The lo-fi self portrait.
The multi-media portrait of myself – to be presented to the class – that I have chosen will be inspired by the Beatles song ‘A Day In The Life’. It will serve as a portrait of an average day in my life, incorporating the normalities of my existence as well as the abstracts that make me, ‘me’
– donandsherri
“The media are not so much ‘things’ as places which most of us inhabit, which weave in and out of our lives. Their constant messages and pleasures seem to flow around and through us, and they immerse most of our waking lives”
– Branston and Stafford 2010, The Media Students Book, 5th Eddition, NY: Route Ledge
This was the message that managed to remain poignant with me after leaving the lectorial for week 2. Upon reflecting on this quote, its relevance managed to become more clear and the connotations that it carries more apparent.
The sheer amount of media and mediated interactions that we are immersed in on a daily basis is somewhat astounding when looking at them from a critical point of view. Waking up to an alarm, set on an iPhone 6, playing a tune composed by an employee of Apple is only the start of a very big iceberg. However, this should not be a daunting thought, it is rather a notion that although we think that media is a ‘bad’ thing, it is really a series of entities that we inhabit.
– donandsherri
A lot of things change in 2.5 years. Planes can go missing without a trace, Entire hoards of people can be placed into indefinite detention, students can undertake new university degrees, and bands can change their trajectory of sound.
The later can be said about the new Tame Impala track ‘Let It Happen’.
October 2012 marked the release of their sophomore album ‘Lonerism’. This release was an complete amalgamation of the psychedelic rock sounds they had been previously known for and the new pop sounds that they had recently discovered. The release was an international success reaching both Gold and Silver status’ in Australia and the U.K respectively. This combination of sounds managed to resonate with both the public buying their records and the audiophiles alike and afforded Tame Impala the success that followed.
<<Fast-forward to March 2015>>
Tame Impala have dropped their brand new release upon the world via their website and packaged it as a digital download. The cost for such a thing? Merely exchanging your email address and you will be enabled to get the song for free.
The song is a strong move forward for the band, pushing them further into the pop sounds they explored on their last record, and facilitating Kevin Parkers (frontman for Tame Impala) newfound obsession with the synthesiser. This change in trajectory, apparent in ‘Let It Happen’ is likely to divide their fans, however the effect it truly has will only become fully apparent when their new record (the self titled ‘Tame Impala’) gets its release later in 2015.
Credit to Tame Impala.
– donandsherri
Perfect Study Music
(Credit to Pink Floyd & The London Philharmonic Orchestra)
Walking out of the ‘Lectorial’ and onto the streets of Melbourne’s CBD, our task at hand was to both notice and record all the differing forms of mediated interactions that take place from all different facets.
Critically engaging with the gargantuan amounts of Media that permeate into our lives enabled the group to noticed various forms of mediated communications that would otherwise slip idly by. Using a combination of the senses we were able to distinguish the various forms of Media and place them into specialised categories, identifiable by their proximity to us as we began to notice them.
| UP HIGH | ON THE GROUND |
| · Billboard Advertisements
· Electronic Clocks · Electronic Billboards · Banners |
· Public Policy Ads
· Homeless Persons Sign · Gorilla Graffiti |
| MID-GROUND | BACK-GROUND |
| · Car Horn
· Tibetan Protest · Telephone Box |
· Pedestrian Crossing Signal
· Bicycle Bell · Smells / Food |
| FOREGROUND | IN OUR HANDS |
| · Graffiti
· Road Works Signs · Print Media (Newspaper / Magazine) · ATM |
· Phone
· Flyer |
Of all the mediated interactions that we witnessed, none was more apparent than the group of Tibetan protestors situated on the steps of the state library. They’re messages
were spread by a multitude of different media mediums including auditory interactions (both personal and group oriented) an visual interactions through the use of banners and flyers.
The Tibetan protestors may have been the most apparent, however they werenot the only form of mediated interactions the we noticed and captured while walking down Swanson Street.
It was only when I was reflecting upon the process of actively ‘noticing’ all the different forms of mediated interactions that we encounter on a daily basis, that I was truly able to fathom the sheer amount that each person would be exposed to. With active eyes and ears, I notice that I was able to pick up on the most subtle forms of media that otherwise would go unnoticed.
– donandsherri
THU – 5th – MARCH
This was the day that the first practical for Media commenced.
The objective of this practical was to further introduce both the class and the teaching faculty for the subject, as well as to gain some familiarity with our new websites and blogs. Which you are currently reading. Right Now. (Insert appropriate ‘Inception’ music).
The session managed to progress quite rapidly, as the practical aspect ran smoothly. With only minor technical difficulties arising we managed to finish ahead of the expected scheduled 3:30pm.
This is not to say that, at times, the session felt like it was dragging on.
Due to it being the start of the new semester, all the different unions were positioned outside the building fighting over the new kids like vultures on a dead carcass to gain their loyalty for the year. This feast of new flesh was soundtracked by an array of differing pop songs that managed to repeat itself three times.. There is only so many times that a person can listen to ‘Uptown Funk’ before they start to question their own sanity, let alone notice the clock starting to move slower.
– donandsherri
After shifting through the unpleasantries of formal introductions and general conversation, the first lectorial for the year commenced. It was an insightful and engaging lectorial, which facilitated discussions around two different types of learning modes: Hyper & Deep Attention.
These differentials in the cognitive modes of learning were exemplified in Hayles text which explored ‘the hypothesis that we are in the midst of a generational shift in cognitive styles (of learning), that pose challenges to education at all levels’ (Hayles, 2007: 187).
During the class discussions and the way in which the lectorial itself was structured, I could not help to think that we (as students of the next generation to learning) were all rats in a giant experiment of the ideas explored in Hayles text. A somewhat unnerving thought.
– donandsherri