Archive for the 'PhD' Category

facing the bleeding obvious

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seth.keen
on November 24, 2008
in PhD
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In my last GRC, my revised summary of my research took a nose-dive into the trash as what I seem to have been avoiding came back and bit me on the behind. Now, as I look at the 40-odd thousand words ahead and writing up the projects I have been cooking for the last few years it is time to dig deep into what my practice is all about. But, for some reason and I am not sure why? - this seems like hitting the couch for a quack session. So, I stand poised ready to tip tap with mixed feelings of sarcasm and excitement. With the enthusiasm weighing in on top off the procrastination. I think part of this shake down is accepting that for me the good sh** lies in the doing and always has rather than as a late entry to academia in the theorising from theory. Here we go then the next bit of the journey into practice-led research and the practice generating theory…and a photo from a recent field trip that says it all - only half the time being so close to it I am the last to see it (it being what I seem to want to do when it comes to making stuff)

field

…the parrots have gone (no not more birds) or wombats or other wildlife.. this time mountains and lakes

http://www.sethkeen.net/vg_one.gmap/index.html

GRC November 2008

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seth.keen
on November 5, 2008
in PhD and videodefunct
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I have not written much about a project that myself and the VD collective have been working on for the last few months with an International NGO. Mainly because it involves the applied commercial development of the VD system. But with another School Graduate Research Conference (GRC) looming in a week, I think it is time to break the drought. Funnily enough, without reflection on my blog I have also been slipping behind in the documentation of this project.

Last semester my June, GRC panel provided the following feedback to consider for this GRC:

“…who is the audience of your research and what is the contribution you are making to them.”

“Your work touches on a lot of technology issues that are here or on the near horizon, yet this is only one aspect. You also engage with different forms of narrative construction, temporality and user experience as well. What is the priority and how will you work with all of these?”

These are key points that I am now considering amongst a busy time of marking and more project production within the next couple of weeks. This is a new project on top of the NGO gig. I have been reflecting on these pointers and recently revised the research summary as one step towards beginning the process of writing up this research towards submission. Taking into consideration the development of the projects, particulary VD the following evolved:

//non-video/new-video/net-video Online video is a growing phenomenon on the Internet that has predominately involved the distribution of televisual and cinematic content on this system. I would argue that this is an approach that fails to respond to the materialities of the Internet as a media form. A practice-led, poetic research model is used to determine how online video can be utilised to articulate and disseminate knowledge on the Internet. Design is used to invent online video systems that explore the affordances of the Internet and Social Media technologies. These systems are developed collaboratively through an iterative process of content production and evaluation. Situated within the field of Media, I examine both the formal and cultural issues that the Internet poses for independent online video practitioners.

I think this is moving in the right direction with another 1-2 steps to go to finalise this towards being an abstract for the exegesis. Supervision work with Labsome Honours students really helped me clarify more and more, the practice-led research process and introduced me to some of AM’s notes on poetic research. Nothing like thinking through a process when you are teaching it to others. The poetic research concept started for me with Terrance Rosenberg’s article. A concept I plan to tease out more in my exegesis for this research.

Another phase of re-writing this summary is also revising the research questions. It was interesting to work hard on the clarfication of some research questions with the Honours students this semester. In such a short timeframe this helped us both understand what was being undertaken, on the premise that they could be revised and tweaked towards the end of the research.

Picking up on the point of how I plan to work with all of the themes mentioned above I picked up on the need to locate a framework that brings all these themes together around one point of inquiry. Something I noted in an earlier post around an mcd presentation. It is not really an issues addressing all these themes as long as they are handled from one unifying perspective. I also picked up or reminded myself that the theory, this framework and the dominating themes being explored emerge from the practice. This is all about reflecting on projects which brings me back to the current NGO project. I have been thinking about what this project is bringing to the surface and what a number of blog posts would cover.

A quote form Rosneberg’s article on poetic research.

In the case of the “poetic” the focal territory is found through a process. It is iterative, working in the space between substantiation and deviation. Backgrounding and foregrounding happen in a dynamic process and this produces a research context. Poetic enquiry evolves its field of focus whereas conventional research sets in advance its focal channel. (See figures 3 and 4). The focal territory in poetic research is established in open water.

