Tag Archive for 'project-based research'

Web 2.0 Studies // Critical Internet Theory

Published
by
seth.keen
on December 15, 2008
in Internet
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mc
Image by David Holmes the missing attendee.

I am in the middle of attending a master class with Geert Lovink at Melbourne University titled ‘Web 2.0 Studies // Critical Internet Theory’. The summary of the workshop:

In relation to the current Internet, there is an obvious need to move beyond cultural studies approaches to fandom, where active consumption is simply recast as participatory culture without any assessment of the economic and technological forces driving usergenerated content. Rather than relying on the Jenkins-style models of convergence and the notion of collective intelligence, this workshop will encourage participants to consider the alternative possibilities and theoretical problems facing a materialist understanding of network culture.

For instance, to what extent can software studies move from engineering issues and technologically-focused specifications to outline a broader analytics of power? What sort of creative concepts are available for understanding the everyday practices of blogging? How can organized networks transform their dependence on free labor to reach greater economic sustainability?

Readings:

Geert Lovink, ‘The Society of the Query and the Googlization of our Lives’, Eurozine, September 2008, originally published in German, in Lettre International 81, Berlin, 2008, translated into Italian, Swedish, Dutch, Danish.

Geert Lovink, ‘Blogging, the Nihilist Impulse,’ Eurozine, January, 2007, originally published in German, in Lettre International 73, Berlin, 2006, translated into French,Swedish, Italian, Danish, Swedish.

Geert Lovink and Anna Munster, ‘Distributed Aesthetics, Or, What a Network is Not’, Fibreculture Journal 7 (2005)

Geert Lovink and Ned Rossiter, ‘The Dawn of Organised Networks’, Fibreculture Journal 5 (2005).

Matteo Pasquinelli, ‘The Ideology of Free Culture and the Grammar of Sabotage’ (2008),

GRC November 2008

Published
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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.

practice-based and practice-led research

Published
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seth.keen
on March 27, 2008
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The Creativity and Cognition studios (@ UTS) write about what they see as the differences between practice-based and practice-led research. From the summary:

If a creative artefact is the basis of the contribution to knowledge, the research is practice-based

If the research leads primarily to new understandings about practice, it is practice-led.

expanded overview

Three key areas to consider in practice-related research referenced by C&C studios from the UK, the Arts and Humanities Research Board (now Council) (AHRB, 2000 ):

1. It must define a series of research questions or problems that will be addressed in the course of the research. It must also define its objectives in terms of seeking to enhance knowledge and understanding relating to the questions or problems to be addressed.

2. It must specify a research context for the questions or problems to be addressed. It must specify why it is important that these particular questions or problems should be addressed, what other research is being or has been conducted in this area and what particular contribution this project will make to the advancement of creativity, insights, knowledge and understanding in this area.

3. It must specify the research methods for addressing and answering the research questions or problems. In the course of the research project, how to seek to answer the questions, or advance available knowledge and understanding of the problems must be shown. It should also explain the rationale for the chosen research methods and why they provide the most appropriate means by which to answer the research questions.

vidgets

Published
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seth.keen
on December 21, 2007
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David Wolf has made his MA exegesis available online as a pdf download. It is titled Vidgets: The Development and Use of Interactive, Network Based Video Works.

critical practice insights

Published
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seth.keen
on November 12, 2007
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Terry Rosenberg in his recent article ‘Designs on Critical Practice?’ from the Reflections on Creativity Conference held at the University of Dundee provides an accessible framework to consider as part of formulating and contextualising critical practice. Quote, p 12:

1. Critical engagement (stimulus): with the world and its
discourses as active ground for practice.

2. Critical process: considering critical reflexes in practice and
critical reflection in and on practice (à la Schön).

3. Critical re-engagement (reception): delivered in the critical
programme of the practice (what it means and what it influences and
how it is used/consumed).

One must appreciate that these slices overlap each other in practice.

Terry Rosenberg, Designs on Critical Practice?’ Reflections on Creativity: Exploring the Role of Theory in Creative Practices, Duncan of Jordanstone College of Art and Design, 2006

a video conversation

Published
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seth.keen
on October 5, 2007
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I went back for another look at the excellent Homo Faber: Modelling Architecture show at the Melbourne Museum.

The Terrior stand was interesting for ideas on models, process and an upcoming video conversation with SH next week. They write:

Terrior began as a conversation the model engaged as a tool for giving material ideas emerging from that discussion…the model is understood as a conceptual tool…bound by the project constraints such as site and scale…Terrior rarely produce presentation models relying instead on models that communicate conceptual issues for the presentation of projects…At time of crisis in a project, the family of models that precedes the current hiatus is exhumed, studied, broken apart, re-rejected, re-formed and from this swapping of body parts a new conceptual understanding of the project often emerges to provide new direction.

A model that seemed ready-made for conducting a videoblog conversation as I try to resist planning **”grimace (pre-production). On Peter Downton’s stand:

Sometimes drawing was banned

I am banning pre-prod.

exegesis output

Published
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seth.keen
on October 5, 2007
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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

media methodologies

Published
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seth.keen
on October 5, 2007
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I did it again (too much information), you start with one thing a look at the definition of time-based media at Cofa in a fine arts context…and ended up with a great resources link which of course led to many other web sites. But one of particular interest in relation to media research is theory.org.uk and artlab. A read of the introduction then led to the notion of constructionist learning. Useful background for the section on project-based research in my literature review.

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