Blog Post #20 - Election Day Ethnography...

Election Day was a very long day for me. It started at 7AM, with the usual getting-ready-to-be-seen-in-public preparations, and ended well after midnight in a late-night Skype date with my partner, who has libertarian leanings (even Mr. Right isn't perfect).

I'm a primarily visual person, and one of the websites I frequent is the White House's Flickr page, where a large number of photos taken by Pete Souza are found. I love seeing the President in various moments throughout his days. He seems that much more human to me, and who doesn't like to look at pictures of a lovely and loving family? The Obamas are my favorites, in so many ways.

So, with this assignment, I chose to document my day in screenshot and photo form. Since I am pretty much addicted to the Internet, I took a lot of screenshots of the websites I frequented throughout the day. I was very anxious and crabby all day - - - I was terrified, and initially, I hoped to insulate myself, cut my ties to the world wide web, and try to relax. That totally didn't work. But, it helped me document the day, as a whole.

Curating this, I'd like to set something up that was very computer-based. Think gigantic iPad-like touchscreens on the walls you can scroll through images on. Perhaps there could be a virtual reality type video game where players can play as President Obama on the raptor, fighting aliens. You could see the updates on the Facebook app on a big screen, watching as the day wore on, where the votes came from and in what numbers. Similar to the Living Pictures we experienced, there could be a replica of Yogi's bar, where you could interact with patrons, watch footage of the election, order mini corn dogs and $2 rum and cokes, etc. Colorful characters such as Super Happy Kinda Drunk Obama Supporter and Vaguely Libertarian Crankypants would populate the bar. Adding a multi-function space, where you could interact with the exhibit in multiple ways (eating, talking, viewing, etc.) would be really useful, I think, for learning and analyzing in a sneaky, delicious way.

Here are some of the pictures I took that might be included in the exhibit:

First screenshot of the day - anxious and crabby

Facebook is brilliant - live-updates of where people are voting and how many people are voting
(the blue dots animate to look like droplets of water, blossoming across the states - really quite lovely)

For those who need a little help

Betty White for Secretary of State!

Wishing I'd have asked for a Xanax prescription from the doctor...

Fresh-faced collegiate bigots (their shirts read "Vote Yes for Marriage - one man, one woman")

My hometown

Electoral college spells VICTORY

Whew. 

Facebook, the new source of political bloodsport

Should have had this as my desktop background during Election day

One of my favorite bloggers writing why Obama's win matters to her deeply

President Obama with a machine gun riding a raptor

Facebook data from their livestream of voter data