Something a bit unkempt, even dishevelled. Smart, a lot – too many – of ideas. A sea indeed of ideas. An ocean of ideas. And there’s networked media. A boat. Certainly not a big one. Doesn’t really have a sail but there is some sort of mast to pin something on, against, to. Or a motor. Not adrift. It bobs, floats, weaves. Seeks and follows eddies of the breeze, currents, a wave. Sometimes it gets blown and washed around, other times darting along with deliberate intent revelling in its boat knowledge of breeze, current, wave. There is no shore. Not at least to be seen. Anywhere. All ocean, and because it is all water one place is as well as close enough, or further away, than any other. Each wave is different. Different enough to have a difference, a difference that matters. This gives this ocean contour, currents, eddies and tides. You dip an oar, seeking something over there, enjoying the whirl and whorl of water around the oar.

As a speculative curriculum, I find this metaphor for what we are studying quite fitting. The symbolism of water, rough tides, navigating a boat through a somewhat-but-not-always predictable atmosphere – these ideas readily lend themselves to something so ‘fluid’ as the changing media landscape and the places we can go both laterally and vertically. I’m a creative non-fiction fan, so I’m looking forward to playing with fiction and voice in this critical thinking and writing about the subject.

 

In the tutorial I found myself thinking about how different aspects fit in to this metaphoric idea – I especially liked the idea of tsunami’s as changing paradigms, uprooting what we think of as knowledge with possible devastation, for more creative and interesting outcomes forming in it’s wake. The possibilities for networked media are truly unrealised, and I’m excited to be entering the industry in this time of creative change and innovation. I really don’t know what to expect.