From my own studio:

Murder Mystery
In my studio Real World Media, the murder mystery group drew me in right away. I felt that they really understood how to closely relate the physical objects to create a work that was cohesive. It was compact in the best way. I am not usually a big fan of puzzles as I believe they challenge me too much and I end up frustrated. However, this murder mystery had engaging mid-way rewards for continuing to try to solve the case which kept me hooked.

I felt this project really executed on what it means to make transmedia. To have the different parts of the mystery spread out not only in the objects but in their relation to each other was really well executed. The ‘escape room’ / ‘puzzle’ was a really good choice of form to present this work as they were able to build an aesthetic, a feeling and meaning through the set while still ensuring the story made sense.

Something I learned making my own project for this class was the need for people to touch information to connect to it, and I feel this group did this really well. Even the act of unravelling the piece of paper from their small boxes or picking the keys off of the key sheet was really rewarding and I would commend them for having such a touch sensitive final product.

Alienation
The Alienation project had a high production quality. Their handbook containing the diary entries for the little alien were well designed and easy to read. The content made me feel genuinely sad for the alien and once the book revealed that his story reflected the experiences of the average international student, I really felt the weight of the story. It was sincere and vulnerable and told in a very effective manner. In addition, I felt there was a strong aesthetic and brand, which made all of the different story elements feel cohesive and professional.

It was clear to see how this aesthetic would play out right from their pitch, so it was fulfilling to see such a well-planned pitch come to fruition in a meaningful way. The final product felt full and whole, and I would be very proud of this final outcome.

Lastly, I enjoyed the range of different elements of their project. I wasn’t able to engage in all of them due to time however the little Alien origami was very sweet. It offered an opportunity for the viewers and makers of the project to interact, hopefully elevating some of the feelings that alien Rae reflected in her representative diary.

Another Studio

Festival Experience
The studio “Festival Experience” appeared all encompassing and challenging. I was lucky enough to attend their fundraising trivial night and their film festival “The Debut International Film Festival” (DIFF). I have been offered this studio many times but have never chosen it, however after engaging with the festival itself I am very intrigued.

DIFF was a sunset themed film festival which showcased the first films by well-known directors over the course of a weekend. For opening night, we watched a queer erotic horror fantasy film called The Hunger by Tony Scott (Top Gun).

I was particular interested in the programming for the festival and what choosing The Hunger tells us about the undercurrents of the festival. Even though it is a about famous directors who are mostly old white men, the films chosen represented a large array of people, The Hunger being a lesbian film made in the 80s. I had never seen anything like it, even as a queer person.

And thus, I believe one of the key ideas of this course was understanding what world we construct for the people for whom we choose media. What representations we must consider and how to market these ideas. Despite loving the film, I had a giggle to myself thinking that someone who is not usually exposed to queer cinema coming to the movies to see a film by the director of Top Gun and being surprised with what was essentially (at the start) a porn film. The marketing served to surprise me, and I felt that the subversion of my expectations was exciting, and a true win for the programmatic team at DIFF.

However, teamwork was ultimately the main focus of this studio, with many students taking on leadership roles to produce a large-scale work. It felt like the studio exhibitions on steroids. Every student was professional at the festival, and it was rewarding to see how much work they could produce in twelve weeks.

Week 13 asks for the following prompts to be completed…

1. In what ways do you hope your creative exploration is received by its audience?

I hope audiences do understand the lore between the Codans and the Arbors. When looking at the exhibition, I was worried that if audiences did not read the didactics, that they would be lost.

However, I genuinely hope our audience feels captured and drawn to the digging box. There is something so childlike and playful about our exhibiting that I hope it reminds our audience of trips to science works or other children’s museums.

In addition, selfishly, I hope they notice and appreciate the consistency across the exhibition, especially in Connors posters appearing in Dani’s sandbox. This was particular satisfying to see made, so I hope viewers notice.

