Nuts and bolts of the project:
Ann: Because the WYRED group at the Ark was so strong at the end of the first year, we decided to expand that group by inviting youth from other sites in Troy Public Housing. We ended up with core members from Corliss Park and Phelan Court in addition to Taylor Apartments. The hope was that eventually smaller computer labs would open at the other sites, and the WYRED youth would become the trainers in their home bases.
REACT, the tenant association for Troy Public Housing paid for a bus which provided transportation for the WYRED youth living at the other Troy Housing sites.
During the first half of year, youth members signed up for one of the two groups; radio broadcast, or website. RPI graduate student Wendy Vissar facilitated the website/ Money zine group with help from RPI graduate student Liz Miller and Rolf Hanson. I facilitated the radio broadcast group with help from RPI graduate students Kathleen Brandt and Heather Saddler. There was a certain amount of overlap between the two groups.
The second half of year, Wendy Vissar, Mary Theresa Streck and I facilitated the Underground Railroad project which was supported by the Technology Learning Grant. All of the money in the grant was directed towards equipment (Barbara, Rolf, Mary Theresa and I waived salaries to get more equipment). However due to bureaucracy, the equipment did not arrive until May/June.
The Ark received a $15,000 equipment grant from Fleet Bank (written by Mary Theresa Streck, Co-Director of the Ark, Jay Murnane, Co-Director of the Ark and Ann Sundberg, WYRED) This equipment was used to carry out the Underground Railroad project. The money allowed the Ark to buy a server with Windows NT, eight computers, a scanner, and a printer. This allowed the Ark to set up a smaller computer room with five computers which provided a quieter more focused space to work on WYRED projects than the very noisy/hectic main computer lab.
Thinking behind the project:
Ann: A discussion of technology access requires a look at existing social
conditions as well as the historical development of technology. C. Paul
Olson provides a context for the current reality of class based divisions
between technology haves and have nots. There is a historical linkage
between economic development and education. Schools provide a work
force that can fulfill the tasks of industrialization. Significantly, the
psychological impact of computers has a life of its own. According to Olson
the middle class is terrified of slipping backwards, and sees computer literacy
as a means of maintain their status quo. Manufacturers expertly play on
these fears to create a market for new computers. Meanwhile working class
children get the short end of the stick. Their parents are less likely to afford
home computers, which in turn puts their kids at a disadvantage at school.
There is a strong likelihood that the computers they do have access to will
be older, slower and scarcer. Plus the computer time they do get is more
likely to involve rote skills or video games. The author asserts that "the
learning of working class children tends to be that of booting the machine to
gain access to prepackaged programming which amounts to little more than
mastering simple loading procedures" (Olson, p. 200) So the experience that working
class children receive is a function of the way they use computers. While
Olson looks at the relationships between computers and society, with a focus
on education, his ideas can be applied to electronic art practice.
At the Ark, the video games loaded on the computers have a
mesmerizing pull on the students. The WYRED project is a conscious
attempt to provide a creative alternative to the rote, addictive, mind
numbing games. The entire project privileges production over
consumption. Youth labeled 'learning disabled' by the public schools are
introduced to the programming code HTML, Hyper Text Markup Language.
They produce their web site using text,
graphics and sound which accommodates multiple learning styles and
rewards creativity. Web authoring is done off line which doesn't stress the
limited access Internet accounts that the Ark currently receives gratis from
RPI and CRISNY (Capital Region Internet Services of New York). With the
high tech RPI labs up the hill, it is often tempting to bring equipment down,
or bring work up to the iEAR studios. For the most part, we use the
computers that are on site, so that the kids will have access to the technology
everyday. While the bleak picture that Olson delivers of a working class
child's computer/education experience is probably the norm, it doesn't have
to be. To use the author's own words, "No tool autonomously organizes or
employs itself." (Olson, p. 182) Computers are tools and the way they are used determines
their efficacy.
Looking ahead:
Ann: We are working in electronic
media, yet often critical engagement with the technology stops at the outlet
where we plug in our equipment. The social and political forces that
surround the production of electricity are far reaching. The energy
generated by nuclear power in the North East produces a byproduct of
contaminated uniforms that ends up at UniFirst/INS in Indian Orchard,
Massachusetts. The fact that our radio transmitter runs off a 9 volt battery
allows us to use a rechargeable battery that we can reenergize through a solar
battery charger. I just bought a solar radio that can also be powered by
cranking a handle on the side for one to three minutes. This locates our
radio broadcasts off the grid, powered by renewable energy sources. However, this is just a small part of the electronic media we use in the project. It is important to keep investigating ways we can get off the grid.
Return to Student Work
Description of the Process layer
Index of the Process pages