HABITS OF MOBILITY AND GOVERNANCE IN THE DIGITAL ERA Finding Augusta HEIDI RAE COOLEY Finding Augusta Interfaces: Studies in Visual Culture Editors Mark J. Williams and Adrian W. B. Randolph, Dartmouth College This series, sponsored by Dartmouth College Press, develops and promotes the study of visual culture from a variety of critical and methodological perspectives. Its impetus derives from the increas- ing importance of visual signs in everyday life, and from the rapid expansion of what are termed “new media.” The broad cultural and social dynamics attendant to these developments present new chal- lenges and opportunities across and within the disciplines. These have resulted in a trans-disciplinary fascination with all things vi- sual, from “high” to “low,” and from esoteric to popular. This series brings together approaches to visual culture—broadly conceived— that assess these dynamics critically and that break new ground in understanding their effects and implications. For a complete list of books that are available in the series, visit www.upne.com Heidi Rae Cooley, Finding Monica E. McTighe, Framed Augusta: Habits of Mobility Spaces: Photography and and Governance in the Memory in Contemporary Digital Era Installation Art renée c. hoogland, A Violent Alison Trope, Stardust Embrace: Art and Aesthetics Monuments: The Saving after Representation and Selling of Hollywood Alessandra Raengo, On the Nancy Anderson and Sleeve of the Visual: Race as Michael R. Dietrich, eds., Face Value The Educated Eye: Visual Frazer Ward, No Innocent Culture and Pedagogy in the Bystanders: Performance Art Life Sciences and Audience Shannon Clute and Richard Timothy Scott Barker, Time L. Edwards, The Maltese and the Digital: Connecting Touch of Evil: Film Noir Technology, Aesthetics, and a and Potential Criticism Process Philosophy of Time Steve F. Anderson, Bernd Herzogenrath, ed., Technologies of History: Travels in Intermedia[lity]: Visual Media and the ReBlurring the Boundaries Eccentricity of the Past Finding Augusta Dartmouth College Press Hanover, New Hampshire Heidi Rae Cooley Finding Augusta Habits of Mobility and Governance in the Digital Era Dartmouth College Press Library of Congress Cataloging-in- An imprint of Publication Data University Press of New England www.upne.com Cooley, Heidi Rae. © 2014 Trustees of Finding Augusta : habits of mobility Dartmouth College and governance in the digital era / All rights reserved Heidi Rae Cooley. Manufactured in the United States of pages cm — (Interfaces : America studies in visual culture) Designed by Mindy Basinger Hill Includes still images from the film The Typeset in Garamond Premier Pro Augustas as an entry point into the discussion. Includes bibliographical references and index. University Press of New England ISBN 978–1–61168–521–3 (cloth : alk. paper) is a member of the Green Press Initiative. — ISBN 978–1–61168–522–0 (pbk. : alk The paper used in this book meets their paper) — ISBN 978–1–61168–523–7 (ebook) minimum requirement for recycled paper. 1. Information technology—Psychological aspects. 2. Information technology—Health For permission to reproduce any of the aspects. 3. Information technology— material in this book, contact Permis- Social aspects. 4. Mobile communication sions, University Press of New England, systems—Psychological aspects. 5. Mobile One Court Street, Suite 250, Lebanon NH communication systems—Health aspects. 03766; or visit www.upne.com 6. Mobile communication systems—Social aspects. 7. Self—Social aspects. 8. Augustus (Motion picture) I. Title. BF637. C45C686 2014 303.48'33—dc23 2013031786 5 4 3 2 1 Frontispiece: “West Virginia.” From Scott Nixon’s The Augustas. Scott Nixon Home Movies. Moving Image Research Collections. University of South Carolina. Contents ix Acknowledgments xiii Keyword “Augusta” xvii Introduction Bodies, Mobilities, Technologies 1 Chapter one Making Tracks Augusta App Would Like to Use Your Location 27 Chapter two In Hand and On the Go Design, Neuroscience, and Habits of Perception Handheld 53 Chapter three “Location, Location, Location” Placing Persons, Accessing Information, and Expressing Self 79 Chapter four Secured Mobilities How to Think about Populations 105 Conclusion An “Aesthetics of Existence,” or Habit-ing Differently 113 “Augusta” Revisited 117 Notes 157 Bibliography 168 Index Acknowledgments Many have encouraged and supported this project during its gesta- tion and writing. I thank the University of South Carolina’s College of Arts and Sciences for a semester’s teaching leave, which afforded me time to find the book’s current shape, and its Provost’s Office, for a Humanities Grant that funded development of Augusta App, the book’s digital supplement. The university would have found less to value in my work had I not been trained by some exceptional teachers. Principal among these is Anne Friedberg, whose penchant for rigorous theorization and intricately nuanced prose challenge me to think and write more sharply, even as she herself cannot. I feel most fortunate to have studied with Michael Renov, whose generosity and poise inspire me and whose gentle reminders regarding my “first Visible Evidence” keep me on track. I thank John Carlos Rowe, who early on encouraged me to “try my hand” at graduate school. And I thank Anne Balsamo for cultivating my sense of the collaborative nature of interdisciplinary projects.