2. If you were to distribute your work – to a festival, market, vendor, exhibition – what two things would you change, and why?

In museum curation, I feel the space is very important. Although we did the best we could, I would choose a space which was dark and smaller to really cup the exhibition and make it feel whole and complete. I feel the open-ended space of the hallway we were in made our work feel sparse.

Moreover, I would project the colour visuals down across the floor as I feel this would embed audiences in the work and create the “overlay as a connector between the works” appearance we were aiming for.

3. Reflect on your collaboration for Assessment 4. How did it go? What would you do differently next time, and why?

I was very pleased with the team’s collaboration in assignment four. I was very lucky to find teammates with similar working styles and interdisciplinary thinking as myself which made conversing very easy. I tend to be dragging team members through collaborative work, so to have teammates who were not only organised but excited about the work was really refreshing.

~ 259 (excluding titles and prompts)

The beginning of our final assessment was uncomplicated. Our sci-fi inspired exploration of an alien world was a concrete idea very early in the construction phases. However, understanding the need for, and then creating a research question was initially difficult.

Questions of curation stemmed from our conversations on craft and the construction of our craftsman project. The idea that stories can be shaped by how they are constructed in relation to each other, and by the curators experiences themselves piqued our interest. In particular, Scholar Condie states that museum curators need to acknowledge the lens for which they present artefacts (Condie 2021) as we imprint out own view and biases. However, this will manifest differently as we are to create the narrative, and then choose how to present it, rather than adopting a narrative provided to us.

In this way, I think we will need to be mindful of which parts of humanity we are consciously or subconsciously reflecting, making sure to intentionally critique (LaBrutto 2008) the troubles of humanity (topics like racism or exploitation) rather than creating a world that subconsciously perpetrates these ideas. As our group covers different races, genders, sexualities, neurodivergence and ability/disability, I believe that we have the checks and balances available.

It was also valuable for us to reflect climate change in our work as it is the global event that shapes the people of our time universally. I believe this will make our sci-fi narrative able to connect to a wider audience, which museum spaces are constructed to do (Condie 2021).

 

Reference List:

Condie M, 2021 ‘Between the past and the present: Museums and the construction of history’, Teaching History Journal, vol 55, iss 1, pg 15-23

LoBrutto P, 2008, ‘Science Fiction 101: Tips on creating an alternate world’, Madavor Media LLC, Braintree.

What is Craft?

Craft is for the everyday person. Despite its ambiguity, craft can be defined by its reliance on developing skill sets, emotion behind the craft and the intention for it to be a craft. It is important to note that it is often used as an outlet for people in times of stress and illness.

When looking at academic literature, craft has many different definitions and attributes. In stating that ‘Craft is a process, a product, a tradition and a skill set’, scholar Thatch demonstrates a common view on craft, separating the person from the act of crafting, outlining a recipe for craft. In this broad definition, we see craft encompassing many laborious tasks as one would complete when craft was a financial necessity. The globalised market has changed our relationship to craft to one that is emotional and conscious.

In this new production landscape, craft can be distinguished from task completion as it is distinctly ‘made with love and personalised by the makers’ personal histories’ (Pöllänen 2013, pg 217). The aforementioned skill oriented definition negates the amateur and children, who craft for enjoyment without much objective skill or even the goal of selling their works.

It is ultimately a personal connection that defines craft, but also the conscious engagement with the craft for ‘pleasure’ (Dissanayake 1995, pg 40) and skill development combined. It must mean something, or be of high value to the craftsperson regardless of objective skill. This can manifest as the protection of craft in someone’s life, a designated time or place to create, or a ‘self-imposed obligation’ (Pöllänen 2013, pg 221) to continue crafting. Scholar Goldfarb shares the same sentiment regarding rigidity stating that people who craft show ‘desire to do a job well for its own sake” (Goldfarb 2009, pg 265). This is evident across academic literature, that craft is not enforced by a job or by other individuals, but the craftsman themselves. There is a private relationship that continues only because the craftsperson wants it to. This intention is a defining trait of what makes a craft.

