Traverse Condition 2008 - 2009

A research installation by Nan Hao (CN) and Kristiina Koskentola (FI/NL)
Beijing, China and Losdorp, The Netherlands 2008
In collaboration with Doctor Shi (Beijing context) and Doctor Sang (Dutch context)

Traverse Condition is a research project/installation, which consists of two parts. Part one is realised in Beijing and the second part in the Groningen polder in the Netherlands. The resulting projects are photography, installation, video, performative research, architecture and science. Plus a consultation and diagnosis by doctor Shi and doctor Sang from Beijing. Two artificial landscapes - urban architecture in Beijing, and the buildings of the Dutch polder - are subjected to a traditional acupuncture model. The project relates to globalisation, architecture, the condition of nature, the human body, politics, cultural heritage, status and Taoism.

Traverse Condition circles around issues of urban construction, condition and paranoia by referencing the ancient model of acupuncture. The two fundamental energies of Yin and Yang exist everywhere around the world, for example including the human universe as well as the universe of buildings. The way the needles are positioned and are stuck into the human body can, metaphorically speaking, be regarded as architectural discourse between the needles as constructing and supporting elements, and the human body as the platform receiving and generating energies. In the building context, the actual architectural dialog is formed when the question between effectiveness and non-effectiveness, the pure symbolic value of these acts, appears. On the other hand they create a mental state and form a reaction to the loss of traditional values, due to rapid urbanisation in the post colonial context, the loss of traditional Chinese culture in general, and environmental issues emphasised in the Netherlands.

Or in more universal and scientific words:

* traverse(condition=None, include_self=1,
    descend=1, siblings=0, ascend=0)

    

    Return an iterable containing

    

    o self (if include_self is true)

    

    o all descendants in tree traversal order (if descend is true)

    

    o all siblings (if siblings is true) and their descendants (if also
    descend is true)

    

    o the siblings of the parent (if ascend is true) and their descendants
    (if also descend is true), and so on 

    

    If condition is not None, the iterable contains only nodes for which
    condition(node) is true. If condition is a node class cls, it is equivalent
    to a function consisting of return isinstance(node, cls). 

    

    If ascend is true, assume siblings to be true as well.

    

    For example, given the following tree:

    

    <paragraph> 

    

    <emphasis> <--- emphasis.traverse() and 

    

    <strong> <--- strong.traverse() are called.

    

    Foo 

    

    Bar

    

    <reference name="Baz" refid="baz">

    

    Baz

    

    Then list(emphasis.traverse()) equals

    

    [<emphasis>, <strong>, <#text: Foo>, <#text: Bar>]

    

    and list(strong.traverse(ascend=1)) equals

    

    [<strong>, <#text: Foo>, <#text: Bar>, <reference>, <#text:
    Baz>]