Not everything is black & white…
Reply
Monthly Archives: August 2013
DAVID WEINBERGER…WHO AM I?!
In his novel, David Weinberger raises questions about the relationship between self identity and the internet. How do you present yourself online versus the way you present yourself in reality? I found this really interesting to read about because of my work on ‘Augmented Reality’ in Comms last semester (more on that later!)
David talks about the internet offering the promise of anonymity, which essentially means users are free to build a new identity for themselves in the online world. So, the way we construct our profiles on Facebook may be vastly different to the way we present ourselves to our teachers or family. However, having said this, it’s true that humans also present different versions of the self in the physical world. The way you act when interacting with your mum compared to how you act when bar hopping will possibly be vastly different! I think the point is though that the internet makes us actively think about self representation by giving us the tools to easily construct who it is we want the world to believe we are.
The idea of self representation online is really obvious if you look at online dating. Functioning as a mediator between the online world and the offline world, the sites allow users to create their own profiles and find their ideal match. More often than not, many users engage in some kind of misleading self-presentation on these sites to attract more promising partners. In this way, the internet allows people to create their ideal selves easily and project this image through cyberspace.
An interesting term that stuck with me from this reading was “internet intoxication” (Sounds deadly!). It basically acknowledges that the internet has an effect on human lives and can assist people to create new identities.
This constant discussion of identity is again scarily Comms like (WHO AM I?!) But in all seriousness, maybe what is so scary is that the internet asks us to consider who we are, who we want to be and gives us (and others) the tools to re-create ourselves.
Image courtesy of CartoonStock.com
VANNEVAR BUSH ~ COMPUTERS AND KNOWLEDGE
The Vannevar Bush essay essentially discusses the notion of using computers to expand the knowledge and intelligence of humans. Whilst written in 1945, it is clear that in our present 2013 this notion is ever present and more than a simple vision. Computers are part of our everyday lives, delivering information to their users instantly.
Search engines, academic databases, online journals and online newspapers provide humans with knowledge about the past and present. However, that is not to say that using computers guarantees intelligence or knowledge about something useful. You might be able to easily and quickly find out the benefits of folic acid or the latest celebrity gossip BUT fail to learn information essential for your career path or assistance for learning how to answer difficult equations.
In other ways, while users have information at the tips of their fingertips, this is useless if they don’t understand the way to go about finding the information using appropriate search engines. There is also the problem of information overload.
Although in saying this- my first port of reference for most things would be the internet. Whether it be finding info for a uni assignment, my daily fix of celeb gossip, online shopping, style + beauty info or looking up my train schedule, safari has got my back!
The reading also argued that scientific and technological progress will continue to develop. From 1945 to the modern day this is all too true! It begs the question to speculate on what else will be developed and what our future world will look like as the internet has the power to continue to “expand the mind”.
BOOK REVIEW: THE CARRIE DIARIES BY CANDACE BUSHNELL
This review was originally published on The Teenage Girl’s Survival Guide
Candace Bushnell brings sparkling vivacity and humour to her latest novel and sequel to The Carrie Diaries. Now a hit TV show on the C.W Network, this series is perfect for a younger audience.
Bushnell follows the young Carrie Bradshaw’s summer at a writing course in the Big Apple and all the entertaining travails that come with growing up. Carrie learns some serious life lessons in love, dreams and friendships as she embarks on the most exciting Summer of her life yet!
What’s great about The Carrie Diaries, is Bushnell’s encouragement to follow your dreams and become the person you want to be even against great odds. Carrie’s character is inspirational in that she breaks against the mould by leaving her small town when, like her old friend tells her, “No one ever really thought you’d become a writer”.
Carrie’s voice is entertaining and energetic, matching the fast paced buzz of her favourite city in the world! Her character is realistic and likable as she makes plenty of mistakes in her desire to be a real sophisticated New Yorker. This girl is sure to be a hit among teen girls.
A major plus is getting to meet the real Sex and The City girls, Samantha and Miranda, for the first time. These characters are well developed by Bushnell, with authentic voices and strong personalities that come through the text. Samantha is of course career driven and appearance centered. While she strives to be a rich chic New Yorker with the perfect husband, she reinforces the importance of being a strong woman, “I’ll tell you one thing about Samantha Jones. She can’t be bought. At any price.” Hoping her neighbours die so she can get their bigger apartment and cheaper rent, Samantha is utterly fabulous!
Characters from the original Carrie Diaries also feature, including Carrie’s former BFF Maggie and Walt. Maggie’s character serves to represent Carrie’s old life in suburban Connecticut and the person she will eventually leave behind for good in her adult life. Maggie is flirtatious and opinionated. She constantly complains about New York and disapproves of the new Carrie. Her “All American prettiness” makes her the object of lust which she is more than happy about.
Now let’s talk about the guys! Carrie meets her fair share over the Summer, including the irritatingly arrogant Capote Duncan, sweet Ryan, the playwright and “genius” Bernard Singer and the “infamous” Bobby Nevil. She learns that appearances can be deceiving and love and relationships can be a hell of a lot complicated.
Carrie’s summer is one of self-discovery and a real coming of age story as she develops from being a “sparrow” to “A pigeon. The official bird of New York City”. While Carrie is told “The whole idea is that Carrie Bradshaw never wins”, I think it’s safe to say Carrie is most definitely a winner.
~ Marilyn Monroe
Matt Ward’s food for thought: The interplay between fiction and design
Matt Ward offers some interesting food for thought in ‘Design Fiction as Pedagogic Practice’. The title sounded scary BUT it was definitely worth the read.
Sounds silly but I’ve never really considered the concept/word “design” when I think about writing. And design is essentially what you do as a fictional writer. You design characters, worlds, the plot…everything inside your story.
