Documentation of tasks that precede the CRP Outline
14 October 2021 : Six Degrees of Separation
Following the introductory CRP session with Margherita Huntley, each student was assigned an image that is extracted from one of the three platform themes that will be guiding us through the research paper. This first CRP Task entailed finding 5 images that connect to the assigned image. Through connection, nothing that exists in isolation.
The assigned image (top right) evoked a sense of familiarity in me — I realised that the distorted script looked a lot like the ones used in CAPTCHAs (or Completely Automated Public Turing Test to tell Computers and Humans Apart). Consequently, the first image I chose is a gif of an online CAPTCHA. I related that gif to the second image; a poster of the movie her, a movie in which the lead character and his AI device develop a romantic connection, an otherwise exclusively human experience (so far, at least). The third image depicts a cameraperson on the set of a movie and the fourth image depicts a person putting on a contact lens. The fifth and final image is one of an Iris, a genus of flowering plants — it is widely different than the given image.
21 October 2021 : Personal glossary of Keywords
The second CRP task entailed gathering at least five words from the proposed research themes and defining them, to the best of our abilities, without having to rely on existing definitions. The outcome of the task is a thematic and personal glossary of words.
Glossary:
- Anti-hero
Not quite a villain, but just not the hero you were expecting to idolise. This individual does not add much thrill to the plot but instead, navigates through the story using a moralistic approach.
ex. Meursault, the main character of Camus’ book L’Étranger (or, The Stranger) is famously known for being the epitome of the Anti-hero. The character navigates the reader along his journey through a detached lens.
- Diaspora
A population that migrates from its place of origin due to unfavourable living conditions.
ex. The Lebanese population has witnessed several waves of migration. Long-term political instabilities have rendered the country unliveable and the diaspora has made its way to various regions of the world across several decades.
- Re-territorialization
The act of reclaiming a (material or immaterial) territory.
- Transhumanism
A state of being in which an individual acquires and embodies qualities that are beyond human limitations.
ex. The 2014 science fiction film Lucy follows the story of a woman who experiences the activation of the otherwise obsolete parts of her brain and in consequence, gains and exhibits transhuman and psychokinetic abilities.
- Unorthodox
A state in which a subject does not conform to a given set of guidelines, but rather expresses itself in an unconventional (and, sometimes, blasphemous) manner.
28 October 2021 : Comparative Case Studie(s)
The third CRP task entailed:
- Fully immersing ourselves in the Platform Theme that we’d chosen (I have chosen the Proximities and Encounters Platform Theme)
- Exploring the case studies that are presented within the Platform Theme
- Choosing a case study that interests us (Somebody by Miranda July)
- Choosing a case study that is outside the Platform Theme (The Unsent Project by Rora Blue)
- Conducting a comparative study that compares and contrasts both case studies
Here are my findings:
During the CRP session, we were paired with another person on the group. We explained our findings to our peer and then presented their outcomes with the rest of the group. We got to explore and discuss several projects between each other and with Margherita’s guidance.
04 November 2021 : Mapping your interests
This week’s CRP task entailed creating diagrams that represent potential themes for our projects. Here’s what I came up with:
11th November : From Description to Analysis
For this week’s CRP task, I grouped up with Dhvani and Shriya to discuss a reading from the platform theme. We chose chapter 2 from Are We Human? (2016) by Colomina and Wigley (>https://moodle.arts.ac.uk/pluginfile.php/1227600/mod_tab/content/41067/The%20Plastic%20Human%20.pdf<).
What does the text invite you to think about? Does it remind you of anything?
The text prompts the reader to question the relationship between objects, their creators and the environment they dwell in. It also sparks curiosity about how frequently humans use certain objects and how that contributes to human adaptation. It challenges the definition of Human and it also prompts the reader to question the legitimacy of the idea that humans have agency over artefacts – it is an illusion.
What are the key points in the text? What is the author arguing (for or against)? Pick out a few important quotations or excerpts.
The author is arguing that the object cannot be isolated from its creator and the creator itself adapts to its creations. The evolution of design is not as black and white or as linear and uneven as we categorise it to be. It makes us question who really is the creator – the artefact or the human.
“The human is inseparable from the artefacts that it produces, with the human body having the extended shape of all the artefacts it has made and each artefact being an intimate part of its biology and brain.”
“In the sense, histories of the human are histories of artefacts and the interactivities between artefacts, seen as potentials rather than accomplishments, as if the earth is a vast design studio in which human capacity is being tinkered with in unexpected ways.”
What wider themes does this text connect to? Find some related secondary sources to back this up (ie books, websites, journals, films etc)
The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman relates to the theme of how we are completely suspended in design. This concept is prevalent in the text as well as this book. The book talks about adaptation and focuses on the interplay between artefacts and human. One theme it connects to is the idea of personifying something that is scientifically non existent.
One example can be found within the 2014 film Lucy, in which an AI device embodies human emotion. There is evidence of personification of an otherwise inanimate artefact.
Object Oriented Ontology by Graham Harman can also be connected to the text as it encompasses the personification of objects. It challenges our perception of objects and their universe beyond the conventional understanding.
What do you think is the motivation or intention of the writer? Why do you think it has been written in this particular structure / format / writing style?
We think the author intends to challenge the notion of progress as something that humans have the ownership of and take pride in, by being ‘self congratulatory’.
Furthermore, we think that the author questions whether or not the Artefact is the link between the interaction of Earth and Human… or even a catalyst, rather than being its own entity.
Is there anything your group disagrees with in the text?
The last paragraph aroused conflicting thoughts within all members of the group. Isn’t the mentioned ‘question mark’ what leads us to make sophisticated capacities, linear or uneven? Perhaps it is naive to think of it being a linear progress as we better our relationship with the Artefact. But with apparent uneven progress that goes in different directions and also includes loss of capacities, the question mark (that we assume refers to curiosity) is the starting point of this entire process. The history of Design resides in curiosity but the history of curiosity is the ‘uneven progress’. If it is hard to differentiate between Human and Artefact, it should be equally hard to differentiate between the question mark and the history of Design.
How could you use the writer’s approach in your own work?
The objectifiction of Human, the personification of Artefact, as well as the otherwise unconventional use of Scale in the synopsis offer a rather unique and fresh perspective. This broadened our horizons by prompting us to question our relationship with the everyday objects we interact with and by pushing us to re-examine the influence that these objects have on us. This dynamic, inward and outward relationship will inspire our writing process.