CT: Week 14 – Final Presentation

This is our last week for critical theory and will be my last blog entry. Over the last few months we have covered a lot of areas that we have never covered before. From ideologies and methodologies to virtual worlds and its impact on people. I have learned much through this module and can apply some of things we covered in future projects and assignments. A special thanks to Nicola Duffy who taught us over the past few weeks. Overall I didn’t really know what to expect with this module but now that it has finished I can see that I enjoyed it and can definitely take some new ideas from it.

To finish off Critical Theory we had to present our research and findings as described in weeks 12 and 13. Myself along with Dean Wall were the first to give our presentation. I researched the question ‘Discuss the role of Avatars’ while Dean chose ‘The dangers and joys of interacting within a virtual world’. Overall I think the presentation went well. We both had researched a great deal into our questions and used some relevant and interesting visuals to accompany our findings. So this is the end of my experience in Critical Theory. I enjoy it and would definitely advise others to do the same. I’ll finish off by showing myself and Deans presentation, here it is:

CT: Week 13 – Assignment 2 Research

In this weeks class we began researching for our assignment 2 presentation. For the presentation itself, we are splitting up into groups of two and are taking one topic each. We will then present to the class next week as a group, showing our research and findings. For my half of the group I have chosen to research the area of ‘Discuss the role of avatars in virtual worlds’. I chose this area because I find avatars in general to be interesting as it is a way of any individual to become someone completely different through an avatar.

Following my research so far, here are some things I have found:

CT: Week 12 – Assignment 2 Update

This week in critical theory, we were given a update for assignment 2. Following issues with the ‘Second Life’ software, a complete change had to be made regarding the assignment task. Instead of using ‘Second Life’ as a means of gaining insight into human culture, thoughts and ideas, we were given the task to research two relating areas and then present our findings to Nicola and our classmates. The presentation will take place on May 9th and will allow to us to show and explain what we have researched. The two areas we will choose from is based on 6 options. These six areas are all relevant and similar to the original assignment brief, but instead of using the software, we are now presenting our findings.

Here are our six options to choose from:

1. What is the nature of identity and relationship in virtual worlds?
2. Discuss the roles of avatars
3. What are the dangers and joys of interacting in a virtual world?
4. What role does anonymity play in a virtual world?
5. Explore and discuss the role and impact of privacy
6. Discuss cognitive theory and how its relevance in interacting in a virtual world?

These our are options. In next weeks class we will begin researching our chosen areas.

 

CT: Week 11 – Assignment 2 Hand Out

Following our hand up of assignment 1, we had the easter break. Now that we are back, our first critical theory lecture consisted of the hand out of our second assignment. This assignment is based within the 3D virtual world of ‘second life’.

Second Life is a virtual 3D world and environment where users can log on, create a visual representation of themselves using and avatar, and then visit places within the world interacting with other people through their own avatars. Before we were given the actual brief for this assignment, we watched a documentary style video based on second life and how it effects people within the real world. I couldn’t find the exact video we watched in class but here is another I found on YouTube:

This video explains the idea behind second life and the effects it has on users both in the real world and within the virtual world itself.

CT: Week 10 – Assignment 1 Hand In

This week we have out deadline for our first assignment ‘Photo Essay’. Here are my final 6 photos of my chosen individual. The theme is ‘a day in their life’.

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We also had to write a short description about our final photographs and refer to inspirations, reasons for and how we captured each photo. Here is my photo essay description:

For this photo essay, I began by looking into social differences within the world we live. To provide myself with a insight into real life differences and customs, I focused on real examples that are relevant and effect different aspects of social structure such as views and stereotypes. I chose to base my photographs on a particular individual. His name is Carl Finnegan. Carl is a homeless man in Dublin city centre. His nationality is Irish and he is in his late 20′s. He informed me that he has been homeless for nearly four years now and that after such a long period of time, he has grown a custom to this lifestyle and has adapted to this way of life. I chose Carl because having spoken to him on a few short occasions, he told me stories of his life, his decisions and his path in life that led him to where his is now. I found him both inspiring and brutally honest. He then became my inspiration for this photo essay.

To portray Carl as an individual and capture a ‘day in his life’, I took a view from an outsider. I spent time in his environment and watched as he interacted and presented himself around friends and passers by. My outline plan was to take shots of different situations and scenes, each with their own specific difference. As I began taking shots however, I found that capturing just one specific scene in different ways and from different points of view, allowed me to achieve my goal as equally better than I had originally planned. The story of my six shots are from three points of view. The first is from the view of a passer by. The second is from Carl’s own point of view and the third is from my point of view looking at Carl myself, and how is see him. These three factors were considered within each of my shots and tell the story of a day in Carls’ life.

CT: Project Proposal 2

This is my new project proposal for assignment 1 – photo essay. The original has been changed as the individual could not participate in the assignment.

Introduction

The person I have chosen to base this project on will be a homeless individual living in Dublin. This person will be in their late 20′s/early 30′s. I reason I have chosen this type of individual for this project is because homelessness and the lifestyle and stereotypes that come with it, is a topic that interests me. Just because an individual is homeless, is doesn’t mean that they are any lesser in stature, importance or relevance to us and our society. My main focus will be to capture a day in the life. I want to capture the individual and explore their living situation and their values within themselves. How do they feel? How do they see things? How do they life their lives? Are their thoughts, ideas and values the same as our own? How did they come to be in this situation? These are they questions I will ask and then try to convey conclusions through the photos.

