MY CONVERSATION WITH MARGARET
When Sarah told us to pick 3 curiosities to focus on for project 2, I had these in mind:
1) Interior or furniture design/photography
2) Interactive physical form (perhaps a physical interface)
3) Projection mapping/algorithmic art
And then with my daily practice of decluttering my space, while taking a picture of it before and after, I was invested in how the process of going from a tidy to a clean space was invisible in the photographs taken. Although the process could be deduced from the before and after photos if they were seen one after the other, the photos alone do not indicate much. And I started to wonder how a lot of the objects or 'inanimate things' we saw, whether they were spaces, furniture or products, do not speak much of its processes or how it came to be, but rather is just the end result.
With this thought playing in mind, I started to think about a rather floating project idea - what if I projected a video of any related process to the objects - whether it would be a space, chair, photograph, etc.? It was also slightly inspired from Sarah's mention to a project that provided a temporal experience of a memory by projecting a video over a photograph.
Not having an exact term to name what I was thinking about, I sought Margaret's help with brainstorming and refining the topic, and with getting started on a research track. I wrote to her when booking a zoom meeting:
"I am looking to work on a project that attempts to explore the evolution of objects/spaces over time - from idea to design to construction, or from messy space to tidy space, or from inhabitable to habitable, etc. It does so by adopting the storytelling technique to convey intangible memories entangled with that of the physical object/furniture/space, etc. I am thinking of exploring that through projections on these objects/products/spaces, but I am also open to different ideas and approaches based on where the research could lead me. I am looking for more content, literature or research that could help solidify my topic into a phrase or keyword and start research from there."
When I met her over zoom, it was rather difficult to find literature that spoke directly to what I was thinking of, and took a very long while to find a term describing what I was thinking. She told me there was a certain term to it, but could not remember what it was at that moment. However, she did not fall short. Immediately the day after, she sent me an email telling me the philosophical term for is called "object-oriented ontology". And based on the link she sent me for explanation to what that means, it is how "things, animals, and other non-human entities experience their existence in a way that lies outside our own species-centric definition of consciousness". It sounds very close to what I actually was thinking about, but time will only tell if this is exactly what I am seeking after reading some of the other literature references Margaret also sent in the email (thank you Margaret for saving me with this).
My Project 2 topic - Memories/Life of objects and spaces
I am still unsure of how to really phrase my project 2 topic, but Sarah initially suggested "Memories of Objects", and I think I like how vague and general that is, because it gives me room to explore more varied topics rather than being tied to one philosophical topic. However the content still remains the same - it explores the philosophy of objected-oriented ontology and how non-animate objects/spaces experience and live a life that lies outside a viewer's consciousness. Clearly, I am very influenced by my previous object interview project and how photographs do not preserve memories. I would also like to remind myself that I may explore other topics and systems related to this topic, and may veer into something a little different but still related in a sense.
Research & Production Plan
Tentative plan for now...
Notes to myself for consideration:
- sarah mentioned about a project
- reading book and checking out examples
