Saturday 30 March 2013

Going Mobile

Today I really started using some of the tech I've been looking at.

I went heavy on Zotero and started creating a library. I felt pretty chuffed - turns out I've read more than I thought.

Still feel like I need to read more though.

I've also become pretty adept at the old picture messages, mapping and sending people places. A friend was giving people a lift home and didn't quite know where she was, so I mapped where she was, where she needed to go and shot her updated photos as she went along. Kind of like a big LB[M]G as we got the ins and outs sorted. It started with a call and became progressively less co-present until finally it was an asynchronous effort ending in a brief thank-you text.

I also scored a funny little chat app by the name of Kakao Talk which aside from being rad if you have Korean friends (or Anglo friends that are tech and cash savvy) is worth it just for the emoticons alone.

I finally have a day off tomorrow so I'm going to read a little more and get a start on an assignment or two, but for now I'm disconnecting and going off mobile.


 Yeah, this is a real conversation between myself and my brother...

Thursday 28 March 2013

Just a [Big] Game

This morning I read Chapter six in Larissa Hjorth's Games and Gaming. It really got me thinking about a few things.

For starters, I got pretty interested in the whole idea of gaming being outside the realm of console. Then I laughed, because I remember as a kid the whole ideas of playing games was basically rounding up your friends and playing hide-and-seek, or creating imaginary worlds where we were characters doing cool stuff.

Then I laughed even harder, because I've kind of been doing that as an adult too.

Essentially, every theatre performance is in some way a game - that's why they're called PLAYS. Although, to be fair, the performances themselves in a lot of cases aren't where the play happens. It's the REHEARSAL PERIOD where the PLAY occurs.

However, in the case of devised or interactive theatre (I'd wager almost all if not all interactive theatre is devised - I've certainly never seen an interactive script), the performances are always different (to a far greater degree than scripted theatre) and often involve that spontaneity that can only be found in PLAY - or GAMING.

Rough conclusion? Interactive theatre is the same thing as gaming.

Alright, so perhaps it sounds like a bit of a stretch, but if you read the book I mentioned before, it isn't that great a leap.

Larissa speaks of three kinds of Mobile Games: Big Games, Location-Based Mobile Games and Hybrid Reality Games. Obviously, in her discussion, all of these are liked to mobile or locative media (cellular phones, anything capable of GPS, etc.). In there she spoke about 'haptic' (touch), Blast Theory, Dotplay, 'waiting for immediacy', delay, derive, distance, closeness, phenomenology, Heidegger and the real kicker - 'un-distance'.

So here I am, having read this great chapter, knowing there is something in here for me to explore (some things is much more accurate) and having to try and narrow it down.

That said, some of these newer ideas seem a little easier to handle and a little more relevant to an Honours project - and that's what it's all about after all, right?

Rather than try and explain it, it's easier if I show it, so have a look at the photos and tell me if it's all just a [Big] game to you too.

(But don't let me forget the un-distance {p.100} thing)




Wednesday 27 March 2013

Waiting for Immediacy

A clever title for a clever little project. Larissa spearheaded the movement and I sat down on my break today and had a little read of this collection of documents.

I was struck by a few things; her writing style, the playful nature of the project itself, the seemingly trite but actually deep subject nature of the collection, the crossover of artists and internationals and just how close this work is to what I'm aiming to create.

What really gets me is that we have different names for the same thing. I call it 'interactive theatre'; she calls it 'gaming'.

It's wonderful to hear that what goes on behind the camera is just as important (if not more so) that what happens in front of it. Is it something you can only truly appreciate by delving into the other side? I kind of think it is.

I come from a place that hates cameras, a world of spatiotemporal immediacy. For almost thirty years, I've aimed to NOT record, NOT document - to effectively erase myself and live only in memory.

Now, I write daily. I photograph daily. I have the beginnings of a digital presence forming, coalescing from a series of disparate points into a 'me' that can be seen and communicated with, but not smelled, touched.

But I can be 'poked', kept in 'touch' with, 'heard'. My voice will soon be there somewhere. My moving image will be there too, and I HATE watching myself so you'll have to do it for me.

I'm starting to spend more time joined to that machine and I still can't decide whether I like it or not, need it or not, want it or not.

