Video Ethnography

Today I was thinking about how craft people communicate craft knowledge, and wondering if I could carry out an ethnographic study to understand this better.

Life in a Box

 MADS YEAR ONE PART TIME MODE 2010

Term 3 Project:  LIFE IN A BOX

Wednesday 10 November – Wednesday 24 November

Introduction

This project invites you to employ the skills you have developed in giving dimension to your question, in order to construct an artifact-critique of your journey to date and the goals that it represents. You will be working on this project over a two-week period, in the run-up to the Academic Tutorial on 24 November.

Brief

Your question and your artifact should by now have acquired a life of their own. This life-form currently needs the protection of a box – and its own dedicated life-support system – before it can flourish independently in the outside world. “LIFE IN A BOX” invites you to give dimension to this life-form that you have created, as well as the life-support systems that support its fragile existence. Life support systems provide all of the sustainable needs required for continuance of life – and remember that these needs can go far beyond biological requirements. In time, your life-form may grow to maturity – and leave its protective box. 

Your design and making skills should be focused on clarification of the connections between the various parts as much as the parts themselves. We are much more interested in your ability to communicate ideas and knowledge than your ability as designers/artists. Please remember that if you lack the confidence to create your own artifact then it is perfectly legitimate to find someone to help you realize your needs

Presentation

Your artifact must be portable, and must be available to show to your tutor on 24 November. Technological requirements should be kept to a minimum. Your box and the representation of your project as the life-form within should address at least the following questions:

• What kind of life-form represents your project?
• What kind of box is it contained in?
• What life-support systems have you included?
• What is the connection between your goals and the decisions you have made?
• Why have you designed your box and life-support systems in this particular way?
• How exactly do your life-support systems operate?
• How will your life-form be enabled to develop?
• How will you increase your understanding of the life-form you have created?
• How, and why, might your life-form die?
• If your life-form survives, what might be its future?

Criteria

The project will be assessed against the following criterion:

• Your ability to give dimension to complex ideas through an artifact
• Your ability to critique your personal journey
• Your ability to sum up succinctly how you have progressed
• The clarity and relevance of your artifact presentation – including your life-form, the box, and life-support systems
• Your ability to focus on essential points
• The level of risk-taking your artifact presentation displays
• It is vital to appreciate that any artifact you create in response to this brief will be assessed on its potential to give dimension to your project and journey to date – NOT on your ability to produce a finished or finely-crafted “shiny object”.
• Your ability to reframe your project in the light of positive and negative feedback/experience and other sources of relevant knowledge

I have designed the questions for my survey this week and sent it out to everyone I know using Impressity, the also advertise surveys on their website, so people I don't know can complete this, and hopefully I will get a better mix of answers.  I have also sent out a separate survey to people heavily involved in the craft industry, like the people at Craft Central and the founders of craft cafes etc.  

The main consumer survey:

 

What kinds of group activities do you do with your friends and family?

 

            Eating

            Drinking

            Playing

            Watching films/tv/listening to music

            Making something- baking, crafts, painting

            DIY

            Travelling together

            Reading

            Relaxing

Do you ever handmake gifts or cards?

  

Yes

No

No, but would like to learn

Have you ever been on an arts or crafts course?

 

Yes

No

No, but would be interested in attending one

How much quality time do you spend with your friends and family each week?

0-2hrs

3-5hrs

6-8hrs

10-12hrs

12+hrs

Do you think its important to spend time with your friends and family?

 

Yes

No

Yes, but struggling to find enough time

Have you ever learnt a skill from a friend or family member that you will pass on to other generations?

 

Yes

No

Have you ever taught someone a new skill? If so, how did it feel?

 

Yes

No

Please enter comments here:

Did your parents make things with you as a child?

 

Yes

No

How often do spend time each week with people from older and younger generations? 

0-2hrs

3-5hrs

6-8hrs

10-12hrs

12+hrs

How many hours a day do spend online?

 

0-1

1-3

3-5

5-7

8+

Are you an active participant in forums and social networking sites?

 

Neither

Forums

Social networks

Both

Have you ever read/watched a tutorial online to learn a new skill? If so, what did you learn, did you find this useful?

 

Yes

No

Please enter comments here:

Would learning face to face have been more enjoyable?

 

Yes

No

Not sure

How many times have you made flat-pack furniture? If so, did you enjoy this process?

  

never

1-2times

3-5times

5+ times

Please enter comments here:

Do you think it would be more enjoyable with the help of friends and family?

 

Yes

No

Have you ever customised an item of clothing or furniture yourself? If so, did you enjoy this? If not, would you like to know how to customise or personalise items?

  

never

1-2times

3-5times

5+ times

Please enter comments here:

Have you ever designed a piece of clothing, accessory or something for you home yourself?

  

never

1-2times

3-5times

5+ times

Do you recycle?

Never

Yes at work

Yes at home

Only certain things that I am told to

Yes I make the effort to reuse and recycle whatever I can

Do you ever reuse items for a new and different use?

  

Yes

No

Have you ever used objects you no longer needed in a different way, or combined them with something else to make something new?

  

Yes

No

I often try to reuse items

Would you prefer your belongings to be:

 

            Handmade

            Individual

            Customisable

            Mass manufactured

            Locally sourced

            Perfect

            Good quality

            Expensive

            Affordable

            Eco-friendly

Age Group

 

Under 30 years

31 to 40 years

Over 40 years

Sex

Female

Male

Marital status

 

engaged

married

divorced

single in a relationship

single not in a relationship

Children

Yes

No

The following are what I would like to find out from professionals currently working in the crafting industry:

Have you noticed an increase in interest in crafting, customising, learning new skills etc?

