Every year on 10 December, the world celebrates Human Rights Day, the very day when, in 1948, the United Nations General Assembly adopted the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR). The UDHR consists of a preamble and 30 articles that set out a broad range of fundamental human rights and freedoms to which all of us, everywhere around the world, are entitled. It guarantees our rights without distinction of nationality, place of residence, gender, national or ethnic origin, religion, language, or any other status.
Article 1: All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights. They are endowed with reason and conscience and should act towards one another in a spirit of brotherhood.
Deeply moving and laugh-out-loud funny, Mission: JOY is a documentary with unprecedented access to the unlikely friendship of two international icons who transcend religion: His Holiness the Dalai Lama and Archbishop Tutu. In their final joint mission, these self-described mischievous brothers give a master class in how to create joy in a world that was never easy for them. They offer neuroscience-backed wisdom to help each of us live with more joy, despite circumstances.
To access the screening room, use the link in the box below:
Click “Register” and enter your email address and the event invitation code MJA-AE4A. You can return as many times as you like during the screening window by clicking “Event Login” and entering the same email address and invitation code. If you have trouble registering, please see the FAQ section within the screening room.
Inspired by New York Times bestseller The Book of Joy: Lasting Happiness in a Changing World, the film showcases the exchange between these two Nobel Peace Prize winners that led to that book.
Consisting largely of never-before-seen footage shot over 5 days at the Dalai Lama’s residence in Dharamsala, the film invites viewers to join these luminaries behind the scenes as they recount stories from their lives, each having lived through periods of incredible difficulty and strife.
With genuine affection, mutual respect and a healthy dose of teasing, these unlikely friends impart lessons gleaned from lived experience, ancient traditions, and the latest cutting-edge science regarding how to live with joy in the face of all of life’s challenges from the extraordinary to the mundane. Mission: Joy is an antidote for the times.
Just 7 minutes a day for 7 days to create more JOY for yourself: The Mission: JOY Team worked with top researchers from UC Berkeley, UC San Francisco, Harvard and 14 other universities to identify micro-actions–called Acts of JOY–that we can each do to create more JOY for ourselves in the moment. They’re quick, easy, and can be done by anyone of any age anywhere.
Sign up here and try out one Act of JOY a day, and at the end of 7 days, you’ll receive a free, individualized JOY Report that will show you which Acts were most beneficial for you. You will also be part of the world’s largest-ever citizen science project on JOY, helping scientists unlock the next level of discovery about how we can all feel more JOY!
“Joy manifests in human rights victories, the fighting for a just cause, and in the songs and artwork of social protest. Joy is transgressive of current conditions, and a force to bring people together to realize our potentials.”
The Del Sol Quartet brought The Joy Project to DWeb Campat Camp Navarro, Mendocino, where a globally diverse community of builders and dreamers gathered in nature to tackle the real world challenges facing the web and to co-create the decentralized technologies of the future. The quartet plays Sam Weiser’s composition, Let Joy Wash Over Youas You Fall Asleep, and campers are invited by composer Erika Oba to gather rocks from the dry riverbed to create a soundscape together.
Scenes from DWeb Camp 2022, Del Sol Quartet #3 by Paul d’Aoust, Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International Creative Commons License
Del Sol has commissioned a body of short musical works written to give joy. As a gift to the community during these times, they are performing these pieces in numerous free concerts at public settings around the Bay Area — parks, schoolyards, open-spaces — where people can soak up some musical “joy” while safely practicing social distancing in the open air.
Sign up onDel Sol’s “Joy List” for the latest information regarding future performances.
On Sunday, December 12th, we were invited by Dr. Wallace J. Nichols to share how we put #bluemind into action with The 11th Annual Blue Mind [Deconstructed] Summit.
Blue Mind. Forever.
Our Blue Marble travels started here eleven years ago in 2010, and I never get tired of the spectacular view from McCovey Cove. However, it was a little strange to see the empty space where the statue of Willie McCovey should be. Stretch has stepped out of the batter’s box, waiting for construction to cease. As we lined up in the rain, a sail boat named City Lights swooped by. Raindrops dripped on our heads, but we eventually made our way inside for our holiday treat – hot cocoa and cookies with Lou Seal. In our ballpark by the water, in an atmospheric river, on an ordinary Sunday. In 2021.
The article that follows was replicated with a single click, thanks to a nifty tool created by our friends at COMPOST, a magazine about the digital commons. COMPOST is published to the web and DWeb using the Distributed Press API.
Margaret Warren and I greatly enjoyed our time working together to tell our story of “A Confluence of Waters” with The Blue Marbles Project for Issue 02 of COMPOST magazine, which you can find HERE, along with a specially curated Spotify playlist. (Begin with Blue Mind, and follow the Del Sol Quartet to Fast Blue Village 2). Happy Reading!
A Confluence of Waters
Exploring Connections with The Blue Marbles Project
Andi Wong and Margaret Warren
In the Summer of 2019, we—Andi Wong and Margaret Warren—met for the first time at one of the Friday lunches at the Internet Archive headquarters on Funston Street in San Francisco. We met while planning art activities for the Decentralized Web Camp, and it was there that Andi first shared a blue marble with Margaret. But that is not where this story begins, and it’s certainly not where it will end.
This story is non-linear and organically expanding. Like mushrooms in a Fairy Circle. Like when websites used to have web rings. Like BuckyBalls: nano particles of carbon atoms in a spherical structure. Like the new vision of the web: decentralized and linked through nodes and edges. A synchronistic murmuration of inspirations and enchantment.
The ancient Greeks first declared the sphere the most perfect form and proclaimed it was the shape of the Earth and all the planets. Then on December 7, 1972, the crew of the Apollo 17 spacecraft made this vision evident when it produced this image of the earth, nicknamed “The Blue Marble,” on December 7, 1972.
Apollo 17: Blue Marble (Dec 7, 1972)
Creator: NASA
Copyright notice: 1972 NASA
Copyright terms: Public Domain Content
Apollo 17: Blue Marble (Dec 7, 1972)
Creator: Andi Wong
Copyright notice: 2018 Andi Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
Blue Marbles Project: Synergy defined by Buckminster Fuller (2014)
Creator: Andi Wong
Copyright notice: 2014 Andi Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-ShareAlike Creative Commons
Now jump to 2009, when a marine biologist, Dr. Wallace J. Nichols, known simply as “J” had an ambitious idea to hand his friend LeBaron Myers a blue marble. That simple act became an idea, which then became a movement. A low-tech-slow-motion global art project with a seemingly staggering goal of passing a blue marble through the hands of every (yes, every) person on OUR blue marble Earth, and along with each passing—a simple message of gratitude and reminder that everything we do on our water planet matters.
