Monthly Archives: August 2013

August 8, 2013

Simplicity.

It’s easy to forget the power of simplicity. The rage these days seems to be creating new things and trying to be shinier and more complex than whatever was before, but sometimes it is nice to take a step back. It feels like a relief. recently a music video was released that definitely impressed me, because it was so effective, yet was one of the simplest music videos I have seen in a while:

It took me until the second verse to realise what was off about it, it was that it was all shot in one continuous take. Of course once I realised this, I really didn’t mind it, I was impressed more than anything (Even Kai dropping his hat toward the end looked almost intentional.) Although the grey costumes on a grey background in a dark room initially sounds bland, things like clean choreography, flickering lights, and the fun exchange of 4 hats between 12 people kept it interesting. Here is an article discussing the video in more depth, (Although I disagree with their comment about the video being boring.)

After learning about ‘Design Fiction,’ I was interested by the idea of trialing prototypes and models of possible inventions through fiction, something so innovative and exploratory, but now I am also reminded that simplicity has its own positives, and is better than creating and including extravagant things just for the sake of creating.

August 8, 2013

Design fiction

Design fiction, sounds fun, interesting. It is clear that the most important aspect of this process is speculation. Imagining  what things could be like, what could happen, what we could do. Does this mean sci-fi things become less fictional as time goes on, as our world looks more similar to theirs over time? I wonder, how far it can go? It seems we will keep imagining and inventing things, but will there ever be a time when we are so advanced, it will become more and more difficult to impress people in design fiction. I mean, who would be impressed now at a device that can call anyone in the world, not many people, considering we have already invented it, but there was a time when it seemed impossible. How long will it be until we are unable to say ‘hey wouldn’t it be awesome if we could do this?’ It would be difficult to think about what more we can come up with once we live in a world like The Jetsons or something, but I suppose I have to assume we will never stop needing stuff, and thus, never stop inventing. Still, it seems like this would have to be finite….But that is definitely a tangent thought I had.

The actual reading is rather straightforward I found, just expanding on the idea of imagining and speculating being a big part of design, as well as testing out creations in fictional space.

August 8, 2013

Unlecture: week 3

*sigh* I think perhaps I was less engaged with this weeks unlecture. That conclusion only arrived when I realised there wasn’t one really strong or interesting point that resonated with me. Normally I can remember lectures by something that was said, even if it was insignificant, because it lead me to an epiphany. Perhaps that’s not the right word, but I suppose I try to take an amount of life knowledge and understanding from every situation or piece of information I am exposed to; a way of justifying to myself that I haven’t wasted my time. (not saying the lecture was a waste of time!)  I did think it was a step in the right direction including other tutors, and I did like the ‘you are the one who should make it relevant’ thing, but I guess if I’m going to every lecture there will inevitably be some that I’m just not that into. I guess this is that week for me…maybe I just got out of bed on the wrong side that day.

August 1, 2013

Argyris…

Argyris… I don’t understand. I mean I do, but I don’t know if its what you meant. What I got from the text, is that double loop learning is when you don’t have to trial and error, as you can kind of think about these things in your head and reflect on what would be best as you go. For example, if your initial approach to dealing with the problem didn’t work, you can think about alternative solutions rather than continue to trial things similar to that one. Perhaps this is wrong, either way I think it is a good skill to have, if nothing else its a time saver.

It seems that double loop learning or “model II” are the ideal types, more creative, able to change and reevaluate when required, so what if I am a single loop learner? what if I fit model I? Is there a way to change this? Or is Argyris just encouraging me to try my best to change this however I can?

 

I also read Adrian Miles’ “Blogs in Media Education” and the thing I have most definitely taken away from it is, yeah, if this wasn’t a hefty part of this subject, chances are I wouldn’t invest any time into it. Being part of Gen Y, I have obviously been forced to create blogs for class in the past, where teachers set up something one week then forget about it the next, meaning I have a large supply of blogs out there dedicated to English and Humanities that have just been forgotten about, most likely because we were never encouraged to post in it ever. So my biggest concern is, after this part of this subject, and until I need this blog again for another subject, will I just slack off? Because I am excited to be actually blogging for the first time in my life, but is the driving force behind it the hope of a high mark? I hope not.