Intervention: Minecraft Infrastructure

by | Mar 17, 2015 | Artwork #3: Intervene, Projects, Uncategorized

Statement:

I decided to download a pre-made Minecraft map that contained a city, change my character to look like an engineer, and then go through the city and inspect its infrastructure, culminating in me granting it a grade.  The infrastructure I inspected was mostly things like highways and transit systems; as the map, understandably, did not include structures like a water treatment facility or dam.

Some intentions of this work were to highlight the suspension of disbelief inherent in Minecraft, as well as to bring up a topic which is often outside of the spotlight in reality, and largely non-existent in the game: the maintenance and inspection of infrastructure.  A common assumption in Minecraft is that what you, the player, build will basically remain a monolith untouched by the passage of time; one of my goals in this work was to challenge that assumption.


Documentation:

Bridge

The bridge can be seen here.  Due to numerous broken suspension cables, it has received a grade: F, and has been deemed unsafe for use.

 

Rail

The rails are shown here.  Due to their sturdy construction, decent maintenance, and lack of protective railings, they have received grade: B.

 

Road

The roads are shown here.  Due to their quality construction and flawless maintenance they have received grade: A.

 

Waterway

The waterway is illustrated here.  Because of its lack of pollution and the absence of much flood prevention measures,it has received grade: B.

 

Transit

The transit system is depicted here.  Due to the sturdy building materials, decent maintenance, and exposed wiring, it has received grade: B.

 

Park

The park is shown here.  Due to its small size, lack of public facilities, and poor lighting at night (possibly reducing safety), it has received grade: C.

 

Report

This is the infrastructure report card, illustrating the various grades given to the different parts of the city.