Dr. Nichols holding a blue marble
Creator: Neil Ever Osborne
Dr. Nichols is an innovative and entrepreneurial scientist. In 1996, J placed a satellite-tag on an adult female loggerhead sea turtle that was released into the wild after being rescued in Baja, Mexico. Adelita, named after a local fisherman’s daughter, was the first animal tracked across the Pacific Ocean, traveling over 9,000 miles from Baja, Mexico to her place of birth in Sendai, Japan. Thanks to the internet, Adelita’s journey was followed by children everywhere.
Where is your water?
J often asks people the question: ‘Where is your water?’ to kick off a conversation. What is the special place where you find you go to the water’s edge? For some, it might be the neighborhood swimming pool. Others might answer that they go kayaking or sailing, or they think of a tropical island paradise where they go on vacation. Garden hoses, public fountains, an opened fire hydrant, or ocean surf… Really, there is no wrong answer.
Scientists and teachers spend a lot of time crafting thoughtful, open-ended questions when they want more than a simple “yes” or “no” answer.
In 2010, Andi went to hear J talk about sea turtles, after an introductory email exchange about water. She wrote to ask J about his view of the changing waters of the Gulf of Mexico, after seeing his CNN video report about the Deepwater Horizon oil spill online. [1] When J asked Andi this question, she really had to think before answering.
Andi’s Water
My water begins in a small town in the California Delta called Locke, a historic rural Chinese-American community in the United States. The town of Locke was built in 1915 by Chinese residents, after the Chinatown in nearby Walnut Grove was destroyed by fire. I enjoyed lazy childhood summers in Locke, staying with my grandparents in their home on Main Street. My cousins and I had the run of the wooden plank walkways and the back alleys of this tiny four-block town. Locke was a place where we could roam and play until sundown, and we children grew up with very little knowledge of the extreme challenges faced by our families: The Page Act of 1875, The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, The Geary Act of 1892, The Alien Law of 1913 which prohibited the Chinese from owning land. There, in this isolated town, my mother’s family made it through the Great Depression and World War II.
In the 1940’s and 50’s, most young people—including my mother—left Locke, searching for greater opportunity and better living conditions. Today, in 2021, few residents of Chinese ancestry remain, and Locke has one of 300 failing systems in California that routinely supply roughly 1 million people with contaminated drinking water.
The Blue Marbles Project: Locke Chinese School (2015)
Creator: Andi Wong
Copyright notice: 2015 Andi Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
The Blue Marbles Project: Connie King’s Toilet Garden, Locke, CA (2015)
Creator: Andi Wong
Copyright notice: 2015 Andi Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
The river flows past my hometown of Sacramento, where I went to school, worked and got married, before moving to San Francisco. There the Bay waters swirl around Angel Island, where my grandmother, five months pregnant, landed on September 13, 1929, accompanied by my grandfather after a 31-day ocean crossing on the Tenyo Maru. Ye Ye, my grandfather, was free to depart, having taken up residency in California in 1911, as the son of a merchant, but Yin Yin, my grandmother, was held on the island for processing. The Angel Island Immigration Station transcripts document hours of intense interrogation. These records also revealed that Ye Ye was manager at United Meat Market for 36 firm members, and perhaps the cooperative’s pooling of investments explains how he was able to post the $1000 bail for Yin Yin’s temporary release eight days later. As ordered by the court, my grandmother returned to Angel Island carrying proof of childbirth: her 3-month old son Edmund—my father—and she was officially admitted to the United States as the wife of a domiciled Chinese merchant on March 17, 1930.
The Blue Marbles Project: Angel Island (2012)
Creator: Andi Wong
Copyright notice: 2012 Andi Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
Angel Island Suitcase: Clay Marbles (2011)
Creator: Andi Wong
Copyright notice: 2011 Andi Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
My water continues beyond Angel Island, flowing past the Golden Gate Bridge to San Francisco, where my two now-grown children built sandcastles on Ocean Beach and learned “you never turn your back on the Ocean.” It is a long oceanic journey from the farmlands of the Pearl River Delta of Southern Guangdong Province to reach “Gum Saan,” meaning “Gold Mountain,” what the Chinese called San Francisco, California. Much like Adelita the sea turtle, my immigrant ancestors needed both fortitude and good fortune to cross the Pacific Ocean.
For the past twenty years, I’ve worked in San Francisco public schools, as a teaching artist—a phrase coined to describe “an active artist who chooses to also develop the skills of teaching in order to activate a variety of learning experiences that are catalyzed by artistic engagement.” When the COVID-19 pandemic shuttered both schools and theaters, I focused on supporting two groups that struggled to adapt to the pandemic, often with limited access and experiences with technology: artists and elders.
Now I’m serving as project manager, researcher/archivist, and community liaison for a project called “Angel Island Insight,” with the Del Sol String Quartet and The Last Hoisan Poets. My work with poets Genny Lim, Flo Oy Wong, and Nellie Wong, also descendents of Angel Island immigrants, has filled me with a richer understanding and gratitude for the survival instinct and wisdom exhibited by the Chinese American diaspora. These vibrant elders taught me “haw meong suey,” an expression that literally means “Good Life’s Water” in Hoisan-wa, the dialect spoken by early Chinese immigrants. [2] By writing new poems in Hoisan-wa, they are keeping the history and language of our ancestors alive and vibrant, in a time when intercultural understanding and cooperation are needed more than ever. Del Sol, unable to perform for audiences in concert venues, struggled with latency issues while streaming on Zoom. They pivoted to playing free outdoor pop-up concerts and commissioning composers to write new short musical works to inspire joy.
The history of the Chinese on Angel Island, America’s own immigration history, remains unknown to many. But when audiences board the ferry to Angel Island for performances by Del Sol in October, this artistic exploration of the history of immigration and exclusion will be presented with “haw meong suey,” a healing dose of ocean. For me, this was yet another surprising chapter in an epic voyage that began with the gift of a blue marble from Dr. Wallace J. Nichols at Gray Area Foundation for the Arts on July 29, 2010.
At that event, four large water coolers were lined up on a table, each filled with a colorful flotsam of plastic demonstrating the increasing levels of plastic pollution accumulating in our oceans from 1910, 1960, 2010, to 2030—an ominous depiction of the future, if no interventions were taken. Neat rows of stacked glass tumblers issued a silent dare to drink. Plastic Century was an experiential art installation created for World Oceans Day and the 100th anniversary of Jacques Cousteau’s birth. J and his project’s co-creators wished to convey the “feeling of strangeness, discovery, disgust, and delight… what we want to remain with people as they walk out into the great big plastic world.”