I don't know. And all the while I'm reading, seeking searching.

Waiting. Waiting.

For Immediacy.

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Supervision

Alright! Finally I can get back onto the study track - and now with the additional bonus of having some sort of supervision!

Ben and I met John (Postill) while he was looking for directions to meeting with us. We all took the lift up to Larissa (Hjorth) and the four of us had an hour long discussion about where we're coming from and potentially where we'll end up.

It appeared that the Drs were interested in Ben's line of enquiry a little more than mine. It also appeared that Ben wanted more guidance than myself, so I was happy to let them go at it and just listen to what they were talking about. Much of what was going on was relevant to places I've come from (activism in particular) and places I'd like to get to (participation), but wasn't directly linked.

My turn arrived and Larissa and I spoke of immediacy and locative media. Drawing on a few shared resources and the prior conversation, we came up with a rough game plan. I thought I'd already refined my question to a decent degree but we shrank it further (from immediacy in digital performance to immediacy in Melbourne's digital performance).

Then the real work began. We spoke about differing media types (mobile or locative seemed to be the top two) and about a few companies (Blast Theory - a great find considering both Larissa and I are familiar with their work - and Avatar Body Collision - a find of my own and a great counterpoint to Blast Theory in a few ways). We also spoke on the potential of case studies and how this would work as a way to shrink the question further, or move in a different direction.

Potential Questions at this point are:
Immediacy in BT and ABC (case study)
BT vs ABC (case study) - evolution of media in digital performance over the last 10 years
Using 'Upstage' to create modern theatre
Immediacy and mobile media

I'm stuck as to where exactly to go for the moment, but Larissa gave me a bunch of books to read (one of which I've already been reading) and John shot me a few articles that contain potential theories to draw from.

Ben and I had a quick chat afterwards just to see how we both were travelling. Turns out we're both more confused but both happier at the same time. This honours journey is hitting the liminal stage with full force.

But that's enough for now. I have some reading to do or my team of Supervisors will be unimpressed..

Monday 25 March 2013

Tell it like it is

Today was a long day, with a split between Uni and work.

The Uni part was great. We discussed the Sarup article in depth and jostled with a few of the concepts within. That being said, we'd already done a fair bit of this online so it was really just rehashing old material.

Next up was going over the practices of the people we missed last week, which included a PR Practicioner, a Games Designer, a Photographer and myself, the Performing Artist. It was great to see Steven's photos, Kim's game (that was a real highlight) and Anissha's Executive Summary.

However, I really got a lot out of trying to explain theatre without the aid of a performance. All I had was an interview I'd put together when Suz and I first ran 'Connected'. We discussed the difference in audiences, my move to tech and my hatred of regular theatre - even that I don't regard myself as an actor, but rather an artist, and not in that Bohemian sense.

Anyhow, as always, the class ran over and I missed my chance to stick around for more due to work, but I've really got a handle on my precursor project. It will be a performance of sorts, probably a video about connectivity and physical proximity, asking the viewers to perform some tasks and then see what they thought about it. I'll likely use it as a small project, which will open up an exegesis to be completed as the semester closes. That way I can experiment with the form I'll likely employ next semester.

As a final note, I'm finally meeting my likely supervisor tomorrow and I'm really looking forward to it. I'll run my idea past whoever I end up with as a spare set of ears. It always helps to be honest and upfront. If you feel lost, displaced, angry or frustrated it's best to tell it like it is. That way it's out in the open and ready to be dealt with.

I'm tired. G'night.

Coconut Oil

Recently I was discussing with my brother the merits of an all-natural lifestyle. I've been a vegetarian for over eight years and I've recently quit smoking, so it seems like a good time to go all the way.

He was telling me about coconut oil, and how it can be used in pretty much everything - skin, hair, food - for only good. Liam's been using it for a while now and it is definitely working for him, so I thought I'd give it a go.

I put it into my hair and felt the difference almost immediately, but it wasn't amazing. Day one, my hair was oily. Day two, my hair was great. Day three, my hair was dry. Hmm..

I tried it on my skin. Same formula, only my skin became super dry, cracked and painful very quickly. More coconut oil only made it worse.

I tried it on my food. It all tasted better (I eat a lot of Asian-style food so that's no surprise) and aided my digestion.

