Tutorial with Micheal.....

I spoke to Michael about my project so far and the research that I have been doing, as well as a couple of the themes and ideas I have been exploring. Before noting his comments, I’ll just give a brief overview here of what that was, because I did not go into my research in full, or explain all of my ideas as detailed better in this blog.

I spoke about the following research areas:

- psychical interaction
- control/manipulation
- mental interaction
- interaction between people
- Knightmare tv show
- Non linear storylines / parallel universes

And discussed the following ideas:

- interaction between people (controlling the person as a character in a game)
- installation using montage to provoke memory related experiences
- installation using montage materials arranged in two ways, one to give free will over interaction, one to manipulate and control, to show that free will is better than control in terms of producing more beneficial experiences
- touch screen application using clues in page to mentally engage the user in figuring out how to stimulate the page and proceed to the next.


RESPONSE:

Michael fed back some of my ideas to me in a way I had not considered/been aware of. I am thinking a lot about using installations to experiment on people and prove a point. He says that I sound like I have an opinion on issues such as free will and control in interaction, and could perhaps be exploring differing opinions or thinking about ways of communicating that to prove my point, however, I do not really have a set opinion….I have read a lot of texts and can see a lot of peoples different points of view. If I HAD to choose, I would say that it can be dangerous to use the media to manipulate public opinion, but I wouldn’t say it’s always wrong. His comment made me wonder….am I falling into the trap I have been reading about, of mistaking other people’s ideas as my own? Am I just voicing what I’ve been reading into my ideas rather than judging different sides and drawing my own conclusions? I don’t think this is true, it is still early and my research is quite wide ranging, but I think these are points I should come back to and consider when formulating my main idea to develop. I certainly will come back to the idea of using installation to prove a point or explore a point. One that comes to mind is that ‘interaction between people is good’, which is another comment Michael took my words to mean, though it was not my intent, but perhaps, it could be a theme to pursue, and use installation to prove. Other comments included suggestions to research ‘The girlfriend experience’, the argument that maybe it is not actually possible to completely remove freedom of thought, the artist Lorenzo Hemerr (who created an installation where light would beat at the same rhythm as the hearts of the people watching), and Deleuze’s ideas of repetition. One area I forgot to mention was my research into the fourth wall, and the idea of breaking it, which is something I am going to consider in more detail.