“Public Secrets” Close Reading By Leon Purvis

Content Stated in the New Media Artifact itself, it said, “Public Secrets is an interactive testimonial in which women incarcerated in the California State Prison System reveal the secrets of the war on drugs, the criminal justice system, and the prison industrial complex.” Therefore the piece is about those incarcerated women telling their stories about their incident with men and the justice system on how unjust it is for them. What is being communicated is the message on how unfair the justice system was to them when they were arrested. The observable elements within the piece work together create meaning by telling the each woman’s story though an audio recording, which you don’t know their age, race, or low long they’re going to serve unless you want to know more about that individual. Therefore the first piece of audio you are judging it based off of there most compelling story. It is like they’re selling you what they want you to hear.

Structure The structure complexity is to where you go how far you want go. There are certainly different sections. The piece progresses how you move throughout the New Media artifact, which there are multiple paths though the piece with an optional end. You don’t have to end, you can continue to navigate and hear more stories. The structure informs the core expression by woman having similar stories.

Design The look of the piece is organized around the quotes and the colors are primarily black and white with gray text. The patterns that appear multiple times are the black and white shaping around the text. The design informs the core expression by the colors of the white and black exemplifies that without this New Media Artifact their stories are hidden behind black and white walls. The imagery creates the tone that this online artifact is their medium platform.

Components Media components that the piece utilizes are audio, graphic design, and text. Essentially radio is the heart of all broadcasting and the must inmate medium from the person delivering the message to the listener. Before hearing the audio piece you go though the design of the site by hitting the start button. Then you read a text from a quote of one of the woman’s stories. From there you hear their voice and what they have to say. So the medium starts with a website with design, to reading a quote from what they had to say, to hearing the audio of what message they’re trying to deliver. Also, while you’re listening to what they’re saying you can also read along to what they’re saying by “Read Transcript.” This is a very inmate new media artifact. The design shapes the content.

Interactivity/Interface The viewer interacts with the piece in a very intimate way due to the fact they choose what they want to click and whom they want to listen to. The interactions do reflect the aspects of the content of the piece, because without the interaction there is no interpersonal experience hearing each individual woman’s question. The user-friendly navigation helps as well.

Subjective The piece affects me emotionally and intellectually, because the whole story is coming from the primary source and not a news reporter. My experience was hearing the tone of each woman’s voice and hearing how strongly they felt about being in a situation with a male or getting arrested in front of their kids made me sad and also think about the value of being able to have those who care about you around you.

Sharon Daniel Article on vectors.usc.edu “The very design of the project -- its algorithmic structure -- calls our attention to the shifting borders between inside and outside, incarceration and freedom, oppression and resistance, despair and hope.” Getting their voice heard is their hope. “Public Secrets is part of a larger resistance movement that aims to dismantle the prison system in pursuit of a more humane world. “ “As the activist organization with which Daniel works, Justice Now, announces on its website, "we believe in working toward a society that no longer relies on prisons but instead invests resources in making communities stronger.” “It is hard to come away from a sustained engagement with this project and not be moved toward that goal, undergoing a kind of conversion experience that profoundly re-jiggers one's perception.” “It is hard to come away from a sustained engagement with this project and not be moved toward that goal, undergoing a kind of conversion experience that profoundly re-jiggers one's perception.”

Sharon Daniel Continued My interpretation is Sharon’s goal was to have people outside of the jail to relate to those women incarcerated. All of Manovich’s 5 Principles of New Media are throughout the project. Numerical representation is shown though the complexity of design Modularity is shown though the navigation of the site Automation is shown with the smooth transition throughout the site and listening to the audio clips Variability is shown by being able to hear more than one story and hearing multiple stores of the same person. Transcoding is shown by how hearing the stories may shape your thoughts of incarcerated women in the state prison.