The Clongriffiner

Word Meter

2009-09-29T15:59:00.000-07:00

We used Wordle to create this word meter based on the amount of times each phrase appeared in the comments. It is a kind of informal poll and gives us a couple of cues to pursue.

Action Shots - Second Day

2009-09-29T15:53:00.000-07:00

At the park shelters in front of one of the playgrounds. We had to keep the newspaper on the ground because of the strong winds. It affected the visibility and efficiency of the prototype. Nevertheless, a few people stopped and had a look at the comments posted.In front of the local Centra. We had to stay in front of it to keep it from blowing away.
Skatepark, second time around.

The Clongriffiner Second Edition – 24 Sep 2009

2009-09-29T15:32:00.000-07:00

After our first busy day, we decided to revamp the whole newspaper, adding more info about ourselves and Clongriffin and condensing all the opinions and comments into 2 panels. We also decided to "provoke" the local community to enable themselves to start activities and processes. We did this by creating a gigantic poster for a BMX/skateboard/rollerblade competition with a sign up list and also a petition area where people could sign up for several ideas they had suggested the day before. We thought 2 hours would be enough to execute this task, but we ended up spending over 4 hours, which left us exhausted and with a very short timeframe to start iteration 2 of our experiment. At about 3pm we took it into the park playground area. The wind was too strong, so we had to lay it on the floor. We didn't get as much interest as the day before, but got some interesting comments by interviewing a few of the parents around the playground. We then brought it to the local Centra and put it agains the wall. This proved very unsuccessful, possibly because people just wanted to quickly drop into the shop and go straight back home, but also by the fact that we had to stand next to it to keep it falling off, which seemed to keep people from approaching us.

After a while we decided to bring it back to the skatepark. We got some kids to sign up for the petitions and the ccompetition. At about 6pm, exhausted from the long days we put in, we decided to call it a day. We didn't get as much info as the day before, but the kids in the park seemed happy enough with us coming back and engaged with the board in a more orderly fashion than the day before.

First Day - Buzz in the Skatepaerk

2009-09-29T15:21:00.000-07:00

Our stint in the skatepark created an incredible buzz. The kids expressed there wishes and concerns. We threw in the idea of creating a competition and a few kids seemed keen enough on it. We were interested in seeing if we could enable them to organise it themselves. It didn't work out, but I think it has potential. We also posed the idea of creating a youth comission of the local kids to get them to talk directly to the City Council, but we realised we needed to put more thought into the idea and provide them with a communication link for them to contact us, rather than us getting their personal details. This is something we need to build on.

The Clongriffiner First Edition – 23 Sep 2009

2009-09-23T16:00:00.001-07:00

After our first day on the streets of Clongriffin our newspaper was covered with opinions, comments and drawings from people that we met. It was hard to engage people to make drawings, and most of the opinions and comments came from short interviews we conducted on the streets. At certain times we stepped away from the board, left a couple of pens beside it and waited to see if people would feel more comfortable interacting with it. during lunchtime we left it unattended for a while and we found out that some comments had been added to it. One of our friends spotted six people having a conversation beside the board while we were away. The quick polls didn't work as intended, and were mostly "rigged" by the teenagers in the park. Nevertheless, they enabled people to interact with the board. Our most succesful stint was during the afternoon beside the skatepark.

2009-09-23T15:52:00.000-07:00

How do we enable expression, talents, experiences, activities, beauty, love and joy?

2009-09-23T15:42:00.000-07:00

To answer this question we decided that we needed to involve the Clongriffin community. We developed a process that involved creating a gigantic, fictitious version of a local newspaper and named it the Clongriffiner. Check out the photos of the assembly of this gargantuan experience in information display, data gathering and social interaction!