User:Youjung/SI30: Unbordering

Week 1-2: Borders and Boundaries

café Barbaros

What is the difference between borders and boundaries? Borders are official, legal and political lines separating jurisdictions. Boundaries feels more intimate, it can be a limit and set of rules that can be both physical or abstract. Nationality, religion, political stance and behaviors that derive from borders can be one's boundaries. I am interested in invisible borders that are derived from one's boundaries.

What are borders that are invisible and not tangible? It can be an assumption derived from ethnicity and culture, accessibility to certain software or the education you are familiar with. During class I was thinking about what is an invisible border that I saw in Rotterdam. Here are some examples.

• café Barbaros: a cafe crowded with older men, seemingly Turkish immigrants. It feels like their community. Seemed warm and lively. I observed the place from outside, wondering how they might react if I walked in.
• Amazing Oriental: a grocery store that embraces wide many cultures. I feel safe and understood there. Like there is a comforting invisible barrier. In contrast, Ekoplaza heels harder to approach, perhaps because of its prices and the people there. These are emotional boundaries.
• In the digital realm, there seems to be a river between people who use Microsoft products and those who don't.

During this session, I explored invisible around shops and stores. How certain places attracts specific kinds of people. Crossing these invisible borders often require courage even though there is no physical obstacle around it. What happens when I do? That is something I should explore further.

pages of Borders and Boundaries

Week 5-6

I drew borders for this week's zine.

Zine no. 3

assembly in progress

Prototyping

Prototypes are documented here.