Stonehouse compiled area map (part 2)

Picking up on an idea of the aura and soul of the location, Union Street seems to be an ideal choice due to its historical value and modern day state. It was designed by a man called John Foulston, and laid out between 1812 and 1820 as a grand boulevard to connect the three towns of Plymouth, East Stonehoue and Devonport. It was thought of as the home for the rich and famous around the area,

“…the buildings are neat and handsome, and the streets straight and commodious, particularly those of Durnford-street, Emma-place, Edgcumbe-street and Union-street. These are almost entirely occupied by genteel families, chiefly those of naval and military officers, and other persons holding situations under government. The addition of Union-street … is an improvement of the greatest importance … [it] affords a spacious thoroughfare, and presents … a succession of neat and uniform buildings”

“Guidebook to Plymouth” 1823

Union Street was considered one of the most notorious and infamous streets in the south west of England, and was often populated with sailors from around the globe due to its red light districts. Sadly however, the majority of the area was destroyed during WW2 bombings and subsequent events leaving the area in the state it is in now.

About half way along Union Street you will find a dilapidated building named ‘The New Palace Theatre’. The building is grade II listed, and was included on a list by ‘The Victorian Society’ of the UK's ten most endangered and best Victorian and Edwardian buildings, yet its last use was as a nightclub and now just stands there crumbling and broken, a long way from yesteryears grandeur. However this is not a unique example along a road which now has a massive conflict between the old and the new, absolute poverty and aspiration. Union Street now consists of council flats, derelict buildings, late night pubs and shops selling goods which could not be described as essential. The geographic theory describes this as ‘Inequality of space’ - when a geographical area is used by different social groups for a variety of purposes. This may result in conflict increasing the divide between these groups.

Stonehouse compiled area map

Having all focused on a different aspect of Stonehouse, and plotting them, as a group we have placed all these layers onto a single map to represent our combined idea of the area. The red wavy areas/lines are, as before, to represent the main areas of noise pollution and focus on the main roads and activity sites. Within the group Luke placed the black dots to show people density in the open, the blue star like shapes to symbolise quiet locations, and thin black lines to indicate the field of view along Union Street. Ben chose to illustrate the aura/soul of the area with long thin blue lines, whilst Matt represents the desirability of the area in block colour on a sliding scale of red to green. Red being the least desirable, green being the most desirable. Finally Karla symbolised the flow/movement of people through and out of the area with a series of bold lines and green markers.

After having the combined map we decided to concentrate on an area of high interest within our group and with in the area, Union Street.

Media and the ‘Social’

Within groups we were tasked with mapping what we understood by the term ‘Media’ so on paper we wrote down all the different forms media takes, and without listing them we concluded that people are influenced by media in every aspect of life. Media by definition is anything which can convey a message, so with that in mind we divided our list up into the different types of media, focusing on the way the user /audience is engaged, to produce the following mind map using free software available from http://www.mindmeister.com/.

The three main areas which represent the different ways publishers interact with the audience are,

• One to one communication




• One to many communication




• Mass media communication

As you can see both the one to one, and one to many communication routes have relatively few outlet possibilities compared to the mass media, but do offer a wide possibility for feedback/response, and are able to change their audience size to fit their needs. Mass media tends to be one way, and published by large organisations.

“The mass media have two important sociological characteristics:
First, very few people can communicate to a great number; and, second, the audience has no effective way of answering back”

C. Wright Mills “The Power Elite” 1956

Mass media also takes the form of what many would consider traditional media types, like TV and cinema, radio, photography. All of which were developed during the period of 1860-1930, when people didn’t have the opportunities like today to self-publish so media was a very one way thing. Of course there were dangers attached with this one way, one side, process. Adolf Hittler’s use of propaganda through print and radio during WW2 shows the possible dangers of mass media, but also there overwhelming power and success. During the late 17th century it is believed that early newspapers were the cause for the increased spread of literacy and education, however it is now believed with modern electrical entertainment, and people having so much freedom of speech and limitless platforms on which to be heard (i.e. blogs, facebook , Youtube etc), that we are now in the reverse of that trend.
Do I believe either form should dominate? No, I feel that both mass media and our own outlets are very important in today’s world. However mass media is heavily monitored and regulated, so maybe with everyone now having the capacity to generate ‘media’ something/someone should be responsible for the ownership of that content, because when you can look on somebody’s own website to find out ‘how to make a bomb in your kitchen’ or racial/religious commentaries on why one group of people deserves to live, the other deserves to die, what is the difference between that person and Hitler’s use of the media in the 1930’s? Both give the reasons and tools.

Digital signatures examples

Just two quick examples of digital signatures I have pulled off http://www.flickr.com/. They both seem very basic but actually say quite a lot about the author of each piece.

The first one shows not only their name but also their religion, which is a massive part of the influences which make you an individual and unique.

The second is a cool one letter approach, which shows exactly that, the person is cool, modern, and maybe a bit mysterious whilst at the same time in your face.

Digital signature

Although I have not technically started this project yet, when I do, a great deal of thought will have to go into personal reflection so that the image I create will truely represent me.
So this is just to point out the recent post I made in the IDAT 101 strand of my blog which shows a mind map I created of myself. Whilst this was not done for this project it is, and will be, a great aid in showing what makes me an individual and reflecting that back in my digital signature.

Understanding myself (IDAT 101)

The picture below is a photograph of a ‘mind map’ I made about myself. The purpose of this piece was to better understand what influences and factors shape me into the individual I am perceived to be by others. We were asked to create an image to show this, and the task was meant to be purely for ‘fun’. However, I used this as a good opportunity to create a piece which I felt would be useful to ‘self justify’ any creative decisions I make.
The centre of the image represents me. It is surrounded by the seven major influences on my life, and shows how they are linked to me. The pink lines are a lifestyle connection, the blue lines are an enjoyment connection, and the green lines represent an emotional connection. Everything else within the diagram is an offshoot from those main connections and the orange lines show the links between them. Although I see this as a good overview of myself, it is no way near as comprehensive as it could have been, but it was a logical finishing point for this exercise.

Stonehouse stage one

The task has become clearer. Using a blank map of Stonehouse as a starting point, as a group we are to plot/convey aspects of the area that make up parts of the whole ambience/essence of Stonehouse, not just the obvious day to day visual. After visiting the area to collect more data and refine any previous ideas, we are to identify these unique aspects, and possibly improve, and represent them in such a way that an audience can decipher individually and draw their own meaning.
With all that in mind my first task was to identify a factor which I felt could be correctly mapped without/before going to the area. I chose to plot the factors which I thought would produce the most noise pollution within the area. These included the main roads, recreation areas, and the military barracks. The highest intensity of noise is marked with solid red lines and the spread is represented with wavy ripples. Whether my predictions are correct will be determined when we visit and re-plot our data.