Reading, Writing & Research Methodologies 2014/2015
This is a shared page for the R,W & R module.
Intro:
The Reading, Writing, and Research Methodologies Seminar is tailored towards (further) developing research methods within the first year of this master. By establishing a solid foundation of research skills, it will eventually prepare students for their Graduate research in the second year. Through reading core theoretical texts, they will establish a common vocabulary and set of references to work from. They will learn the practice of classic ‘essayistic methodologies’, including close reading, annotation, description and notation, students learn to survey a body of literature, filter what is relevant to their research and create comparative pieces of analysis. The seminar helps students to establish methodical drafting processes for their texts, where they can develop ideas further and structure their use of notes and references. The course takes as axiomatic that the perceived division between ‘practice’ and ‘theory’ is essentially an illusion.
Curriculum: The seminar will involve:
(a.) Identifying the object of your research: description and analysis of your work
(b.) Contextualizing your work through description and reflection on contemporary and historical practices.
(c.) Identify research material key to your practice.
(d.) Synopsis and annotation of key texts
(e.) Writing machines: creating methods for group and individual writing.
Throughout, there will be an emphasis on working collectively, whether in a larger discussion group or in smaller reading and writing groups.
Outcome of the seminar (trimester three)
The specific outcome for the RW&RM seminar of 2014-15 will be a 1500 word text which reflects on your own method and situates your work in relation to a broader artistic and cultural context. The various texts produced within the RW&RM seminar will serve as source material for your text on method. In common with all modules on the course RW&RM serves to support your self-directed research. Therefore, the text on method will inform your Self-Evaluation at the end of the third trimester and provide the basis for your Graduate Project Proposal that you will produce in the fourth trimester.
Brief for 1500 word methods text. The aim of this assignment is to use description of your work as a way of identifying and articulating your method. Describing first what and then how and why you make work often leads to discussions of the works context (what work is similar to the work you describe; what are the key ideas the work deals with). The theoretical elements of the texts you write should therefore emerge from, and have a very clear connection with, the work you are making. For this experiment I am asking you to follow the method outlined above so that you can begin to reflect and write quite deeply about the work you are making. A second method you will find useful is to draw on annotations of texts you have read which have a particular relation to the work you make.
First draft: early May (review in groups)
Final draft: late May (review in groups)
TRIMESTER ONE
Note: Because you are writing an essay for the thematic class, the emphasis over the next month will be on describing and contextualising your own work. We will undertake a series of exercises that help identify your method and help you consider work by others to which it may relate and to consider the context in which you are working.
17-Sept
Description of work
Upload your texts here by 15:20
- Antman
- Ruben
- cihad
- Manetta
- 10000BL
- ThomasW
- Solange
- JoOº
- Lucas
- [| Cristinac]
- Arantxa
- [| Jules]
- Emily
- [| Annelamb]
24-Sept
Review description of work
add:describe the broader cultural context (art-design works, film, texts which inform our understanding of the work) = 50 words
01-Oct
Bring along a text, an art object (repro) by another and a piece of popular media (film,clip &c) that interest you.
three things (= dead link, content is taken out of the Antman territory, and placed here ↓)
08-Oct
1) Three things continued
place your links here:
2) Our Simple Wiki Style Sheet:
Titles and works = italics
Essays = title in caps
Notation = Harvard System (writer, page number) = (Smith, 26)
URL = make link
3) Annotation, note taking and citation - a practical guide
http://piratepad.net/fhrqoUjXb2
notes on pirate pad
15 Oct
Annotation- note taking and commentary
We Live in Public
Last show of Josh reminds me this performances series,
One year performance from Tehching Hsieh
Project 0.2 - 29 Oct
Annotation- note taking and commentary
The changing face of an idea # 1
Michel Foucault – The Means of Correct Training, from Discipline and Punish (1977) (link to PDF → 
)
Gille Deleuze – Postscript on Control Societies (1990) https://files.nyu.edu/dnm232/public/deleuze_postcript.pdf
Mark Poster – Foucault and Databases, from The Mode of Information (1990)
Jean-François Lyotard – The Postmodern Condition (1979)
Brian Holmes – Future Map (2007)
Deleuze identified a shift from disciplinary societies to control societies, which is dependent on a shift from regulation by precepts and regulation by code. Lyotard understands this shift toward the digital order as changing the definition of knowledge. Here we will take Foucault and Deleuze’s texts as a starting point and consider how their ideas have informed discourse on media. Brian Holmes, for instance, draws on Deleuze and Foucault to make a contemporary assessment of society in which computation and prediction is central. During the seminar we will draw on other media – artworks, films and written texts – that are informed by these ideas of how reality is mediated.
