21.2.07

First DATA

Answering the question "looking for what?", here are the first data.

1_ In general the site's objects are several Chinese shops, most of them are hairdessing salons and restaurants.
2_The site's subjects are all the Chinese people that work/live in this area.

3_The traditional Chinese medicine shop we are studying is at the end of Rotterdam China town. As said before
the synthetic China town of Rotterdam is more like a mixed eastern market that contains Chinese shops along with
many other shops from Eastern countries. Therefore this shop is surrounded by a coffeshop and a bar, both
having no relations to China.
4_The hairdresser is an inhabitant of this area for almost 15 years, his shop and house are at the very start of the
China town. He generally is located to this street.

5_The object's subjects are a Chinese couple that keeps the shop. The male (husband) is a doctor, the female (wife)
is cleaning up the shop and keeps it when her husband is not available at the front of the shop.
6_The subject's object is a normal ground floor shop at a rather good condition, fully equiped and possibly a house
connected to the shop.

7_due to lack of time this will be answered soon!
8_The traditional Chinese medicine shop is open since 1991, the doctor who owns it has studed medicine in China.
The shops sells medicine produced by the doctor and his wife or traditional more commercialized medicine,
imported from China. The examination rooms for accupuncture, massage etc. are equiped wuth traditional
Chinese furniture.
9_The subject lives in the Netherlands for 15 years, he works with three other girls at the shop, and probably
live together with them. He enjoys living in Rotterdam.

investigating


Second week at the Rotterdam China town, still looking for new clues..
Considering the fact that our China town is actually a street with a few Chinese shops, ivestigation progress through meeting Chinese people is not really very deep.
Most people are afraid to share their stories with foreigners, and more or less being foreigners themselves do not usually want to express a very private opinion on things going on in the Netherlands.
This fact is actually sad, because most of the times, when collecting information through a discussion, it is easier to have a more global sense of things being discussed..

Well in any case, we still have google!

Phase 2: combine the collected stories with published facts! on our way to China!

14.2.07

Specific information

Even if the SITE, OBJECT, and SUBJECT belong to the same diagram each of them have a different focus and objective in this exploration. As a result, the following specific differences arrouse for each element in the china-town explorations.

[here goes another unpublished, but gorgeus, diagram.]

Here follows a list of the information and investigation processes for each element:

A_the SITE (chinatown_Rotterdam):

identify objects
identify subjects
> CATEGORIZE!

get images and video // top view and ground level
identify each the type of building by its program
> CATEGORIZE!

identify VELOCITY (people, cars, tram)
identify TRANSITIONS (from public to private)
identify SPACES (shop, houses, gardens, courts, etc.)
identify MOVEMENT (inflow/outflow of objects and subjects)
> DIAGRAM!

B_the OBJECT (chinese traditional medicine shop):

where is it positioned?
what's its story (background)?
which subject operates (in) it? (get info on subject)
inflow/outflow of objects and subjects (medicines, patients, workers, etc.)
> MAKE POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS!

C_the SUBJECT (chinese hairdresser):

where is it positioned?
what's its story (background)?
in which object operates does he operate
? (get info on oubject)
where does the subject go, to which objects?
> MAKE POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS!
which subjects have contact with it?
> MAKE POSSIBLE CONNECTIONS!

Looking for what??

We have just 3 things to work with: a SITE, a SUBJECT, and an OBJECT. They all have respective backgrounds. Through the interconnection of each of these elements we get 9 different questions of 'what we are looking for'. Each connection is in both ways, and the same question won´t arrouse if you go from A to B as if you would go from B to A.

[here goes the diagram which we haven´t exported. yet.]

1_What are the site's objects?
2_What are the site's subjects?

3_what is the object's relationship to the site?
4_what is the subject's relationship to the site?

5_what are the object's subjects?
6_what are the subject's objects?

7_background of the site
8_background of the object
9_background of the subject

9.2.07

1st is first

General info:

_SITE: rotterdam // china town
_OBJECT: chinese traditional medicine shop
_SUBJECT: chinese hairdresser


The blog entries will work through the following tags:

1_regarding the USE:

  • general (about the project)
  • info (research)
  • mapping
  • connecting
  • generating
  • results
2_regarding its THEME:

  • site
  • people (subjects)
  • exchange (or trade related)
  • event (activities or phenomena)

3_regarding the MATERIAL:

  • txt
  • image
  • video
  • sketch
  • diagram (for explorations)
  • graph (from recollected info)
  • info (from research)