Week 6.5

What next?

How do I curate and exhibit within a physical space?

Quick Experiment to showcase text spatially.

Week 6 experiment

5 Photos

 

Week 6

Design a space that investigates different points of view.

I gave myself a project brief to investigate different points of view through:
Optical technique–different glances. How does the first glance differ from the second or third?
Physical technique–How do you move physically to see the different view points?
Sound technique–How do you use sound to visualize different points of view? Narratives? Podcasts?
When brainstorming for this project, I juggled with the constraints of working with the subject vs the frame of these different techniques.
While struggling with my own project brief,  I came across a NYTimes article titled: “No Place at School for Aids Orphans”. It discussed how a group of parents in Vietnam were opposed to AIDS orphans attending school with their children. At first read, I was appalled! Quotes such as  “They were saying the children were going to die anyway, so there’s no need for them to study,” disgusted me. Then I read over the article a second time–probably because I couldn’t believe some of the things wrtitten. This time, my reaction was more contemplative. I realized that although the perspective of the other parents seemed ludicrous, it didn’t make their viewpoint less valuable. We read articles everyday, but how long before we forget the content of the article? I happened to choose an article that provoked my interest, but what about the other numerous articles read by individuals that may not have as much of an impact? How do you deconstruct and dissect an everyday article? And afterwards, what do you do with the pieces?
In my opinion, a well designed documentary or journalism( I used these examples because they are interests of mine other than design)  touches on multiple perspectives as well as composing a voice of its own.How do I combine the affordances of a documentary or an article and curate it into an exhibition? This lead me to experiment with taking one form and forcing it into a different structure using curation as the tool.

Deconstructing Narratives; Curating the pieces

dissecting an everyday article

Deconstruct the article “No Place at School for Aids orphans” by point of view.
There are two main views in the article. The opinions of the AIDS orphans vs the opinions of the parents opposing the idea of AIDS orphans attending the same school as their children. There is also everything in between. Creating a scale, from red to green, red represented the “AIDS orphans” and Green represented the “other parents”. Other statements fell within the colors between the Red and the Green. Going through the article, I highlighted the text corresponding to the two opinions.
Afterwards, I deconstructed the text and then reorganized it according to the color, from Red to Green.

In the second experiment,
I highlighted the text according to 6 different subject matters. First Person Voice, Second Person Voice, Adjectives(used within the voices), Statistics, Assumptions, and Facts. Afterwards, I deconstructed the article based on what subject was highlighted and pasted them on to each own sheet of blank paper.

VIEW PDF: Deconstructing narratives; curating the pieces-dissecting an everyday article

Week 5

Why Curation?

“What are my interests” Seems to be question that everyone is asking. As a designer, I feel that I can be interested in anything. “What are my interests” is a bit overwhelming. Growing up as an only child, I could find interest in the most mundane things. At age five, I had a sketchbook full of colored grids. My mother would draw these perfectly spaced grids for me so I could color the squares to every imaginable color combination possible. Also, my interests are broad—how do I choose and boil them down to what I am “passionate” about? So with the help of a Thesis support group, I started re-thinking how to narrow down the many interests within curation I have. My advisor asked me if there was a connection to why I was drawn to curating. The first thing that came to mind was the my eight grade field trip to the Holocaust Museum in Washington DC. There was a room filled with the shoes taken from the individuals.  As I looked at these shoes, a flood of emotions came over me. I was standing in front of the artifacts taken by the murdered individuals. The possible images, stories went through my head. Who had been wearing these shoes? I thought about how they must have felt when the shoes were taken away. The context in which the shoes were displayed provoked an undeniable reaction.

Notes
Emotional vs. Technique
Emergence through repetition.
Why am I drawn to curation?
Having a critical eye about a point of view, informed point of view.
First Look, Second Look.
Building a context for the Exhibition.
There needs to be a balance between embracing the moment and creating context.
The past present and post. Use three stages of time to impact the context.

VIEW PDF: hpaek_week5_pechacucha

currently reading: “Ways of Seeing” by John Berger

Week 4.5

Thoughts after the MOCA experiment.

1. I thought about the constraints of an exhibition. The first constraint is:
Curators perspective. The second, the Designers perspective–What is the companion concept?

2. What can be created with the recordings/transcripts collected at MOCA to display the different techniques of seeing?

3. Through design research, what type of probes should be designed to gather information for “different ways of seeing” other than eavesdropping?

4. Am i mediating the curation of the objects or mediating the audience?

Possible project proposals/goals:

Gathering a group of “blank” artists to show their work.
As an embedded designer, how do I curate their work where a device exists to view the show or how is the show curated in a manner where it would cause people to see things from different perspectives?
From this, how and what can a viewer take away from the show where they could eventually curate their own souvenirs? Is it a viewing tool? Sound tool? Will it allow them to archive the pieces they value?
ex) exhibition books.
Senario: The viewer may not have liked all the work in the exhibition. From what they have collected, could they eventually design their own book gathered from the device?

notes: consider that headphones can kill the social aspect of a space.