The most comforting discourse surrounding craft is the ways in which people use craft to cope with their illnesses, whether it be physical or mental. When life is disrupted by illness, craft provides people ‘unity, coherence and consistency across time’ (Crossley 2000, p. 20 via Reynolds and Prior 2006, pg 333) furthering the emotional bond people have to their crafts. It can also offer ill people something positive to identify with in times where their careers and social life may suffer. Whilst this describes an effect of craft, rather than its innate properties, the relationship between craftsperson and craft is so important to defining craft that I believe case studies like this help to constitute craft.

Since mass production, craft has served as an emotional outlet for those in turbulent times. Craft is highly valued by those who do craft and fills an important part of people’s lives. Whilst craft does rely on skill, a greater emphasis should be put on what craft means to craftspeople.

~508 words

 

Bibliography

Dissanayake, E 1995, ‘The Pleasure and Meaning of Making, American Craft Council’, The Pleasure and Meaning of Making, New York.

Goldfarb, J C 2009, ‘The Craftsman’, Sennett R (eds), American Journal of Sociology, vol 115, iss 1, pg 265-267

Holmes, H 2015, ‘Transient Craft: Reclaiming the Contemporary Craft Worker’, Work, Employment and Society, vol 29, iss 3, pg 479–495.

Marcus, A 2017, ‘The Meaning of Craft: Craft Makers Descriptions of Craft as an Occupation’, in Stonorov, T 2017 (eds), The Design-Build Studio: Crafting Meaningful Work in Architecture Education,, T 2017, Taylor and Francis Online.

Pöllänen, S 2009, ‘Contextualising Craft: Pedagogical Models for Craft Education’, The International Journal for Art & Design Education, vol 28, iss 3, pg 249-260

Pöllänen, S 2013, ‘The meaning of craft: Craft makers’ descriptions of craft as an occupation’, Scandinavian Journal of Occupational Therapy, vol 20, iss 3, pg 217-227

Reynolds, F & Prior, S, 2006, ‘The role of art-making in Identity Maintenance: Case studies of people living with cancer’, European Journal of Cancer Care, vol 15, iss 4, pg 333–341

Shiner, L 2012, ‘Rethinking the Concept of Craft and its Relation to Art and Design’, Philosophy Compass, vol 7, iss 4, pg 230 – 244.

Thatch, A 2019, ‘Craft, Textile History’, Taylor & Francis Online, vol 50, iss 2, pg 244-248

I feel a disdain for the term digital detox. In Syvertsen and Enli’s article ‘Digital detox: Media resistance and the promise of authenticity’ they note that ‘the digital detox trend is characterized by nostalgia’ (Syvertsen and Enli, 2020 pg 1270) connoting the days before smartphones, childhood and freedom.

And yet, I am not sympathetic to this idea. I feel that because the article excludes the idea that today’s young people have not experienced life before technology, or a life they remember. A peer of mine in class similarly said that speaking of detox is a frustrating waste of time. I suspect this may be a symptom of others using the ‘digital detox’ as a Band-Aid on the bullet wound that is society’s larger dependence on technology, making detox only a dream or marketing ploy.

To detox would also be to disrupt a system of connectivity that would be equally detrimental to young people. As ‘Digital Detox’ was added to the dictionary in 2013 (Syvertsen and Enli 2020), the term FOMO (fear of missing out) was also included. The push for digital detox almost seems out of touch in today’s communication landscape as to be without social media is to be on the fringe in 2023.

However, digital rebellion is in my mind different, and I resonated greatly with Nick Briz’s glitch art. It lacks that aura of consumerism that digital detox has and directly challenges technology without any social consequences. And it makes art. This is the angel I would take to form a new relationship with technology.

Included in an image of my involuntary digital detox and my glitch art.