The Blue Marbles Project: Wallace J. Nichols (2010)
Creator: Andi Wong
Copyright notice: 2010 Andi Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
Open House: Plastic Century (2010)
Creator: Andi Wong
Copyright notice: 2010 Andi Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
J was there to speak about his first-hand impressions of the Deep Water Horizon disaster, the largest marine oil spill in history. He had just returned from New Orleans after filming apocalyptic scenes of the ocean on fire from a helicopter. In Louisiana, he had walked on beaches littered with tar balls; filming and describing the details to his daughters. When I came across his report on CNN, I was sickened by his images of waters roiling in an oily sheen of sickly hues of yellows, reds, and white. “The Gulf,” he said, had become “the world’s largest petri dish.” with the unprecedented use of the chemical dispersant, COREXIT.
Noting that scientists are not often known for speaking about love, J spoke openly of his love for the ocean and his commitment to care for a world that his two daughters would grow to inherit. He discussed the value of using new tools and technologies to reach hearts and minds. Then, at the end of the evening, J gave each person in the room one blue marble. He explained the simple rules of the “blue game,” a ritual that has since become an integral part of my story, connecting me to thousands of others since that Summer in 2010.
Around the World with the Blue Marbles
I had just taken a new position at school: working in the computer lab. Excited to find ways that the arts might be integrated with technology, I soon discovered that all the kids really wanted to do in the lab was play a computer game called Marble Blast, where players roll a small marble through a variety of obstacles courses, without falling “Out of Bounds.” If you made it to the end, you were rewarded with a big burst of fireworks.
Image via Andi Wong
When I asked the kids why they liked playing the game, I learned that they knew that if they kept playing the game, they would improve. And one boy told me that he liked this game because he knew he could never die in it.
It was then that I decided what I would do with my class. We would play Marble Blast, away from the keyboard, in real-life.
When very young children draw their blue marbles close to their eyes while looking into the light, they will tell you that they see a whole menagerie of creatures, both real and imaginary — dolphins and whales, sea turtles and fish, merpeople and pirate ships. The children are eager to share what they see, and their eyes shine bright with wonder.
The Blue Marbles Project: The Glass Menagerie (2013)
Creator: Andi Wong
Copyright notice: 2013 Andi Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
When I asked the children if it might be possible to pass a blue marble through the hands of everyone on Earth, they answered enthusiastically, “Yes!” The follow up question, “Can you do it by yourself?” made it clear that we would need to ask others for help.
At first, we only had one blue marble to play with. I asked the class, if they could send the Blue Marble anywhere on Earth, where would they like to see the marble go? After much discussion, the children decided that they wanted to see the Blue Marble at The World Series. We had to figure out a way. Incredibly, within minutes, we discovered Mr. Rogers, a fourth grade teacher, would help.
The Blue Marbles Project: Mapping (2011)
Creator: Andi Wong
Copyright notice: 2011 Andi Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
The next stop was Cuba, a place that was near impossible for most children to visit. The children’s imaginations caught fire. We bought a case of marbles and the game was on. Together, we traveled with Blue Marble to see the world beyond the United States. The Colosseum in Rome. The Berlin Wall. The Eiffel Tower. The Taj Mahal. The Great Wall of China! Family and friends helped the children to see the world by sharing their adventures through photographs and correspondence on Facebook.
It took three years, but the children finally achieved their goal to visit every continent on Earth, when a Blue Marble made it to Antarctica. Blue Marble followed the water, traveled across the Sahara Desert by camel, crossed the Alaskan frontier on the Iditarod, via gondola, rickshaw, airplane, and submarine.
Gif via Andi Wong
As the children learned about the Ocean and her importance to all life on Earth, they grew eager to apply their knowledge. They learned how to reduce, reuse, recycle, and ultimately refuse the plastic that soils their beaches by sewing their own cloth lunch bags. We sponsored a nest in the Yucatan Peninsula and celebrated the birth of sea turtle hatchlings. The third graders premiered Chelonia’s Story, an original opera about a young sea turtle and an ocean scientist who gently sings that captive turtles should be returned to the sea. On International Biodiversity Day 2016, the children used a new technology called Zoom, which was still relatively unknown then, to broadcast their sustainability fair celebration to a classmate in Saint Petersburg, Russia.
The Blue Marbles Project: Vivazul Sea Turtles (2012)
Creator: Enriqueta Ramirez
Three newly hatched sea turtles swim in glistening water in an orange tub.
Creator: Andi Wong
Copyright notice: 2012 Andi Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
The project provided an opportunity for adults and children to learn together through play. When we made new connections between people and places, our planet felt a little smaller and nicer. There was a marble for everyone, so there was no worry about being left out. If a child lost a marble, we would ask what they might do differently and give them another to practice with. We all need to practice taking better care of our one Blue Marble. We are all in this together.
The Blue Marbles Project: One Cubic Foot (2012)
Creator: Andi Wong
Copyright notice: 2012 Andi Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
The Ocean Mural (2018)
Creator: Andi Wong
Copyright notice: 2018 Andi Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
As time passed, the photo album of Blue Marble images grew, but with each school year, we also became more and more aware of the accelerating speed of environmental change. Would our photos eventually become a record of places transformed beyond recognition? Would the stories and information attached to the images be useful in the future? Social media platforms were being used to manipulate public opinion and spread disinformation, and I was looking for another way to work with my images. That’s when I met Margaret.
As if we were guided by two rivers headed towards a confluence, we met in 2019 when I was invited to support artistic projects at the first DWeb Camp at the Mushroom Farm.
This is when I first learned of Margaret and her project: ImageSnippets. It was then that I asked her the question: “Where is YOUR water?”
The Blue Marbles Project: Andi Wong (2014)
Creator: Young Wong
Copyright notice: 2014 Young Wong
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
Margaret in Indiatlantic
Creator: Margaret Warren
Copyright notice: Margaret Warren
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
Margaret’s Water
When I was a very little girl, my father would play marbles with me, but not in the traditional way with shooters and circles. Instead, we would take a big thick quilt, spread it out in a haphazard way and give it hills and valleys. Then we would take the marbles and move them around the quilted landscape. Maybe to my dad they were like little ‘troops,’ but I wanted to organize and study them. I grouped them by colors and types; categorized and counted. Later on, when our family would go flea market shopping, I so loved the marbles, it gave me my own little thing to seek out and collect while my parents collected cameras or other gadgets they were passionate about.
