the mint project

A Retrospective - Paper Lantern

2005-10-09T11:23:00.000+10:00

I haven't done it.

I tried, I almost cried...yet it's still not finished. Not even started, the first iteration got broken up into little bits to see the bottom of the bin. I've bought the materials together to give it another attempt and there still sitting in the corner, in the same place they have been for the past month.

There must be a reason for not doing the damn thing? Have I not 'got' this semester? Maybe I dont feel the need to prove myself? Just too busy doing other stuff?

It's been going over and over in the loaf and I now feel I need to do it, but not in a half arsed fashion as I manage to do most other stuff for uni in com and cad. This summer I will bond with the paper, I promise :-)

Doug Engelbart – Solving Complex world problems through the use of technology.

2005-10-09T00:07:00.000+10:00

Excerpt from his 1995 article ‘Dreaming of the Future’

Despite the rapid progression of computing technology, the world faces incredible hazards as we enter a common economic-political vehicle, traveling at an ever-accelerating pace through increasingly complex terrain. Our headlights are much too dim and blurry, and we have totally inadequate steering and braking controls.

Many years ago, I dreamed that digital technology could greatly augment our collective human capabilities for dealing with complex, urgent problems. Computers, high-speed communications, displays, interfaces--it's as if suddenly, in an evolutionary sense, we're getting a super new nervous system to upgrade our collective social organ isms. I dreamed that people were talking seriously about the potential of harnessing that technological and social nervous system to improve the collective IQ of our various organizations.

Then I dreamed that we got strategic and began to form cooperative alliances of organizations, employing advanced networked computer tools and methods to develop and apply new collective knowledge. Call these alliances NICs (Networked Improvement Communities). This seemed eminently sensible. The new technologies could enable much more effective distributed collaboration, and the potential for shared risk and multiplied benefits seemed promising.

After hearing whisperings of an RMIT iD laptop program next year, I had to take action. Being through the final three years of schooling with a laptop program where the end result was hardly worth it, the computers just being used as pen and paper with complications.

I relised back then that things should be different, this semester with the blogs was a start along that different path. The ability to hyperlink throughout the blog was awesome and lent great flexibility to posting, and I never used it…because the blog was still to me a diary, and you don’t link pages of your diary.

I did abit of a search on the web over hyper linking and forming interrelations between discreet ideas/information. Some crazy stuff came up like a system to visualize the relationships between pages and different websites, written back in 1996 as a plugin for NSCA’S Mosaic (the very first web browser as we know it today). It seems to have gone nowhere since.

I managed to stumble across some bizarre project called ‘liquidinformation.org’ the aim of which was to hyperlink comprehensively every word on the page. And they weren’t just talking about static hyper linking to one destination, instead linking to multiple objects via a pull down menu.

And this lead to to Dr. Engelbart’s homepage ‘bootstrap.org’. I would love to explain some of Engelbarts concepts abit better, but is easiest for me and probably yourself if you actually go away and read them. Some of his stuff is paradigm shifting, you sort of need to make up words to explain concepts. It’s really bloody exiting. No joke :-)

Hours of reading there at the neglect of my cad and flash projects.

So to give this blog entry a point, apart from linking you up to Dr. Engelbart theories on problem solving and information in society…

Laptops in the iD department, yes but only if we take advantage of some of these concepts. The software isn’t out there but the basis of it is. The blogs are a good start, so are wiki pages and RSS feeds from blogs, searchable sites etc. These aps just need to be used together to start to be really useful. Maybe even contribute to some of these projects like liquid information, that could be cool. Almost as cool as building geodesic domes!

Thinking

2005-10-05T11:18:00.000+10:00

I now have a meeting with a review panel next Monday. The premise is simple, prove what I have learnt over the last semester to five of my peers and a few invited guests. The aim is to substantiate the grade I selected at the start of the semester, the problem is how the hell do you show thinking?
Outcomes of thinking?, the paper lantern project perhaps...Which for various reasons I haven't completed yet. Blog entries?
This all seems to be a cop-out, presenting the product at the end. No...there must be a better way, I have five days to figure it out, with 24 credit points on the line.

It is the possibilities that exite

2005-10-02T11:03:00.001+10:00

I came to this conclusion after overhearing people during the inspection of the house next to us that is for sale. It is not even finished. The potential buyers we talking about this that could be done not what was done.

Isn't that fantastic? I still have some hope.

In further news of hope, over the past week I have been involved with the international Round Square conference at my old school. It's an organisation that does service projects in third world contries etc. Anyway at first my cynical self viewed this as a expensive holiday for rich kids, but as the week wore on and I attended some of the discussions - it is clear that these kids do understand the issues and some of the are motiated enought to do something about it.

Apart from the motivations of the week, having 600 type A personalities from around the world back in my old school was mad fun!

Things are happening...

