Action in the streets - Documentation - Idea Development

The past week I have been trying to come up with ways to ineract with people in the streets by installing objects or posters/stickers. The aim of what I will put in the streets is to make people reconsider their daily walk in the streets and how they perceive anything around them. Anything that is common, usual and trivial could be highlighted and presented in a new way. Like saying to passers-by "Hey, have you noticed this???"

For the past five months I have been taking pictures in the streets of Norwich of details that most of the people do not often notice or perceive as significant. Things like street signs, abandoned objects, lines, drains, patterns and random messages. Here are a few examples: 

All the pictures are uploaded om Instagram , in a profile that I created under the name "norwich_streets". I am very intrigued by messages in the streets, mostly handwritten ones. While cities are branded by authorities and city councils, all those unexpected and spontaneous handwritten messages or human touches prove how the cities belong to the people. 

I am not talking about any illegal action. Writing something with your own hand , be it a notice, announcement, putting something for sale, or sending your message out to the world by using 

a non digital medium is an action of great importance amidst our current digital era.

Meeting with my tutor Jaygo Bloom

It was very helpful to meet my tutor Jaygo Bloom after receiving the brief. I have to admit that I have been a bit confused with my thoughts about creating a viral video/picture etc.

I feel that my natural environment is the streets. If I was to create something for an audience that would definitely be people on the street. A funny intervention, a comment on architecture or the invitation to an urban activity would be the kind of approach I would normally have to this brief.

Talking with Jaygo made me realize that this is exactly what I should go for. Being concerned with the whole viral idea made me sink more and more in the worldwide web , spending hours watching videos of random stuff that would lead me basically nowhere. Or in another sense it did lead me, to the fact that this is not the response I would like to have to the brief.

After the meeting I valued more the way I am spending my time. I have been spending (if not wasting) most of my internet time on checking for feedback on platforms where I post my work - that is mostly graffiti and illustrations- rather than focusing on ways to tackle the brief and ultimately finding what I have to say to the world.

I am determined in setting a weekly schedule for myself (which may come natural for other students).

I kept excusing myself for 'adapting' during the first term , although, inside of me I know very well how unorganized I am and how I get distracted with so many things I like. Our MA Leader, Paul Fieldsend - Danks during our assessment feedback made me realize the importance of focusing on one particular thing during the course. I feel like I have been more organized in general , compared to our previous term, yet I see that there is a lot of space for focusing on more specific interests.

First thoughts on my project for ASU2

After yesterday's interdisciplinary group, I started thinking more of the idea of creating something that would go viral.

'A viral video is a video that becomes popular through a viral process of Internet sharing, typically through video sharing websites, social media and email.'  (Wikipedia)

 This of course made me think of the content as well. Should it have some kind of social or political content? In this very moment I am excited by the idea of creating something that millions of people would like to share with their contacts. 

I know how I act as a viewer when surfing the web. I spend hours online. Whether it is checking my emails or blogging, I will always find a moment to drift away and distract myself/procrastinate. What I do during this short time that proves to be much longer than I would intend or expect is to scroll down endlessly on pages that interest me. Feeding my eyes with visual material. Moving images , GIFs , videos, or just pictures. 

I rarely share this material with others. Although, when I do, it is by posting it on my facebook wall, or just sending direct messages to friends.

Whether we share and pass 'around' all this material that we perceive as something that others will appreciate too, or just watch it and keep it for ourselves, it still is something that will be viewed millions of times.

I was intrigued and inspired by the process of how something like this could be created. 

Sometimes it is just something spontaneous. A play of words, manipulating a photo, few words on a picture, or recreating something that already existed in a way that would provoke in general.

Interdisciplinary Group Tutorial

This week's Interdisciplinary Group Tutorial was very helpful. I have to admit it was one of the few times that I had nothing visual to show to others and that felt like a weak spot. We got the Unit brief last Thursday and so far I only have ideas on the form of my social exchange campaign.

People from other courses started asking me specific questions about my ideas and obviously I had no answers than "I would like to make something that would go viral"

But is it really enough? Of course not. I still lack the context, the audience and the medium. I started making some research on viral videos and how someone can actually create one. The issue is that it is really unpredictable and I think even now that it should not be my priority or goal to make a viral video for example. My aim right now is to find my audience, my message , and how to form it and contextualize it so that its impact if maximized.

D.I.W.O

Today 12/02/2015 we were given the outline for our ASU2 task.

The task is a part of the D.I.W.O (Do It With Others) unit and is as follows:

"When we enter into a series of social exchanges we are expressing our interest in the process and dynamics that shape the present moment.

01 Incorporating a method of social exchange

Develop a campaign that engages your audience with a series of social exchanges that help widen public perspective through the use of Design.

Consider the method and vehicle by which you disseminate this exchange, the medium and manner you choose to inform your audience, the more relevant this can be the more your proposed social exchange will be seen as believable.

If it is necessary to your enquiry, consider -

How can you provide a system of feedback?
If you are creating a method of social exchange, how can you gather your data?