Wednesday, January 20, 2010

Animated axo

Here's Nathan's axo animated to the best of my ability. Thanks again to Nathan for drafting it. =)

Tuesday, January 19, 2010

Gold at the Black HIlls

Animation v.1.0 beta. Ahaha.

Site Maps and Sections

Showing Deadwood and its relation to the city of Lead and the major gold deposits, and the Eames house in relation to the surrounding cities of the Pacific Palisades and Santa Monica. This set of drawings attempts to analyze the locations specific topographical elements, as a way to emphasize its isolation from nearby populations.



Deadwood Map

Map of current Deadwood showing locations of major buildings and roads.


Monday, January 18, 2010

Eames Molded Plywood


Found at the Metropolitan Museum's website.

The Eames design for a US Navy splint, techniques for which were later applied to the construction of chairs like this one-


Not to mention the later Lounge Chair & Ottoman etc.

Saturday, January 16, 2010

When you put pen to paper...

Here are the drawings of specific buildings (not necessarily actual ones) that may have played a crucial part during the history of Deadwood. Amongst the drawings there is a Saloon, the Gem Theatre, a Bank, the Bullock Hotel, and Bella Union Gambling Hall.
xoxo,
Dennis Tang

Pacific Palisades


I was looking at this in Google Earth trying to get elevation readings and decided this was a worthy view, especially as it relates to a previously-posted angle on Deadwood.

Simplified this time.

I'm uploading a re-edit of the previous composite map, but this time only comparing the actual tourist's map and the map HBO's Deadwood.

xoxo,
Dennis Tang

Thursday, January 14, 2010

Eames house plans 1:50 with grid


A few more pictures of Deadwood

Deadwood $20 note

Placer Mining

Deadwood Smelter

Surveying Corps for Deadwood Central Railway

Wednesday, January 13, 2010

Deadwood in Google Earth


Compare with this view.

The Politics of "Deadwood": Lawfulness without Law

This article looks into how the Deadwood community formed its own orders/ systems without actually setting up laws, might be useful for researching the pirates' code idea.

Tuesday, January 12, 2010

Wiped out.

I have wiped out the labels and the annoying dash lines leading to their respective places on the map, as well as street names, highway and civic symbols, and names of faraway destinations.

There are two versions: a plain, blue-grey version, and an all-white version where only the river is dark.
xoxo,
Dennis Tang

Guidelines, Really

From the fifth episode of the first season:

SETH BULLOCK: "Cut that shit out."

HUCKSTER: "No law against me sellin' these, mister."

SETH BULLOCK: "No law against me breakin' your fuckin' jaw either if you don't quit it."

Not two minutes later, in the same episode:

AL SWEARENGEN: "We're illegal. Our whole goal is get annexed to the United fucking States. We start holding trials, what's to keep the United States fucking Congress from saying, "Oh, excuse us, we didn't realize you were a fucking sovereign community and nation out there. Where's your cocksuckers' flag, where's your fucking navy or the like? Maybe when we make our treaty with the Sioux, we ought to treat you people like renegade fucking rebels, deny your fucking gold and property claims and hand everything over instead to our ne'er-do-well cousins and brothers-in-law."

It's all in the composite.

Here is the composite map I made for today's class. Although it seems too 'creative' I feel like this should still be kept around so we have another piece of information. Plus it's pretty, so you can hang it on your wall. Or something.

LEGEND:
Yellow: The actual tourist map of Deadwood
Blue: The map from the Deadwood 'board game'
Red: The map from HBO's Deadwood

xoxo,
Dennis Tang

Eucalyptus No.8

Sample animation

A test animation, just to establish what kind of style I plan to use for our illustrated cultural history?

Sunday, January 10, 2010

Video

This video describes the look and feel of the Case-Study #8 house designed in the 1940s by Ray and Charles Eames. key elements of the building are represented abstractly and literally. The screen layout is akin to the fenestration details of the building. The kaleidoscopic effect applied to the Eucalyptus trees (the type of tree found on the site of the building) is a reference a video technique the Eames' themselves created to portray their chair designs. The soundtrack, a piece called "Portofino," was recorded in 1962 by electronic musician

History and Timeline of Deadwood, South Dakota

The town of Deadwood is located in a western region of South Dakota called the Black Hills. The original settlement was formed due to the discovery of gold in the narrow canyon they call the Deadwood Gulch. An immense amount of dead timber that filled the gulch was how the name came to be.


Timeline:

1833
The first recorded discovery of gold in the Black Hills by a party of seven adventurers from Laramie

1834
The Laramie party was destroyed by Indians residing near Deadwood

1854 (June)
A geologist - Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden began an exploration to Bear Butte (East of the Black Hills)

1857
Dr. Ferdinand V. Hayden accompanied Lieutenant Governor K. Warren in passing through the Black Hills and up to Bear Butte

Exploration was put to a halt until 1874.