~ 267 Words

 

References:
– Briz, N 2015, THOUGHTS ON GLITCH[ART]v2.0, Briz website, accessed 19 March 2023, <http://nickbriz.com/thoughtsonglitchart/>
– Syvertsen, T. and Enli, G 2019, ‘Digital detox: Media resistance and the promise of authenticity. Convergence’, The International Journal of Research into New Media Technologies, 26(5-6), pg.1269–1283.

Bibliography:
– Buglass, S L et al, 2017 ‘Motivators of online vulnerability: The impact of social network site use and FOMO’, Computers in Human Behavior, 66 (1), pg 248-255
– Hodkinson C, 2019 ‘Fear of Missing Out’ (FOMO) marketing appeals: A conceptual model’, Journal of Marketing Communications, 25(1), pg 65-88,
– Kim, J et al, 2020, ‘Investigating ‘Fear of Missing Out’ (FOMO) as an extrinsic motive affecting sport event consumer’s behavioral intention and FOMO-driven consumption’s influence on intrinsic rewards, extrinsic rewards, and consumer satisfaction’, PLOS ONE, 15(12)

In week 2, we observed the distinction between old and new media, if such distinction exists. Natale’s outlines that ‘old media’ is only a constructed perception of a technology in ‘There Are No Old Media’ (2016). However, this makes me wonder, who has shaped this perception surrounding old and new media? How would this serve companies and individuals?

Planned obsolescence, over consumption and capitalism come to mind. If the ‘older’ models of the iPhone function perfectly, why do we feel as if they have become outdated? I feel that it is a twisted (yet well executed) ploy to get us to purchase the latest technology, growing the wealth of the major corporations further. The terms old and new media now feels predatory.

Harvey Salgo (2016) speaks to the environmental repercussions of the old vs new media mindset, and the ways the overconsumption of technology exacerbates climate change. He sates that ‘the market strategy built around rapid style change and shoddy commodities has deep ecological significance especially as it pertains to resource use’ (Salgo 2016, pg 27) speaking to the demand the mind set of old and new has put on production and thus is depletion of our natural resources.

And yet in class I could see that my continuous acquisition of Nintendo consoles over my life contributes to this. The DS Lite, the 3Ds, the Wii and The Switch? Why did I feel the need to buy all of them when they serve the same purpose, and even host the same game? I am left with this question.

~253 Words

• Natale, S 2016, ‘There Are No Old Media’, Journal of Communication, Vol 66 (4): 585-603
• Salgo, H 2016, ‘The Obsolescence of Growth: Capitalism and the Environmental Crisis’, Review of Radical Political Economics, Vol 5 (3), pg 26-45.
• TimeToast (Date Unknown) Nintendo Handheld Consoles, TimeToast website, accessed 10 March 2023, Header Image and Hyperlink, <https://www.timetoast.com/timelines/nintendo-consoles-923c4449-667d-4c75-b6aa-d480458c8d96>

 

Jan 7 2021 – At home. I took this photo because I was bonding with my dad, doing a task that combines both of our interests. I feel deeply melancholy about this now because my relationship with my father has deeply changed and I cant imagine doing this now. He looks happier than I have seen in recent years and I miss this version of him. It was sunny.

The photo includes my father in the back, holding up a rainbow trout that he painted which was much better than mine in the foreground. He has never painted before, so I was surprised. He is smiling happily and has headphones in, probably listening to jazz.

 

Week One taught me that making is both old and new. Tim Ingold in The Textility of Making explains that those who make follow ‘a line already incorporated into the timber [the trajectory of making] through its previous history of growth’’ (Ingold 2010, pg 92) stating that making is not original, nor is it spontaneous in the hands of the maker through the analogy of a timber worker. 

I found this quote to be poignant during week one as each folding step during our origami practice follows the last, relying on the previous ‘wood grain’ to guide the maker in their actualisation of a crane, a box or plane. Moreover, as the historical art has many rules, my yellow box follows the instructions for the same box people have folded for hundreds of years. And yet, I still possess the ability to alter the box to my liking. 