Arantxa : Foucault and Deleuze / Arantxa: Hybrid text
12 Nov
Write a text based on the previous texts and films.
- Ruben
- JoOº
- Solange
- Emily
- Manetta
- Cristina
- Benjamin
- Lucas
- Cihad
- Allyson/Annotation Mash Up
- Thomas / Annotation Mixup
- Antman
12 Nov-19 Nov
Annotation: repurposing text
In teams, make a new text using previous notes on texts and films we have been studying. ( Foucault, Deleuze, We Live in Public, Black Mirror,How Little We Know of the Neighbors &c)
The following genres have been suggested: game, puzzle, article, consumer contract, bot, social network profile, sci-fi story, gameshow, letter, news report, manifesto, terms and conditions text flowchart, diagram, hypertext, info graphic &c
Groups of 3 or 4- choose an editor.
Upload links and brief outline of project (50 words max) below:
Project 0.3
03-Dec
Reading and Writing Ideology; # 1
Intro
http://www.chadmccail.co.uk/snake/snake.html
Today we will be watching extracts from 'the perverts guide to ideology', the 2012 British documentary film directed by Sophie Fiennes and written and presented by Slovene philosopher Slajvo Zizek. We will view the film in chapters, and make notes in order to establish what Zizek's thesis is.
Key contextualising texts on ideology:
The Ruling Class and the Ruling ideas, from The German Ideology 1845, Karl Marx & Friedrich Engels
http://www.marxists.org/archive/marx/works/1845/german-ideology/ch01b.htm#b3
(i) History of the Subaltern Classes; (ii) The Concept of 'Ideology'; (iii) Cultural Themes: Ideological Material, Antonio Gramsci, 1927
Ideology and Ideological State Apparatuses, Louis Althusser 1970
10-Dec
Reading and Writing Ideology; # 2
Perverts Guide to Ideology continued
+ The Men Who Made Us Spend (part 1) Scott Kilgour (2013)
We will continue to watch, discuss and take notes of the Zizek film and also watch The Men Who Made Us Spend. We will consider Zizek's ideas in the light of what we find out from The Men Who...
TRIMESTER TWO
January 7
Reading and Writing Ideology; # 3
Today we will consider:
Zizek and the kinder egg
and Renzo Martens' film Enjoy Poverty
and discuss how the Zizek's notions of ideology can inform our reading of the film
From Renzo Marten's website:
" Episode III, also known as 'Enjoy Poverty', is the 90 minute film registration of Renzo Martens' activities in the Congo. In an epic journey, the film establishes that images of poverty are the Congo’s most lucrative export, generating more revenue than traditional exports like gold, diamonds, or cocoa. However, just as with these traditional exports, those that provide the raw material: the poor being filmed, hardly benefit from it at all.
Amidst ethnic war and relentless economic exploitation, Martens sets up an emancipation program that aims to teach the poor how to benefit from their biggest resource: poverty. Thus, Congolese photographers are encouraged to move on from development-hindering activities, such as photographing weddings and parties, and to start taking images of war and disaster. With a neon sign, packed in metal crates and carried through the jungle by Martens' porters, the local population is encouraged to capitalize on what the world has given them as their share. It states 'Enjoy Poverty.' Hapless plantation workers question it, accept it, dance around it, yet in the end, the whole project seems bound to fail.
