User:Mirjam Dissel/interim assessment
Project description
I'm making a machine that allows the user to make associations that lie deep within them; these are personal for each user.
The machine looks like some sort of box with a computer screen in it, which you can operate via a number of buttons. It uses a slot machine mechanism and has 4 columns of random images set up, instead of lemons, apples or pears. The row of chosen images has a meaning. The images will come from scraped data, as random as possible to ensure free association.
By giving the subject boundaries I force them to make associations. They can change the images in the set by spinning the wheels. Here the theory of free association by Freud comes in once more. One lets things pass and accumulate for a bit and then the ideas get assessed. Like a collage a set is collected that is meaningful to the user.
After this the user writes the topic of the set (a name, a sentence, a thought) and possibly the names the individual cards and then prints them.
This gives me a peek into their inner self, into their mind and brain.
On the table next to it, people can play the quartet (go fish) game they have just printed out and mix their decks and interpret each other's sets.
What will I do with the data collected? The topic will become the title of an encyclopedia page. The images will be superimposed, and will then become a page in the encyclopedia in which each page reflects a personal association.
My aim therefore is collecting different types of results, whether it will be personal results based on experiences from people, or something they associate through popular culture, current events, etc.
Example of previous work where I superimposed multiple scans of a collective of people's work.
"The World Explained". Example of an encyclopedia seen from a microhistoric perspective. With personal theories on distant subjects.
By Erick Beltràn, Tropenmuseum 2012
Expanded Project Description
I'm making a machine that allows the user to make associations that lie deep within them; these are personal for each user.
The machine looks like some sort of box with a computer screen in it, which you can operate via a number of buttons. It uses a slot machine mechanism and has 4 columns of random images set up, instead of lemons, apples or pears. The row of chosen images has a meaning. The images will come from scraped data, they will be as random as possible to ensure free association.
About these images: first I want to make the prototype a bit better so I can load in different sets of data easier, with the click of a button. Then I can test it out and see what will work best. I am thinking of different sources used together, different platforms can be associated with different types of images, and I want a spectrum as broad as possible.
Back to the machine: by giving the subject boundaries I force them to make associations. They can change the images in the set by spinning the wheels. Similarly to Freud's theory of free association, when the wheels are spinning, images pass and accumulate in the user's mind and get assessed in a second moment. Like a collage, a set is collected that is meaningful to the user.
The usage of a slot machine structure is necessary because as I said: it forces linkage of images, opening up the creative unconscious and allowing a more free and much more personal association.
After this the user writes the topic of the set (a name, a sentence, a thought) and possibly the names the individual cards, or I could name them A/B/C/D. Then he prints them.
This gives me a peek into their inner self, into their mind and brain.
I still have some issues to work out with the printing. I could use a photoprinter with credit card cartridges, labelprinter in combination with a normal deck of cards, or a normal printer with a business card puncher? These are a few of the possibilities I have when printing out the cards, ideally I will use an ID card printer, but this is above budget. I'll have to see what is the best solution.
Anyway, on the table next to the machine, people can play the quartet (go fish) game they have just printed out and mix their decks and interpret each other's sets. For the same reason as before I use the framework of this game. It sets boundaries for user, in order to force free association. It's an incentive to use the machine, to use it in a playful way with rules you are already familiar with or are easy to understand. They are not obstructed by forcing themselves, the game does it for them. The two mechanisms have exactly what I'm looking for to force association, they have a strict taxonomy and allow people to create a narrative with images. By putting new images into this format, automatically you see them in a taxonomy, on the same level, and you start to look for links between them. You start to associate all on your own.
Another reason to having a slot machine that prints a quartet game is the need for physicality. The project cannot be just a computerscreen where you make associations between images. Not only because of reasons mentioned before, the boundaries that have to be set, but it has everything to do with what I'm investigating: memory, remembering. It's important to have a token. So it's quite essential to the project that it's not merely shown or played on a computer, but that it in itself gives out memory and association.
What will I do with the data collected? Glazing upon my previously written methodology extracted from my previous works, I realized I needed to take another step, the project is not finished the way it is. It's missing a conclusion, I have to reoganize the data in the collection gathered and give it meaning. I've taken inspiration from my previous graduation process and The World Explained by Erick Beltran. The topic people've inserted will become the title of an encyclopedia page. The images will be superimposed, and will then become a page in the encyclopedia in which each page reflects a personal association. This encyclopedia will not be printed simultaneously, but a fresh copy will be added every day. This to create not too many layers to the project, and to not conflict each other. Because still the machine is the project, the main focus, and all the steps I took are still neccesary and I don't want to confuse the user by not making it clear what the objective is. For them, it is to make associations, not thinking about what it will result in.
My aim of this project therefore is collecting different types of results, whether it will be personal results based on experiences from people, or something they associate through popular culture, current events, etc.
I think I've come a long way and I'm happy with the current state of the project. Everything makes sense and finally seems to match my methodology.
Demonstration
- show working demo
Work Files
- image scraper
- image converter
- association machine
- send to inkscape file (quartet)
- either send to inkscape file (encyclopedia page), or send images+title/imageNames+title to folder and then another script can send to inkscape (this way I also have the data of which images are used most, but what will I do with it?)
- print (but I can do this manually, or have a script make a pdf first)
What will it look like?
Thesis
My thesis will be sort of an explanation of my project, an extension of this.