Week 4

Investigating perspectives

Experiment: Eavesdropping at MOCA

Every time I visit a Museum its a unique experience. Specifically, because of the viewers surrounding me at the museum. Paul Gauguin is one of my favorite painters. As I was looking at one of his beautiful paintings, the person I had come to the Museum with, who happened to be a gallery owner said to me “Did you know he was a pedophile?” Suddenly, the painting I had known for years looked different. I realized how the power of unknown information could quickly change my perspective.
I looked around to the other people who had come to the Museum. Some were obviously “out of towners”. There was a couple arguing about an El Greco piece. One commented on how they didn’t like the painting because something looked “off” I realized that they were probably referring to the elongated perspectives. I’m not sure if they realized that the style of art from this period was Mannerism–which would be the reason for it looking “off, unrealistic” to them”. Greco’s work deliberately distorts proportions in a disjointed, irrational space for emotional and artistic effect in reaction to the realistic human representations in the Renaissance Classicism period. The only reason I would know this is because of years of Art History. But for some people who don’t have a background in Art History, or interest in it, why would they know this? This experience got me to thinking about the background of the viewer. At museums, individuals range from Art Historians to people who haven’t gotten a clue about art. I don’t believe that one is more valuable than the other. In order to investigate this further, I conducted an experiment that involved eavesdropping at MOCA. When at MOCA, some of the phrases heard were:
“I don’t get it”
“I could do that”
“That must have taken a long time”
“Look at Andy Warhol….”
“Lets try to figure this out”

Week 3

“Nails”

After “cards”, I moved onto another experiment titled “Nails” that challenged me to work directly with creating content and narrative.
project brief pt 1: create a narrative for 5 identical nails.  pt 2: add another perspective to the narrative. pt 3: display this narrative.

Stories included into “Nail” project:

Story 1
Perspective A: We were visiting my son’s girlfriend in New York. We were walking around an unknown area. I think it was downtown?
My son’s girlfriend said she knew where she was going…kinda. All of a sudden I stepped on something that went through my sandal. This nail was holding my sandal and foot together.
Perspective B: I was on a yellow wall holding up a picture of a couple. Then I heard the couple screaming at each other. I was all of a sudden ripped out of the wall and thrown out the window, hit a pole on the way down becoming separated from the picture and eventually landing on the street. Then someone stepped on me. I felt the blood spilling over my already damaged body.

Story 2
Perspective A: My first dog’s name was Claude. He was everything to me. He was there when I was depressed because my mom was sick. He was there when I didn’t have a mom anymore. He was there to comfort me through 3 break ups. He was there to unease the loneliness when I moved to another city. This is the first nail I had to use to seal Claude’s coffin.
Perspective B: I sat under a bed. It was cool under there. When it got too hot, the dog would come lay next to me to keep me company. My favorite times were when he would sleep next to me and his fur would slightly touch me. My loneliness was healed. Then one day the dog stopped coming. Someone swept under the bed. Maybe to get rid of the dog’s hair? Then I was picked up to seal something. I still miss the dog.

Story 3
Perspective A: My boyfriend lost his virginity to my best friend. I made a vodoo doll. I pushed this nail into the doll’s heart.
Perspective B: I was sitting in a drawer waiting. Everyone else around me was getting picked up to be used; to hang a calendar, fix a table, even just up on a wall for something to be hung. I wanted to be used. Then one day I was picked up to the possibility of becoming used! I ended up stabbing a heart.

……………………………………………..

Research for “Nails” project:

In order investigate narratives for  the “nails” project, I had individuals take photograph(s) curating their most precious objects, collections or artifacts. I also had them write me a short story behind why the objects were meaningful to them.

Week 3-4 | collab with Hunter

“TODAY”

A curating collaboration with Hunter Sebresos.

Installation Description:

Exploring the boundaries of communication and the semantics of the word “today,” Haelim Paek and Hunter Sebresos have curated this space without ever being in this room together.

For a period of two weeks each Designer posted no more than two items everyday that represent “today,” thus examining the meaning of the word beyond a that of a 24 hr. period of time. Though they worked apart from each other and conventional communication was avoided, a dialogue clearly developed as one perceived and responded to what the other had presented. In a sense, each has played the role of both spectator and curator.

last day of 2 week process

Time Lapse:

“TODAY” Collaborative Curration from Hunter Sebresos on Vimeo.

What we learned

Literally mapping out the creative thinking process with another designer.
Brainstorming indirectly—making you to be more critical about your thought process in passive way.
Created a more enriched discussion about “Today” after the 2 week process.

Week 2.5

Questions that arose after the experiment:
1. Content-curation. How do I design a system of curation to tell a story?
2. How am I using media design to facilitate other curatorial platforms?
3. How do you “experience” an object?

Week 2

classify cards

1. by Height

2. by number of Colors

3. by Print medium

4. sophistication: abstract to real

It kind of failed.

Through the process of classifying these cards, I was stumped only after the 4th classification. The plan was to classify the cards into every imaginable category possible, but I realized a bigger challenge. The content inside of the card has meaning that goes beyond classifications. The content and correspondence of these cards are very personal. How would I be able to let others experience the personal nature of these cards without reading the content inside? I realized the superficial and maybe somewhat selfish nature of wanting others to some how “experience” what I felt when reading these cards.

Week 1.5

“Cards”

Organize cards by adjectives found inside the content of the writing.

I realized after organizing the cards, the system was too subjective. Also, I was only organizing by one axis rather than using both.