The piece is the third in a series of films that, by enacting their own parameters, try to make visible their own complicity in a world obscured by depictions of it. The first of this series was 'Episode I' set in Chechnya.
Episode III was first shown at the Stedelijk Museum Bureau Amsterdam. The trunks that were carried throughout the jungle, now contained the master-tape of these activities, some left over neon lights, a photograph made in collaboration with the Association des Photographes de Kanyabayonga, and a certificate. The film was screened a few times daily.
On the very same day, the piece served as the opening night film the Amsterdam International Documentary Festival's 2008 edition. Ever since, the film has been shown in over 40 filmfestivals, art venues including Centre Pompidou, ZKM Karlsruhe, Kunsthalle Goteborg, Tate Modern, Arnolfini Bristol, The BOX LA, Nomas Foundation and art biennals such as the Moscow Biennal, Berlin Biennal and Manifesta."
January 14
Upload by January 13 = 1000 - 1500 word text
abstract 50 words
intro = 1 para
1 point
2 point
3 point
conclusion ( in which you recap your argument - do not bring in new elements)
January 21
revised version:
manetta
Arantxa/Dreams (Revised)
Yuzhen
Antman
Lucas
Thomas (update on the top)
The work of...
Project 0.4
The changing face of an idea # 2
5-February-2015
Walter Benjamin’s text The Work of Art In an Age of Mechanical Reproduction has been a cornerstone of media theory since it first appeared. Here we take this text and two others which take Benjamin’s text as a starting point and consider how the ideas from Benjamin’s text have informed discourse on media.
Texts:
Walter Benjamin - The Work of Art In an Age of Mechanical Reproduction (1936)
Bill Nichols - The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems (1988)
Jos de Mul -The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Recombination (2008)
http://geertmul.nl/Geert_Mul/NederlandsFotomuseum.html
See also:
http://www.erudit.org/revue/ron/1998/v/n10/005805ar.html
Again we will draw on other media – art works and written texts – which inform our understanding of these different perspectives.
February 18
- Antman: User:Themsen/RWRM3-3
- Annelamb: http://pzwart3.wdka.hro.nl/wiki/Notes:_Walter_BJ
- Annelamb: http://pzwart3.wdka.hro.nl/wiki/Annotation:_Joe_De_Mul
Morning:
In groups of 2 or 3, review the notes/ texts made on Benjamin and:
Bill Nichols - The Work of Culture in the Age of Cybernetic Systems (1988) http://www.nomads.usp.br/pesquisas/cultura_digital/arte_em_processo/Processo/Textos/Nichols%20-%20The%20Work%20of%20Culture%20in%20the%20Age%20of.pdf
Jos de Mul -The Work of Art in the Age of Digital Recombination (2008) http://www.demul.nl/nl/publicaties/publicaties-per-categorie/boekbijdragen/item/1549-the-work-of-art-in-the-age-of-digital-recombination
10:00- 11:30: review texts in groups
11:30- 12:30: make changes - upload on wiki
13:00 lunch
Afternoon:
Unfinished business and ideology
14:00 - Review the material you have produced during the ideology sessions (upload on wiki ahead of time on this page).
In groups of 4, discuss how that material can be used in a 'parallel publishing' project (as you did with the society of discipline-control texts last trimester).
at 16:00 we meet to discuss your ideas (draft plans) &c
Upload you groups plans below (sketches, ideas &c)
- Ideology writing parallel session exercise in group - thingy (Arantxa, Yuzhen, Allyson, Lucas Solange)
- Antman + Joana + Benjamin + Thomas = http://pzwart3.wdka.hro.nl/wiki/Hybrid_Ideologies
4 March
ideology 'parallel publishing' projects
This week we will continue with the project in groups
14:00 we review progress together in group
16:00 presentation of 'parallel publishing' project
play the ideology game: *fingerkrieg* (beta)
Project 0.5
March 25
Self-directed research, reading, writing and research day.
Morning: 10:00=
brief introduction
10:30 - 17:00 =
This month, the aim of the RW&RM seminar is to = compile library of notes, synopses, reviews and descriptions related to your self-directed research.
