21 Tags: MFA Tag Hunt
http://mfataghunt.blogspot.com/
we also created a blog to discuss our ideas for the project
http://docnewmedia.wordpress.com/
Self-Evaluation-Reflection of Final Project/ The Prototype Stage and Concept of Ideas
1. Original Idea
Our group started off with the idea of documenting a location in real time in a collaborative capacity. We all agreed upon Toronto Island as a specific location because it’s unique and diverse. We wanted to document using film, photography and audio and were undecided on what type of interface we would use. We were also interested in GPS tracking.
2. From Real Time to Distributed Narratives
We all went on a trip to scout the Island and found that the wireless Internet connection only worked around the marina and that even at the marina the connection was too weak to upload a lot of data quickly. We then decided that looking at the idea of tagging in a specific location rather than real time was an interesting pursuit. We also decided to use only photography, because video and audio would have been too complicated in the time we had, it was also a way to standardize the team. We would each think of three tag words and from these create a shortlist of tags and all shoot these tags. By tagging before the photographs were even taken we would reverse the system. When we discussed this idea with Alex she thought there should be more of a narrative thread and that we should pick a sentence or paragraph that would unify us. We could use the words in this phrase as our tags. However, being a very diverse group we could not agree upon a phrase. Again with the help of Alex we decided to go back to our original tagging, but this time create text to go with each photograph allowing users to create their own narratives, becoming a distributed narrative project.
3. Final Outcome
My final documentary new media project is collaboration with six other people. With seven different points of view we documented Toronto Island with photographs and written text. The photographs and text are displayed on blogs and play with the notion of distributed narratives. We chose 21 different tag words (amusement, barrier, bridge, chaos, guardian, islander, machine, metal, net, noise, plant, rhythm, ruins, sanctuary, sign, speed, tower, trail, verdancy, voyage, waves) that mostly relate to the Island. Each person shot one image and wrote text to go along with each tag word. We all shot at the same time on the Island. We have organized 21 blog pages for each tag word and on each page are the seven different interpretations of the tag along with the seven different texts. The user can play with narrative structures by choosing which photograph and text they want to put together. The user does not know who took what photograph or who wrote what text. All the tag pages are linked together and form a simple and user friendly website interface. We also plotted all of our photographs on google maps, so our project is geographically located.
We constructed meaning by structuring non-linear relationships between tags, photographs and text. We made the tags first, then the photographs and lastly the text. As Steve mentioned in our crit, the way the user is able to navigate through each of these is up to the individual and they can create their own stories. It is interesting to see how the narratives and photographs match up. Some texts work well with many different photographs, whereas others are non-sensical, and then some become very comedic. This type of documentary gives more power to the user, which is exciting. It becomes more about exploration then just looking at images or reading texts.
We also looked at the notion of authorship. Nobody knows who took what photograph or who wrote which text. For this project it is not important and would defeat the purpose. It is a new way in thinking about photography when authorship is not important; there is a freedom in it. In our crit Alex mentioned the move from expressionism to communication, which starts to shift when authorship is no longer present.
Speed
4. Learning Process
I have learned a great deal from this process. A large part of it was working in a collaborative capacity. We had a big group, which had wonderful advantages in that we could create a new media documentary with seven points of view. It also had its disadvantages in that we had to collaborate seven points of view, which was very difficult. We wanted to be coherent, yet respective of all the members and had to figure out how to resolve our differences and create a collective voice. We also wanted to create a collective or symbiotic voice (intelligence), yet maintain the individual. It was an experiment in working with people to achieve a common goal. As mentioned in our crit, once we had all taken our own photographs and had contributed something to the group we knew we were all represented and could work together better.
I also learned about many new interfaces. The platforms we experimented with and used are blogger.com, pictobrowser, google maps and flickr.
5. What would you do differently?
I was very happy with our end results. We all worked very hard in a short amount of time with platforms and ideas that we had never used before. We explored and experimented with different technologies, we tried an alternative documentary approach, we played with narrative structures, and we did this as collaboration. However what I would do differently is create a context for our work and a documentation of our process. We had thought of documenting our process as we went along (we did a little), but with the time constraints it would have been very difficult.
We approached this project like a scavenger hunt. We had envelopes sealed in wax with all of the tag words in them. Before we arrived at the Island we all opened them together before we went off on our own to shoot. Documenting all of this would have given us a clearer concept to users who know nothing about our project; it would also be very interesting and very comedic. This project was all about the process, so showing that process is important.
6. How does new media affect or not affect your practice?
New media certainly affects my practice. It is a new way of thinking about how stories are told and more importantly received and interacted with. It changes my methodologies in thinking about how narration and interactivity can animate forms of image gathering and documentary production. In terms of my thesis project I am thinking about how to incorporate new media aspects into my final exhibition in order to change traditional media practices and presentations into something unique.
