Final Project: eMotion "Rush Hour"

Research

Source: Wikipedia

Traffic Congestion

            Traffic congestion is described to be the condition due to increase of road users. This is characterized by slower speeds, longer commute times and increased vehicular queuing. When demand of road users nears the road capacity, this will cause traffic jams or congestions.

Causes

            The cause of traffic congestion is when the amount of road users nears the capacity of the road. This cause demands for bigger roads or highways to cope with the high traffic volume. Other causes could be layout of the road itself. For example in a crowded Asian city, wide roads that converge into smaller streets can cause congestion or a ‘bottleneck’ in traffic flow.

Negative affects

            There are a number of negative affects due to traffic congestion. Some include delays, time waste for commuters, inability to predict travel times, pollution and road rage.

Urban Sprawl

            Urban sprawl or suburban sprawl is a multifaceted concept centered on the expansion of auto-oriented, low-density development. Topics range from the outward spreading of a cityand its suburbs, to low-density and auto-dependent development on rural land, examination of impact of high segregation between residential and commercial uses, and analysis of various design features to determine which may encourage car dependency. The term "sprawl" is most often associated with US land use; outside the US (and especially outside the Anglosphere), the term "peri-urbanisation" is often used to denote similar dynamics and phenomena.[citation needed]

Discussions and debates about sprawl are often made unclear by the uncertainty of the meaning associated with the phrase. For example, some commentators measure sprawl only with the average number of residential units per acre in a given area. But others associate it with decentralization (spread of population without a well-defined centre), discontinuity (leapfrog development, as defined below), segregation of uses, and so forth.

The term urban sprawl generally has negative connotations due to the health, environmental and cultural issues associated with the phrase. Residents of sprawling neighbourhoods tend to emit more pollution per person and suffer more traffic fatalities. Sprawl is controversial, with supporters claiming that consumers prefer lower density neighborhoods and that sprawl does not necessarily increase traffic. Others have argued that sprawl is less a reflection of consumer preferences and more a result of legal structures and court decisions that have encouraged sprawl development.

Emotion Portrayed

Exhaustion and Fatigue

            Fatigue (also called exhaustion, tiredness, lethargy, languidness, languor, lassitude, and listlessness) is a subjective feeling of tiredness which is distinct from weakness, and has a gradual onset. Unlike weakness, fatigue can be alleviated by periods of rest. Fatigue can have physical or mental causes. Physical fatigue is the transient inability of a muscle to maintain optimal physical performance, and is made more severe by intense physical exercise. Mental fatigue is a transient decrease in maximal cognitive performance resulting from prolonged periods of cognitive activity. It can manifest as somnolence, lethargy, or directed attention fatigue.

Medically, fatigue is a non-specific symptom, which means that it has many possible causes. Fatigue is considered a symptom, rather than a sign because it is a subjective feeling reported by the patient, rather than an objective one that can be observed by others. Fatigue and ‘feelings of fatigue’ are often confused.

Persona

            The persona portrayed in the video is an individual, most likely a working individual who spends so much time commuting from work to home due to the traffic congestion of rush hour. Due to the fact this persona has to go through the same congestion almost every day, the persona becomes somewhat exhausted, loses focus, and becomes mentally tired.

Target Audience

            The video artwork is targeted to an audience who lives and works in urban areas. Mostly working class people ages 20-50.

 Artist’s Statement

            This video mostly takes place at a stretch of highway in Puchong where it is known to be very congested. Firstly it takes in a bit of sound and views urban commute in a third person perspective. This shows the mass numbers of people who commute during rush hour every day. Time lapse video and the use of two time settings (5.00 pm and 8.00 pm) is to show that the rush hour will not end until very late at night due to the large population and urban sprawl of an Asian city. (Particularly Kuala Lumpur).

Assignment 3: Extreme Emotion: Grit

Research

Source: Wikipedia

Grit

Grit in psychology is a positive, non-cognitive trait, based on an individual’s passion for a particular long-term goal or end state coupled with a powerful motivation to achieve their respective objective. This perseverance of effort promotes the overcoming of obstacles or challenges that lie within a gritty individual’s path to accomplishment and serves as a driving force in achievement realization. Commonly associated concepts within the field of psychology include "perseverance," "hardiness," "resilience,” “ambition,” “need for achievement” and conscientiousness. These constructs can be conceptualized as individual differences related to the accomplishment of work rather than latent ability. This distinction was brought into focus in 1907 when William James challenged the field to further investigate how certain individuals are capable of accessing richer trait reservoirs enabling them to accomplish more than the average person, but the construct dates back at least to Galton, and the ideals of persistence and tenacity have been understood as a virtue at least since Aristotle. Although the last decade has seen a noticeable increase in research focused on achievement-oriented traits, there continues to be difficulty in aligning specific traits and outcomes.

Grit is defined as “perseverance and passion for long-term goals.” Building upon biographical collections of famous leaders in history, researchers and scientists have reached similar conclusions about high achieving individuals. Specifically, those individuals who were deemed more successful and influential than their contemporary counterparts typically possessed traits above and beyond that of normal ability. While ability was still critically important, these individuals also possessed “zeal” and “persistence of motive and effort.” Duckworth and colleagues (2007) believe this dual-component of Grit to be a crucial differentiator from similar constructs. Grit is conceptualized as a stable trait that does not require immediate positive feedback. Individuals high in Grit are able to maintain their determination and motivation over long periods despite experiences with failure and adversity. Their passion and commitment towards the long-term objective is the overriding factor that provides the stamina required to “stay the course” amid challenges and set-backs. Essentially, the Grittier person is focused on winning the marathon, not the sprint.

Mixed Martial Arts. (MMA)

            Mixed martial arts (MMA) is a full contact combat sport that allows the use of both striking and grappling techniques, both standing and on the ground, from a variety of other combat sports. The roots of modern mixed martial arts can be traced back to the ancient Olympics where one of the earliest documented systems of codified full range unarmed combat was in the sport of pankration. Various mixed style contests took place throughout Europe, Japan and the Pacific Rim during the early 1900s. The combat sport of vale tudo that had developed in Brazil from the 1920s was brought to the United States by the Gracie family in 1993 with the founding of the Ultimate Fighting Championship (UFC).

The more dangerous vale-tudo-style bouts of the early UFCs were made safer with the implementation of additional rules, leading to the popular regulated form of MMA seen today. Originally promoted as a competition with the intention of finding the most effective martial arts for real unarmed combat situations, competitors were pitted against one another with minimal rules. Later, fighters employed multiple martial arts into their style while promoters adopted additional rules aimed at increasing safety for competitors and to promote mainstream acceptance of the sport. The name mixed martial arts was coined by television critic Howard Rosenberg, in 1993, in his review of UFC 1. The term gained popularity when the website newfullcontact.com, then one of the biggest covering the sport, hosted and reprinted the article. Following these changes, the sport has seen increased popularity with a pay-per-view business that rivals boxing and professional wrestling.

Artist Statement

            Through the artwork, we can see I used a photograph of a Mixed Martial Arts (MMA) match. The photo was first edited and only maintains two colours which are white and red. This was done because through the expression of the fighter, we can see he is trying with all his abilities to win. It was edited in a threshold style to make the image stand out more. After the photo was printed, the print out was splashed with red paint to resemble blood because in a fighting situation, blood will always spill if a fight continues for an amount of time.