2005-09-20T09:16:00.000+10:00

The magazine was discussed at length during class yesterday, I set up a blog were all the articles should be posted http://corporationmagazine.blogspot.com, the whole studio has been invited so check your emails.

Back to the Blog

2005-09-16T17:21:00.000+10:00

It seemed the blog had outlived it's usefulness, I had every intention of signing off with the last post I made almost a month ago. But now after a hiatus and a push from Soumitri maybe it can contribute something again.

The end of the semester is near and aparantly it is time to look back over the past ten weeks to see what has happened. But it is still happening, this project that we have started in studio and studies this semester is one that will never finish. As soon as it does there will be nothing left.
The studies project is almost in the bag, but now studio is more of a problem. Ben's magazine idea is a fantastic way of having the conclusion (that some people desperately want) to the end of the semester.

At the moment I've got a few things of the boil for studio, An entry for the Japan Design Foundation competition, together with Andrew. It is still a concept witch hasn't even been discussed at length, so I may as well put it up for discussion here.

From the kinetic powered wok concept we worked out that to power the wok long enough to cook dinner, all the members of the family would have to contribute to the energy. Maybe by wearing kinetic bracelets or something that would charge during the day and could be plugged into a shared energy 'pool' at home. Powering out e-wok and whatever else is in the house.
This basic premise has now extended to lots of little discreet ways of capturing or generating energy that all get combined to power a household.

Other stuff that is on the mind is the reece bathroom competition, might bring this on mon next week to try and get some feedback - it's just an intergrated bathroom that can drop into an existing space, reducing labour cost, waste and time etc. Very small and compact unlike the Buckminster Fuller attempt 30 years ago.

Last sort of big thing that may or may not happen is an essay of fashion. Not only the wearable type but also the fashion of thinking, politics, ideologies, approaches.

I'm Back :-)

'the more I learn the less I know'

2005-08-07T16:27:00.000+10:00

sunshine

2005-08-03T13:02:00.000+10:00

Ahh, it's getting better. I think I have resolved my issue (see below). It seems to be coming together. The other night on SBS I saw a film by Marvo Ponti, Santa Maradona, now it's not a brilliant earth shattering piece of work - it's a comedy. It serves to illustrate just how shithouse Hollywood films are. This is a mainstream piece of Italian cinema, but it just seems so free compared to anything American.

The sun is also out, so I started some serious reading this morning. The Aspen Papers is a collections of papers from the Aspen design conferences held from 51' all the way through the 70's. It contains many different views on design, some utter crap and some really thought provoking.
What leaped out was a paper by Misha Black, The Designer and the Client - 1956. Which sort of further illustrates the point Soumitri was making the other week about design in corporations.

Fashion - time for a case study?

2005-08-01T22:35:00.000+10:00

I keep seeing articles in the Sunday age magazine and various popular media on how we are all (some of us are) obsessed with fashion. How much we all spend. How many fashion shows we have a year, yada yada yada.

But thing that the articles never ever answer, and hardly touch on for that matter is:

Why?

Why do we have fashions? Is there a need? Capitalist construct (consumerism)? Desires, feelings, inadequacies? Social dynamics?

Soo many questions, any point to answer them?

quick update

2005-08-01T22:22:00.000+10:00

I don't have anything to serioulsy stimulating to post at the moment, but I feel I must keep the habit.
Over the weekend I serioslyu worked on the paper lantern, it turned to shit. Everytime I walk up the stairs and see it again...Time to start again, but what to do differently this time. Mabey change the material? Who knows.
It was interesting to learn today about the rationalist theorising on the 'process' of design. A good subject for some further reading I think.

lecture

2005-07-28T08:52:00.000+10:00

Motorola Design Tour –
Australian Lecture
Monday 08 August 2005, 4pm to 5.30pm
BMW Edge, Federation Square

The National Design Centre invites you to meet Motorola’s Chief Designer Ignacio Germade, UK and Singapore.

This is a free event, but reservations are essential. Click here to reserve a seat
or make a group booking.

************

Anybody interested in this? A chance to listen to a designer from a major corportation.

Issues

2005-07-26T07:08:00.000+10:00

My Problem; (I blame this squarely on Soumitri in studio and studies this past few weeks, although it may have started earlier than that.) I don’t know what the fuck to think anymore, I see both sides to every theory/argument/statement/position and give them equal weight. Sounds great yeah… impartial and stuff. But I can’t dismiss anything as bullshit anymore – even though it may be.

I hope my studies project will sort this out, for better of for worse ‘cause it’s painful to be in this position.

