We started off today’s studio class looking at everybody’s work on Assessment 1. It was very absorbing, being able to look at my classmates’ work; taking a tiny peep into their lives. The use of photography, film, and sound was great, and we ended the ‘presentation’ with displaying our work in the form of a slideshow on our individual devices. As a group, we stood at the back of the class and looked at everyone’s screens, photos and videos looping away, with the room filled with recorded sounds and noises.
Robbie also showed us a couple of cool videos, such as Tokyo Reverse and Stainless, 42 Street. Those were my two favourites. It’s fascinating how these artists and videographers have taken such an ordinary space, displaying its beauty in ways so unique.
Following up from all that we went through in today’s studio session, we got the brief for Assessment 2, and it requires close investigation of a particular place of our choice, considering various notions that give us further insight into how one might view a certain site. The class will be working in pairs, and I’m looking forward to what each group will come up with.
Today we visited the Grainger Museum, and I really enjoyed it. This museum is a special one, as it was built and filled up by its subject, Percy Grainger. Focusing on the process of creativity, Grainger formed a museum around that concept. The long and narrow hallways were made such so that people could have a more intimate connection with the artworks.
I kind of liked the fact that classical music filled the hallways; that should be expected from a museum established by somebody as artistic and talented as Grainger. I remember having discussed the topic of music being played at museums in my Music in Popular Culture class last semester, and how it was often disallowed at regular museums. It’s just something different, and that’s what made it interesting.
What intrigued me most was Grainger’s interest in paraphilia – what can I say, it’s the odd things that are most interesting – and how he felt as if he would not have been able to make art if it were not for these forms of sexual expression. It was a deep secret, but also something he felt that was of great importance.
I don’t want to stray too far away from the whole topic of space and place, but I guess after having visited this particular museum, it led me to think about how a particular plot of land can still belong to Grainger even years after his death. He has made a home for himself right there, and his presence is still well-known despite him not being physically there.
In today’s studio, we were all given the opportunity to share about the places in which we currently reside. It was interesting, listening to everyone’s stories and their experiences with the places they live in.
I’ve only been here in Melbourne for five months, living in a student accommodation. I explored the elements of my home earlier in the week and actually found it rather dull. But as I listened to my classmates and actually thought about it, I found that there is so much more to a space than just what it looks like on the surface.
Here are some of the points that stood out to me when Robbie was talking about it in class:
1. A house as a structure, and home as a substance.
2. We are projecting our lives onto spaces.
3. It’s not about dimensions (meters, diameters…). It’s about how you feel. Are you comforted?
Having that said, before it came to my turn to speak up in class, I thought about the various things in my place that made it home to me. The few things that made an impact revolved around the relationship between my roommate and I. The both of us are friends from back in Malaysia, and we’ve always had a good relationship – we do practically everything together and it’s all really nice because we can also sit comfortably in silence whenever space between us is needed. That’s probably something that I will be looking into while working on my first assessment.
Robbie also showed us a couple of works by various artists, and the one I liked most would probably be the Wikisinger.
He sings the same song in fifteen different places. Not only did I find this a really cool concept, but the quirkiness and melody of the song was just as intriguing, and the visual properties of the entire video was just so nicely planned out. The video sort of reminded me of Wes Anderson’s films – which I absolutely love, by the way.
Robbie also introduced “I Am Sitting In A Room” by Alvin Lucier to us. It was my first time listening to it, and I found the whole concept incredibly fascinating. The moment I got home today, I actually listened to the entire thing, and it was great.
I’m feeling a little more confident now and managed to get a couple of ideas from today’s studio session, and I look forward to working on my first assessment and the few ahead of me. We’re going to be visiting the Grainger Museum tomorrow, so that should be interesting.
For our upcoming assessment, we are to consider the elements of the environment we live in and study closely the spaces of our domestic home.
I quite liked how we were given the opportunity to focus on the architectural components of the house we are currently living in, drawing it out on big pieces of paper with colourful pens. This is what I came up with in the time that we were given.
I didn’t have enough time to write everything I would’ve liked to, but I did get a couple of ideas as to what I want to pursue for my first assessment. I thought about all the small connections and memories entrenched within my little abode, and will continue to do so over the week.
So, my second semester here at RMIT has begun and I’m definitely looking forward to learning new things and meeting new people. One week has gone past, just like that. Our first studio class was cancelled, and Brian took over our second one this week.
What does it mean when we think about the word home? In today’s studio class, for our first exercise, we were told to illustrate what home means to us. This was what I came up with:
As I thought about it, as much as home can be a building or an area of constituted objects and artefacts that signify a home, it is also a space where there have been social connections and personal experiences of some sort. It is a place – or even a person – that makes you feel as if you belong. It is where friendships, memories and connections are made. Moreover, it is a place in which you can be yourself, with no care of what may be thought of you.
In a simple sense, home is the place we would go back to. For instance, after a long day at work, going home is often a luxury. For most people, it is the place in which they find both solitude and comfort. You can be whoever you want to be when you’re alone at home – think comfortably walking around or cooking in just a baggy T-shirt and underwear. I can assure you that most girls (and perhaps some guys) would be able to relate.
We talked about the concept of home a little more in the studio, read an excerpt from Bachelard’s “The Poetics of Space”, and also watched a short TED Talk titled “Where is home?” by Pico Iyer. I was opened to new perspectives of what home is and what it could be.
I particularly enjoyed Iyer’s TED Talk. The part I found most interesting is when he talked about staying at the monastery, and how the silence felt so much like home. He wrote a lot while he was there, and took long walks. It was in this seclusion, away from the busyness of every day life, that he regained a sense of belonging.
We sat in silence, with nothing but muddled thoughts and the four walls that have kept us entertained – or rather, drained – in the past three hours. We had been sitting in that room for far too long, tired and uninspired. It felt like we were going nowhere; that all our ideas had been concocted in vain and for reasons unknown.
Today, I look back and realise just how far we’ve come.
I walked into this studio thinking that we would simply be making YouTube videos (or stuff like that) but ah, how I was greatly mistaken. In fact, as expressed in this blog post, I look back and know that this studio had begun to make me think about online video more broadly than just what can be found on YouTube. It was something I thought about even as I worked on a completely different course.
I did not do much blogging at the beginning of the semester – that, I would have to admit. However, as I scrolled through my blog, I noticed how much more active I had become over the past few weeks. I treat that realisation as a learning curve in itself, that the more I get myself into something, the more excited I get about it, and the more motivated I am to share my experiences with those around me. I found this most apparent in my posts about our prototype progress. Being aware of this progressive change helped me to strive towards being a media practitioner with initiative, motivation and enthusiasm.
It was through blogging that I was able to construct my thoughts a little better. I could see things from different perspectives, and even thought of different ways that I might help my readers better understand what I wanted to say. Like in my first assessment, I came up with a mind map as I was thinking of points for my case study. The more we progressed into the weeks, the more I realised how writing things down or drawing on paper not only gave me a foundation which I could work from, but at a glance also simplifies things for other readers.
I remember presenting my findings from Project One to the studio, and watched as my fellow classmates did the same with the types of online video practices that they found appealing to them. It was from them, that I began to see the potential of online video, and how much I had been missing out on. I knew of the existence of documentaries, computer game excerpts, comedy shorts, and interactive videos – the Web 2.0 was teeming with them. I enjoyed them, yes, but never did I take the time to break them all down, or to look at them from different perspectives. To be in an environment where there are different types of students, and seeing how each of them resonate with ideas on online video, is something I am grateful for.
I remember being a little unsure about Project Two, not knowing what was expected out of our work. For a moment I even regretted that we chose video reviews to explore for the rest of the semester (though that brief thought was soon eradicated). Not only were we having difficulties coming up with ideas for our sketches, but we even saw three hours of work go down the drain.