1861
Seven southern states secede from the union in February. Lincoln declares any secession "legally void" and refuses to recognize the Confederacy. The American Civil War begins in April.

During the war George Armstrong Custer distinguishes himself as brave, aggressive, and lucky, rising to the temporary rank of brigadier general.

1865
The Union wins the civil war through vastly superior industrial capacity, a successful naval blockade, better rail infrastructure, and numerical superiority.

1866 - 1873
A railroad building boom in the United States, highly subsidized and highly speculative.

The end of the boom coincides with a constriction of the money supply. A series of layoffs and bank failures ensues. This is the beginning of a depression that will last until 1879.

1873 (August)
Custer is sent to the Dakota Territory to protect a railroad survey from the Sioux.

1874 (July)
Custer entered the Black Hills with his troops and group of scientists to confirm the presence of gold near the city of Custer upon the French Creek

This exploration was recorded and published in a report by chief engineer - Captain William Ludlow

A treaty had to be negotiated with the Lakota-Sioux tribe that occupied the Black Hills before any gold minors could move into the canyon

1874 (Autumn)
Excited gold hunters entered the Black Hills territory despite the militaries efforts to keep them out.

1875 (September)
The government attempted to negotiate a treaty with the Lakota-Sioux but failed to reach an agreement.

Opposition to letting minors in the Black Hills region was then withdrawn by the military and approximately 15 000 of them assembled near Custer.


1875 (November)
A party consisting of Dan Meckles, J.B. Pierson, Joe Ingoldsby, William Gay, William Laudner, Ed McCay, James Mayer, Harry Gammage, and old man Haggart arrived at Deadwood Gulch and staked off their claims.

Another party from Montana camped near Spearfish and joined in the excavation.

Population of the settlement began to increase rapidly despite the protest of the Indians.

1875 (December)
A meeting was held in which the district was named the ‘Lost Mining District’ and election gave the position of recorder to William Laudner

1876 (January)
Montana City, North and South Deadwood, Fountain City, Chinatown and Cleveland began to create what is now solely the city of Deadwood

1876 (April)
The town was officially laid out, E.B Farnum was elected mayor and a council was chosen

The council was made up of: Keller Kurtz, Sol Star, Frank Philbrook, Joseph Miller and James McCauly, with John A. Swift (city clerk), and Colonel Stapleton (city marshal)

1876 (June)
The town’s first newspaper is published - called the Pioneer

"Bustle and confusion was prevalent everywhere. Each day and almost each hour witnessed the arrival of greater or less parties of gold seekers who, finding some eligible location to corral their wagons or pitch their tents, immediately mixed with the throng and became one of us...” - The Poineer

Saloons quickly multiplied, a hotel, grocery store, liquor store, theatre, and jewelry establishment opened

The town’s first practicing physician, druggist, and law office moved in as well


1876 - 1877
During these years the town was described as a lawless territory where many men had been killed due to frequent quarrels, gambling and generally because shooting had become a common past time

Also in 1876 General Crook - Commander of the Department of the Platte attempted to remove gold hunters from the Black Hills but was defeated by Crazy Horse on the Rosebud River in Dakota

1877 (February)
A treaty was signed and the Black Hills were relinquished - legal status was given to the white population and orderly government and courts were established

1879 (September 26)
A fire broke out starting in Mrs. Ellsnera’s Bakery on Sherman Street and quickly spread to nearby shops where eight kegs of gunpowder destroyed the entire town

300 buildings were demolished and 2000 people left homeless

The citizens of Deadwood began reconstructing the town and this time built out of stone or brick instead of pine logs or flimsy bard structures

1880
Deadwood is now characterized as a city and in a few years following - its mining camp character disappears

1883
A second fire evaporates the town in smoke yet it is once again re-built onto its original site

1890
The Chicago and Northwestern railroad is completed into Deadwood

Late 1980s
The town is found with boarded up storefronts, deteriorating buildings and a community that is slowly vanishing

Deadwood is later restored and becomes one of America’s National Historic Landmarks




Annotated Bibliography:

  • "Deadwood," Deadwood S.D. Revealed, December 31, 2007, http://www.deadwood.searchroots.com/deadwood.htm (accessed January 9, 2010).
This webpage tells a chronological story of Deadwood, including two different known versions of its discovery. The author is a self-described "amateur historian." He makes heavy use of descriptive quotes from people who have been to Deadwood (both historically-- during its peak-- and recently). The narrative makes a clear attempt to be unbiased, reporting only facts and first-hand testimony. It is a thorough account of Deadwood, S.D. as a historical site.


