“Everything we make, essentially, comes out of the dirt” announcedAdrian at the start of today’s studio. He was in the process of explaining that people are just another ‘something’ which media passes through in its life cycle. That is; all units arise from dirt, pass through our hands, but ultimately return to dirt (ourselves included). It’s neither rational nor correct to believe human beings sit at the centre of this process: we are a part, yes, but one exactly equal to all other parts.
Another observation, correct but not often acknowledged: humanities just hangs around talking about the world. Science, medicine, design are changing the shape of the world. Humanities scholars, well, they’re just talking about these shapes, as if that’s doing. It’s not.
The next note Adrian made was about our documentaries. They should have scripts, narration. Not a script composed of a traditional three paragraph essay – but a series of blog posts. There needn’t be a linear/chronological flow. With this in mind, we considered where we stood with our documentaries. What do we need to do? Where can we go? Can we get there alone? Together, we shared our progress with on-another, explaining where we needed help. This process of sharing suggestions, offering directions and crowd-sourcing solutions is really helpful, and helps one build a sense of momentum. Let’s go.