Hitting vlogging with a hammer

Published
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seth.keen
on January 5, 2008
in PhD and video vortex
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I have been organising a vlogging workshop/presentation at Montevideo in Amsterdam. A summary of the workshop came together today.

Videodefunct and Showinabox: Hitting vlogging with a hammer
date: Thursday Jan 17 from 12.00 – 17.00
place: Workspace in the Netherlands Media Art Institute, Keizersgracht 264 Amsterdam

A workshop presented in two parts that looks at knocking vlogging into shape and bashing it into oblivion. The videodefunct collective focus on poetic approaches towards the way video is presented and curated by inverting the blog interface. Showinthebox aim to improve vlogging accessibility and aesthetic control with a user-friendly toolkit. Both projects use the open source blogging application WordPress and question whether vlogs need to move beyond the constraints of blogs.

1200 – 1400 Videodefunct (Keith Deverell and Seth Keen)
1400 – 1600 Showinthebox (Jay Dedman & Ryanne Hodson)
1600 – 1700 Vlogging panel discussion

links

http://greyspace.com.au/blog/
http://keithdeverell.net
http://www.videodefunct.net/
http://www.videodefunct.net/pedestrian/player/
http://www.videodefunct.net/theInvertedPedestrian/
http://www.videodefunct.net/banter
http://www.videodefunct.net/theDrunkenTruth/

exegesis output

Published
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seth.keen
on October 5, 2007
in PhD
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Notes from Laurene’s exegesis presentation for a project-based PhD. I learnt that:

  • The exegesis can be an amalgamation of the durable record and written theory, or remain in separate parts.
  • The exegesis can be chronological, thematic or project by project in form - as long as the methodology carries the argument within that structure.
  • An exegesis is about what has been learnt, along with the critical engagement with the process followed…
  • The exegesis theorises the practice and should provide some links out to other theory and the broader field of study.
  • In the exegesis there should be discussion on the changes that have occurred in the practice - in terms of a contribution towards new knowledge.
  • The approach towards the project/practice and the exegesis can be in different orders. The project may come first then the exegesis, or the other way around. Also, they may occur at the same time, in parallel.
  • The oral presentation needs to have some type of connection with the argument in the exegesis: a description of the findings and arguments; the changes in practice.

Laurene’ s response to the post “…you might like to add to your list that an exegesis can be in any medium and it can include sound, image etc. it does have to have words but they aren’t the only thing.”

Expand the lexicon

Published
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seth.keen
on October 5, 2007
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The Bruce Mau Incomplete Manifesto for Growth is being used to inspire ideas in Integrated Media at the moment. I noted no. 28:

28. Make new words. Expand the lexicon. The new conditions demand a new way of thinking. The thinking demands new forms of expression. The expression generates new conditions.

And, have been thinking how it might apply to the title of my research. The answer may be a working title until that new word emerges. i.e. project: networking video

GRC - what is it about?

Published
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seth.keen
on October 5, 2007
in PhD and references
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Again the book Design Research sums up what is expected at the Graduate Research Conference (GRC):

Normally candidates draw attention to the most significant pieces aspects of their work at their presentation and endeavour to shape the manner in which the panel views their work. Discussion and debate between candidates and examiners require candidates to to find a set of languages to enable communications about designing. We might see these languages as visual, physical and word-based. Exams involve showing and telling. Candidates whether presenting for criticism or examination all tell similarly structured stories about what they did and why they did it. They tell about what was successful and sometimes why a path was not pursued. They say and show and tell what they found through their inquiries.

Peter Downton, ‘Reflections on reflective practices’, Design Research, RMIT University Press, 2003. p.128

GRC1# feedback

Published
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seth.keen
on October 5, 2007
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Here is a zip file of my presentation. There was a strong consensus about getting my hands dirty (getting the practice moving along) and clarification on the concept of democracy in my abstract.