Blue Marbles on a Quilt
Creator: Margaret Warren
Copyright notice: Margaret Warren
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
Marbles
Creator: Margaret Warren
Copyright notice: Margaret Warren (2020)
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
Over the years, I have created many projects and professions, but most often I say I am an artist, a creator, a researcher, and a technologist—even though I feel like these labels keep overlapping and meandering. Looking back, I can now see I’ve spent most of my life responding to an inner curiosity for things like making art and photographs, describing images, discovering synchronicities, and building networks of people and machinery. Rolling and tumbling from one eddy to another, my life itself has felt both fluid and yet also deliberately and persistently guided by a much deeper current.
My water begins in the very far western tip of Kentucky, where I was born within ten miles of the Mississippi River. I was born in the county seat in a little town called Clinton, not far from an even smaller town called Columbus, which sits on a bluff overlooking the river. In the 1800’s, Columbus was much larger; a busy port for trains, barges, steamboats and all kind of river traffic on North-South trade routes. From Chicago, Illinois to Mobile, Alabama to New Orleans, Louisiana, ferries moved travelers across the nearly mile-wide Mississippi as they journeyed westward seeking fame, fortune, and new opportunities.
Some of my ancestors started out to be some of those westward seekers, but they just didn’t make it past the river. In fact, one story told in my family is that they decided to settle in Kentucky because one of my great-great-great grandmothers had taken one look at the river and said, “I’m not crossing that! [3]
…and yet it moves..
Creator: Margaret Warren
Copyright notice: Margaret Warren (2017)
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
As a young child, my story continued south to the Gulf of Mexico when my parents moved to Northwest Florida, to an area called the Big Bend.
The waters of this part of Florida are quite special. This area is home to both the largest diveable underwater cave formation in the world (Wakulla Springs) and also to one of the oldest National wildlife refuges in the United States. Established in 1931, the coastal area of St. Mark’s was founded as a protection for migratory birds. The wetlands and estuaries of this area are also referred to as the ‘Forgotten Coast’ or ‘the Other Florida,’ because this area is so different from the white sandy beaches, palm trees, and condos that most people think of when they think of the state. The refuge protects longleaf pine savannas and coastal marshes as far as the eye can see. Made up of salt waters from the gulf and freshwater from nearby springs and rivers, this ecoregion is known as the southern coastal plain and is home to an amazing array of flora and fauna.
St. Marks
Creator: Margaret Warren
Copyright notice: Margaret Warren (2014-2021)
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
Unlike the fishermen and other inhabitants of these coastal towns, my parents were young artists interested in astronomy, nature, and wildlife. We regularly went canoeing and hiking in the area. Through my father’s work as a photojournalist, we circulated around the coast learning about the people and the environment. My father would often pull me out of school to bring me along on his feature photography days to take photos of places like St. Mark’s for the Tallahassee Democrat, the local newspaper.
As a teenager, my waters moved me in a new way, into a tour of duty in the US Coast Guard.
When I was part of the Coast Guard, I always felt so proud to be part of a mission for search and rescue, tending to buoys, and coordinating environmental cleanup in all of the waters of the US. Though I served only one term in the Coast Guard as a Cryptographic Electronics Technician, I did travel to the Great Lakes, the New York City Harbor, the SF Bay Area in California, Kodiak, Alaska, and then back again to the Mississippi River in New Orleans.
Electronics study in the Coast Guard led to computer science in college, and then various jobs that circulated around photography, technology, music and the arts and from the Gulf Coast to California and back again multiple times. Following my curiosity over the years, I was inspired to explore a unique problem: how to describe images with more formalized, machine-readable techniques.
Being raised by artists, naturalists and photographers had undoubtedly inspired me; but I had also been the seven year old making encyclopedias of bird pictures matched to their scientific names. I made all of my school writing projects about images. When I would print my own photographs in the darkroom with my father, I always made sure I had written all of the ‘metadata’ (the who, what, why, where, how, when) on the back of the print:
Creator: Margaret Warren
Copyright notice: Margaret Warren (2020)
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
A Pair
Creator: Margaret Warren
Copyright notice: Margaret Warren (2020)
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
As my technology career evolved with the web, I strived to find the best ways to publish my images online with their metadata. But to my dismay, the web was actually evolving in such a way as to de-value publishing and curation methods that would have handled image metadata more appropriately.
In fact, to this day, many content producers continue to exercise poor metadata habits with images, and these habits—whether learned or ignored—have actually led to much more severe problems as a result. The serious problems associated with misinformation and disinformation on the web are now widely recognized and widespread. In particular, images stripped of their original metadata have been re-contextualized to manipulate emotion and used to polarize viewpoints.
Yet it can be challenging to write metadata. Many people just don’t want to write it, as they often don’t want to take the time to add context and intention to images, and don’t think about what will happen to the metadata once an image gets on the web. The technology behind centralized social media photo sharing has deliberately made it difficult to keep metadata attached to images, while at the same time retaining your image collections to keep you further tied to a platform.
We are still a very long way from mastering what it would mean to be able to formally record the context around the making of an image, as well as the intention with which that image is being shared. Though computer vision can produce some interesting demonstrations of image classification, language is very ambiguous and subjective, and artificial intelligence is a long way off from capturing the subtleties of image metadata.
In general, it can be said that sharing images properly on the web requires a human-centered thoughtfulness—a theory not embraced by advertising revenues.
ImageSnippets
Thus I started building ImageSnippets. ImageSnippets is a web based system that has now been in development for over 11 years with ideas stretching back almost 20.
I call ImageSnippets a metadata management system, but it’s designed to be so much more. It can be used to curate image collections, and be an interface for images to be linked in interoperable ways to other data on the web using linked data. It’s also being used as part of research projects for modeling formalized image descriptions, with descriptions by subject matter experts. All of this can be done in such a way that the descriptions can be machine-readable, and thus assembled into image-based knowledge graphs—also known as image graphs—in the process. In this way, ImageSnippets is also a research tool for knowledge representation.
Instead of requiring images to be held in centralized data stores, the tool is designed to sit as a layer over the images. That means the data can be held anywhere on any server, and the data is openly available and queryable using the SPARQL query language.
At the 2019 DWeb Camp, I worked as a volunteer to build out the local mesh network, as well as to design a collaborative art project. When I met Andi through this work and showed ImageSnippets to her, she immediately embraced the vision of ImageSnippets. Extending the idea of network nodes to the blue marbles, we both excitedly saw how it could be used to connect the stories of the photographs collected between all those people she and her students gifted with blue marbles.
