with the highly recognizable Uncle Sam - Uncle Sam is a national personification of the United States, and sometimes more specifically of the American government (source).  Also Uncle Ben’s became Uncle Sam’s and the flavor from Oriental became Western. Last but not lest I also altered the suggested recipe from:

“Brown 225 grams of chicken breast or pork in a little oil for 2-4 minutes. Add the contents of the jar, stir and cook for further 4-5 minutes. Serve with Uncle Ben’s rice”

To

“Mix an unstable government and a dictator, wait a couple of days and add some propaganda. Add the contents of the jar along with plenty of financial support and simply wait a couple of days more. Enjoy Uncle Sam’s guaranteed coup”

After Maria and I finished with our products we went back to Sainsbury’s in order to get some feedback. It soon became clear we wont be able to film within the supermarket premises. So we took our products, went outside and actively engaged with customers, to see what happened access the video below

Shop Drop