 

What courses are most popular?

 

What are the types of people coming to workshops? ages/family members/groups etc

 

Have you noticed an increase in the numbers of designer makers wanting to get involved and make the most of the facilities you offer?

 

What changes have you noticed that the recession has made for the creative practices and designer/makers?

 

What do you feel crafting can bring to contemporary society?

 

Make Do and Mend

An amazing evening - David Attenborough's First Life

An amazing evening - David Attenborough's First Life
Last night I went to a special Sir David Attenborough talk, I was so excited before, during and still now. He was as wonderful as on the TV, and answered all the questions of the little kids along the front row. He was passionate and dynamic, I was absolutely thrilled and captured by every word!

Today I have been carrying out a bit more online research looking to see if craft is becoming mainstream, the affect the recession has had on creativity, handmade items and consumer trends.

Areas of research:

Communities
People
Groups

Why they do crafts
Why they come together
What do they want to learn

What groups already exist?

Rose Wallpaper

"Once flowers have already bloomed, they are usually thrown away. So that they can be enjoyed for longer and to create something of value from the waste, Zoubida Tulkens made wallpaper from rose petals. She collected rejected roses from flower growers, removed the petals, and made each one smooth using a flat-iron. Using a natural glue, Tulkens stuck the petals on wallpaper. Each sheet of wallpaper has it’s own pattern, and four sheets together create a larger pattern."

The first month back at university is now over, we have had a tutorial, in which I was told to define the different components of my question, which at the moment stands at:

How can traditional crafting skills survive in the digital age?

Through the tutorial, the peer-to-peer feedback and my research I have looked at the possibility of changing my question to:

How can an appreciation of craft skills become the new social network?

I feel the importance of community, interaction, learning and gaining confidence has meant my question has evolved again.  I want my kits to encourage this kind of interaction between families and friends.  I want to take advantage of the current climate, the trend towards being thrifty, creative, need for personal face-to--face interaction.  I have also been thinking about recycling and re-using, and how this element can be incorporated into my project.  

I will need to research consumer needs and wants to really produce a kit that resonates with people.  

During our Wednesday evenings we have also explored 'Brand Me vs. the Reflective Practitioner'.  My thoughts are that life is about changes, you have to change, get feedback and evolve to survive.  I feel it is very important to be authentic and understand what your core values are.  This MADS journey is re-confirming these beliefs.  

My core values have led me to push my question towards bringing families and friends together in a creative way, in a hope that they utilise the age-old practice of storytelling.  Through the workshops I have attended and the designers I have met researching for my MADS question I have experienced first-hand wonderful stories about how and why people have got involved in different pursuits and what they have learnt. 

We have been asked to consider where this mastery will position us at the conclusion of the course.  This needs to be totally aligned and in sync with our core values to ensure our project take us where we want to be.  Below is a graphical representation of my 'IF'.

My research this month has looked into the words that people associate with crafts and I hope that my project will create like, exclusive, valuable, desirable.  From a craft council research paper I noted some key motivations of buying craft:

"Beautiful objects appeal to me"

"Craft makes a unique gift"

"I admire the human skill involved"

"I want to keep craft alive"

"I like to have beautiful objects in my home"

"It means I own something nobody else has"

I would like people to feel that they too can create items that they feel this way about.  The same report also discussed the increasing priorities for consumers.  Firstly reducing wasteful consumption, this is something I am also very passionate about, and through this month I have been thinking more about how I can incorporate it into my project.  Therefore I hope that I can use the re-use and recycle element in my project by including getting people to use things around the house they no longer need.  I was thinking the 'kits' I design could include a list of things to scavenger, instructions and then a few elements, probably the newer materials, and that the combination of these can lead groups to communicate and create together. 

The second priority for consumers is that they are looking for more personal, unique and ethical routes for consuming objects.  This obviously aligns with my make-it-yourself and customise it ideas.  

Practical skills give consumers a sense of control, achievement and resourcefulness, and this will encourage a trend for participating in craft.  There has been an increase in the popularity of craft activities at festivals, workshops and make-your-kits developed by designer makers.  This ties in with my project in that my first idea, the LED light was designed to be used at festivals and parties, allowing people to make with friends, encourage people to come together, and customise.  

So at the end of this month I see my project being about a variety of crafting skills, survival (passing down information, relationships and communication), and the environment (reuse, recycle).  

LED Light Diffusing Plastic

At the moment this type of plastic is used in car control displays, I wonder if I can come up with a new inventive use for it....

IF

When Love Comes

For our second film of this year's film festival we began our evening in the wonderful japanese restaurant on Leather Lane. The film was Taiwanese family drama, it was low-budget and we followed the lives of four women, through to a very emotional conclusion. This film was quirky and funny, as well as incredibly dark at times.

Flexible illumination

Home for Christmas

Tonight we saw Norwegian veteran Bent Hamer's film, Hjem Til Jul, it looks at fractured families at Christmastime. As with his earlier work, the film shuttles smartly between serious drama and the gently absurdist comedy Hamer is known for. I absolutely loved this, it was beautiful, emotional and funny. Definitely recommend it.

The image I have chosen was from a very moving scene, the church itself was not merely a back drop, Bent told us after the film the history of this church, and it was a very painful one.