The additional reference in the presentation is:

Sean Cubitt, ‘a note on content’, fibreculture mailing list, 17 September 2005
http://fibreculture.org/myspinach/fibreculture/2005-September/004673.html (accessed September, 2005)

a+b=ba? [blog+art=artblog?] selection

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seth.keen
on September 27, 2007
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The videodefunct project has been selected into NewMediaFest 2007. The list of selected works are available to view on the Java Museum site. Details of a+b=ba?. The proposed question:

whether blogs and/or blogging can be tools for creating a new type of net based art.

street screens

Published
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seth.keen
on September 20, 2007
in Art and PhD
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I attended the Scott McQuire presentation recently tilted ‘MOBILITY, COSMOPOLITANISM AND PUBLIC SPACE IN THE MEDIA CITY’. Which was part of the RMIT ARCHITECTURE + PHILOSOPHY PUBLIC LECTURE SERIES. Part of his summary:

What happens when the TV screen leaves home and moves out into the street? Public space in the 21st century is increasingly shaped by interactions between media platforms and architectural structures. The result is the formation of media-architecture complexes which are fast coalescing into ‘media cities’.

It was a comprehensive presentation on this subject matter and it provided me with a strong reminder of using historical context to set up an argument or even as a thorough way to present your research. The talk had particular relevance to my own research as there was direct connections with video and screens, which meant I could refer to the presentation as a model for talking about online video. Scott showed historically the development of large public screens in a simple clear way, which provided the perspective he needed to discuss his particular research interests on these types of screens in a more contemporary context. His project ARC funded also demonstrated the background and clarity that is needed to explain that type of research publically. Practice references that interested me was the artistRafael Lozano-Hemmer work alzado vectorial; Repositioning Fear; underscan.

During the talk I was attracted to the terminology and phrases used to describe what is happening in this area. I jotted down ones of interest, almost from a semi-poetic perspective. Some of these quotes are Scott’s and they are mixed in with other theorists that he quoted in the presentation (they are in order from start to end):

adept dwellings
mobile and variable
computer city
mass customisation
user-directed feedback
brainscape
control space
traceable record
electronic footprint
surveillance society
spatial mobility
consumption profiles
digital networking
interconnected systems
data circulation
crowd circulation
commodity display
experimental interfaces
personal participation
collective engagement
collective choreography
encounters with strangers
visual voice
shared experience
media dense spaces

Community Media - presentation

Published
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seth.keen
on September 18, 2007
in PhD and open source
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What type of associations does my research have with the principles of ‘community media’?

With my project, which examines in a broad context online video practice, I did not intend to make a direct link with the notion of community media. Unlike, Leo and Bruce I do not make a reference to ‘community media’ in my research summary or proposal.

In hindsight, this is because I come from a background of broadcast media experience in which I often looked for alternatives within that platform. For example, I gravitated to producing content for SBS Television because they offered the room to experiment with both content and form. So, my research interest initially was motivated by the potential to discover and test alternative approaches to the way video is produced and distributed online.

But, another influence that possibly connects me to the notion of ‘community media’ is a focus on an independent documentary practice that examined social and political issues. Within this practice, I was always on the lookout for stories that the mainstream media would not touch. I think that this in combination with exposure to academia and media as a field of study has led to being influenced by the age-old approach to examine the “ideological frameworks” that control media. Which all adds up to making connections with the principles behind community media; alternative media; grassroots media; independent media; citizen media; radical media, hacktivism and activism. In a quick glance across current definitions of these varying areas of media there is distinct similarities and differences. What they all have in common is the motivation to provide a perspective that is different from mainstream media. These “avant-garde or counteractive media” practices offer me the potential to explore and discover new approaches towards the production and dissemination of video on the Internet.

Intuitively, I like the idea of not situating myself within any of these groups. The closest I come to making a commitment is using the word ‘alternative’ and ‘independent media’ in my research summary. Why am I not committing more? Well firstly and I admit it I need to understand more context and history around these media approaches which is part of being here today. But, more importantly through research that focuses on the web, I am becoming more and more aware of a phenomenal shift in the way media is being produced and consumed. New problems and benefits are emerging as part of the potential for individuals with access to computers and the Internet having the potential to produce and distribute media content. For example the question has been raised as to whether many bloggers are merely regurgitating mass media through another platform rather than utilising the potential to provide a diverse and independent perspective. Other questions are being asked about the type of labour that user-generated content is producing around websites like YouTube, when so few enjoy the significant spoils of the sell-off to larger conglomerates.