The Blue Marble Game goes to ImageSnippets
Creator: Margaret Warren
Copyright notice: Margaret Warren (2019)
Copyright terms: Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs Creative Commons
Publishing these images here on COMPOST with Distributed Press, we are fortunate to see this experiment come alive. But we are just at the beginning of this next phase of our story. This article represents a next step in taking image and metadata publishing techniques to decentralized protocols.
Computer scientist Admiral Grace Hopper said, “If you do something once, people will call it an accident. If you do it twice, they call it a coincidence. But do it a third time and you’ve just proven a natural law!” When a blue marble is passed it is a gift of gratitude for the good work that you do. When we share our gratitude in this way, we are building understanding, empathy, and love in our interconnected world. The blue marble opens up pathways through which we can learn and understand one another through a shared connection with our waters.
Image via Andi Wong and Margaret Warren
The images in this piece flip to reveal their metadata and the images themselves also contain the embedded metadata. This functionality is provided by ImageSnippets, a project by Margaret Warren. Image metadata allows others to understand the context and provenance of images when they are shared and published.
The authors wish to thank COMPOST for helping us to find confluence through our parallel exploration of the wild, domestic, and virtual waters that have shaped us as individuals. Andi & Margaret will continue to reveal, preserve, and share digital stories with The Blue Marbles Project, joining The Blue Mind Network’s global efforts to put #bluemind science into action to create common knowledge and practice.
If you would like to join their project, please visit bluemarble.pics to float a note to Andi at ArtsEd4All and dive into metadata with Margaret at ImageSnippets.
ANGEL ISLAND IN SIGHT 2021is a visual storytelling project focused on Angel Island — a collective portrait of Angel Island drawn from a multitude of views — near and far, past and present. Del Sol Performing Arts Organization’s ANGEL ISLAND INSIGHTexplores the history of the Angel Island Immigration Station by offering a suite of virtual and in-person programs that examines the musicality of the disappearing Hoisan-wa dialect by The Last Hoisan Poets and The Del Sol Quartet. public engagement with Del Sol Quartet & Huang Ruo’s Angel Island – Oratorio for Voices and Strings.
MEGAN and CHRIS WONG’s grandfathers were held in the Angel Island Immigration Station barracks. In 1929, Edmund Fong (Gung Gung) arrived in the belly of his mother Wun Shee Fong, who was five months pregnant. Gew Thet Wong (Ye Ye) arrived on Angel Island in 1931.
In 2021, the siblings offer their behind-the-scenes portrait of Beloved Community for Angel Island Insight.
Angel Island Insight. Directed and Edited by Chris Wong. 2021.
This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit http://www.calhum.org
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of California Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
ANGEL ISLAND: IN SIGHT 2021 at the Angel Island Immigration Station is made possible with support from North East Medical Services (NEMS). https://www.nems.org/
ANGEL ISLAND IN SIGHT 2021is a visual storytelling project focused on Angel Island — a collective portrait of Angel Island drawn from a multitude of views — near and far, past and present. Del Sol Performing Arts Organization’s ANGEL ISLAND INSIGHTexplores the history of the Angel Island Immigration Station by offering a suite of virtual and in-person programs that examines the musicality of the disappearing Hoisan-wa dialect by The Last Hoisan Poets and The Del Sol Quartet. public engagement with Del Sol Quartet & Huang Ruo’s Angel Island – Oratorio for Voices and Strings.
What a beautiful day in the bay. Took the ferry to Angel Island and hiked to the top. Back to work Monday. Sounds like there’s plenty to write about. 😉 #TotalSF
HEATHER KNIGHT 5:41 PM · Apr 2, 2021·Twitter for iPhone
Heather Knight is a columnist working out of City Hall and covering everything from politics to homelessness to family flight and the quirks of living in one of the most fascinating cities in the world. She believes in holding politicians accountable for their decisions or, often, lack thereof – and telling the stories of real people and their struggles.
She co-hosts the Chronicle’s TotalSF podcast and co-founded its #TotalSF program to celebrate the wonder and whimsy of San Francisco.
Two decades ago, Heather visited Angel Island and following a group of students visiting the Immigration Barracks on a field trip.
“About 47,000 Bay Area students — ranging from fourth grade to college — take the Angel Island tour every year, said Ellen Loring, volunteer coordinator for the Angel Island Association. Weekday field trips are booked solid through June.
Cap Wilhelm-Safian, who teaches English and history at River Glen, a Spanish immersion school for students in kindergarten through eighth grade, said he’s taken students to Angel Island for six years.
“I find with students that to actually experience something and be in the place, it brings it home,” he said. “It’s important for them to understand that everybody in this country is an immigrant. It expands their sense of community beyond the school.”
Today, in 2021, ferry service from San Francisco to Angel Island is in question. Facing declining ridership, increased operating costs and plummeting revenues even before the pandemic, Blue & Gold Fleet submitted a request to the California Public Utilities Commission to discontinue passenger trips from The City to both Angel Island and Tiburon. “We just strongly believe there has to be direct service from San Francisco to Angel Island. “Not having that is similar to not having direct service from Manhattan to the Statue of Liberty,” says Ed Tepporn, Executive Director of the Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation.
The CPUC values your input. Submit your public comment HERE.
This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit http://www.calhum.org
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of California Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
ANGEL ISLAND: IN SIGHT 2021 at the Angel Island Immigration Station is made possible with support from North East Medical Services (NEMS). https://www.nems.org/
ANGEL ISLAND IN SIGHT 2021is a visual storytelling project focused on Angel Island — a collective portrait of Angel Island drawn from a multitude of views — near and far, past and present. Del Sol Performing Arts Organization’s ANGEL ISLAND INSIGHTexplores the history of the Angel Island Immigration Station by offering a suite of virtual and in-person programs that examines the musicality of the disappearing Hoisan-wa dialect by The Last Hoisan Poets and The Del Sol Quartet. public engagement with Del Sol Quartet & Huang Ruo’s Angel Island – Oratorio for Voices and Strings.
Although photography had always been a casual interest of mine, it wasn’t until 2008, when capturing the energy and joyful expressions of the dancers at the Berkeley Obon, did I realize my passion for this activity. It is through this continued pursuit of photography that I have connected to many local ethnic communities, deepened an interest in my Japanese American heritage, and engaged many culturally active artists, activists, and historians. While my photographic style continues to evolve, I’m most inspired by images that portray the vibrancy and soul of our collective communities, whether through the sharing of various art forms, celebrations, or remembrances.
MARK SHIGENAGA, Community Photographer
Photo: Mark Shigenaga. Filming day on Angel Island with Claudia Katanayagi for A Bitter Legacy, 2012.