Since the initial experiment I've read a bit more about the coconut oil. Turns out it isn't some miracle cure - like everything else, it works differently for different people.

How does this relate to Honours? Simple.

I have a lot of readings that people have given me. Some of them fit perfectly. Some of them have no use to me whatsoever and others have specific parts of great worth but are otherwise worthless to me. Others only work in conjunction with alternate readings.

What I'm trying to say here is that not everything is a miracle reading that will give you a huge epiphany and take you into the heart of your research project. The Sarup reading from Neal was a gateway reading for me: it brought nothing new to my knowledge but allowed new articles to head my way from reading it. Those new articles sparked my interest more directly: while it wasn't good for my 'skin', it was great for my digestion.

Crack open some coconuts, eat the flesh fresh, toss the shell. But remember to save the oil.

Sunday 24 March 2013

A very obligatory post...

This one is as the title implies, because I made a promise.

Anyhow, I managed to fire off a few comments and receive a few in return regarding the Sarup reading. Kim shot me a great article (thesis actually) which I had a chance to read a little of and Steven gave me some people (potentially) doing some Skype-based performing.

Pretty cool stuff guys!

I also had the fortune of passing some knowledge on to Ben (Boal works for him too) which is lovely.

In other news, I played voice for my ex-girlfriend's film project, spending my morning somewhere between Russian and American accents and trying to sync with a visual, which I happen to be pretty good at. She put four hours aside for the project and we did it in one, with most of that hour consisting of the two of us talking crap and making jokes.

Afterward we had tea and started talking about our projects. Katie's looking at granulated sound clouds (makes more sense when she tells you about it) and I'm looking at the spectrum of live-to-immediate (which sounds minute but is actually massive). I also laid a pet project on her (my extension of "Connected" with more video, live bodies and audience participation from within and without - kind of like Boal [Forum Theatre] meets Tamara Saulwick [especially Pin Drop] meets Uncle Semolina and Friends [Rupture] on crystal), asking Katie if she'd like to compose. She agreed, which is wonderful because she is great at what she does and we have that level of communication you can only have with someone you've been 100% intimate and honest with. She also told me I'm a natural for ADR and VO, which is great because I love doing it.

Another avenue to explore. When will I get the time!!

Anyhow, I'm wrecked but in a much better place mentally than yesterday. I also have the morning off so I have a little chance to get some more reading done. I'm also really looking forward to meeting my super (potential super) on Tuesday and starting to make some concrete inroads.

Whew! I gess this wasn't so obligatory after all. And remind me to share some of the videos (yes, I took videos) of my work today.

G'night.



Saturday 23 March 2013

Overworked

I have little to contribute today, except to thank my cohort.

I worked this evening (until 1am) and hosted my brother this morning, so in the way of Uni work I didn't have much time to get anything done. I quickly read the Sarap Reading ("Identity and Difference") that Neal gave us and wrote a little about it.

The discovery of "Otherness" and "viewing the self through the other" isn't very new to me (or to mankind for that matter), but it was nice to see it through fresh eyes.

What was nicer still were the posts Ben and Kim threw my way. Ben was supportive of my writing which was great considering I basically free-wrote (kind of like I do here) the first 300 odd words that came to me. Kim on the other hand reminded me of the late great Augusto Boal and his Forum Theatre.

Now me be me and being tricksy when it comes to words, I had an idea about Forum Theatre, but rather than using the live/co-present forum of Boal I was thinking instead of an Internet forum that bounced ideas around while (perhaps) live actors played them out. Alternately, the option of engaging all participants with streaming video and creating work that way, or even utilising 'Upstage' or the like. Perhaps a combination of all of the above, although I'm kind of leaning towards the middle option at the present.

Then again, it's half past one in the morning, I'm exhausted and I have to do ADR tomorrow at 10am for hour hours then work another 10 hours and I really want sleep and a good meal and sleep and time to study and sleep and a real day off and sleep and coffee and sleep and to do some interviews and beer and to quit this shitty job and sleep and sleep and you get the idea but I promised myself I'd write in here every day once or more times and I can't break a promise like that.

After Easter all will be right again.

Goodnight. And thanks again for the spark of inspiration Kim.

