Prownian Analysis

January 23, 2016 by Jake Sparhawk 1 Comment

To begin, the description of the cologne bottle starts with the cap which is a metal rounded object that slides on and off pretty easily. Removing the cap shows a small pressure point of sorts. The liquid inside is a mystery to me. What holds the said liquid in place is a glass coating in a squarish shape with the cologne’s brand logo, Polo, placed on the front of the bottle.

Moving on to the deduction, I can safely assume that this object’s main purpose is to provide a sweet smelling fragrance to one’s odor. This one in particular has subtle smell, less than the others found in my bathroom, which can be liked by most people as it’s not as strong. How the smell is put on to people is through that pressure system that when applied with a little force will spray the cologne substance out, much like a straw pulling up water.

Finally on to the speculation, this object has a clear goal. Men buy products just like this in order to have a type of smell when they go out or any similar occasion. Some men like to honestly have the smell on them and use it as a symbol of attractiveness. Other men use it based on advertisement. Ads might state using this will attract females, which can be true, and use it for the act of sexual drive. What might be the percentage of men that buy it for the sake of themselves vs the act of sexual drive? What brand is most liked my men? By women?

“Polo Blue Eau De Toilette.” Www.ralphlauren.com. Accessed January 24, 2016. http://www.ralphlauren.com/product/index.jsp?productId=1813328.
This was a basic run down about why and how perfumes were made. The type of analysis was more heavily based on description and deduction. They described the different types of perfumes use different types of substances. They also described how people use them in order to “make people smell nice, and they are created to elicit reactions from other people.”

“History of Perfume and Cologne.” History of Perfume and Cologne. Accessed January 24, 2016. http://www.fragrancex.com/fragrance-information/history-of-perfume-and-cologne.html.
This page describes the fragrance in a more classy style of writing in order or attract their customers. This page was an advertisement page that mostly dealt with description of the cologne. As such nothing other than how the product was described as smelling was posted. This “article” was the best i could find for this object in terms of how it was analysed.

Prownian Analysis

January 23, 2016 by camillaswainston 2 Comments

Prownian Analysis

Step 1: Description

The object is approximately eight inches long with white and light blue bristles at one end. It is primarily white with varying patches of blue. There are the words Delta Dental displayed on a black background. It has varying widths There are raised bumps in the middle and on the bottom. The bottom is lines instead of bumps, but looks to be made of the same material. And the material of the blue color seems to differ from the shiny material of the white sections. The bristles are all white in the middle and surrounding that switch off from groups of blue and white.

Step 2: Deduction

The object can be picked up and held within one hand and the raised bumps are silicone material, aiding in the gripping of the object so it can be deduced that the object is meant to be gripped when in use. The bristles can be used to create friction and are rather great at scrubbing, they are stiff bristles and they remain stiff even after friction is applied, meaning that it could be used to clean or scrub to clean.

Step 3: Speculation

The object is potentially used to clean, drawn from the bristles. The object could be used to clean something on a human because of the easy, maneuverable size. The toothbrush may be issued from a dental office, since it has a specific insignia on the end of it.

Questions:

What is it specifically designed to clean? Why is it shaped in the odd and differing widths? Does color have any effect on the way that it works?

Stringer, Kate. “Material Cultures,” WordPress.com. Accessed January 21, 2016, doi: https://katiestringer.files.wordpress.com/2012/02/matcult2prown.pdf.

Stringer did an analysis upon the Prown Method. Stringer explained how it applies to art and specifically art at Yale.

Thayer, Alexander. “Material Culture Analysis and Technical Communication: The Artifact Approach to Evaluating Documentation Interface,” IEEEXplore. Accessed January 21, 2016, doi: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org.libproxy.boisestate.edu/stamp/stamp.jsp?tp=&arnumber=1303811.

Thayer writes a compelling article on the documenting of artifacts which is quite important since artifacts are quite important to museums. Thayer expands on Prown’s methods even further on the specific instance of its use with artifacts and their documentation.

Greatest Bridges of America: The Brooklyn and The Golden Gate

January 17, 2016 by Wankun Leave a Comment

The Brooklyn Bridge and The Golden Gate Bridge are two of America’s most famous, most beautiful, and most recognized bridges. Both bridges provide important connections between major cities and have similar structural design. Many consider them as the wonders of the late 18th to early 19th centuries due to their advanced architectural and engineering features. Located on the opposite sides of the country, there are some key similarities and differences between the two bridges.

