LIZZY IS DOIN' THIS

“The media are not so much ‘things’ as places which most of us inhabit, which weave in and out of our lives. Their constant messages and pleasures seem to flow around and through us, and they immerse most of our waking lives”
                                          – BRANSTON AND STAFFORD (2010) The Media Student’s book.

We were presented with this quote, our first introduction to what I assume to be the main question we ask ourselves and other throughout this course. What is the media? Who is in control of it? How does media affect our lives? Are these good or bad things, or is it inescapable?

We were shown the composer John Cage’s 1952 piece 4’33”, a four-minute and thirty-three-second performance piece made up completely of silence. A really interesting look at silence and noticing ~ and a great introduction into our next class activity, where we were sent out into the CBD with the task of ‘noticing’, sounds simple. But to be given the task to notice, you realise perhaps how little you do take in on a day to day basis, whether you’re chatting to a friend, getting sucked into an instagram black hole or zoning out to a jam.

Looking further into John Cage’s 4’33”, something I’d never heard of before (pun kinda intended), really made me ask myself some questions like, is silence music? I don’t know much about the technical aspect of musical creation but I do know that rests and pauses, the things that are left out of a song or composition are just as important as what’s included ~ similar to a narrative or story telling ~ the purpose of Cage’s piece was to allow people to step back and notice ambience as the sound, as the music. A really great idea! I love the way he pushed boundaries in contemporary art and music, but I did get stuck deep in the comment section of this TED talk video on youtube (REMINDER TO NEVER GET STUCK IN THE YOUTUBE COMMENT SECTION!!!!) in which the discussion was had about whether or not 4’33” could be considered ‘music’.

Personally I believe, yeah it can be! It is creation, and it is art, especially in the way it allows the audience to become the creators in what they hear and how they construct their listening. Much like media, art and music are up to interpretation.

Here’s John now, giving us an insight into his mind and his thoughts on silence

A few of the things my media buddies and I noticed when we were released into the big wide media realm of Melbourne CBD:

||UP HIGH||

Cross media advertising/LED screens flashing ads above buildings: “APN”, “Coca-Cola”

A blimp(I swear to god I have never even seen a blimp IRL before~very exciting stuff)

Advertisements for Banks

A painted mural of Nike shoes and sportswear

||MID GROUND||

Band and logo tee’s (Metallica, Taylor Swift, H&M, Nike)

Vending machines

||BACKGROUND||

Tram announcements “You are on a Yarra Tram service to..”

Car stereos, radio ads, talk shows

One-sided phone conversations

||IN YOUR HAND||

Many/most people looking down at their phones and consuming content

Newspapers

Printed books (yes, they still exist would you believe!)

Laptops and tablets

I FEEL AS IF I CAN’T STOP NOTICING THE MEDIA AND PEOPLE CONSUMING IT NOW!

Feeling Deep emotions about Media One and my attention skills today. In the lectorial we were given a reading ‘Hyper ad Deep Attention: The Generational Divide in Cognitive Modes” by Katherine Hayles. The 2007 piece details how a traditional way of delivering education is being re-thought in the age of networked and programmable media. The reading was handed out and we were given 10 minutes to read through it. Interesting task, as the reading was quite self-reflexive in content and brought about a sense of questioning in regards to how we were taking it in.

The piece discussed how a new generation of students were finding it difficult to fully immerse themselves in particular study ~ referred to as paying deep attention~ and were instead more drawn to a fast-paced, fragmented and highly stimulating form of cognitive engagement. Reading over the piece I felt increasingly aware of how little I was truly taking in of the reading and how much attention I was paying to the amount of attention I was paying… if that makes sense. This report focussed on a group of 12-ish year old in 2007, so people who are a couple of years younger than me. I definitely have noticed a shift in the way people learn, and I see it in myself.

With the fact that everyone owns a laptop, let alone the tiny computer that never leaves my side(iphone), it’s hard sometimes to disconnect from that world, the world of instagram or facebook – something we all know is a huge time-waster but something we all continuously subscribe to.

I know that I find it really hard to fully immerse myself into learning, especially reading dry and data heavy texts so it will be interesting how I try to combat that this year.

So maybe I’m a member of this new generation of hyper-attention learners  ~ constantly sprinkling social media use and eating (my favourite form of procrastination) throughout my learning, a very round-about way of getting things done. Looking forward to seeing how my learning/focussing plays out this semester.

10 THINGS I WANT TO BE ABLE TO DO BY THE END OF MY DEGREE

1. Become more confident with producing media online ie. using blogger platforms, much like this one
2. Able to critically analyse sources, allowing me to make more informed decisions about assessments and the work I produce
3. Write a succinct argument
4. I want to master the art of completing assignments before they are due so I have the ability to proof-read and therefore submit better assignments
5. Broader my understanding of literary texts and be able to critically examine them
6. I would love to go on exchange
7. Broader understanding of current political landscape and how that affects the media/or media consumption in Australia and around the world
8. Become more confident creating and editing my own video and sound
9. Broader understanding of career pathways
10. Learn more about how I can use the media/media production to support things I am passionate about, and get paid for it..eventually

So this is it, I guess. A relatively pain-free beginning to a brand-spanking-new part of my life. There were a few sheepish exchanges in the hallway as people double-double-checked that they were, in fact, in building 9. It was almost a little overwhelming; but just like that, the workshop and my media degree had begun.

After playing the usual get-to-know-you games (which is something I love, and honestly a real pull point to begin a degree, or anything for that matter), Jasmine introduced our first assessment, conveniently worth a whopping 0%, just to ease us in. Immediately the ideas were flying, and these aren’t profound ideas by any means but they’re a start.

I guess it was just refreshing to know that my brain still knows how to work, beyond taking someone’s coffee order.

Through the use of this blog, we’ve been given a tool to document our learning process throughout our degree. Personally, I am so glad for the opportunity to write. To write about the creative process, about our constraints and influences, about the flaws we notice in our work, about our interaction with the course.

Just glad to flex those keyboard tapping muscles because it feels as if it’s been a long time since they’ve been put to proper use.