Thursday 21 March 2013

Strategising

Today we smashed our collective heads against the whiteboard, which happened to have a compass point system consisting of Qualitative, Quantitative, Experiential and Observational research methodologies.

After much brain bashing with the aid of a bunch of (photographed) daisies, I came to the conclusion that while big words are fun to use, some concepts are better off simplified:

Quantitative = Counting
Qualitative = Inferring
Experiential = Doing
Observational = Looking

With these definitions in place, it's much easier (for me) to see what's what regarding the compass. Qualitative seemed to be the hardest notion to grasp, but if it's just inference based on either looking or doing, that doesn't bother my brain that much.

It also makes sense of the readings most of us in the program select. We have a nice mix of Lookers and Doers, but not many of us care for Counting. That seems to be relegated to the more scientific studies. We all seem to be pretty keen on guessing, estimating and Inferring and this is where our creative minds seem to be leading.

Anyway, the rest of the class was focussed on a series of tools available to help make our research lives easier. I wrote them all down so that I could view them in my own time, then proceeded to purchase a new computer so that I could make the most of these discoveries.

When it comes to learning tech, I am rubbish at watching someone show me how it's done. Instead, I need to fumble my way around, accidentally discovering great shortcuts and awkwardly deleting data. I NEED TO DO IT MYSELF.

I guess that's the same for most things. I catch concepts pretty quickly, but unless I do things I can't seem to commit them to memory.

Anyway, that's my strategy based on strategising today. Time to see if my new toy is ready to play with.

Wednesday 20 March 2013

Putting it into practice

After the lecture today I went to the newsagency and picked up an A3 art book.

Following this I went home and pulled out my video camera. The picture quality is wonderful (1080i is okay by me) and the thing is easy to use. The only problem I have is that converting the files from my camcorder to my Mac is currently beyond me.

Instead, I'll have to start with my iEverything and work towards the camera - or perhaps use the camera to document another angle of what I'm doing.

Anyway, a few of the readings I've been doing have really been pushing my mind in a totally different direction, namely Susan Davis' "Liveness, mediation and immediacy" and her discussion about Susan Kozal (more on her later) and Blast Theory (more on them too).

It still isn't clear where I'm going exactly, but having commenced my documentation of my thoughts and process, I've at least got my own trajectory to follow and draw something out of.

It was also nice to hear Peter speak of the research process in a way I could really relate to. Now all that's left is doing it.

Practice makes perfect..?

Logging

Just a quick one so I don't forget.

Walked out of Peter Downton's lecture on practical research and man, do I need to log everything.

Dad gave me a video camera for Christmas (a really swell gift) and it's time to use it.

Tuesday 19 March 2013

Prince

I looked over at Simon's pile of readings and all of them were related to Prince.

The two of us got talking, laughing at some terrible songs but also speaking about the better efforts of a man who sold out 21 straight concerts just by giving away free albums.

Prince is on another level.

Anyway, Simon and I talked about our research problems and our backgrounds. He told me about progressive rock, the nature of the album and the demise of the album as a format. Instead, Simon argued, artists will forgo entire albums in place of singles alone (excuse the semi-pun).

Aside from being interesting, this relates to my work as well. Theatre needs to speed up, to shorten and to be available for a quick purchase. Theatre, in order to survive, needs to speed up and be readily accessible.

I told Simon about Alfred Jarry, Yves Klein, Marina Abramovic, Richard Schechner, Elizabeth LeCompte, Forced Entertainment, La Fura Dels Baus. A rich history of experimental theatre that nobody but theatre lovers and theatre historians know about.

I told Simon about the legend, the death, of my artform.

As I explained it too him, I felt a strange sense of peace, but also a sense of anger and abandonment. Much that I have loved over the last ten years is leaving. Like a lover that isn't healthy for you, you don't want it/her to go, but you know if it/her stays you'll never grow.

I believe I'm in a very liminal place.

I left class and rode to see my brother for some physical training, then met up with Suz and her brother for some drink and conversation. But since I wasn't drinking, I felt like I needed to be somewhere else.

I'm liminal in every aspect of life right now. Not uncomfortable.

Liminal.

Wouldn't mind seeing some purple rain.

Monday 18 March 2013

Digital Ethnography - welcome home

I'd never heard of it either. I knew of each piece individually but had never realised the two existed together.