There was a day in the studio, when Seth talked about how we should create as many sketches as we can, and how each one of them is meant to be something that is quick and disposable. Upon hearing that, I realised just how focused Jia Jia and I were on perfecting it, that we had thought of ideas too far-fetched, and that we had to pull ourselves back on track. It was only then that we started to come up with ideas for more instantly, and we became less afraid of creating something that was wrong, because it is in the mistakes and criticism that we learn.
These aided our presentations as well, in the sense that we were beginning to construct them better, from start to finish, getting points across in a quick yet effective manner. In our presentation for Project Three, before proposing it to the panel, we shared our ideas first with our classmates. It was then that Seth suggested we talk about how we progressed from tech-reviews to these café travel reviews. I appreciate comments like that, because it is a reminder to pay more attention to detail; to structure proposals in ways that are easily understood not just by the people who have journeyed with us, but by those who have yet to know about it.
As I was looking through what I had blogged about over the past twelve weeks in the studio, primarily for the purpose of this portfolio task, I came to notice how some of my older reflections have feedbacked into recent sketches and iterations. For instance, as I realised the importance of background music from one of my classmate’s presentations, we also came up with our first sketch leading to our prototype guided by that realisation. And as I reflected on the importance of GIFs in this post, we in turn discovered Cinemagraph and ended up using that for our final prototype.
People tend to think that it’s all about the big things – the bigger, the better. Well, perhaps to a certain extent. But in this context, it is far from true. We began the semester with the work of another in our hands, and today, we have made for ourselves something we can take ownership of and are proud to call ours. One of the best things about learning something new is having the ability not only to practice it, but to receive something out of it. It’s not about the big things – it’s about the little steps taken towards it; the journey.
*Note: To ease reading, I have compiled my entire studio experience within five different categories. You may view these categories at the top of this page.
The past eight weeks in the studio have been exciting. We have had the opportunity to work with online video practices that interested us, and have proceeded to deconstructing them as well as worked on many sketches to help us better understand it. We’ve received the brief for Project Four, and that is to create a prototype from one of our sketches in our previous project.
Before proceeding with all that, however, Seth decided to give a mini lecture on several key terms that we have been using in the studio. Some of the words included narrative, non-narrative and interactive. I remember not fully understanding these words back in the first few weeks of the studio, and the way I comprehended it was rather vague.
In the studio today, Seth gave us a couple of readings and also showed us some clips and videos to help us understand these terms. With today’s class doubled up with all the previous studio sessions, I can say that I am beginning to truly understand what this is all about and why we are doing this. My classmates are also great inspirations, and it’s never dull to hear what each group is doing because all our ideas and proposals are always so different.
After all that, we also went to a nearby café just to have a chat about what has been going on in the studio. It was a good change from sitting in our usual spots, and I got to talk to have several casual conversations with a few of my classmates. It was a nice breather, and Jia Jia and I also came up with some ideas that we might want to pursue in Project Four.
Reporting
We were the second group to present today, and I was actually pretty excited to share our discoveries with the panel within our 5-minute presentation. After telling them about what we have done and what we plan to do in Project Four, we received our feedback. We were told not to carry on with Korsakow, which, looking back, I agree with. They told us that by giving people the option to make their own decisions on this platform, we are also limiting interactivity, in the sense that we would not be able to get comments from other people who may have visited the café. By putting our travel video review in this closed space, we do not give people the opportunity to share their opinions.
Relating
The experience with the panel reminds me of another project I did back in college. Back then, my group and I were so enthusiastic about so many ideas that we forgot about the main focus. We came up with so much to do and were so excited – and drained out at the same time – that things begun to become a little messier than desired. Getting feedback from the panel today was a good reminder to stay on track and work with what we have, rather than jumping to different things and trying to achieve something else without noticing the potential a certain idea already possesses.
