Comments on: J.G. Ballard and empty swimming pools http://liftlab.com/think/nova/2007/11/23/jg-ballard-and-empty-swimming-pools/ mind/tech bazar from outer space Fri, 16 May 2008 03:47:47 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=wordpress-mu-1.2.1 By: Nicolas Nova http://liftlab.com/think/nova/2007/11/23/jg-ballard-and-empty-swimming-pools/#comment-448658 Nicolas Nova Sun, 02 Dec 2007 11:14:54 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/nova/2007/11/23/jg-ballard-and-empty-swimming-pools/#comment-448658 Great thanks Great thanks

]]> By: Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino http://liftlab.com/think/nova/2007/11/23/jg-ballard-and-empty-swimming-pools/#comment-448657 Alexandra Deschamps-Sonsino Sun, 02 Dec 2007 11:11:29 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/nova/2007/11/23/jg-ballard-and-empty-swimming-pools/#comment-448657 There's another reference in Empire of the Sun of course: "Jamie lives in the house for an undetermined length of time, awaiting his parents' return. After what must be several months (indicated by the dropping level of water in the swimming pool) he ventures into Shanghai to find it occupied by the Japanese" from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_the_Sun_(film) There’s another reference in Empire of the Sun of course:

“Jamie lives in the house for an undetermined length of time, awaiting his parents’ return. After what must be several months (indicated by the dropping level of water in the swimming pool) he ventures into Shanghai to find it occupied by the Japanese”

from http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Empire_of_the_Sun_(film)

]]> By: ilteris http://liftlab.com/think/nova/2007/11/23/jg-ballard-and-empty-swimming-pools/#comment-448109 ilteris Wed, 28 Nov 2007 06:18:32 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/nova/2007/11/23/jg-ballard-and-empty-swimming-pools/#comment-448109 Funny, I thought exactly the same thing when reading Nicolas' post and hit on my RSS viewer to add a little comment and there, Tracey already put it before me. Iain Borden(http://www.amazon.com/Skateboarding-Space-City-Architecture-Body/dp/1859734936) calls this reapproriation (sp?) of space. I can easily speculate it has close ties with what you are defining as urban decay as well. Funny, I thought exactly the same thing when reading Nicolas’ post and hit on my RSS viewer to add a little comment and there, Tracey already put it before me. Iain Borden(http://www.amazon.com/Skateboarding-Space-City-Architecture-Body/dp/1859734936) calls this reapproriation (sp?) of space. I can easily speculate it has close ties with what you are defining as urban decay as well.

]]> By: Tracey http://liftlab.com/think/nova/2007/11/23/jg-ballard-and-empty-swimming-pools/#comment-447561 Tracey Sat, 24 Nov 2007 17:25:06 +0000 http://liftlab.com/think/nova/2007/11/23/jg-ballard-and-empty-swimming-pools/#comment-447561 I love how the irreverent culture of skateboarding later followed by snowboarders and to a lesser extent parkour emerged and was greatly advanced by a California drought leaving swimming pools empty in the 70s. Suddenly surfers on wheels were looking for a place to skate with their boards and these unsupervised pools during working hours and weekends were ideal. If you watch the documentary Dog Town Z Boys or the flashier Lords of Dogtown you will see this intricate system of finding empty pools in the upscale hoods of LA, the lugging of water pumps, the jumping of fences, the elaborate escape plans and the community of skaters using this distributed unsupervised infrastructure. Who would have thought the infrastructure could be used in that way and that that time, place and materiality led to the skate parks we have today and an entire cultural phenomenon. Empty of water yes, but a defined space for an unintended something else! I love how the irreverent culture of skateboarding later followed by snowboarders and to a lesser extent parkour emerged and was greatly advanced by a California drought leaving swimming pools empty in the 70s. Suddenly surfers on wheels were looking for a place to skate with their boards and these unsupervised pools during working hours and weekends were ideal. If you watch the documentary Dog Town Z Boys or the flashier Lords of Dogtown you will see this intricate system of finding empty pools in the upscale hoods of LA, the lugging of water pumps, the jumping of fences, the elaborate escape plans and the community of skaters using this distributed unsupervised infrastructure. Who would have thought the infrastructure could be used in that way and that that time, place and materiality led to the skate parks we have today and an entire cultural phenomenon. Empty of water yes, but a defined space for an unintended something else!

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