Always interested in the ‘other’, and prepared to put ideas out that need more research and substantiation - I would like to propose that ‘community media’ now and in the future will draw from movements like open source and more recently from analysis being conducted into peer-to-peer theory. This is the type of community media that I would like to tease out in my research. But, what will not change is as Alessandro Ludovico (the editor of the independent online/offline publication Neural) stated in a recent open source workshop – is that a key element of non-mainstream media is networking and making connections with people who are interested in providing a diversity of perspectives. I was inspired by the way that he has extended this idea into getting like groups together (like in his case independent new media publishers) to discuss and share ideas, issues, and ways to survive. Collaborating in this way and being on the edge of collapse produces interesting responses to traditional approaches. Mute one of these independent publishers to stay afloat came up with a print-on-demand (POD) approach to publishing where one copy rather than the obligatory financed 500 copies can be produced on demand. Also, the consumer can remix articles and self-publish from serial publications into a magazine of their choice and have that printed. All this content is licensed ‘copyleft’ meaning it can be remixed and used for commercial purposes. Radical approaches like this are prime examples of thinking and working differently as part of maintaining independent forms of media and could be called a type of open publishing.

Working from this networking and networked perspective, I see some form of online documentary that somehow provides more of a conversational approach to the way media is produced. Adapted social software is used to create a production where the producer, the people involved in the story and other interested contributors can all participate in an open process. Situated in a location that has developing country issues.

For example, on the weekend in discussion with a colleague from ANU, I was intrigued by his story of a very large group of illiterate workers ‘The Bombay Dabbawalas’, who are coordinated in Mumbai, India on a daily basis to deliver lunches from each of the workers’ partners homes to their offices. Millions of colour-coded containers for each level of the office buildings are collected and delivered daily with a very small percentage of error in the deliveries. This is a fascinating example of ingenuity, communication and a type of networked system that forms part of the fabric of that community. Somehow, I would like to see through the use of online video technologies a similar example of media that operates at this community level. This is not YouTube, it is a type of video sharing that really utilises the potential to provide a valuable and autonomous point-of-view.

Coming back to making connections between my research and the principles behind community media, a connection that I would make is with open source culture. Recently I have been drawn into the debates and inquiries occurring around copyright on the Internet. The theorist Lawrence Lessig provides some interesting insights into the notion of promoting a read-write culture rather than a read-only culture on the Internet. He divides the Internet into four distinct areas Content, Applications, Logical (as in the protocols) and Physical (as in the telecommunication infrastructures). He uses the example of the development of open source applications as a benchmark for opening up these other three areas. Like for example, content being controlled through copyright law by large organisations like Sony, Disney, Viacom and Warner Brothers. Another example, is the issues around the implementation of broadband in Australia as part of controlling the physical developments of the Internet.

His argument is how the same innovative approaches that have made open source platforms like Linux a key part of the Internet fabric could be applied to these other areas. He advocates ‘private’ approaches to make this happen, as governments are not in tune with what is required. Creative Commons is part of accommodating both the read-only and read-write needs of the content area. All of this is about keeping the avenues open for people to not only access content but also produce and distribute content. In a broader sense I think ‘community media’ can be seen as being both local and global, where key issues around accessibility will affect media on all levels.

References:
Lawrence Lessig, Free Culture: The nature and future of creativity, Penguin: New York, 2004.

Jay David Bolter, ‘Theory and Practice in New Media Studies’, Digital Media Revisted, Eds. Guannar Liestol, Andrew Morrison, Terje Rasmussen, MIT Press: Cambridge, Mass., 2004.

Geert Lovink, Zero Comments: Blogging and Critical Internet Culture, Routledge: NewYork, 2007.

Trebor Scholz - What the MySpace generation should know about working for free, re-public: re.imaginging democracy, 16th April 2007,
http://www.re-public.gr/en/wp-print.php?p=138 (accessed August 5, 2007)

Lawrence Lessig, ‘Free Culture: What we need from you’, LinuxWorld.com, online video presentation, http://www.linuxworld.com/events/keynotes/lwsf06-lessig.html (accessed August 5, 2007)