Analysis and Planning

To tell the story of a day in the individuals life, I plan to take photos of a usual day of the week. The reason for this is that I want to show what a typical day is like for the individual living in Dublin. The opening and closing photos will be based on close up and scenery shots. The other four photos will consist of point of view shots of the individual and of their interactions with passers by.

Photographs breakdown:

• photo 1 – close up shot – face and its features
• photo 2 – street shot – landscape shot of situation
• photo 3 – point of view shot – collecting money in coffee cup
• photo 4 – point of view shot – from persons perspective looking at passers by
• photo 5 – motion shot – motion blur shot of passers walking by
• photo 6 – sleep shot – sleeping on street

CT: Week 9 – Virtual Identity

In this weeks lecture we spoke about identity and virtual identity. We focused on what is virtual identity, how does it interact with real life and what are the reasons behind virtual realities. Here are some of the main points we spoke about:

• Identity – the characteristics determining who or what a person is
• Virtual Identity – a virtual person that is a mask defined by it’s avatar and that avatar’s attributes
• Virtual Environment Goals – to kill things, solve things, win things, to socialise, to chat, to meet people etc.
• Virtual Environment Examples – ‘Second Life’ has over 45,000 residents, approximately 20,000 of them are active
• Are Virtual Environments Useful? – 73% of  ’Second Life’ groups got together in the real world in 1999

Here is a video that was shown in class to explain more about virtual identity. Taken from a TedX speech by Jim Blascovic

In the lab session we had a lab test based on all of our previous lectures and hands out. Following this we were given the task of doing a quiz based on last weeks lecture on social construction. Here it is:

CT: Week 8 – Construction of personal realities

In our lecture this week we were given the task to do in class.

Questions 

1. Discuss ‘social identity’ and it’s constructs, such as structuralists view or the internationalist school.
2. Summarise your understanding of web of identity and deconstruction.
3. Give examples of both web of identity and deconstruction.

 Conclusions

1. Social identity is seen as being the position a person holds within a particular society, that then influences and shapes that person’s identity. For example, a person’s identity is created by the elements in their society that influences them and their thoughts and actions. Elements such as their education, family, friends, hobbies and social constructs, shapes the identity of an individual because it seems like the ‘norm’ within that society. Therefore a person will follow the ‘norm’ to ‘fit in’ and not ‘stand out’. They are part of this society and will follow the ‘norms’ that they see as being socially right and acceptable. This then creates a social identity for the person. There are some structuralist views to this idea where they state that identity and society are connected to each other and that one cannot be properly understood without understanding the other too. This idea argues that both identity and society have a ‘double relationship’ (Anthony Giddens) where individual influence and shape society and society influences and shapes individuals.

CT: Assignment 1 – Sketches

Here are my sketch ideas for the photographs I will capture for the assignment.

CT: Week 7 Indentity Realities and Society / Assignment 1 Week 2

In this weeks class we had a lecture on identity, reality and society. We began by asking…

what is identity?

• traditional view – pre defined roles and myths, uncontroversial, fixed view
• modern view – self reflective, unfixed, influenced by the response of others
• postmodern view – unstable (a myth or illusion), fragmented, lacking depth

how do we acquire identity?

• through socialisation (the process by which we as individuals, become members of our society)

what aspects of identity do we express to others?

• gender, class, ethnicity, personality, age, clothing, hair, language etc.

how is identity constructed?

• we decide whether to conform or reject the social norms

realities

• physical – energy, space, time, matter, universe
• non physical – ideas, forms, spirit
• social – law, science, culture, religion, health
• personal – language, emotions, values, perception

social interaction

• the process by which people act and react in relation to others

social stasus

• a social position that a person has within society

In the lab session we had a guest lecturer, Hugh McCabe, talk to us about the life and work of Michel Foucault. Here is a timeline of his life:

• 1926 : born
• 1939-45 : teenager under Nazi occupation
• 1946 : started studying philosophy
• 1950 : joined French communist party
• 1953 : left French communist party
• 1960 : submitted two thesis of studying
• 1966 : published ‘the order of things’
• 1968 : head of philosophy in Vincennes
• 1976 : starts doing visiting lectures in USA
• 1978 : published volume 1. ‘History of Sexuality’
• 1984 : died in Paris

who is Foucault?

• philosopher?
• historian?
• social scientist?
• writer?
• political activist?
• structuralist?
• postmodernist?
• marxist?

Video of Foucault debating with Noam Chomsky

key ideas:

• counter – history of ideas
  • examines how knowledge of a particular topic has evolved through time
• discourse
  • a body of knowledge (discourse as purely language, discourse as discipline)
• panopticism
  • a set of instructions about how to deal with ‘plague’ hitting a particular area or region and how to deal with it

Video on panopticism

For our assignment this week we had to:

• Research and identify the person/community we have chosen for our project?
• How am I going to depict them?
• How am I going to tell their story?

Here is my project proposal in full: