Project 2 Assignments: Artifact Collection

Your Artifact Collection is a collection of 10-15 found objects, images and sound recordings from, of, around and inside your International District site. As a whole, the collection should help your reader/viewer understand what and where the site is, its relationship to its immediate environment, and its role in the International District. Each artifact should have a caption that explains briefly what it is and its location; for images that you do not create yourself, the caption must also provide credit and source information. The locations of all the artifacts should be represented in some way on a map--a map of Seattle, of the International District, or a more specialized map of the neighborhood that you make yourself or get from a resource.

SO, WHAT IS AN ARTIFACT?
For the purposes of this assignment, an artifact is an image, found object or sound recording. You must include at least one item from each of these three categories in your collection. But of course, for some categories, you will want to include more than one item. You can take your own photos or find images in brochures, books, articles and other sources. (Remember, you must provide credit/source information for pictures that you do not make yourself.)

1. the site itself, past and/or present
* current picture of the site
* historical picture of the site

2. nearby features of the built environment
* picture of graffiti or “ghost signs” near or on the site
* picture of street signs, trade signs, street lamps, etc. near or on the site
* picture of curbs, sidewalks, asphalt repairs, streets, alleys, potholes, railroads, bike lanes, etc. from or near the site
* picture of buildings, walls, windows, doorways, facades, monuments, etc. from or near the site

3. traces and remains
* pamphlet, brochure, flier or poster mentioning or describing the site
* sample of paper or plastic trash found on or near the site (packaging, bags, wrappers, notes, cards, etc.)
* picture of other kinds of trash from or near the site (three-dimensional garbage, food waste, etc.)
* picture or sample of flora and fauna from or near the site (leaves, grass, trees, pigeons, pigeon poop, etc.)
* picture of people at or around the site (workers, residents, restaurant customers, gardeners, homeless folks camping out, kids playing, etc.)
* sound recording from or near the site (traffic, dogs barking, people talking, etc.)

WHAT IS NOT AN ARTIFACT?
Pretty much anything that you can document from, of, around, near or inside the site counts as an artifact. Obviously, most of the built environment is not portable. Most of the plant, animal and human residents of the International District are also not portable. Most of the material remains of human culture (e.g. garbage) are either not portable or are too yuchy or cumbersome to sample. So you will need to represent these kinds of artifacts in images and sound recordings.