(There is a lot I don't know.)

Adrian put me on to these guys last week and today, in the middle of Neal's class, I got a bite. Ben and I were sitting next to each other, talking about really similar concepts (he hates 'clicktivism' and is looking to re-engage the youth into voting while I hate serial downloaders and am looking to re-engage the youth towards theatre) and also talking about the fact that the more we read, the more our minds are changing.

(I realise this is diverging but please stay with me here.)

Listening to Ben speak, I was struck by how similar we both are. Not as people, even though we do seem to have a lot of those shared basics, but as researchers. Our minds follow similar wavelengths. We respond in similar manners. We both are tracing along the same path, even though our starting points are different.

Anyway, I was sharing a great reference with Ben (Jason Farman's "Mobile Interface Theory: Embodied Space and Locative Media" - Chapter 5 is of particular interest to myself, but Chapter 6 is good and Chapter 3 is a great point for both Ben and I) and he was talking me through an essay he wrote a couple of years back when my email pinged and it was from the Digital Ethnographers, asking if Ben and I both would be keen for a meet.

I was chuffed. I'm kind of hanging out for some supervision. While I'm narrowing my question down daily, I'm a little worried I might be distancing myself from a research centre/faction.

Another aside: speaking in Neal's class today about potential slices of our questions to research, I spoke about my concept of delivering a presentation to half the class in person and half the class via streaming video. Neal shot out a few other ideas (pre-recording the whole thing, delivering the entirety without being physically present) and spoke of a fellow he knew that did a whole host of video stuff from all over I thought might be exciting to explore.

Regardless, I looked at the DERC (Digital Ethnography Research Centre) and I felt right at home. Larissa (one of the Dr's we'll be meeting) is all up in my space and all across Asia (somewhere I'm very keen to explore). There is a guy she's working with (Redfern) who happens to be doing some amazing stuff; a lady below him on the people list who is keyed in to some pretty tricky things and a Japanese girl using physical performance to engage social change.

In case you couldn't tell, I'M REALLY F@#$ING EXCITED ABOUT THIS!!!

I also think I might have found a new home...

Sunday 17 March 2013

Finding Gold

It's strange the stuff you find when you're looking for something else.

While I was looking through my old work to dig something up for Neal's class tomorrow, I came across an interview I'd written up between myself and Suz regarding a short piece we did recently. It highlighted a lot of the stuff I'm keen on exploring in my research and it was the first tentative step either of us had taken toward our goals of uniting live action with digital media.

Coming from theatre, it's really hard to find 'examples' of work. I have photos of a few pieces. I have scripts covered in highlighter marks and pencil scrawls. I have props and costume pieces I've collected from shows. I have memories and notes from cast and crew. But I don't really have anything tangible that I can show anyone else.

It's really strange. So many people have long resumes and can provide folios of work, but I have a huge resume with nothing attached. Theatre is so immediate as to leave only memory, which distorts even as it fades. Watching a film of a theatrical performance is nothing close to the real thing, and usually quite naff.

I guess I'm looking for a way to make this not the case anymore. It won't be theatre in the traditional sense, but it certainly won't be film (which is nice, because I hate watching myself back). It will be new, but I don't know what it will be yet or what form it will take.

What matters is that I found something old that will help me make something new.


Saturday 16 March 2013

Sleep Deprivation

Aside from being a great song, I'm a constant sufferer. It also seems like a great excuse to not do some work.

"Oh, I'm pretty tired. I'm not going to absorb anything so I might as well watch some television and go to bed."

The problem here is that you end up staying up late watching your program and the cycle continues. By the time you've realised where you are, it is way too late to make anything up in the way of progress.

When I had scripts to learn I would read a little every day, at varying points of the day and in varying states, drunk, exhausted, well fed, rested, whatever. Sometimes it would feel like I'd made no progress and other times it felt easy. However, what became apparent is that on show night I would never have issues, regardless of how strung out I was from overwork or sleep deprivation.

This is a key method I offer to everyone. It's really unlikely that you'll be in the perfect zone for information absorption every day, especially if you have commitments outside of study and general well being (employment, partners and social lives just to name a few).

You will get tired, sick, run down, angry, sad and hungry. But I you know how to access your brain when you're not in peak form, imagine what you're capable of when you are?

