Maria Lynam

Ways of thinking colourfully about colour and ways of treating colours beyond representation and symbolism. Thinking of colour as something that is experienced and performed rather than being a representation or symbol of something that exists.  In relation to Kandinsky's Colour Theory he developed a chart that linked colours with meaning e.g. Purple represents royalty and luxury. This theory can be connected to mood rings, the user wears the ring and it supposedly tells you the mood you're in.  Universal Colour Values > There is no universal > There is no absolute  > All is in flux > Everything has the possibility to have many alternative and contradictory interpretations  James Clerk Maxwell Maxwell was a Scottish scientist in the field of mathematical physics and during a lecture in 1861 he demonstrated his process of colour photography. Adapting Maxwell's process Hans Jakob Schmid took black and white photos...

Today's lecture and seminar were focused around the third studio brief, speculation.  Looking at fiction, fantasy and fakes and understanding the way the world thinks now (and no just as futures) as if it was something other. Speculations are dreams from the present, just like fantasises are desires from the present. Fakes re-author the present; wrapping it in a charlatan fiction.  In relation to the studio project it is important to think about where you are speculating the future from, we looked at some examples from the 1920's designed by Hugo Gernsback, an inventor, writer and publisher of the first sci-fi magazines. He speculated the future with these designs: Teleyeglasses, a 1.5 inch square television, the isolator, electronic jockeys and the Teledoctor.  The future of technology is important when speculating as companies such as intel are looking at 'wearable tech' in relation to the fashion industry and also to help those that require...

Yourself - understanding of self A sense of responsibility concerns us as designers, as well as a person existing in the world. Response-ability = your ability to respond and be held accountable Existentialism Is a philosophy most concerned with existence of a person and the responsibilities of that person. It is a philosophy of human life, a way to understand the complexities and challenges of existence and what it means to live a meaningful life.  As designers we think it as a way to interrogate and come to understandings of the responsibilities of the maker - it can be thought of in our design context as the meaning of being, making or sharing. Sensitivity  This is a philosophy of sensitivity and awareness at an uncomfortable level. It requires self-reflection, an awareness of your situation.  Sartre A French existentialist philosopher - born and worked most of his life in Pa...

Monet Transcendence  Platos world of Form The transience of beauty Archetypes  From the hand, with the hand, of the hand Bricolage Jackie Chan Self and Selfing  Immanence = From within Imminence = Near and impending  Immanence - To be situated and inside the present, immanence is the opposite of transcendence. It is everything here. The immanent is the everyday, transcendent is the bizarre and unknowable.  Monet Monet produced over thirty canvases of the gothic Cathedral, all of which depict it as a continent entity, otherwise known as a process. In terms of immanence Monet rented a spaced across from the Cathedral. Transcendence   We can focus on transcendence as a way to understand imminence Plato - he wrote many books in the forms of dialogues. Early Greek philosophy relied on notions of the eternal, and True, as principles of unchanging knowledge.  Materially-Scientifically, ...

From one or the other perspective  When you make something you are also making the possibilities of alternative interpretations. They can be participatory interpretations, misinterpretations or counter-interpretations.  Keep in mind the unexpected element  Affordances: Potential variances Things are not so solid with their edges and surfaces  Instead things are more like events - edgeless and constantly changing and being negotiated  Event = Happening  Alan Kaprow staged 'Happenings' in 1950/60s Claimed that anything can be a happening, getting the bus, brushing your teeth etc  Made everyday events into a performance of art. Everything is invested with conscious meaning  Imminent (live) Performance Foregrounding   Live-ness The Contingent The Unplanned Active-Reactive The Ephemeral (short-lived) Grotesque/Visceral  Relational Forms Performance art began in the 70s. Trad...

Following on from the lecture we looked at creating and 'Exquisite Corpse' which is a collection of words and images assembled by a group of people that then create a strange final outcome.  We used this method with our essay ideas to see what other people could come up with and help generate ideas for the essay. The task was to write a question with key words at the bottom of the page, pass it on to another person for them to try and guess or come up with an answer to the question using only the key words.  Here is the outcome of this task...

We understand "stuff" to be traced and for there to be no limitations to our interpretation.  The role of subjective perspective - we cannot conduct a genealogy from nowhere As an analogy - comparison between one thing and another typically for the purpose of explanation and clarifications  Genealogy is "writing" or "fabricating" of history, this is what Nietzsche called perspectivism. Nothing is naturally given. Everything is being made into what it is through interpretation. There is no given truth, only different ways of making narratives of truth.  Schrodinger's Cat Is a way to  speculate on a hypothesis -- or to ponder an idea. This is called a thought experiment.  We experience a world of contradictions.  The world as falsehood - "there is no truth"  'The world with which we are connected is false ...' a "truth" is universal but the world is only as it appears subjectively.  'is no...

The main focus for today's seminar was relating to our essays and gathering different ideas from each other in groups.  In groups we discussed our ideas and re-annotated, amended and added to the original ideas that everyone had - this is an important part of beginning an essay to find out others' ideas and potentially different options that will allow you to produce a better piece of writing.  I found this seminar very helpful in that it allowed me to explore different ideas and finalise my choices in both Theory and the Studio brief. 

Genealogy - tracing a history  What is method > creatively trace history, it is a fabricating of the past                            > Not about digging up the facts, it is about defining the absolutes, it is synthesising, making and fabricating                            History is typically mapped on a single linear axis  Projects with pre-determined ends don't allow for the vibrancies of chance, chaos, difference and unexpected experiences  Genealogy is a multidirectional non linear history - in this way it allows for complexity for the fore fronting of an unanticipational potential  > Time Lapse of Roots - analogy of our research, process of existence  Process of research of encountering the unexpected stuff, of reacting to that stuff and developing new relatio...

Theory of Practice is made up of 10,000 words, 5000 for an essay, a sketchbook that will be equivalent to 2500 words and a visual analysis.  > Contextual Portfolio Sketchbook  > Visual Analysis  > Annotations > Feedback from studio days  > Drawings and notes from seminars and lectures  Contextual Portfolio Sketchbook  > Universal Sketchbook - is something that should go everywhere with you: lectures, seminars, studio work, exhibitions, shows, talks etc. It should allow you to expand on research and project interests  Try not to talk about artists that you have found or any work/places that you have seen - create  work that has been influenced by other work and then mention who it was influenced by and how it lead to what you created  Sketch - meaning portray your work through rough drawings that are intended to serve as the basis for a final outcome  Digitised pages from contextual po...

What do we write about when we write about design? > Express > Articulate > Think > Argue > Animation > Art > Graphics What did you write about last year? > I discussed the effect of women within the 'gaming world' as a subculture on graphic designers. What was the most difficult element? > Time management  > Finding the right research that would address the question What did you enjoy, or wish you could enjoy? > The research process proved difficult at times but it was still interesting to find out about a topic I feel strongly for What do you regret, if anything? > I wished I would have gathered more research to begin with and planned my time appropriately - this could have lead to more research and possibly more things to write about  In first year you learn how to write and you should be able to use those skills to help you now in second year. Devel...