Due Date: 14/08/2017

Task Two – Reflecting

• What are the differences and similarities between what you expected to notice and what you recorded?

Differences:

-I thought there are many people would have brunch or lunch in the café, but actually not. Based on noticing, the peak time is in the afternoon, even the time that nearly closes the door.

-I thought the indoor is so brightness is caused by the sunshine, but actually, the lights play a crucial role because the sunshine cannot shine into the room.

-The amount of people less than I expected.

-The size of the Royal Arcade is very small because it just has one floor.

-The types of shops are different from what I expected. There are no brand name shops, but more boutiques.

Similarities:

-The appearance of Royal Arcade is like its name, looks so royal and brilliant.

-The decorations inside are luxury.

-There are some sorts of food shops, such as sell bread, dessert and coffee.

-The purpose of most people is to have a relax in the Royal Arcade because of its quiet environment.

• From watching your pair’s media and talking to them, how do you think their way of collecting with media differs from yours?

-Collecting method

I more focus on details and preferred to divide the whole part into separate tiny parts to reveal the scenes of the Royal Arcade. For example, I took some photos of café, the model of macarons and the decorations in the shop. On the other hand, Vivian did not have the specific theme, so the photos she took are just revealed the general view of the market, such as the crowded people, the carriage vehicles, the food court.

-Ideas when collecting

The Patrick Pound exhibition as the enlightenment, I used the elephant doll as the main subject to match the background of the Royal Arcade. However, Vivian is more focus on the whole view of the market. She did not have a specific theme, but to be more normal. She just took photos about what she saw in the market.

-Purpose

I tried to use the elephant doll to emphasise the subjects that I focused on in the image. For example, in one of the photos, the elephant doll was back to us because I want to show the customers as the main object. Moreover, I want to show the style of royal, brilliant the Royal Arcade has, so most of the photos with bright lights and looks very clean and glorious. However, Vivian just wanted to show the viewers the normal situation of Queen Victoria Market. She did not have some specific aims, just selected the elements that might not be noticed or what she liked to take. Thus, the final effect of her media collections without bright lights, cleaning street even a little messy.

• How has making this work led you to understand key ideas about noticing in relation to readings, exhibition, discussion?

As Mason mentioned in the article, reflective practice requires ‘living in’ and not mere occasional attendance. I think it is necessary for us to set ourselves into the location where we are, so that we can observe the foreground, background and distinguish some ‘thing’ from its surroundings. For example, when I collected the media in the Royal Arcade, to write down the first impression and noticed the surrounding environment were the first things I did. If we enjoy the environment, the better work we will be done.

To have a deeper layer of noticing, listing what we notice is basically crucial because the specificity of objects well up when situations are concretized and enumerated. (Bogost) This method is helpful to remind ourselves and gives us directions or clues for the next step. Based on this point, Vivian and I both listed what we noticed before we took photos. It is obviously helpful to clarify ideas and highlight the emphasis.

Moreover, by comparing the exploded-view and the ontograph, to explore tiny things from the whole part might be a good idea to develop noticing. The exploded-view is meant to clarify some complex physical system for the benefit of the viewers. It is presented in a way that effectively draws our attention to its configurative nature. (Bogost) As what I did in my collection, I showed the view of the Royal Arcade by taking some photos of small parts, such as shops, entrance, the wall clock, the café. The viewers could know the environment of the Royal Arcade though these details I took.

On another hand, Bogost states that no matter how fluidly a system may operate, its members nevertheless remain utterly isolated, mutual aliens. Thus, the foreground or background is important to the main subject. In Vivian’s media, there is a photo of the carrier vehicle. The carriage vehicle is the separate object if just look at the carriage vehicle itself, however, it could be the whole part if combine it with the scene of the market. The viewers may have a sense of the function of the vehicle is for transporting. It is also related to the imaginatively liberating. I remembered there is a painting in the photographic exhibition is a mouse toy sticks on the board. The artist is so creative to combine the toy and the board to let the painting liveness.