Continuing The Site

The subject of my examination of a block in Minato-ku, Tokyo for the Japan Tyler Art Workshop is a small dock on the water of Tokyo Harbor. I decided to create a web site featuring photos that i took at the dock accompanied by narration describing, poetically, my experience while i was there. I chose this area for my web site because it was unlike any part of Tokyo i had seen that far. I was curious to find out what else was different about my area and wondered if the dock's timetable was also out of sync with the rest of the city.

i am going to add this to my site. dermot suggested a little text and i think my artist statement would work well. i will now make that red stamp the link to this page.

Fuji

me and gian climbed to the summit of Mt.
Fuji! it was amazing to see the mighty creative work of Jesus:
the grand volcano, a climate change of 80 degrees at sea level
but a freezing breeze at 4000 meters up, and the landscape of
the tops of clouds! i'm glad Jesus fixed my relationship with
God and went with me as i climbed. i definitely needed it.
me and my friend Gian who i climbed with were not prepared for
a challenge like that. i'm glad we didn't listen to all the
people who advised us not to climb and more importantly that
God protected us when we were foolish.

I Did it for You

this is a link that taiki showed me. i'm just posting it so i can reference.
http://www.w3.org/TR/REC-CSS2/tables.html

Senerio

Yup,
i had finalized my design and struggled to put together the 1st page in dreamweaver. all of my files got erased when i wasn't in the lab on tuesday. i redid everything. it gave me the chance to fix some things that was already locked in at the stage i was at. thankfully, things are good now. i was able to figure out further the code i was using and the subpages for the time of day are very simple and the first one was created in no time. i still have to record more tracks, do a little photoshop work, and re-visit the dock to record sounds and take some digital photos.

It's Not Curry?

?uestion

Dermot, i was just wondering if there was a way to copy the divisions made by the slice tool to another file. if not i'll do it the old fashioned way and just do the same slices over.
thanks a lot.

The Product Line

Here are some samples of the pages i have completed. i am going to roughly splice them out to dreamweaver although i would like to tweak a few details as i have time. the three color ways and the 2 page templates are presented.
-the first page is the first page that is viewed. this is the morning color combination. it will take the viewer to the time of day chosen.
-the second is the page for the time of day in the sunset colors. it links to the other times of day via the side nav. the katakana links to the iphoto slide accompanied by narration.
-this is the narration/iphoto page. night color theme. there are 3 slide shows and the red button returns to the time of day.

Sound Man

i have my script for the narration on my site. Ron showed me the process of recording and i heard what i sound like when i get in the booth. i need to practice reading so it all flows well, and i might try to read in a little different tone. i have a way i want my page to work. i made a full story board with the new layouts and will run that by dermot.

Writing

sunset

the blazing sun begins to settle down behind the tokyo skyscrapers. it burns the water and leaves hot slivers of red and orange dancing on the surface of the bay. boats begin to return home. the ones that have already dock relax as their bodies ache and creak as their tethers rub from the waters rhythm.

the guard ships come in. an old man and young man work together to tie the guard ship down. they walk from one side of the boat to the other, off the boat and on to the dock, then back on to the boat. the old man gets in and drives the boat gently closer to the dock for it's final place in the bay.

there is activity going strong on a barge sitting next to the land. some men hustle around on the tubes that cover the top of the ship. i notice a large pipe connected to the top of these tubes. my eyes follow the pipe from the barge and run ten feet in and all the way across the street to the monolithic factory and silo that stands permanently casting its gaze upon the dock. the tube is the docks only attempt to reach up to the automotive loop around the sky of the bay. the men on the barge grapple with the pipe as it shakes to transport it's contents from the silo to the barge. when the process is complete, a lever is pulled and the men scramble to unhook the barge. they seal the top of the boat and drive it to the other side of the dock. where the ship will rest quietly for the evening.
the men are fine with allowing photography as they work. there is an attempt to communicate with each other despite the language barrier. but it is a large barrier. one man stops to talk as he is leaving on his bicycle. he speaks a little english and i take out my guidebook to ask a question in japanese. he said that he once lived in america. he informed me that the barge was just filled with 40 tons of concrete to be shipped by sea. he will sleep in his ship for the night before leaving to deliver the load.

Another Shot

i worked out a new idea for a layout. i'm trying to move in the direction of a page based off of traditional Japanese art. i'm stuck right now so i'll come back tomorrow to see if i can't work it out better or come up with another idea that i have.

Layouts Round 2

Cypha

i wrote more. this is the morning.

as the cool morning tints the bay in the moments before sunrise, the dock comes to an end of slumber. the barges roll on gentle waves as they rise from deep sleep. the quiet of night lingers as long as it can before the buzz of activity hurries it away. the dock starts slowly like a coal train leaving the station. the stillness is broken when a guard ship quietly moves out of it's bed. smoke rises from the exhaust as the boat bubbles away. The eyes of the dock the opening and the scene is getting brighter as the sun rolls in from the east.
the workers begin to slowly buzz the dock with activity. the last men on the dock the day before are the first ones starting the days work. a worker slides into the new day on his scooter. another sleepily drags out of his ship, and up the dock. they prepare for new tasks, the goal is to deliver the barge that was filled the day before with 40 tons of concrete. they move in and out the barge before particularly maneuvering ropes. as the ship is loosened from its ropes like blanket it begins to move away from the dock. the men hop on and look toward the bright horizon as they begin their journey.

