Dustin York

For this project, the assignment was to investigate both an electronic space and a physical space and find out hidden truths and realities beyond what one might see on the surface.

Electronic Space: Craigslist Missed Connections

Craigslist’s Missed Connections was the digital environment I chose to investigate for the many small stories it contains.

I collaged together approximately the last 50 images attached in Missed Connection posts, with the exception of a couple really raunchy ones mercifully left out.

Regarding the posts that specified this, I mapped out the type of environment for every missed connection that occurred on October 21st, 2009. As it turns out the most common settings for a lost encounter are at gyms and coffee shops.

I also mapped out the places or intersections where an encounter occurred, if the post specified such information. The general epicenter of activity is in the Hollywood area, spreading outward from there.

I found a posting that specified occurring in a particular post office and was able to find photos of that post office online, providing the actual setting where the encounter occurred.

I created a graph showing how in each post the object of affection is described vs. how the author him or herself is described. The descriptions for the person of interest are generally made much more explicit, implying that in most cases the person writing the post does not necessarily want to be revealed but takes more relish in revealing the person they admire.

Physical Space: Fillmore Station

Fillmore station represents a throughway, a junction, and a hub for our neighborhood here in Pasadena. I investigated the space to see what I could learn about my own seemingly mundane surroundings. My only constraints that I placed on myself is that I pick up and investigate as little trash as possible, because that’s gross—a constraint that I was not always able to abide.

I graphed when the trains north and south arrived next to when they are scheduled to arrive.

The image crop on the left was from an upturned page of a newspaper, and it showed the latest Super Lotto Plus winning numbers. I was able to go online and find out that you can find an archive of all the winning numbers for that particular lotto since its began.

I came across a business card lying on the ground, and from there was able to find the website for chiropractor Dr. James H. Richardson. I then compiled a page showing all the stock photos along with some of the web copy from that particular website and placed it in context with the discarded business card. I was even able to discover what the ‘H’ in Dr. James H. Richardson stands for. It stands for Harold, and he’s also a Jr!

The photo on the left is of a piece of paper discarded on the ground that was a city order for a tree removal. I walked around the cul de sac adjoining the West side of Fillmore station and was able to match the green spot on the removal order to small tree with that same green spot that I have pictured on the right.

I then created a composition showing what the tree looks like now in contrast to how I imagine it will look once it is removed. As of this posting the tree is still in its current location, so the result presented bottom right is Photoshopped. That’s government efficiency for ya.

As the tree is not diseased or leaning on power lines etc, I have inferred that the reason for its execution order is because it is located smack in the middle of the sidewalk. This probably poses a slight obstruction to people in wheelchairs as they would have to navigate around it. However, as the picture demonstrates, the sidewalk was originally designed to bow around that tree and provide a path for people. So, assuming the city doesn’t tear up the entire sidewalk and start anew, there will be a resulting artifact that testifies to that little tree’s past existence.

The individual that signed our little tree’s execution order is Kathleen Woods, Administrator to the Parks and Natural Resources Divison at the Department of Public Works. I was able to go online and do a search of other projects Ms. Woods can claim. I found that in 2008 she presided over removing all the carob trees that lined a street next to the Pasadena City Hall and replaced them with aptly named Pasadena Oaks, and that she is credited with the idea to create a recently finished community garden that is located less than a mile southwest of Fillmore Station’s doomed tree. As if that makes up for it, Kathleen. As if.