Another side effect of this kind of working method is that different states prompt different styles of thought. I write more creatively when I smoke. I write better music under the influence. I'm really pleasant when I'm hungover and I'm the best audience when I'm sleep deprived.

There is always a point too far, but before that spot is reached, it's a valuable experience to see what works for you when - and what doesn't.

Off to cook, read and nap.

Blank

I had nothing yesterday. I worked, went out for Korean food and killed time with a nice young lady. But after it all, I felt something was missing.

At about 10:30pm, I received a push notification (ask me what that was six weeks ago and there would be a very blank face looking back at you) from Neal Haslem via Podio, informing me I had written a concise reply and asking for more information on a throwaway comment I'd made in there somewhere. THAT made me excited.

Am I nuts? When the company of a good woman and a full belly does nothing but leave me feeling empty, and my major stimulation comes from pushing my brain and conversing via the technology I think I hate, is this wrong, or am I evolving?

Either way this needs some unpacking.

Thursday 14 March 2013

Distillation

Alright, so this one is a little left of centre. After class today, I had coffee (decaf - I'm off caffeine) with a friend who was quitting smoking. I've only recently quit so and I was discussing quitting with a couple of the lads in class today (Ben, who quit earlier this year, and Steven, who was chewing on some nicotine gum as we spoke) and I forgot to tell my friend about our discussion.

Why did I forget that? It was only two hours before and it was directly relevant.

It was because we had a very stimulating class. Over our coffees, we discussed what we'd done in the day. My companion is a final year chemical engineer and, having studied chemistry at university level in a previous life, I found her input intriguing, especially about the construction of distillation chambers. She in turn found my rambles about different arts research methodologies and knowledge claims equally fascinating, quizzing me about my ideas for a presentation I'm preparing for Neal's class.

The two of us left with plans for a future meeting, she to return to a graduate employment seminar and myself to see my personal trainer (for the first time ever) - who just happened to be my brother.

At his gym, we went over a series of mobility screens. Liam (my brother) is a big guy, but he doesn't try to 'smash' his clients until their ready for it. Turns out I was the most physically balanced person to enter the gym thus far, so we got straight down to training.

I've never been keen on the gym, but just seeing the library across the back wall inspired me. Healthy mind, healthy body, and my brother is an obvious proponent of that maxim.

After the session we spoke about our days and compared the training and how it relates to learning in general - a teacher gets your measure, starts you off and then starts giving you more to work with, along with more freedom. The ideas filter out at different levels, and knowing how your body, your mind, your distillation chamber works makes for better application of these concepts.

This brought me back exactly to a big discovery in today's class. Adrian was talking about the two 'styles' that present within research papers, and I could only liken it to something that I'm experienced with - juggling.

The average onlooker likes pretty tricks. Most of these tricks are simple to do and to some degree bore the juggler, but that doesn't matter - it's how he entertains his audience. The tricks the juggler likes to do are difficult but far less flashy. The average onlooker is unimpressed but a fellow juggler will stop to watch an artist in motion.

When it comes to writing a paper, the same concept holds. You need to speak to the layman, to engage the 'average onlooker' and not risk alienating a potential new fan. In fact, if you're entertaining and engaging enough, you might create fellow jugglers, new researchers. But it's important not to neglect the seven-ballers, as what you're exploring is based in their tradition and the skills they have passed down to you. If you want to truly pay homage to the greats, you name them, draw from them and in turn create the new, because without them, you wouldn't be innovative at all.

A hugely roundabout way of learning a lesson, but a very important lesson to learn.

Just a juggler distilling his trick bag.

Wednesday 13 March 2013

Honourifics

New name, new direction. Finally I'm starting to wrap my head around this new tech - and it's becoming a little addictive.

Aside from that I spent my day at work, but thinking about my potential project. I'm really feeling I'd like to create something and I have a huge idea for what it is. While I was washing dishes at home I heard a song ("Sempiternal/Amaranth" by School of Seven Bells) that would be great as a backdrop for the piece. It's about three steps after the first piece I did in this series ("Connected" with Suz Stevens at Monash Uni), but I could probably do an exploratory effort that lies somewhere in between?

Alternately, I could use this year to rip into a thesis that could be the starting point for my PhD research - and explore the next stages as a growth process of this (as far as I can tell) new way of working.