Mark Shigenaga
In 2014, I helped photo document the 1st Nikkei Angel Island Pilgrimage, an event sponsored by the Nichi Bei Foundation, with AIISF, the National Japanese American Historical Society, California Genealogical Society, and the California Park Services as partners. It was during this pilgrimage that I met Grant Din. A chance discussion subsequently led to an exploration of my grandfather Kakuro and great uncle Shigeo’s history on this island, who were shipped from Hawaii to California and destined to become interned at various Department of Justice camps a few months after the bombing of Pearl Harbor. Grant’s access to the National Archives and Records Administration led to a wealth of new insights to the journeys of the Shigenaga brothers, and are, today, cherished by our family.
Mark Shigenaga. Mah Jong Set. Filming day on Angel Island with Claudia Katanayagi for A Bitter Legacy, 2012.
Mark Shigenaga. Taiko Drummers. 2nd Nikkei Angel Island Pilgrimage. October 13, 2015.
Mark Shigenaga. 4th Nikkei Angel island Pilgrimage. November 5, 2018.
Mark Shigenaga. 4th Nikkei Angel island Pilgrimage. November 5, 2018.
Mark Shigenaga. 4th Nikkei Angel island Pilgrimage. November 5, 2018.
Mark Shigenaga. 2nd Nikkei Angel Island Pilgrimage. October 13, 2015.
This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit http://www.calhum.org
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of California Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
ANGEL ISLAND: IN SIGHT 2021 at the Angel Island Immigration Station is made possible with support from North East Medical Services (NEMS). https://www.nems.org/
ANGEL ISLAND IN SIGHT 2021is a visual storytelling project focused on Angel Island — a collective portrait of Angel Island drawn from a multitude of views — near and far, past and present. Del Sol Performing Arts Organization’s ANGEL ISLAND INSIGHTexplores the history of the Angel Island Immigration Station by offering a suite of virtual and in-person programs that examines the musicality of the disappearing Hoisan-wa dialect by The Last Hoisan Poets and The Del Sol Quartet. public engagement with Del Sol Quartet & Huang Ruo’s Angel Island – Oratorio for Voices and Strings.
Christine Huhn. Native Oak Limbs near Sunrise Campsites, 2021. Silver Gelatin Print. 16″ x 20″
When Andi approached me about the Angel Island Insight Project, I thought this would just be a great opportunity to visit a California State Park I had never been to. On my first visit to the Island, I was immediately drawn to the natural dichotomy within the landscape. The native oak and invasive eucalyptus trees subtly reflect the dichotomy of the treatment of the European and Chinese immigrants that came through the Island. The vegetation and structural ruins encompassing the Island visually represent the varied history and time passed through the landscape. Angel Island has become a deep inspiration to me and my work. When I spoke with friends about the project, some had never been to the Island including many SF natives. I have always been most interested to visit lesser known landscapes, as I hope my work highlights and informs the public of these beautiful and historically rich places.
Christine Huhn. Eucalyptus Tree at West Garrison (Camp Reynolds), 2021. Silver Gelatin Print. 16″ x 20″
Christine Huhn. Agave Flower Stalk at West Garrison (Camp Reynolds), 2021. Silver Gelatin Print. 16″ x 20″
Christine Huhn. Agave Flower Stalks Towards the Golden Gate, 2021. Silver Gelatin Print. 16″ x 20″
Christine Huhn. Native Oak Limbs near Sunrise Campsites, 2021. Silver Gelatin Print. 16″ x 20″
Christine Huhn. Decaying Native Oak Limbs near Sunrise Campsites at Dawn, 2021. Silver Gelatin Print. 16″ x 20″
Christine Huhn. Cliff’s Edge Vista Towards Richmond Bridge, 2021. Silver Gelatin Print. 16″ x 20″
Christine Huhn. China Cove Shoreline at Dawn, 2021. Silver Gelatin Print. 16″ x 20″
Christine Huhn. Cliff’s Edge at Dusk near Battery Drew, 2021. Silver Gelatin Print. 16″ x 20″
Christine Huhn. West Garrison (Camp Reynolds) Shoreline Ruins at Dusk, 2021. Silver Gelatin Print. 16″ x 20″
Christine Huhn. Quarry Beach Shoreline and Ruins at Dawn, 2021. Silver Gelatin Print. 16″ x 20″
Christine Huhn. Cliff’s Edge Towards San Francisco at Dusk, 2021. Silver Gelatin Print. 16″ x 20″
Christine Huhn by Micaela Go
CHRISTINE HUHN (b. 1984) is a visual artist and cultural heritage professional who grew up in northeastern Pennsylvania, less than five miles from the Delaware Water Gap National Recreation Area. This connection to the landscape has deeply influenced her work, which focuses on preserving cultural landscapes through film photography and historic photographic processes. She received her bachelor of fine arts in photography from the State University of New York at New Paltz and her master of arts in historic preservation from Savannah College of Art and Design where she was awarded a SCAD Honors Scholarship and inducted into Sigma Pi Kappa: National Historic Preservation Honors Society.
In 2021, Christine exhibited her work Can We See Time at the Napa County Library in Napa, CA. Her work has been selected for several group exhibitions nationally, most notably at the Wildling Museum of Art and Nature, New Museum Los Gatos, and The Center for Fine Art Photography. Over the past ten years, Christine has volunteered at many non-profit organizations including; the National Park Service, the Landmarks Association of St. Louis, Baltimore Heritage, and the Historic Preservation Office (Washington, DC). She has been awarded artist residencies at Dorland Mountain Arts Colony, Mojave National Preserve Artists Foundation, and Kala Art Institute. Christine currently lives in San Francisco, CA.
This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit http://www.calhum.org
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of California Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
ANGEL ISLAND: IN SIGHT 2021 at the Angel Island Immigration Station is made possible with support from North East Medical Services (NEMS). https://www.nems.org/
ANGEL ISLAND IN SIGHT 2021is a visual storytelling project focused on Angel Island — a collective portrait of Angel Island drawn from a multitude of views — near and far, past and present. Del Sol Performing Arts Organization’s ANGEL ISLAND INSIGHTexplores the history of the Angel Island Immigration Station by offering a suite of virtual and in-person programs that examines the musicality of the disappearing Hoisan-wa dialect by The Last Hoisan Poets and The Del Sol Quartet. public engagement with Del Sol Quartet & Huang Ruo’s Angel Island – Oratorio for Voices and Strings.
Photo: Lenore Chinn. Angel Island Immigration Station Dedication Ceremony for The Immigrant Heritage Wall. July 23, 2011. Photo: Lenore Chinn. Angel Island Immigration Station Dedication Ceremony for The Immigrant Heritage Wall. July 23, 2011.