In a very similar way, when comparing digital and physical media later in the week, I came to understand the gratification I feel when engaging in my chosen tactile media, painting, stems from my ability to master the techniques that guide my practice. The techniques of the greats seek to place my work in the intricate mesh of artists who are connected through technique and time, creating a fulfilling non digital hobby.

And thus I feel that Ingolds analogy to be important to the studio thus far as it acknowledges the historical past, previous steps and instructions in making and the influence it can have on our work in the present and how it enriches our understanding of the importance of non digital media.

~272 Words

Ingold, T 2010, ‘The Textility of Making‘, Cambridge Journal of Economics, vol 34, pg 91-102, accessed March 5 2023.

Canon Fodder

The studio I was a part of interrogated what it means for a film to be ‘Canonised’ and made a part of the top 100 films of all time on the 2012 Sight and Sound list. Isabel, Roisin and Shaun (Group One) produced a video with three segments detailing the past, present and future regarding who should have a say in constructing The Canon. In comparison, Alannah, Giorgio and Zoe (Group Two) made a video about who should also contribute to Canon, but both provided different solutions.

Group one suggested that The Canon belongs to all people, not just those with inherited knowledge such as critics. A wider diversity in people adding to the list, a wider range of films and different representations will be included. On the other hand, Group Two suggests there is still importance in the inclusion of critic’s opinions and expertise, opting for a fifty-fifty split between critics and laymen to form the list.

Both provided discussion of the difference between ‘favourite’ and ‘best/greatest’. Whether it is dividing the films by decades, by continent, by box office success and more, popular vote, both groups acknowledged that art in itself is difficult to define and difficult to pit against each other.

From group one, I thoroughly enjoyed the forms in which the three sections took. The past shown through old movie clips, the present as represented as someone of today’s population and the future as an ambiguous messy amalgamation of uncertainty, celebration, unease and disdain. I felt this was representative of the general sentiment of the class over the last twelve weeks.

 

A Different Studio: Translating Observations 

Video One: Mina’s video titled An Unheard Conversation clearly demonstrates the beauty in the action of observing rather than the observation itself. She employs a main character in which we borrow the point of view of to perceive a conversation between two friends. In doing this, we take on her facial expressions and project them onto the interaction to understand the encounter as well as how we feel about what we see ourselves.

I believe keeping the opening shots focussed and tight on the subject matter teaches a lot about the place her main character is viewing. By removing the landmarks of this well known place, I believe that it removed the assumptions and pre-established ideas we have about the place letting the strangers and their interactions with the space teach us about the role it plays within the place alone.

By removing any dialogue or music the audience is deprived of vital information needed to make sense of our surroundings. However, I was able to imagine the sounds of the place due to the carefully chosen clips of the guitar player and the birds in the background.

It is the main character’s headphones that intrigued me the most. As there was no noise change when she took them off, I interpreted this moment as a separation between the audience’s point of view and the main characters, as maybe we are then to view her as we are the view of the other two girls. I initially thought our vision was as one, but we ultimately view her as she views others by the end of the piece.

 

Video Two: Charlie’s video titled Serial Knitters speaks to the idea that one can miss observations right in front of them if we don’t look up from our established routines. However, whilst the didactic provided helped me to come to these conclusions, I independently understood the short film to be a celebration of the observations of others in common spaces, such as a laundromat. These meetings are made by chance; crossing paths and observing people that you don’t usually see. And for me, that was the beauty I found in this video. 

 

For both videos in the translation observations studio, I was pleasantly delighted by how they depicted one’s relationships with their surroundings and the other people that inhabit places. It was their skilful construction of the setting through the eyes of the main characters and their own position within the space that elaborates the complexities within the space and the stories that exist beyond our own point of view. This is what I believe to the idea that runs through both videos and the studio they were made in.