Buckminster Fuller's Dymaxion World Map
OVERVIEW: Currently in the capacity building phase, the Context Driven Topologies (CDT) model demonstration project is a collaboration between curators, engineers, and a group of ten research scientists, ten artists, and ten "integrators" from around the world.
Our current objective is building a coalition of ten art museums, ten scientific research institutes, and ten new media/new technology efforts in ten cities around the world. More information and maps are available upon request.
The purpose is to assemble and implement the tools and networks needed to mathematically and artistically relate the "best" digital archives in databases all around the world. The focus areas are art and science. The model will be constructed in ArcGIS, Photoshop, AutoCAd, paint, code,sculpture, maps, tables and other methods required to show and communicate the results. The primary end users are researchers, teachers, and the general public.
Developing this open source/open content system will enable end users to access open source advanced knowledge and creative works for memorable and interactive learning experiences. CDT will open doors to education and innovation in the arts and sciences, especially for people with limited access due to economics, location, or background knowledge.
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The "Structure of Science" created by Kevin Boyack, Sandia National Laboratories ABQ NM, and Richard Klavans Berwyn PA, extended as a sketch to include art.
EXCERPT FROM PROJECT NARRATIVE: Topo is Greek for place. Topographical maps present detailed representations of the place the land including elevation. Topology has come to mean the structure and connections of a fabricated or natural system. One could describe the natural topology of the human circulatory system or the engineered topology of the Paris Metro. More to the point here is the topology of certain types of information being exchanged over local or wide area networks (LANs, WANs). The Internet has a worldwide topology.
Topology may describe a physical network called the physical topology, or a logical topology that describes using a physical network to achieve a communication goal. Logical topology, for example, would describe the routing of telephone signals through a series of wires and switches the physical topology to connect the caller to a distant telephone unit. The physical topology designs of LANs often resemble the logical topology of the signals that stream through them. Very large network systems such as the Internet, on the other hand, are where millions of examples of logical topologies are actively seeking the best of an infinite number of possible connection routes within an immense physical topology.
The present project seeks to create records of the decisions and priorities already being undertaken by experts, such as curators and research scientists, while they are working to document and advance the process of locating and ranking the most appropriate files for specific purposes using a logical topology on a network interconnecting a growing number of participating individuals and institutions worldwide.
The logical topology concept Context Driven Topologies is like a clearing house documenting information exchanges and accumulating records of pathways to the most successful combinations of the highest quality most relevant archives.
Context maps are generated by documenting precise combinations of geography, knowledge domain, and internet addresses. Each combination is a unique topology, a shape. Infinite numbers of shapes can be overlaid and compared to eliminate large percentages of background information in overview form. Flow and changes are tracked based on relevance to specific tasks or level of understanding for end users indicated by the history of networks they belong to (for example a university research program).
Context drives the topology both forward and backwards to identify and therefore preserve, ideally only one, high resolution orginal file surrounded by carefully mapped references to the context all around it at any given time.
All conversations or meetings between three or more people will be transcribed to create visualizations that can be overlaid and compared to see the dynamics and impact of various conversations against different backgrounds.
Visualizing the spatial relationships, images, and symbols required to show context is the purpose of the CDT model demonstration project. Examples of the ups and downs of life and collaboration will be created between research scientists, artists, integrators, museum specialists, systems engineers, transcribers, programmers, photographers, audio visual engineers, cartographers and others.
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