“Quite a few years ago I was with Flo Oy Wong and family during a 2000 opening of her art exhibit, made in usa: Angel Island Shhh at the Angel Island Immigration Station.
I couldn’t find any image files from that far back. But today I came across a set I had taken years later on the occasion of a dedication there on July 23, 2011. Again, I was there with Flo and family and quite a few notables from our Chinese American community, like Buck Gee, Board President of AIISF, musician Frances Wong and photographer Frank Jang. Historian Judy Yung, who died last month, was in attendance.”
I am a San Francisco based artist who focuses on the depiction of a wide spectrum of people in all their diversity and color.
Portraiture is at the core of my visual art practice whether it is painting or photography – both are employed in my creative process.
A moment in time spontaneously captured by my digital bridge camera, transmitted to acrylic on canvas, conveyed in modern archival print or Shared on Facebook, these images document everyday life.
As a body of work they are visual narratives that constitute an art history largely hidden from the public’s perception of society and our particular collective experience.
My focus as a photographer is capturing images and documenting cultural landscapes from a painter’s point of view.
This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit http://www.calhum.org
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of California Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
ANGEL ISLAND: IN SIGHT 2021 at the Angel Island Immigration Station is made possible with support from North East Medical Services (NEMS). https://www.nems.org/
ANGEL ISLAND IN SIGHT 2021is a visual storytelling project focused on Angel Island — a collective portrait of Angel Island drawn from a multitude of views — near and far, past and present. Del Sol Performing Arts Organization’s ANGEL ISLAND INSIGHTexplores the history of the Angel Island Immigration Station by offering a suite of virtual and in-person programs that examines the musicality of the disappearing Hoisan-wa dialect by The Last Hoisan Poets and The Del Sol Quartet. public engagement with Del Sol Quartet & Huang Ruo’s Angel Island – Oratorio for Voices and Strings.
“Lai Yong exhibits two portraits—tolerably good, but rather Chinese in style.”
San Francisco Chronicle, Mechanics’ Institute Fair. Ninth Day. Art Matters—Attendance—Receipts—Programme of Music for This Evening. September 24, 1869, page 3.
LAI YONG, according to historians, was the first known Chinese artist in California; his studio is listed in San Francisco directories as early as 1867, though his only surviving painting, dated 1870, is a portrait of future San Francisco Mayor Adolph Sutro, symbolic of his remarkable success in the white community, considering the restrictive social environment of the time. He was not timid about attacking racist treatment of his people, co-authoring an 1873 pamphlet, “The Chinese Question from a Chinese Standpoint”, read, in translation, to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and even featured in an article in the New York Times. Yong was also a notable photographer, his photos of Chinese subjects appearing at a Mechanics Institute exhibition in 1869, about the time that he opened his Washington Street studio. Historians have noted only four known carte-de-visite photos by Yong – of a Chinese man, a woman, two children, and one self-portrait which shows the artist at work on the portrait of a caucasian woman. The photo offered here appears to be an unknown fifth photo, portraying another Chinese man with similar, but not identical, clothing and accoutrements. It is not surprising that so little of Lai Yong’s work has survived, as he himself disappeared from San Francisco records in 1882 – at the height of the “Chinese exclusion” furor – when he apparently sold his business and may have returned to China.
— from Stanford University Libraries
“The Chinese Question from a Chinese Standpoint” Alternative Title: translated by Rev. O. Gibson. 1874. Chinese/Chinese American Communities : Ethnic Studies Library : Edwar Lee papers : Booklets [on the “Chinese Question”] “Chinese in California” Collection, Ethnic Studies Library, UC Berkeley.
Portraits of Chinese men & women by Lai Yong, ca. 1855, from the Carl Mautz collection of cartes-de-visite photographs created by California photographers. Yale Collection of Western Americana, Beinecke Library. https://collections.library.yale.edu/catalog/2015070Lai Yong, photographer [two young performers in costume]. 1872. From Chinese In California Collection, Courtesy of California Historical Society.
This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit http://www.calhum.org
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of California Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
ANGEL ISLAND: IN SIGHT 2021 at the Angel Island Immigration Station is made possible with support from North East Medical Services (NEMS). https://www.nems.org/
ANGEL ISLAND IN SIGHT 2021is a visual storytelling project focused on Angel Island — a collective portrait of Angel Island drawn from a multitude of views — near and far, past and present. Del Sol Performing Arts Organization’s ANGEL ISLAND INSIGHTexplores the history of the Angel Island Immigration Station by offering a suite of virtual and in-person programs that examines the musicality of the disappearing Hoisan-wa dialect by The Last Hoisan Poets and The Del Sol Quartet. public engagement with Del Sol Quartet & Huang Ruo’s Angel Island – Oratorio for Voices and Strings.
“While there are inscriptions by immigrants from many different nations that can still be found on the walls of the detention barracks, it’s the 200+ poems left behind by Chinese detainees that helped to save the site’s buildings from being torn down and that secured the site’s status as both a California Historic Landmark and a National Historic Landmark. These poems give us a glimpse into the emotions and experiences of immigrants who were held in detention then.”
Edward Tepporn, Executive Director, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
Photo: Edward Tepporn. Angel Island Chinese Monument. July 20, 2019.
ANGEL ISLAND IMMIGRATION STATION FOUNDATION (AIISF) raises awareness of the experience of Immigration into America through the Pacific. AIISF collects and preserves the rich stories and personal journeys of thousands of immigrants and shares them with visitors and everyone living in America through education initiatives and public programs. The Angel Island Immigration Station reminds us of the complicated history of immigration in America. It serves as a symbol of our willingness to learn from our past to ensure that our nation keeps its promise of liberty and freedom.
Photo: Russell Nauman. Return to Angel Island – Calvin Ong (Ong Doon). June 26, 2021.
In 1937, ten-year-old Calvin Ong (Ong Doon) was detained on Angel Island by immigration officials on his way into the country. Eighty-four years later—on June 26, 2021—Calvin returned to the U.S. Immigration Station with his family. He briefly spoke about his time as a detainee, and a hospital patient, on Angel Island.
In this photo, Calvin was looking out the window of the former immigration hospital when he noticed the hillside below. He could remember sitting on the hill and watching the ferry arrive with new immigrants each day. Later, we went outside so Calvin could look out over the water with his children and grandchildren.
— Russell Nauman, Operations Manager, Angel Island Immigration Station Foundation
THE DEL SOL QUARTET revels in the risk of constantly reimagining the string quartet, building community around art, artistic process, our environment and our culture. Supported by the nonprofit Del Sol Performing Arts Organization (DSPAO), the Del Sol Quartet shares living music with an ever-growing community of adventurous listeners.
