https://pad.xpub.nl/p/GRS_session1_20_21

Graduate Research Seminar #1

Seminar #1

Writing + making: parallel practices!

Steve's general points on presentations :

rapid prototyping = 'how do i approach that research question with a piece of work?'
we as tutors will be working with you on finding modes of address: 'what's the most appropriate way to speak about this work i am making?
everyone arrives here with an existing practice: it's valuable to look at what we've made already and see what it is that we are doing.
It's common at this stage to try out many different approaches to the same question/material, and this can be a very rich and fruitful approach: this is the point at which you can be considering possibilities.

Project proposal:

Text describing proposed work (indication)

Project proposal outline:

what do you want to make? (specifics: media, topic, audience)
How do you plan to make it? (descibe approaches: reading, writing, making, thinking: discuss possible outcomes. are these realistic?)
timeline: (what will you do when?)
motivation: (what drives me?)
who can help you and how? (experts, involved, externs! people for input)
how does it relate to previous practice and interests? (mention practice, theory, art, anything beyond scope of own works and show how it connects)
references (Harvard method)

Additional notes:

This text will go hand in hand with your assessment: practice-oriented text to make sure your project is feasible
Suggested outline available on the wiki - you can use parts of other texts you wrote last year on your practice
Important: include visuals, sketches, images, etc. to help illustrate your project
nothing set down in this text is set in stone, your plans can change
what do you want to make? if the form is unclear but the topic is clear, focus on the topic - focus on what you know
how do you plan to make it? describe how you will approach this project through reading, writing, making, thinking: discuss possible outcomes. are these realistic?
what is your timetable? include a timeline e.g. month by month - to demonstrate you know which steps to take and when
why do you want to make it? most of you will have written texts that will help you to address this point about your motivation
who can help you make it? tutors but also fellow students who have similar research interests/expertise - and also, any outside people
Relation to your previous practice? again, look back to your previous texts to help you address this (e.g. text on method will be helpful here)
Relation to a larger context - connect your work and project to other bodies of work, artists etc to demonstrate an awareness of the broader context within which you are working.
References: please use the Harvard method https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/A_Guide_to_Essay_Writing#The_Harvard_System_of_referencing - this could be a resource for your thesis

Thesis:

WHY? To develop a relationship between writing and practice, and learn to consider your writing as an integral part of your practice, as a medium of reflection and production.

Formats:

report on your research and practice (doesn't need to be theoretical!!)
analytical essay (+ case studies)
how do you want to speak to people????

Additional notes:

Again, all resources you need are on the wiki
Why a thesis? it's a parallel activity to the body of work you are producing for your graduation
Goal: to develop a relationship between writing and practice
It can be hard to articulate the intuitions which motivate your work but doing this your work can develop
there are three suggested thesis formats but in fact, you can create any form you like, as long as it meets the criteria for evaluation
see wiki for further details of suggested formats and criteria
harvard referencing *must* be used

Hackpact

Homework: mini prototype, sketch, gesture in relation to your project proposal

Go to: https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/User:Markvandenheuvel/hackpat

Seminar #2: thesis outline draft

Thesis outline https://pad.xpub.nl/p/mark-thesis-outline

What

~~In my thesis, I want to research the cultural meaning of re-appropriating (hacking) obsolete electronic consumer devices and networking techniques (in artistic practices).~~

note: I believe this is more about the method I want to use: old tech and its systems were much more open to learn, misuse and appropriate. I think what I want to research is what the meaning is in today's context.

Due to rapid technological development, ~~we are currently (invisibly) surrounded by electronic waste.~~ we quickly forget/leave behind inventions, standards. A lot of these processes have in common that they had a relation to (audible) materiality.

note: FI, software on punch cards, the sound of a modem, data storage on tape, broadcasting software over the radio, SSTV, KCS, etc.

Obsolete consumer technology, data storage devices, software, programming languages, and networks. Systems and devices that were designed to last but don't have use any longer in contrary to technosocial issues such as planned obsolesce we face today.

note: I don't want to focus on the waste but on our relationship with materiality of the inner workings since all processes are increasingly hidden (and we are unable to open up our blac kboxes) Does this result technological 'detachment'

Today we are not able to open up our devices, explore its inner workings. Our technology is hidden in black boxes, we use wifi, cloud storage, stream our music, Bluetooth. Yet, these systems are invisible and unquestioned. I want to research what this affect our relation to Digital Materialism.

Generally speaking, I am interested to take a look at these systems and technologies and zoom in on the cultural effect they had, how this knowledge was spread and how it can be implemented and re-use this today. Essentially, I want to have a closer engagement with technology: to experience a sense of ownership, appropriation and autonomy. (And what already emerged in the past.)

note: Is this about the networking effect these systems and processes had ?

Why

previous works:

Trim1: My first experience with terminal reminded me of working with DOS and programming software on the first home computer we owned. Caused a feeling of excitement, control! ownership! Also re-appropriating tape and cassette-players by combining them with modern features.
Trim2: making typographic drawings of digital networks and web publishing.
In Trim3: broadcasting on a self-hosted radio platform and image/video implementations.

The starting point of my research was my interest in I get excited seeing old tech in the modern context. There is a certain excitement and need in understanding a technological or computational process in order to appropriate and own it. But what is it exactly and why is it important for other people?

Thinking how to use a device otherwise: what can we learn from that? Working with limitations. There is a history of misusing technology and what came out of it, such as electronic music.

Note: All these processes were born from working with limitations: that's why I believe they are still relevant today

I think it's interesting to further research if the idea of this relation to materiality and ecological relation is getting less visible. With wifi all around us, storing data in the cloud, the notion of materialty of data-transmission, broadcasting, data storage, servers, datalines in the grounds, trough the air.