Today you will work on researching, reading and taking notes on the texts we discussed in the personal tutorials with me last week.
In those tutorials we identified texts, research strands, art and media which could inform your self-directed research.
Spend this week's seminar following up on those discussions and post the results on the wiki
Although I have to attend the evaluation of the Fine Art students for most of the day, I will visit your studios to check how you are progressing regularly.
April 8 - mid May
Project 0.6
Reflection on your practice.
Outcome of the seminar (trimester three)
The specific outcome for the RW&RM seminar of 2014-15 will be a 1500 word text which reflects on your own method and situates your work in relation to a broader artistic and cultural context. The various texts produced within the RW&RM seminar will serve as source material for your text on method. In common with all modules on the course RW&RM serves to support your self-directed research. Therefore, the text on method will inform your Self-Evaluation at the end of the third trimester and provide the basis for your Graduate Project Proposal that you will produce in the fourth trimester.
The aim of this assignment, in the first instance, is to use description of your work as a way of identifying and articulating your method and methodology. Describing first what and then how and why you make work often leads to discussions of the works context. The theoretical elements of the texts you write therefore emerge from, and have a very clear connection with, the work you are making.
You may find it useful to make descriptions of recent work following the "what, why, how" method.
You may also find it useful to draw on existing annotations of texts you have read which have a particular relation to the work you make.
You may also wish to use elements from the interview you conducted with your fellow students.
Outline for the text (this is a guide rather than a prescription)
General note on mode of address. Write as if to someone not familiar with your work.
Title
Introduction Current Practice (resource: here you can use the descriptions of recent work)
Relation to previous practice
How does your current work connect to previous projects you have done? (resource: here you can use a) the descriptions of older work b) extracts from your interview.)
Relation to a larger context
Outline practices or ideas that go beyond the scope of your personal work. Write briefly about other projects or theoretical material which share an affinity with your project. It is simply about showing an awareness of a broader context, which you will later build upon in your project proposal and writing component in the second year (resource: here you can draw on the texts from the interviews and from the session using Jstor and the sessions in which you examined a media, art object and a text.)
Research strands
Consider the possibilities open to you and where you would take your work in the near future (resource: here you can draw on the texts from the interviews and from the session using Jstor)
Conclusion
Examples of texts on method by Fine Art students
http://pzwiki.wdka.nl/fineart/Texts_for_self-evaluation_seminar_2015
Establishing your own 'research library'
March – April:
Aim: Establish a practice of annotation and note taking relating to your self-directed research.
From this point in the course, (continue to) write notes, synopses and descriptions of work which relate to your own interests and research. Archive them on the wiki like this:
http://pzwart3.wdka.hro.nl/wiki/User:Sol#NOTES or go to Self Directed Research
http://pzwart3.wdka.hro.nl/wiki/User:Laurier_Rochon
Individual tutorial with Steve (I can also meet you in a group of two, if you prefer)
Wednesday:
or Friday
In preparation for the tutorial- gather texts together (see example above) and make a link just below the example above
Agenda for tutorial:
a) Review writing done so far for the class;
b) Discuss it in terms of your practical work
c) Identify key themes, writers, artists and texts relating to self-directed research
d) Follow existing research strands
e) Discuss resources. Of course there are a million on line channels for research (and over abundance can be a distraction), so how do you get the most out of the school library and Jstor while you have the chance?
March-April: compile library of notes, synopses, reviews and descriptions.
Make a link to this page.
May – Write text on method. The collection of texts relating to your self-directed research will be useful for the text on method, and in the second year they will help project proposal and thesis. More generally they will help deepen your research as a whole.
Link to Jstor: http://www.jstor.org/
April 14: remember the deal we made last week:
I WILL set no assignments outside the class for the rest of the trimester
YOU WILL work on reading and writing related to your self directed research as you prepare your TEXT ON PRACTICE.
EACH WEEK, at the beginning of the session, you will set achievable aims for the day and work toward them.
I will be around to talk to you about progress.
