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labofspeculativeethnology · 8 years ago

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Bianca Week 1: Notes + Reflections

After making, discussion and conducting our brief preliminary research this week I understand the suits (as well as their technologies embedded in them) as metaphors for taking up space with a physical presence that simultaneously embodies meanings associated with multiple histories, technologies, and aesthetics.

What we collect, observe and experience is what response arises from their existence. The aim, or hope, is for the response to be beautiful or maybe even joyful, but ultimately it is to create something new which materializes experiences often overlooked or (perhaps intentionally) unseen. During our summer session, the lab is thinking about creating spaces where both representation and documentation meet through an emerging theme of using (beauty + creativity) as a (means of making in) response to Geography + Violence. The suits also personify the digital and physical complexity of moving across geographic space today. For me, the aesthetics connecting to black / African / POC diaspora create a thread that communicates that these suits are not just referring to the complexity that “all people” experience as they move about as digital citizens, but instead purposefully put People of Color first as the primary audience ( in a way successfully decentering the typical “default” habit of western design that primarily considers whiteness as a standard and then invites other perspectives to the “diversity” party). The short version of this sentiment I guess is Solange’s FUBU. But we need to be clear, who is the “us” here?

I’m aware that these suits / spaces are not about creating a utopian alternative, but instead attempt to manifest in and occupy physical space in an alternative way.

This weekend’s verdict with Philando Castille is front and center in my mind, as it was it when I first read Elizabeth’s paper that lends itself to the voice of the Lab last August after the initial shooting. Looking at these suits I can help but think of what is going on in the world today, in regards to racial violence, police brutality and the injustices that continue despite evidence produced from body camera technology. As I am processing these news stories and realities, the idea of embedding types of surveillance technology for these suits is making me a little uncomfortable. I hope that art, design, performance, and educational experiences exist as catalysts for critical thinking and discussion. So, I think it is a good thing that these feelings are coming up so early in this process, because it is a sign that this project poses opportunities for us to ask the audience to think critically about what lived (or maybe even “fabricated”) experiences / information they accept as knowledge or truth. The discomfort I feel right now acts as a reminder to stay critical and sensitive to how this work interacts with lived realities today.

These suits are beautiful, and the aesthetics alone are rich with communication (the fabrics represent complex history). There are a lot of aspects to consider: how the wearer occupies space, how the suit occupies space on the wearer, how others are invited to interact or not interact, how technology transparency (or a lack of it) affects users .

I am excited to learn from Elizabeth and our multidisciplinary team and see how we engaged with themes related to identity, power, race and authority in this project

Some questions that surfaced as we started to get oriented this week:

Do we want people to interact with us? Do we want it to be observational (people watching us interact with one another)? Both

What could a space like ours do, that wouldn’t exist otherwise?

New kinds of listening, seeing, and interacting. What does that mean? Multiple microphones can create a new sound experience? Cameras placed on different parts of the body? I also like the idea also of using something like photo stitching software like Mettle to literally combine (camera) perspectives. Also learning how to use Mettle could be a valuable skill in the future

What opportunities could this space create that aren’t the same as just getting on your phone or on your computer?

Wearables are not so different from your cell phone, essential we wear our phones all the time (mine is literally sitting on my chest as I type this). Gestural interaction and mobility make the suit technology unique, also I think multiple or alternative perspectives working on the suit or with the suit creates value beyond existing technology

If we look at content as field notes through the day, how do I understand what happened? Having these photos to look at and reflecting on them is different from looking at notes.

How does automatic uploading or collection impact this?

What are the typical conventions and ethics of observation? recording? Spectating?

What are official or unofficial norms for establishing consent?

What are the physical boundaries of consent? Digital?

What are the ways / How can you take up space? Digital space / Physical Space

What gestures invite participation? What gestures invite interaction?

Can interaction be passive or active? Or both?

What interactions in public are organic? Which are forced / designed

Public transit space that has both

How can we use materiality and mobility to create value and / or externalize a specific perspective? How might we distorting the way technology functions to make visible alternative lived experiences?

What is “data”? What is “observational” “data”? What is valuable “data”?

How might we push the personification of observation beyond the typical extension of our body - aka eyes (sight / camera) and ears (sound)

Initially reminds me of animals - Claire’s bat example, fly / insect sight

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