In my thesis, I want to talk about regaining autonomy over technology and technological systems by misusing it. (history?) In my project, I want to show it in artistic practice. I encountered a number of very interesting ways how these arguments are reflected in artistic practices re-appropriating obsolete technology in today's context.

note: Are becoming passive consumers? We are not able to restore Black boxes. If it's broken, it ends up in a drawer or we bring it to a store. Recycling or fixing seems close to impossible. Most of all, we are becoming more unaware of the systems that running in the background, doing the work for us. If the system breaks, we cannot solve it.

I feel like my interest is not addressing the waste issue, it's about losing touch with technology and the systems that are constantly running around us. This is becoming less visible, tangible. Maybe the focus is not on the affordances of old tech itself, but on the way we used to use it and incorporate this relationship in tech today. I think this can also be a good starting point for workshops that explore and experience these affordances. I can become an expert in this field ;)

How

I will take a look at some case studies where this hacking/misusing/re-using/re-appropriating obsolete tech system created a cultural impact, community, musical genres, etc.

Note: examples of networking data over sound: the history, today's use and future?

I also want to share some of my own experiences with this feeling of autonomy over technology by re-approprating consumer technology and systems. This can be in the form of personal notes in between.

What can I add to the discourse and why does my voice (also a stylistic choice) matter?

Next to that, I will probably try to advocate for re-using obsolete tech and systems in various ways.

Easy! Premature conclusion alert ;) Again, this is not about devices themselves but how they can function as a carrier/medium.

Media Archaeology:
Zombie Media as a methodology: - 'reappropriated through artistic tinkering methodologies'

It's available, fully explore its potential before discarding it as waste.
in contrary to "planned obsolescence" it was designed to last (responsible design)
what can we learn from the way these processes were used?
What and how can we implement it today?
as a critique of rapid technological change: new ecological system!
ecological consequence: 'media never dies' ("deferred circular economy" )
not about 'retro' but about the ability to push the limits of a device
understanding inner workings (personal thing?) creates a sense of autonomy and wonder

Note: In Zombie Media, the focus is way too much on the re-using of consumer goods electronic waste. This is only one methodology. I want to focus on the technological processes that were invented. The obsolete tech is more the material carrier of some of these processes. I am interested in the meaning that occurs when we use these methods today?

Next to that, I want to take a closer look to the publishing aspect. How and why is it important to spread this knowledge? What can we learn from the past and how can we use it today?

Format:

I would like to write low-key thesis full of examples, images, sound, etc. I think it's important to find pleasure in writing. Adding some of my personality , fun and a sense of wonder.

References:

Viznut - Permacomputing
5 principles of Zombie Media - Garnet Hertz and Jussi Parikka
Digital Materialisms: Frameworks for Digital Media Studies - Nathalie Casemajor
The Pirate Book
Post digital print
Erkki Kurenniemi – The Future Is Not What It Used to Be

Case studies and artistic practices:

People used to broadcast software over the radio
hacking hardware (TI, Gameboy as musical instruments)
~~Tristan Perich - 1-bit symphony (the sound of a CPU)~~
work of Ekkri Kurenniemi (inspiration)
Tape as a storage device and the revival to rescue Big Data?
SSTV/KCS in the context today

Note: Divide between thesis and project inspiration.

to read / watch:

Technological Souvereignty

Katherine Hayles - Writing Machines

THE SOUND STUDIES - John Sterne (read if I go the music production route)

Marshall Mcluhan - What's the message of a re-appropriated medium?

There is No software

Calm Technology

Imagining the Seamless Cyborg: Computer System Sounds as Embodying Technologies (Daniël Ploeger)

annotated:

How People Used to Download Games from the Radio (article)

Permacomputing - Viznut

1-bit instrument - Blake Trois

Zombie Media (Five Principles of)

the Work of Tristan Perich

ANALYSIS: critical reflection

Re-uccuring themes:

data transmission/networking processes: the relation between digital information and physical processes
seem to have a relationship to data and sound: The sound of data?
seem to have a relationship to (DIY/music) publishing practices
techniques of modulating data! (limitations)
why not emulate? the affordances, errors, of hardware
regaining autonomy and the connection to the materiality of networking and data
EXPOSING INNER WORKINGS: by using an old system in today's context
using old tech as a methodology: it's not about retro, it's about transparent characteristics of the process/medium

What interests me is the change of meaning when the context of a process changes:

hidden digital processes translated to the physical material world
mixing modern tech with (obsolete) low-tech: new meaning emerges?
changing context: data to sound, sound to image, sound to text, text to sound
"old school approach shows the inner workings" such as broadcasting software over the radio
media Anachronisms!

practically:

digital materiality: reconnect to the (hidden/black boxed) processes that happen all around us
misuse technology (systems) to keep control and autonomy
publishing practices born out of necessity or technological limitations!

Feedback (from Marloes)

Main points:

The overall theme is missing: too abstract! What are we talking about?
To find out: What drives you? What makes your heart beat faster?
Emphasis on exposing inner workings to regain autonomy? low-tech processes can be a method!
Emphasis on the materiality of the process of data transmitting? Sound can be a method!

My notes:

(re)using devices with other purposes (misusing!) to regaining autonomy and not letting control us
method/strategy: obsolete (low) tech can be a methodology because of its characteristics and how it was designed
materiality: sound can be a method to make data-processes (transmission and storage) audible!
Focus is on the materiality of data, software, workflow: it needs a body!
the affordances of not emulating

User:Markvandenheuvel/thesis

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