Reasoning
Because Jia Jia and I liked both the scrapbook and Korsakow ideas, we felt like it would be a good idea to combine the two. On the contrary, it restricted certain things and caused us to stray away from the fact that there we already have a good thing going on in the scrapbook idea. The panel’s comments were important to helping us realise that, and it is only through this sort of constructive criticism that we would be able to get better.
Reconstructing
With the comments received today, Jia Jia and I plan to scrap the Korsakow idea and fully concentrate on improvising and improving our scrapbook idea. Overall, today was a good experience and we look forward to starting on Project Four.
Spent the past few days getting our sketches ready for Project Three, and now the day of our presentation is finally here!
Reporting
Since we had only 10-12 minutes to presents, Jia Jia and I decided to present only four out of ten of our sketches, which turned out to be a good idea. If we were to do more – as in our the presentation for the previous project – I’m pretty sure we’d be rushing through the whole thing. We presented the four that we might to pursue in the final project, in hopes of getting better insight on which one(s) we would present to the panel the following Monday. As we were running quite short on time, we didn’t get to hear much feedback from the class. However, Seth did give a good suggestion which we happened to miss out on, which is to elaborate on how we got to the whole topic of travel video reviews. Overall a decent presentation, in my opinion. I also really enjoyed listening to all my classmates’ ideas. It’s so refreshing to see just how much potential online video has, and the various ways in which it can be put forward to its audiences.
Relating
I really liked the fact that we were able to first present to our class before proceeding to facing the panel on Monday. I do remember a time when Jia Jia and I did not get to present due to the lack of time. We couldn’t get any criticism nor comments, and that made coming up with ideas a little more difficult.
Reasoning
I have come to realise the importance of consulting your lecturer and peers – that sometimes it is necessary to first go through them before you proceed to improving a certain thing, as they would be able to notice your mistakes better than you, and give you suggestions that you may not have thought of.
Reconstructing
Based on the comments that were given today, Jia Jia and I plan to pick two to present this Monday. We also plan to better our presentation such that we will come up with a clearer explanation for the entire project as well as make some slides to present to the panel.
I watched the documentary ‘Generation Like’ today, and thoroughly enjoyed it. It was very relatable, and I managed to learn (and realise) quite a number of things from it.
The documentary basically talked about the current generation, and how so many children are obsessed with Internet fame and popularity – be it from getting likes on their Facebook and Instagram photos, or gaining followers and retweets on Twitter, or getting their posts reblogged on Tumblr… the list goes on.
Also, what are companies doing with the technology at hand? How do they engage with their users each time somebody puts a ‘Like’ on their Facebook page? What do websites like Tumblr and apps like Instagram demand for? It’s powerful, really, when a user ‘Likes’ something. It means that you agree with something. It means that you associate with that content. It means that something in particular speaks to you.
According to the documentary, MTV used to be the one exploiting kids’ desires to be cool. They chased kids down and sold it all back to them. Today, however, children are putting themselves out there in hopes to be recognised in the social media sphere. They want to be a part of a brand, or the Internet scene, more than what companies allow them to be. Children empower themselves with tools embedded with self-constructed values.
It’s pretty insane, don’t you think?
This documentary was an eye-opener to the industry, the what’s and how’s, and also the many ways in which brands and companies have been able to connect with their audience. It also showcased prominent people like Tyler Oakley, who is somebody incredibly obsessed with pop culture. It was amazing to see how he started off on YouTube just vlogging about things he liked, and how he slowly rose to fame and is now even giving advice to companies hoping to flourish in the social media sphere.
Brands and companies are always thinking of new ways in which they might reach out to potential customers, and with technology constantly on the rise, I am positive that fans and users will willingly participate, as long as there is some sort of return investment. Think being able to get a reply on Facebook from your favourite celebrity. Or being crowned one of the ‘Top 100 fans of The Hunger Games’. Or instantly gaining more followers the moment Justin Bieber retweets you.
I believe that this is only the beginning of ‘Generation Like’. There is so much more ahead of us, and oh, what a time to be alive.
