Thesis proposal

UPDATE BEFORE MON 07/10.

- keep in mind the thesis is 8000 words

- no need to have an appendix if the content speaks for its itself (academically or others)

- then find that mode of address where the personal and the intellectual coexist rather than conflict

My thesis is a collection of writings and a photo book serving as its index. They will be printed and bound into small zines (A6 or similar).

I am guided by the following questions throughout my time at PZI. Some of the questions occurred during this period of practice-based research. Others predate the Master's, but have received new light as I learned to investigate and practice with focus.

How does the image lead to empathy? (Why do I care about empathy?)
Why do I choose to make films? (How do I make them?)
I seem to have wanted to evoke feelings all these years. What feelings are these? Why does this matter to me?

The corresponding keywords are:

narrative, emotions, emotional intelligence, self-knowledge

writing (the image), definition of medium, craft, artisthood

solitude, loneliness, spiritual diaspora, trancendance

The writings will take the form of creative non-fiction, written in the fashion of personal memoir. They consist of:

My text on practice [1],

An essay on the evolution of my artistic practice ("Why I Write")

An essay on memory and image-making ("Confessions of a Memoirist")

An essay on narrative, drama and image-making ("The Tiniest Feeling in the World")

Bibliography

This list (and most probably the titles) might change; some of the essays might be combined into one.

References

These references do not include annotated bibliography, which is listed in a separate section below.

Form & concept

Selected Statuses. A zine I made during the first year consisting of 50 selected status updates that I posted on Facebook from 2013-2018.

Christian Boltanski: Reconstitution [2]. "Heavy brown cardboard box with title printed in black on label pasted to lid, containing 18 items."

From the handbook

The thesis should show:

evidence of a clearly structured analysis and argument
use of relevant source material and references
clarity of writing
attention to alternate arguments and sources
ability to research texts and practices and reflect upon them analytically
ability to manage ‘interdisciplinary’ material
clear referencing according to the Harvard system
ability to position ones own views within a broader context

A return to some early thoughts

Jujube/memoir

Photobook

The images serve as the index of other content in the collection.

a plastic bag with Chinese label

sketching a room: a series

still from Scene 1

TBC

Writing in progress

Jujube/memoir2

Annotated Bibliography

This is a synthesis of some materials I have read so far. The annotations are colloquial at the moment. As the synthesis continues I plan to become more precise with the literature and succinct in my annotations.

feelings

I want to evoke feelings. I believe it is shared human nature and thus a way to foster empathy. Empathy comes from compassion (understanding and love) for the self.

I can now say this, with certainty and humility, that I want to surround myself with understanding and thus create a world where people understand each other. If you see me in you, and if I see you in me, perhaps the world will suffer less.

A few people whose judgement I trust have told me, "nobody can ever understand you in totality," which I have come to agree. In trying to be understood, I finally become able to understand myself. And that's where I connect self-compassion and empathy.

memories

Jujube/synopsis#Siegfried_Kracauer:_Memory_Images.2C_1927
Jujube/abstracts-non-text#Play:_salt <--a one-woman play instead of text

Memories are images strung together. Words construct images — words come to me via memories.

A few people told me that my writing touches or bring to mind images.

That's how poetry works, I suppose.

I want others to understand, through these images, something about me, something about themselves.

the making of images without language

"A film is a story or a proposition... that is shaped, angled, finite, intended, whether it is a documentary, an art installation, a bit of gritty realism, or a full-blown fantasy... A film-maker is a person who makes such things."

I encountered the camera not through intention, but chance.

If you ask, "why the camera," I would say:

I took a chance. I connected the dots from my past. I was curious.

And I have been privileged to stay with it, hold it, test it. I have become decisive and considerate with its help — I am an ally, and more importantly, a student.

"And why film?"

I discovered time through film. I unearthed my intention about image-making. In writing and in making films I am drawing a very, very large circle, some sort of infinity that help me understand my being in this world.

I ask more concrete questions through the things I make:

Do narrative and personal memory ever come together? Is that the form of the Memoir? Or Must one become fictionalized?

How to evoke the sense from memory? (Is this a how question?)

Or, if I want to evoke feeling, should I construct a story around it?

causality, narrative, dramatic logic

Jujube/synopsis#Stephen_Kern:_A_Cultural_History_of_Causality_.7C_Chapter_5:_Emotion

Causality is important in determining narrative. Different time periods (cultures) tend to favor different causality. (Perpetuations of the unhealty, unresolved kind seem irresponsible.)

Jujube/synopsis#David_Mamet:_On_Directing_Film

Narrative, in the dramatic sense, follows dramaturgy.

Jujube/thesis-drafts

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