THE BROOKLYN BRIDGE

The Design

The Brooklyn Bridge was completed in 1883, making it one of the oldest bridges in America. It hybrids the cable-stayed design with the suspension design. At the time, the Brooklyn Bridge was the longest bridge in the world, with the total length of 50% longer than any other bridge. This revealed to me that, at the time, America probably had a more advanced technological knowledge than others, as well as a more successful economy. The materials used for the towers consist of limestone, granite, and natural cement. There was no aerodynamics analysis performed on the Brooklyn Bridge. However, the chief designer, John Augustus Roebling, had made the bridge and its supporting mechanisms six times as strong as it needed to be. Having lasted for more than 130 years, this bridge shows the high level of workmanship during the design process.

From The Photographs

The first thing that come to mind when seeing a photograph of the Brooklyn Bridge is how antique it appears, especially when buildings of the city beyond look very modern. I believe that this carry a very strong message of how valuable this bridge is to New York City. No matter how much things have changed, the iconic bridge is still standing strong. It also is rare that a photograph of the bridge does not include the landscape of the city in the background. The most popular angles and compositions used when photographing the bridge are those that was taken from the Manhattan side, and those that focus primarily on the suspension cables of the bridge. From this, I can think of a few messages that these photographers are trying to tell us. One, they wanted to show what this bridge connects–Brooklyn and Manhattan–and how great the two places are. Two, they wanted to focus on the beauty of the engineering of this bridge. Constructing something this big is not an easy task today, and it was nearly an impossible task back in the late 1800’s. In the end, some groups of people somehow worked together and created this beautiful piece of architecture.

The Persistence

In 2010, a full renovation project of the Brooklyn Bridge was initiated by the New York City’s Transportation Department due to the poor safety rating from the inspection, although it was not in a critically dangerous state. From this event, I believe that the values and beliefs of the New York City consists of safety, honor, and dedication. The department spent $508 million on the renovation project. That is a significant amount of money, and it could have been spent on replacing or redesigning the bridge. Instead, they chose to preserve one of the most important icons of New York, to honor the tremendous amount of hard work and dedication that was put into the bridge, and to also maintain the high level of safety for its citizen.

THE GOLDEN GATE BRIDGE

The Design

Fifty four years younger than the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge opened in 1937. It is a cable-suspension bridge. The chief motivation that initiated the construction of this bridge was the lack of permanent link among the communities of the San Francisco Bay, and the lower-than-average growth rate of the city itself. Some of the challenges the design team faced include the length of the bridge, harsh weather conditions, and the depth of the water. It utilizes thin and flexible roadways that allow more deformation without causing failure. I believe that this is why the towers of the Golden Gate appear much slimmer than those of the Brooklyn Bridge.

From The Photographs

The Golden Gate Bridge is possibly the world’s most photographed bridge. Its color certainly contributes to the overall beauty of the architecture. The bridge is such an icon that when most people think of San Francisco, the first thing they think of is rather the Golden Gate, and not the city itself. As mentioned previously, compared to the Brooklyn Bridge, the Golden Gate Bridge’s towers look significantly slimmer and much more modern than those of the Brooklyn Bridge. This quickly shows how rapidly technology can change in just 50 years. Another key observation from many photographs is the weather–cloudy and foggy–which describes the overall climate conditions of the area. Unlike the Brooklyn Bridge, there isn’t as much little cables to sustain the bridge. From this, it is possible that the overall design of the Golden Gate is more efficient.

The Persistence

The Golden Gate Bridge never went under an extensive renovation like the Brooklyn Bridge, as it was never needed. To me, this simply means that the bridge is very well designed and has been able to withstand almost 80 years of abuse so far. It also means that the material choice of the design was probably better than the Brooklyn Bridge–steel vs. concrete. However, some other smaller renovation projects such as repainting the main cables have been performed. Although it may sound like a simple task, the process include scraping off the old paint without dropping it all over the ocean below, apply corrosion prevention coatings, and finally apply the paint. The length of all the cables in this bridge adds up to about 80,000 miles. In my opinion, that is nowhere near a simple task. Just like New York City, San Francisco values this piece of architecture as highly and is willing to preserve it for years to come.