Design Studies

Project Proposal

Postmodern: Play or Purpose

Postmodernism, why? Throughout this project I hope to gain a further understanding of postmodernism and analyze it’s relevance and contribution or lack thereof to the world.

http://www.ebbflux.com/postmodern/ - further reading on the subject

http://foucault.info/documents/

http://foucault.info/documents/whatIsEnlightenment/foucault.whatIsEnlightenment.en.html

Learning

2005-07-26T06:58:00.000+10:00

Ahh Studio, the Monday sessions, just being a playa. The game is taking shape. I like games. Just found this little bit on education from;

http://www.livejournal.com/users/jasonadams/

Ranciere called The Ignorant Schoolmaster, which I just discovered is available in condensed form at Randas Gupta, which basically says that the best teachers are really those who teach what they do not know, in the sense that they and the students, as they read the chosen texts, are essentially learning together in the very midst of the process. As he says, "to explain something to an ignorant person is first of all to explain to him that he would never understand if things were not explained to him; it is first of all to explain to him his own incapability."

Notice how Gupta puts the emphasis on the process, not the outcome. Why has the outcome become of primary importance? Capitalisim? Now there seems to be people just thinking that nothing is valid without tangible outcome.

slow...

2005-07-23T22:23:00.000+10:00

Saturday night and I still have to start on the paper 'thing'. I must be getting over my personal tragedy on Friday, when 3 hours of work decided to fly away in the wind tuned that is latobe street.

Speaking of slow progress the 'slow food' movement is going to be part of the food and wine festival next mont (linked in sidebar). Take the time and become a part of it, no need to sign up - just set aside a few hours give maccas the arse, open a bottle of wine and a cookbook.

Paper + Light

2005-07-21T17:12:00.000+10:00

The paper lantern project has been in my head for the last few days…today I managed to nut it out, only have to build the thing now.

Also had another idea for their use, lets go have an outdoor fashion parade! Line them up in your favorite public outdoor space and go for it, instead of your traditional straight runway setup maybe try a slalom course + passion pop = spectacle.

Applied the questioning technique to the subject of the ‘living box’ competition, I’ll write it up soonish and try and get some input from everybody else.

Look outside, suns out! better go…

books...lots of books

2005-07-19T19:26:00.000+10:00

Mounted an expedition to the Melbourne uni library(s) this afternoon. (Ahh, afternoon sunlight, quiet, beautiful surrounds...) Having not been to a library in the two final years of my secondary education, visiting two (2), yes two librarys in the same day was abit extreme. The Baillieu library at UniMelb has a shitload of books, almost couldn't find my way out - good art section (700's) and the Architectre Library has some really good books on design. picked these up, some for studio, some for studies;

Postmodern Cluture, 709.04 POST UniM Baill
Remote Control, Kruger, 700.9730 KRUG UniM Baill
Post Modern Design, Collins and Papasakis, 745.4442 COLL UniM Arch
Joe Colombo, 745.449 FAVA UniM Arch (Chanced upon this, really really awesome I like his work, misses out on some of his conceptual stuff unfortunatly)
The Value of Things, 709.040942 C971 RMIT Lib (interesting point shithouse formatting, could barley get throught the first ten pages without frustration)
The Aspen Papers, 745.4 A838 (70's Aspen, Design Conference, Groundbreaking) Read it when/if I give it back.

I'll update this when I get throught these suckers...

so frenchy

2005-07-19T18:15:00.000+10:00

This was awhile back, sometime in May this year...just found note on desk - SBS ran a series 'So Frenchy So Chich' on French films, art and music. If your into electronica/dance theres the track listing from the show on the SBS website

semester duo

2005-07-18T22:48:00.000+10:00

The first post to this blog, just a bit of random drivel to start things moving. Hopefully the intellectual content of this page will increase with time...who knows? Just a quick disclaimer/how I think this thing might work - It's a place where I'm going to write too much in the first person, it's my place (god I love that word my), i'll say what I want, if I offend anyone stiff; having said that, if anyone ever reads this please feel free comment away (mi casa et su casa). If there's and audience i'll perform.

For the first time in a long time I have been thinking seriously, today at uni I may have learnt something(s);
(1) How set I am in my ways of approaching problems/life
(2) How difficult it is to change my mindset
(3) How it is possible to put away my high school cynicism
(4) I saw that there is 'another way' that is equally valid, sometimes even more so
(5) I need to learn how to explain what I am thinking...

I'm just beginning to see that design isn't all I thought is was, and truthfully that scares me, so much so that I want to run away to the safe confines of the architecture program or something, maybe become an interior designer and pick colours all my life. But before I pack it in and gain a limp wrist I want to explore this other side of design, the side that is not 'reverse engineering', rather the place where it seems something exciting might happen.

I'm cautious to engage in what I call 'quasi intellectualism' like most 'ism's' it's mucho bad, being intellectual for the sake of it, a crime that should be punished by having to re-do the semester one studio projects.However; if I feel that I'm actually getting somewhere, generating something 'better' then that which comes out of the traditional design process then I'm all for it.

So for the moment I will have to put away the shovel, go out to the shed and get the spade. Geeze this is terribly boring to read thought...can't be arsed deleting it, sooooo longwinded, i'm not normally like this, I must be excited...until next time.

the mint is coming…