  • "History", City of Deadwood, September 16, 2009, http://www.cityofdeadwood.com (accessed January 10, 2010).
The history page on the official website for Deadwood, South Dakota. It narrates the town's most active period, between 1876 and 1890. The text is clear and without obvious bias. It tells the well-known story, and introduces Deadwood's transition into the 20th century.

  • South Dakota Legends: Deadwood Timeline," Legends of America, January 9, 2010, http://www.legendsofamerica.com/SD-DeadwoodTimeline.html (accessed January 10, 2010).
Legends of America is a website design for "the nostalgic and historic minded"; that is, essentially, enthusiasts of American history. The Deadwood page boasts an incredibly thorough timeline of Deadwood, spanning 1740 to within 10 years of the present. Events directly concerning Deadwood and events that provide context are noted. Some of the facts appear to be anecdotal but even if they are not completely factual, the spirit of Deadwood is well-represented in this timeline.

Saturday, January 9, 2010

Historic Photos of Deadwood

I know, I know, it's from Wikipedia, but these look like they provide genuine historical information about what the time looked like:
1890s Deadwood
1876 Deadwood
xoxo,
Dennis Tang

P.S. I found a very nice blog entry online (via Google) of Deadwood. Interestingly, it's basically everything we've been covering so far: [link]

Also, I found 'the set tour' from the HBO series Deadwood. If the website prompts you for location, just jump into the American side on the right. [link]

Thursday, January 7, 2010

Action Plan, End Week 1

A theme? Improvisation from a collection of ingredients. Constituent elements- based on the Eames' idea of a house or on a 19th century American idea of a town- that can be assembled interchangeably.

Allison will have our group's image archive.

Drawing Deadwood will have to involve a large collection of images of the town, none of which may be entirely reliable, and drawing the average.

To Have for Tuesday
Timeline/cultural histories: Anahita (Deadwood), Allison (Eames House)
Eames Drawings: Sabrina + Nathan
Deadwood Map & Research Team: Dennis + Rachel
Parti: Jordan + Victor + Jeff

Deadwood map


link to Deadwood map

C & R Eames: Lounge Chair Assembly



Everyone knows I totally have a boner for this chair, right? I just watched this video three times.

Deadwood map



  1. Flaherty's Lumber Yard
  2. Herrmann and Traber - Wholesale Liquor Dealers
  3. Hardcastle's Feed and Grain
  4. Assayer's Office
  5. Deadwood Funeral Home
  6. Doctor Charlie Babcock, G.P.
  7. The First Bank of Deadwood
  8. Farley's General Store
  9. Tobacconist
  10. Mrs. Parker's Boarding House
  11. Calhoun's Livery
  12. Esmerelda's Dance Hall and Saloon
  13. The Franklin Hotel
  14. The Black Hills Pioneer
  15. The No. 1 Saloon
  16. The Main Theater
  17. The Liberty Saloon
  18. Wells Fargo Office
  19. The Dusty Trail Saloon
  20. Liberty Leathers
  21. Sam Quentin's Hardware and Gun Shop
  22. The Green Front (brothel)
  23. Main Street Cigars
  24. Fillmore's Photo Studio
  25. The Yellow Nugget Saloon
  26. Wong's Bath House
  27. The Far East Restaurant and Saloon
  28. Also The Far East Restaurant and Saloon
  29. Lao's Laundry
  30. Chin's Chinese Laundry
  31. China Joe's Saloon
  32. Pop's Place
  33. Somer's Hardware
  34. The Black Hills Bank and Trust
  35. The Avalanche Saloon
  36. The Deadwood Cafe
  37. Pierce's Confectionary
  38. Christina's Bakery
  39. Shoudy's Butcher Shop
  40. The Deadwood Tannery
  41. Ralph's Barber Shop and Bath House
  42. Ackerson's Hardware and Explosive
  43. The Deadwood Town Hall
  44. The Deadwood City Jail
  45. Ken Monahan, Attorney at Law
  46. The U.S. Post Office
  47. Doctor Stephen Gallagher, D.D.S.
  48. Liberty Street Watches and Jewels
  49. The Belle Union Saloon
  50. The Main Hotel
  51. Murray's Pub
  52. Erin's Restaurant
  53. Hutton's Photo Studio
  54. The D.T. Saloon
  55. Bower's Tailoring and Dry Goods
  56. Carson's Barrels
  57. Carson's Smithy
  58. Carson's Wainwright Shop
  59. Watson's Stables

60-69 Homes


Deadwood: Fact or Fiction

Rachel found this. Might be useful in making sense of HBO's Deadwood w.r.t. the real thing.

http://www.legendsofamerica.com/WE-DeadwoodHBO.html

C & R Eames: The Information Machine

C & R Eames: Powers of Ten