User:Niek Hilkmann/Trimester 2
Niek Hilkmann, Trimester 2, 2013
Prototyping
What's up
During the last couple of months I have not been participating in the prototyping classes as often as I could have. I mentioned during the previous assessment that I would deliberately involve myself less in coding and focus more on my principal interests. As a result I have developed and finished more personal projects during the last trimester than before. However, this did not mean I was not able to learn new network related skills. To my own surprise, I managed learn some additional css while making a couple of wordpress sites (see 'Media' underneath). I wanted to make my own sites, because I believe contextualizing my work is very important to the meaning of the material I work with. Learning to avoid distorted conceptions of what I try to do and why I try to do it, was one of my principal goals while studying at the institute. This does not mean that I necessarily want to make art with css or coding. I only want to use it as a tool to contextualize what I'm actually doing. I believe working with previously conceived objects, such as wordpress plugins and themes works pretty well for me and causes a lot less frustration than starting from scratch. I feel that I managed to maintain my sanity by taking some distance from the actual coding classes and drawing out my own plan. This is why I want to continue doing so.
Media
http://www.kikvorsrotterdam.nl
http://www.zoonszonen.net
Additional Info
Thematic
General
The thematic project for this trimester focussed far more on self-directed research than the last one. To be honest, I believe Trimester 2/2013 will go down in history as the trimester of infinite self-directed research. This can be interpreted as the byproduct of fewer methodology and prototyping lessons, caused by a surplus of extensive workshops by Stock and mr. Pummel leaving the institute for a while. Whatever the case may be, the thematic project in itself already allows a more personal touch and the expension of individual thought. I like this. Hands-on workshops like the ones given by Stock have unfortunately proven to not be to my taste... To be honest I felt a bit lost in the classroom. Again, this resulted in me taking more initiative into my own hands. I tried to expand some of my reading and writing on the concept of the reissue and redundancy. This was very nice, for I have been consistently working on projects in relation to these concepts (as you will read in the ;self directed research' part of this page. It was nice to talk about these projects with the tutors and I hope to continue this during the next trimester. The collective writing on one media object is not my cup of tea I'm afraid. Years of singular study on the university makes me get goosebumps at the thought of collective notation. But then again, I have been bad with collective assignments sinds kindergarten!
Text
1. Media Object - Reissue
2. Media Object - The Mothership
Additional Info
Self Directed Research
General
Like I wrote before, I spend the last trimester developing and studying my own interests. I picked three main activities for you to take a look at. One is a commission by WORM for which I taught myself how to compose songs on a Street Organ and actually went on the street with one. The second project is far more complex and still in progress as we speak, it's the tip top orchestra! The last one is my third album, a compilation album to be honest.
Projects
1. Street Organ
2. The Tip Top Orchestra
3. Yoshimi! - Bottelaars en beesten
Additional Info
http://www.tiptoporchestra.com
http://www.yoshiminotaband.com
http://www.worm.org
http://www.museumspeelklok.nl