The Idea of Home

Author: Nancy Buchanan

Web URL or medium: CD-ROM, web component resides at www.cmp.ucr.edu/buchanan/Index.html

Description: If, as Henri Lefebvre asserted, "spatial thinking" involves several different ways of conceptualizing space-as idea, as lived, as imagined-then perhaps an open system of examples can generate new ideas about "home" in the future. This is an experiment in reading; the CD-ROM is organized in an associative manner, since the subject radiates in so many different directions. There is obviously a "direction" here, that is no hidden-but the user may peruse and reconnect the fabric of the piece in many different ways. And, if our habitat may be located within a given social order, defined by economics, culture, and history, these forces must be viewed as interacting, rather than fixed.

"Home" is a core around which radiate issues of neighborhood, economics, safety, and environment. Where and how we live is undergoing tremendous change as the century draws to a close. As social services and government oversight are curtailed, innovative solutions to problems concerning shelter and land use are of great importance. Southern California, a place "invented by real estate developers," with massive infusions of imported water, seems to offer the prime model of the politics of space. There are also links outward. The piece allows users to consider and contribute text about various growth/land use issues, to print text from the CD and/or their files, and to mark return to points on their exploration. Nancy Buchanan is a California artist who has worked in many forms, including video, installation, and performance. A New Media Fellowship from the Rockefeller Foundation enabled her to finish this CD-ROM, which included video, audio, and interactive text.

Technical requirements: Optimized for MAC w/CD drive.

Gallery: ELO Gallery home | Contributing artists | Titles