Keep it Going

i'm still struggling through my lack of web design skills. so it's all good, i'll just have to put in more time for the learning process. i'm thankful that i'm going through this, it's a rough start with web design but it's a start.

so i have to work out in the next 20 minutes how i want my site to play out. i hope to have a picture slideshow and play my narrative over each page for the time of the day at the dock. i would rather allow the viewer/listener to choose which time of the day they want to choose, rather than have only a next/previous page options to a different time of day.

Is SuperDeluxe really that super deluxe or just kind of deluxe?

superdeluxe last night was smoky. but overall the artwork was fresh. i liked the second half of pecha kucha was better than the first. i really enjoyed the time lapse light drawings. dermot (i think) showed us a short online video of that last year, but it was only the dog walking across the parking lot and few others. but i felt that the video was really done well and was a nice presentation of the incredible work. the editing and music was on point and was an energetic and fun piece. the performance artist with the projectors was funny, and i liked the product designer who had all those lights. i surprisingly really liked that australian guide leader's photos. she had gorgeous work. peace.

Poetry

Here are some of the accounts i recorded when i was at the dock. i have yet to write about the morning or sunset at the bay. i will leave the language colorful. open to criticism/ suggestions.

night
There are no dockworkers around. Some rest soundly in their ships, gently being rocked to sleep by the rhythmic sea. some have left after the day's work in their car, scooter, or shuttle bus that ships employees out from the dock by way of dry land. the orange glow from the lamps blanket the dock. They provide comforting safety to the sleeping barges like a night light in the hallway outside a child's room. The snore of the behemoth ships as they move on the water and creak against the dock is the only sound heard out on the dock over the water.
The monorail glides into sight as it patrols the sky above the dock's perimeter. cars and trucks run laps right under the monorail. The sound of the tires on the highway attempts to imitate the voice of the sea.
nearby a young couple sits on a curb getting wasted in the deserted area. The silo rests it's eyes before another day at work. a ship tries to enter the bay but is stopped by the guard ship. The antics of the ferris wheel across the bay.

Sunset to Sunrise

i did the time and investigated the dock throughout the night. i went down in the afternoon and saw some of the men there moving the barges, and unhooking this long tube that was rigged from the large silo across the street. i took pictures of some the guys, they were very friendly. i ended up talking to one man who spoke a little english. he told me that they were filling the ship with 8.5 tons of concrete to be shipped.
not much was going on at night. i left and went to a cafe for 2 hours and went back to the dock. it was quiet. i spent some time there and then left again. it was a cold night and colder by the water. i tried to see if i could find a capsule hotel for the experience but there were none in the area. i went into a 24 hour diner type place, took out a couple books ordered a little food and stayed there for about 3 hours. i don't think the guys working there were pleased, but it was too cold outside.
i left right before sunrise and when i got to the dock i took pictures and saw the sunrise over tokyo bay. i'm very thankful for that, it was beautiful. not too long after the sun came up the dock started to buzz, one by one, with ship engines. i saw the guys i met the afternoon before and saw them leave to bring the concrete they loaded the day before to it's destination.
then i came back to school, found a couch and slept for a few hours.

Recording Sound

i went down to my dock to record sound, take pictures, and see the activity of the dock at sunset. my eyes were peeled but i didn't see what was happening other than a few guard ships docking. i got some good pictures and recorded some sound. the noises of the dock is really unique and interesting. i'm hoping that the sound works well in a website.

LV

The readings from a lateral view were interesting, but i'm not sure how relevant they were to my dock. Donald Richie gives creative analysis of aspects of the city that i think don't apply to the shipyard where i am focusing. it is funny that Richie mentions the constant construction of tokyo and many of the ships that i have seen transport tons of concrete by sea. i feel that my dock is closely interwoven with that cycle of rebuilding.

It's a start

I drafted up a loose layout for my web page. i see many problems with the design and there will be a lot of constructive criticism to help me out. i basically have a template for a page that the site will follow. i am thankful that i have this as a foundation because, hopefully, it will allow me to go along with my project, pushing for the most challenge possible but allow me not to get stuck if something is too much for me to do.
the content that i plan to bring into my project might alter my site layout. now that i have a rough base to begin, i need to finalize my content. i want to research a little on the history of the bay's development. i also need to go back to my block during different times of the day and if anything changes my direction, i have the flexibility to roll with it.

*i tried posting jpegs of my layout but the blog was reversing the colors... oh well time for kabuki. IMAGES COMING SOON*

Got a Block

I knew that i wanted to select a block in the bay. After touring the upscale commercial areas for a week i looked to focus on an area less polished. I was told that i could find such a neighborhood near water. On the third expedition to find an interesting block in the bay i ended up in an area lined with industrial warehouses. Last night i saw a shadow blanketed dock lined with men tending to boats. Across the water was the twinkling skyline of the metropolitan sprawl. The scene was just what i wanted. The area was tucked under a giant loop on the monorail.
I can only imagine what this place is like during the crack of dawn or at sunset.