Committed to advancing art’s place in society and providing access to a diverse range of audience, the Quartet focuses on commissioning and performing new works, forming unusual and provocative collaborations, and sharing its work globally through recording and education projects.
THE ANGEL ISLAND ORATORIO PROJECT fits squarely into Del Sol’s tradition of adventurous collaborations between artists and community organizations to create new work with a lasting place in the repertoire and to broaden audiences. These goals are integrally connected to shared experiences and socially-relevant themes. The oratorio provides a new way of examining immigration and the clash between governmental policies and national ideals — relevant both to our history and our current political climate. The work also reflects our individual values of what it means to be American, the stories of how we got here, and the history of our city and state.
Photo: Kathryn Bates, View on Island. 2021.
Photo: Edward Tepporn. Angel Island Immigration Station Barracks. July 20, 2019.Photo: Kathryn Bates. View of Island. March 13, 2021.Photo: Kathryn Bates. View from Island. March 13, 2021.Photo: Edward Tepporn. Hope. Angel Island. June 16, 2019.
This project was made possible with support from California Humanities, a non-profit partner of the National Endowment for the Humanities. Visit http://www.calhum.org
Any views, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this website do not necessarily represent those of California Humanities or the National Endowment for the Humanities.
ANGEL ISLAND: IN SIGHT 2021 at the Angel Island Immigration Station is made possible with support from North East Medical Services (NEMS). https://www.nems.org/
In 2020, as San Franciscans wear face masks and shelter in place to keep each other safe during the coronavirus pandemic, schools and families are supporting students through long distance learning. The video footage for ONE DAY IN SF, submitted six years ago by the ArtsEd4All community, to represent a day in the life of San Franciscans in 2014 has become a poignant reminder that perhaps we should revisit these ten questions once again.
The success of ONE DAY ON EARTH led to the “Your Day. Your City. Your Future.” initiative that focused on harnessing the power of a 24 hour filming event locally. Four years later, on April 26th, 2014, hundreds of filmmakers, non-profit organizations, and inspired citizens were invited to join ONE DAY IN SF to document stories that most affect the future of San Francisco as part of a city-wide, participatory media-creation event. The resulting media was showcase in an interactive, geo-tagged archive.
Participants were invited to explore ten questions for the future of your city.
One Day in San Francisco – April 26, 2014
PHOTOS: (left) A 6th grader’s Saturday plans. (center) The One Day in SF project team gears up for filming day. (right) One blue marble thank you for Winnie Wong, the local producer for “One Day in San Francisco.”
Your Day. Your City. Your Future. launched with 11 US cities on April 26, 2014, leveraging the power of hyper-local storytelling and the medium of film to capture and archive authentic, compelling narratives in urban areas. Students and their families were invited to participate by recording and sharing video of their one day for the project.
The students in Ms. Contreras’ sixth grade class at Rooftop share their plans for Saturday, April 26, 2014. Written and Illustrated responses by Ms. Contreras’ sixth graders at Rooftop Alternative K-8 School.
Turning the pages of history to set context for the passage of time on April 26, 2014. School days as depicted in the Twin Peaks School publicity books of the 20’s & 30’s, and the student-created yearbooks for Rooftop School in the 70’s & 80’s.
A morning drive down Ellis Street, en route to the luggage store annex at 509 Ellis Street. In the gallery window, artist Dustin Fontenot’s tiny washing machine is spinning. Chatting with Jackie, a resident of Ellis Street, as she sweeps the sidewalk clean in front of the Luggage Store Annex.
Capturing a quiet morning in the Tenderloin National Forest, an on-going project of luggage store gallery. One of the very few open spaces in a high density neighborhood of over 40,000 culturally and ethnically diverse residents, Tenderloin National Forest is surrounded by multi-story residential buildings and hotels that house formerly homeless, immigrant individuals and families, as well as seniors, artists, active drug users, dealers and others. The Tenderloin Children’s Playground is situated directly across the street.
5th Grader Stella conducts a weekend experiment on the corner of Post and Lyon streets. She uses her Flip cam to document what happens at the corner. Look. Listen. STOP.
The Smiths say that the best part of Saturday is soccer. The girls take to the South Sunset Playground soccer field, where they give a cheer for their team, the Rooftop Wranglers.
The Vazquez family and friends throw a block party on April 26, 2014. The neighborhood children come out to enjoy face painting, music, and an egg toss on a bright, breezy day on Madrid Street.
Fifth Grader Nathan takes a trip to Fort Funston.
On Saturday, April 26th, the San Francisco Giants hosted the Cleveland Indians at AT&T Park to commemorate the 60th Anniversary of 1954 World Series championship, a four game sweep over the favored Indians by the New York Giants. The Series is perhaps best-remembered for “The Catch”, a sensational running catch made by Giants center fielder Willie Mays in Game 1. The first 30,000 to enter the park struck gold, receiving a replica of the 1954 World Series ring. To mark the occasion, the “Say Hey Kid,” escorted 3-year old Cody Harrington of Oakland to the field to throw out the ceremonial first pitch. Harrington waved at the cameras as Sergio Romo signed his ball. The ballpark was filled with a new generation of “Say Hey” kids slamming home runs, rounding the bases, and rooting for the home team.
“I believe the day will come when all God’s children, from bass black to treble white, will be significant on the Constitution’s keyboard.” Words etched in stone beside the cascading waters of the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial in Yerba Buena Gardens.
There is a prompt that is sometimes used to help students to refocus when there is too much chatter in a classroom. The teacher will get the class attention by saying the words “Peace and…,” letting the sounds of the words hang in the air a bit. In unison, the students will complete the phrase. “Quiet.” Sometimes this needs to happen a few times before the classroom gets quieted back down.
The piano comes up from the depths, in preparation San Francisco Symphony’s performance of Tchaikovsky’s Pathéthique at Davies Symphony Hall on April 26, 2014. The Symphony No. 6 in B minor, Op. 74, Pathétique is Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky’s final completed symphony. The composer led the first performance in Saint Petersburg on October 2, 1893, nine days before his death.
7:00pm – 10:00pm – Blade, the Rooftop Rock Band, takes the stage to sing “Alien Nation” at The Battle of the Bands at the Contemporary Jewish Museum on April 26, 2014. Blade features Kiran on lead vocals, Jared on lead guitar, Andy on electric guitar, Ben on electric bass, and Liam on drums. The band is supported by Rooftop parent / Blue Bear School of Music instructor Mike Rao.