''Blue Velvet'' is an
online
In computer technology and telecommunications, online indicates a state of connectivity and offline indicates a disconnected state. In modern terminology, this usually refers to an Internet connection, but (especially when expressed "on line" or ...
digital history
Digital history is the use of digital media to further historical analysis, presentation, and research. It is a branch of the digital humanities and an extension of quantitative history, cliometrics, and computing. Digital history is commonly dig ...
project about the city of
both before and after
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina was a destructive Category 5 Atlantic hurricane that caused over 1,800 fatalities and $125 billion in damage in late August 2005, especially in the city of New Orleans and the surrounding areas. It was at the time the cost ...
. The project was published in the fifth issue of ''
'', entitled "Difference." The full title is ''Blue Velvet: Re-dressing New Orleans in Katrina's Wake''.
Creation and design
''Blue Velvet'' was created through the collaboration of
David Theo Goldberg
David Theo Goldberg (born January 8, 1952) is a South African professor working in the United States, known for his work in critical race theory, the digital humanities, and the state of the university.
Goldberg was born and raised in South Africa ...
, director of the University of California Humanities Research Institute (
UCHRI
The University of California Humanities Research Institute (UCHRI), is a humanities research institute at the University of California headquartered at the UC Irvine campus. It promotes collaboration and interdisciplinarity through supporting work ...
), and a graduate research assistant, Stefka Hristova. They were assisted in the implementation of the site by the digital artist and designer
Erik Loyer Erik Loyer is a digital artist whose work examines identity and memory in the context of new modes of communications afforded by media technologies.
History
Loyer began his work at The Voyager Company, and has done professional interface design wor ...
, the creative director of the journal.
The project was conceived as a multimedia presentation of a journal article which Goldberg had previously published, "Deva-stating Disasters: Race in the Shadow(s) of New Orleans" and which had been noticed by Tara McPherson, one of the founding editors of ''Vectors''. From the first meeting, the group became aware that "the writing had to be envisaged in a more creative and experimental form," both as a result of the kinds of material they planned to use and the architecture of the site.
The design of the site was the result of "intense weekly conversations over something like a year" and includes images, text, video, and sound files. The project is set to the composition "Apparition" by
Liu Sola
Liu Sola (Chinese: 刘索拉; pinyin: Liú Suǒlā; b. Beijing, China, 1955) is a Chinese composer, vocalist, music producer, and author.
Biography
After graduating from the Central Conservatory of Music with a degree in composition, she publi ...
.
Content
The content of the project is available through two different presentations. The first presentation, the main project, is an interactive, linear presentation of text organized in the form of 24 "arguments". The second presentation is an interactive index which allows the reader to navigate the text of the project independently. The project examines the effect of the hurricane on the city, and "underscores...that the tragic events that unfolded in New Orleans and along the Gulf Coast were possible precisely because of years of neoliberal policies that underwrote the necessary conditions for such devastation in the first place."
Editor's Introduction
/ref>
Arguments and key phrases
The reader progresses through the project argument by argument by clicking on key phrases associated with each argument. This gives the reader access to the maps, images, graphs, videos and audio files as well as the text of each argument. The arguments and key phrases composing ''Blue Velvet'' are:
{, class="wikitable"
, -
! Argument
! Key Phrase
, -
, New Orleans
, Sociality
, -
, Preferences
, Neo-conservatism
, -
, Liberty
, Homogeneity
, -
, Activist Segregation
, Segregation
, -
, Redlining
, Redistrict
, -
, Conservationist Segregation
, Race Neutrality
, -
, Racial Privacy/Privatizing Race
, Born-again Racism
, -
, Catastrophe
, Disaster Relief
, -
, Apparitions
, Signs
, -
, Politics of Fear
, Fear
, -
, Crisis Management
, Vulnerability
, -
, Emergency
, Immobility
, -
, Carcerality
, Structural Racism
, -
, Exposure
, Civility
, -
, Violence
, Special Treatment
, -
, Skin
, Condomization
, -
, Mis-recognition
, Immigration
, -
, Surviving
, Live free or die
, -
, Militarization
, Redistribute
, -
, In-security
, Security
, -
, In-Visibility
, Pollution
, -
, Disenchantment
, Privatization
, -
, Singing the Blues
, Surgical
, -
, Re-Dress
, Homogenized apartness
See also
* Effects of Hurricane Katrina on New Orleans
As the center of Hurricane Katrina passed southeast of New Orleans on August 29, 2005, winds downtown were in the Category 1 range with frequent intense gusts. The storm surge caused approximately 23 breaches in the drainage canal and nav ...
References
External links
''Blue Velvet''
!--http as of September 2020; https does not resolve-->
Effects of Hurricane Katrina
History of New Orleans
Digital history projects
Digital humanities projects