The comfort of reason must be ignored when approaching this course. Redefining what it means to tell stories and broadening our view of different media forms, is a fundamental aspect of this course.  From the beginning of our first lesson, it is clear that this course is going to challenge our thinking and expand our view of the world. Although I’m still unclear of the initial direction this course will take, I am keen to learn more about the idea of “noticing”. The concept of noticing obviously takes centre stage in this studio. We are asked to broaden our understanding of noticing beyond a material viewpoint to encompass abstract patterns of thinking. Broader abstractions of this term “noticing”, include the awareness social discourses in society and how they play a role in constructing stories, how linguistics forms the basis of cultural normalities in society and the capacity for everything to have its own independent agency. These prompts challenge our established understanding of the world. They force us to reconsider connections that exist around us, eliciting a sense of introspection as we begin to notice how we too have been shaped by these external constructions.

Another key concept that fascinated me was the idea that “story is a privileged way of understanding the world”. Up until this point in our media degree, the focal element of creating work was to tell a “story”. However, in this class, Adrian suggests this is not the only way we can view our world and create meaningful work. Although important, a story is something that is constructed, often rejecting other ways of communicating ideas and events. I am interested to see how this concept can be used when making our media pieces. Disregarding previous ideas of a “story” will be challenging, however, it should open up avenues to explore different ideas within a new framework.

The introduction to this studio has confirmed my initial curiosity in this subject matter. The inevitable challenge of realising these upcoming projects makes me slightly nervous, however, I am sure that throughout the remainder of this semester I will gain the confidence needed to tackle these concepts in a creative and conceptual manner.