Ward is fascinated with this ‘interplay between fiction and design and speculation’.
He notes that “all design is fiction” because designers create ‘propositions for a world that is yet to exist’. It’s actually incredibly interesting to think about this process. I’ve always loved to write so the notion of encouraging imagination to turn fictions into reality is really inspiring.
I’m imagining these uber-cool designers living in this amazing fantasy world where they dream up new worlds and gadgets to use in them. What a cool job!
Finally Ward makes an obvious but important point that “things that work don’t create interesting stories”. This is all too true in fiction! Who wants to read about a perfect world where everyone is happy and nothing interesting or exciting happens?!
He goes onto suggest that the current popularity of dystopian novels stems from this concept. It could prove worthwhile to take inspiration from The Hunger Games, Divergent and The 5th Wave (just to name a few) to get ideas for design…
Images sourced from BlazeDigital and Blogspot
Design Fiction and Bruce Sterling
Design fiction. Edgy, new-age, ‘geeky’, cool…
Something I’ve never heard of before starting this course. And I sure like the sound of it.
Bruce Sterling explains design fiction to be “thinking about potential objects and services and trying to get people to concentrate on those rather than entire worlds or political trends…”
It kind of sounds like being an inventor. Tracy McBean anyone?!
It encourages people to be creative and think outside the square.
Sterling explains “it’s not a kind of fiction but a kind of design. It tells worlds rather than stories”.
In saying that, I think you can find elements of design fiction within stories. Most obviously sci-fi stories. The iconic ‘Back to the Future’ series springs to mind (LOVE that show btw). Hoverboards and time-travel cars could be considered as part of design fiction right?
I’d sure like to see the option of REAL life time travel cars become reality…
Images from ABC.Net and DavidDarling
THE TOP BEAUTY LOOKS AT PARIS FASHION WEEK
This article was originally published on Couturing
It’s the time of year where the weird and wonderful in beauty is vigorously encouraged! Paris Haute Couture Fashion Week sees a fabulous display of the latest designs for Autumn with dizzying arrays of fantasy inspired makeup and hair.
There was a predominant focus on clear skin and barely there makeup at this year’s fashion week. The beauty looks were generally elegant and simple with the rare runway pulling out a show-stopping style!
Couturing brings you their favourite beauty looks from Paris Haute Couture.
Jean Paul Gaultier:
This runway was all about releasing the animal within! Jean Paul Gaultier stood out for its exaggerated hair styles with four different up-do’s created by Odile Gilbert. Style one saw models’ hair fashioned into the “Chintilly Chignon”, designed to resemble a “tall, swirly mound of whipped cream”. The second look incorporated long hair extensions wound around sparkly rollers for an almost sci-fi style. Other models’ hair was wound into an extremely high topknot bun whilst the most exciting look saw animal leopard prints painted onto hair!
Jean Paul Gaultier didn’t disappoint with their makeup either, as artist Lloyd Simmons channelled the early seventies for inspiration! The focus was on cat like eyes using thick black liner, white liner top open eyes and brown eyeshadows.
Valentino
The beauty look at Valentino was feminine and beautiful with echoes of fairytale princesses. Makeup was soft and natural with dewy skin, pretty pink blush swept onto the apples of cheeks and petal pink eyeshadow and lipstick. Models’s hair cemented the fairytale princess look as it was swept into a chignon with a centre part and finished with a delicate headband braid.
Armani
Flappers from the Great Gatsby era were centre stage at Armani. Elegance and sophisticated glamour oozed off the runway as both the hair and makeup were flawless! Linda Cantello created the 20’s inspired look focusing on luminous skin, silvery lids, no mascara and deep pink lipstick. The hair was styled into a faux bob, with the fringe slightly waved for an extra glamourous look.
Chanel
The look was somewhat masculine at Chanel. Hair was pulled back harshly off the face and fashioned into a pompadour and sleek ponytail. Eyebrows were thick and bushy with little arch and cheekbones were emphasised with rosy pink blush. Makeup artist, Peter Philips, kept the eyes subdued with no mascara and finished the look with a splash of soft pink lipstick.
Dior
It was all about working the pout on the Dior runway this year! Artist, Pat McGrath, created a metallic, reflective lip using bronze, lilac and dark rose shades that looked truly magical glistening under the bright lights. The lips had a wet finish and were mesmerising to see! The rest of the makeup was kept fairly simple with bold brows, gold flecks in the inner rim of eyes and light eyeshadow. The hair was tightly slicked back into a bun and wet with glitter
Elie Saab:
The beauty at Elie Saab was graceful and incredibly wearable. The hair was pulled back into an elegant chignon with the fringe swept across the forehead to the side. The makeup injected some modernity to the look with black and metallic shading the eyes. Thick black mascara was piled onto lashes as well as a flick of black eyeliner to make the eyes stand out. The rest of the makeup was kept simple and finished with a subtle rosy pink lip.
When I think of design…
This week’s unlecture and the classes involved thinking about “design” and “speculative writing”.
What springs to mind when thinking about design is:
– Creating something new
– Developing a product, service, object
– Can be for better or for worse for our lives/ the world
– Linked to double loop learning ?
– Can effect change
– Perhaps an antidote to reporting/parroting back info
– About us being innovators
Speculative fiction is said to “offer writing as a way to think with and through things”.
So with this in mind, I think their is a close relationship between design and speculative fiction. We can use our writing to think through ‘designs’, become innovators and create objects using our imagination.
What is starting to really interest me in this course is the growing emphasis on the importance of IMAGINATION!
Without imagination we can’t become designers, innovators or media producers.
Image from Webflowdesign.com