Anyway, last week Brad turned me towards a mix of biology and technology in design and art. Natalie Jeremijenko is a "design engineer and technoartist" now based in USA. She is super talented and an all-around genius with awards and commissions and features. More info here: fondation-langlois.org.
And lastly, James turned me towards social experiments including Studio Moniker's "Do Not Touch" interactive video. Ta Da:http://donottouch.org/. Have a go! Its strangely addictive. Like 'pong' or 'pacman' or 'tetris'. (Are these still around?)
While I had seen this particular game before meeting James, I felt slightly narrow-minded or more-so narrow-sighted in identifying the process as a designed element. Perhaps being so focused in 3rd year on a particular niche, I havent exercised my thinking too much. Maybe I just have slacked off and have shut off the part of thinking that allows experimentation in outside design elements to be considered. Does that make sense? Probably not. On the other hand it may have been the way the university has been conditioned to teach. Im not saying or trying to imply that COFA teaches in an archaic way...at all. I feel that teaching has not developed as far as I believed it should have. Do we rely on principles that have not evolved to the level we should demand of it? Its always been understood (in my mind at least) that university study is a more personal, independent-driven level of learning. So why does it still revolve around high school systems? The courses themselves are designed to expand your knowledge on a particular subject you are aiming to pursue in future. They are tailored to inspire, educate, contemplate, drive...If they develop people and their thinking, why is the idea of obtaining optimum marks such a high consideration? Shouldn't the focus be on your ever evolving sense of self and design philosophies and personal growth within said subject? Waaaaay off topic.
Ive been researching the idea of social experiments, particularly frog and TouchTunes' Crowd Sourced DJ'ing at South by South West (SXSW). core77 - has a blog outlining the process of generating and realising this project. Its pretty damn interesting.
It got me thinking of the Sony Bravia ad. What I would give to let this happen at COFA or UNSW campuses! Screw safety. I want to be emersed in colourful bouncy balls. Perhaps we should stick them to the grey concrete encasing the cofa campus.
Back to the project. The more I look into social experimentation, it develops a stronger tie to the project I am undertaking. Last week I was stuck on the idea of "melting walls". It was really bugging me. Somehow melted cheese was stuck in my head (which is odd, because I hate cheese). Its not necessarily the direction I want to take, but I would like to know the Why behind its consistent reappearance. Perhaps its just the aesthetic I find appealing, or maybe im just too damn narrow in my thoughts.
So. Next step: research (yay) into tech and social experiment (and how to display and integrate this information). Oh yeah, presentations coming up on thursday. Its gonna be interesting: Richard and Karina are "judging"...High school all over again. Maybe I should re-direct and element within my project to question and develop ideals of education. Too late to start a new project? Maybe i'll keep that on the back burner.
DFTBA
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