Legs On The Wall, The Wooster Group, Forced Entertainment, La Fura Dels Baus... all of these groups take what's there, pull it apart and reassemble it in unusual ways. But somehow, it all seems a little stuck in the 90's, or for the fellow theatre lovers, a little postmodern.

I guess what I'm trying for is the next step, the next wave. It's not about destroying, or collage or the denial of originality. It's about creating, uniting and sharing across space and time. It's a tough ask but it's alive and it's not a selfish pursuit - that's the main thing.

But in order to do it I have to start small. I'm in the process of refining, and it looks a lot more like "Immediacy in multimedia" than the initial question I had in mind. The future starts with now and now is the media age.

No time like the present!

Tuesday 12 March 2013

Welcome to Week 2

Feeling a little behind the eight-ball upon entering this week, having missed out on a class yesterday due to public holiday (great for pay, not for studies).

That said I'm up-to-date if not exactly flying ahead. I think the addition of a Supervisor to my project will be of great help.

Anyway, spent the first half of today ploughing through a couple of general readings and one very specific one - Susan Davis, "Liveness, mediation and immediacy" in Research in Drama Education: The Journal of Applied Theatre and Performance, 17.4: 501-516.

Davis' article helped me separate out some ideas that were confusing me a little regarding my own question, which is very close to her work. It also gave me a few options for further refining my question to a more manageable level. I think I'll read it again (I have a habit of reading readings twice) now that I've got the gist of what it was about. Thanks to the wonderful Anna T Scheer for sending this one my way.

The middle of the day was a roundabout discussion of the cultural milieu via religion. It was interesting and fun, but took me a while to figure out where it was heading. Once reached though, the destination was not unfamiliar territory and I'm looking forward to creating a map of the postmodern theatrical landscape. I'm also excited to investigate the practice of some of my influences and see where we diverge.

Anyway, I really needed something that wasn't work and wasn't research to keep me sane, so I went down to the beach (it was 37 degrees) and floated around in the water for a while. The ocean always helps me think and this time was no exception.

All in all a busy and illuminating day.

Peace.

Monday 11 March 2013

Asking for help works

I did a little bit of work the usual way - by jumping on the computers at Uni and entering a few key terms - and got lucky, stumbling across the relative god of my research sector, a man by the name of Philip Auslander.

I pulled a couple of readings out and had a skim over them, then tried a couple of other sources. The two best resources I've found for initial readings are lecturers and facebook.

Wait... Facebook?

I messaged Mr Auslander himself and he actually wrote back to me, directing me to his website and assuring me if it could be made into a pdf, he'd help me out.

Don't be afraid to ask anyone for help.

As for my prior lecturers, I shot out a couple of emails and now I'm holding a list of six articles and books, as well as the email of a fellow researcher in the creative arts who lives in Melbourne and is currently practicing in the realm of liveness and immediacy in performance.

And now, all I have to do is read a small phonebook of information that may or may not be relevant - but at least I'm getting help from some pretty good sources!

Techno overload

So I'm a little bit old school. I don't really do tech, but this flood of new stuff is actually pretty interesting.

That said, I feel like I'm not really connecting with anyone in a meaningful way, and I'm actually losing daylight spending so much time staring at screens, typing.

It does however make my physical interactions more powerful in a way. At least the customers at my workplace are being treated with some sort of care..

The safety of online commenting

Here I am, lying in bed, with no fear of having to confront someone with my opinion. You could say anything you like to me but because we're not in person, it doesn't really mean anything to me.

Perhaps I'm old fashioned but unless you're prepared to say it to my face, I'm not interested. The same holds in reverse too, no double standards.

Sleep tight.

Computers

Such a pain trying to figure out all of this web stuff when you've spent almost thirty years going nowhere near it!

Anyway, I think I work best in the mornings - at least on mornings I have free. I also think that working the same day as Uni isn't the best idea.

Friday 8 March 2013

Time to kick off

So I've never really done this whole blogging thing, but considering I've spent most of my morning trying to set up a website (and I have no HTML knowledge <b> whatsoever <b>) I figured I'd get on one of these prefabricated things for the meantime.

Off to see a guy about a website build so I'll keep you posted.