April 22: You will follow up on the interview project you did with Annet. Using the same mode – group of three= interviewee, interviewer and moderator – you will conduct an interview on your work for 15 minutes. This time you will RECORD AND TRANSCRIBE the interview. The transcript will provide material for your text on your practice.
In keeping with our tradition of setting achievable aims we will:
10:00 = meet in large project space and prepare interview
10:30 = conduct interview
12:00 - 16:30 = transcribe and edit interview
16:30 = upload interview and review as group
UPLOAD HERE:
April 29
AM: Edit interview text
PM: Design interview 'publication'
THIS WEEK set achievable aims for today's session. Here is a reminder of the process =
1) finish transcribing your interview text
2) review and edit your interview text
3) develop a format for a printed version
4) work on the design (we looked at examples last session)
Remember to use the group you were in as your editorial board =
seek feedback and advice=
set moments during the day to review progress.
Remember the plan: set achievable aims and use the day to reach them. Down tools at five PM and pick up where you left off next time.
We will review progress next time.
May 20
Today we will review progress on the interview and finish it.
May 27
Today the aim will be to produce a draft of your text on method.
10:00 meet to establish aims, gather material &c
11:00 work on text (Steve will be on hand to talk with you).
16:30 upload draft
June 3
Finish text on method
10:00 meet to review progress and establish aims
16:30 Upload and review finished texts on method
June 10
Thinking about the graduate proposal
10:00 meet to discuss and review text on method and proposal outline
building on your text on method:
1) what have been your current areas of research?
2) how do you intend to build on them?
3) formulate an (im)possible project (or projects) that address 1) and 2)
Tutorials with Steve = review text on method, talk about work and your draft grad proposal
11:00 manetta
11:30 Arantxa
12:00 Cihad
12:30 Lucas
14:00 Joana
14:30 Thomas
15:00 Julie
15:30 Yuzhen
16:00 Benjamin
16:30
June 17
10:00 review draft grad proposal and set aims for the session
Tutorials with Steve (part two) Agenda: review text on method, talk about work and your draft grad proposal:
10:30
11:00 Allyson
11:30 Lucas
12:00 Cristina
12:30 Jules
13:00 Cihad
June 22
Agenda: 10:00 recap on where you are with your draft, draft proposal - text on method
10:30 - 13:00 potluck media pick
Finished Text
- Sol
- Thomas
- interview Cihad, text on method Cihad project proposal first draft Cihad
- Thomas Interview
- Ruben + Speculative project - sketch
- Yuzhen + Interview text
- JoOº - interview + JoOº - text on method.
- Lucas: Essay on method + Interview + Project Proposal(s)
- [Benjamin text on Method] + [Interview Benjamin] + [| Proposal: Interactive Tabletennis]
- Arantxa : Method text final & Interview & Temp. Graduate proposal
- manetta → interview + text on method + proposal -0.0
- Allyson
- cristina: interview+Method
Current Texts
- AnneLamb: [1] Interview
- Lucas: Essay on method - drafts & notes
- Reflection on your practice Thomas
- All Research Methodologies Trimester 2 Thomas
- Solange: Ideology Essay The work of art in the age of Group exercise Self-directed Research
- Cihad , Cihad
- JoOº + JoOº
- Jules >>> Fingerkrieg jules + EssayOnIdeology jules + GeoIP databases + Putting the world in a grid + About light and datatransmission
- manetta → under: reading, writing & research methodologies + annotations
- Ruben: Annotations + Essay and writings for RW&RM + 2nd Thematic Project
- Yuzhen: Methodology text+Interview text+RW in class + reflection on my practice + Annotations
- Arantxa: Self-directed notes & Essay on Ideology (Other synopsises found under RW&RM// tri 2// -> Student Wiki) / Tri 3// Text own method and writing / Tri 3// Interview / Tri3//Final method text & //Self-directed notes
- Cristina, notes and notes and presentation and ideology
- Antman: [2]
- Benjaminl [Text Ideology] , [Group_Work_Hybrid_Ideology] , [notes] and [notes]