Deakin HDR Journal - Scheduled for Completion 18/ 8/ 2024

OCTOBER 6 - Selected Verbs HDR Seminar

This was the first Deakin Creative Arts Research Symposium I have attended.

Researcher Angela Dew talked about ‘Body Mapping’ with people with intellectual disabilities. This looked like a great way to connect people to their bodies and talk about how they felt in the moment.

I had trouble connecting with the rest of the presentations, I think it is going to take me a bit of time to reconnect my brain to comprehend the dense academic theory.

SEPTEMBER 10 - Supervisor Meeting with Rea and Stefan

We discussed timelines and goals for the first part of my PhD up to colloquium.

Rea suggested getting in contact with Colin Savage to discuss software licences that I might need.

AUGUST 19 - Cohort 34 Induction Session

This was an overview of the upcoming journey into PhD land. 

Interactive Websites

PLAYABLEWEB.COM is our very own interactive website where we are experimenting with art created by kids!

There are heaps of other playful interactive websites out there, here are a few (click on the screenshot to go to the site), please let us know if you’ve seen a great interactive website out there!

Chrome Music Lab

Start making music with these simple composition tools

eSlap

Sometimes you just have to slap someone with a fish!

Pointer Pointer

This site will find a pointer to point at your pointer

Cat Bounce

Bounce a cat or two!

Nooooooooooo.com

No, just No!

Interpersonal Touch Musical Interfaces

Collecting some of the experiments in the field of interpersonal touch based musical interfaces.

Sound and Cardboard

Working with motors, string, paper and cardboard Swiss artist Zimoun makes amazing installations that dramatically change spaces both sonically and visually.

www.zimoun.net

Colouring in Kingston

I came across this project today called Colouring in Kingston. It has been created by Kingston School of Arts students Izzi Toovey and Josephine Miller. They are digitally recolouring childrens’ drawings and presenting them on Instagram.

It is especially interesting as I am seeking ways of collaborating with participants in this post COVID world. Playable Streets has created Playable Web as a platform for somewhat similar collaborations. Kidstruments and Exquisite Stories are two works that we are currently presenting based on works that had been developed pre-COVID.

One thing that we have found has been the most tricky part of these collaborations are the instructions! Here are the instructions for Colouring in Kingston. They are clear but quite a large document.

It will be interesting to see how this sort of collaboration evolves and develops in the future.

A picture by 10 year old Josh (right), and the digitally coloured version created as part of Colouring in Kingston.

The images are being used to create posters for Kingston Council to ‘spread messages of health, wellbeing and our environment’

Playtronica - Touch interfaces and performance

The Russian / French company Playtronica is definitely the most prolific creators of touch-based musical installations. They currently have two devices that they sell that allow anyone to create the kind of work that they put into public spaces (or perform in concert settings).

This blog post will grow over time as I develop a greater understanding of their work and look at examples of their performances and novel uses of their devices (Touch Me and Playtron).

Playtronica at the Pompidou

Playtronica created this performance piece in collaboration with Arte Radio at the Centre Pompidou. It is a re-imagining of György Ligeti’s music and inspired by the Endless Column sculpture b y Constantin Brâncuși in the background.

The passers-by had to, step onto Playtronica-wired floor, and touch the skin of the “columns”. Thus, by spontaneous interaction of strangers, a new interpretation of a famous masterpiece was born.

‘Inclusive’ testing of their installation at the Pompidou

They Say / I Say

PREFACE

They Say / I Say by Gerald Graff and Cathy Birkenstein

Just starting this book and I can see how useful it will be as I begin my writing for this PhD. It Suggests a series of templates can be the way to open up academic writing and show it’s workings (without making it formulaic).

Basically, I have to summarise the “They Say” to set up my argument (“I Say”)

Check out the They Say I Say blog HERE

Some Logical principles of argument not covered in the book (but worth an investigation)

• Syllogisms: An argument that arrives at a conclusion based on two or more propositions :

  “All men are mortal. Socrates is a man. Therefore, Socrates is mortal.”

• Warrants: The reason the evidence supports a claim. Or the reason the evidence is trustworthy and therefore your argument is built on a solid foundation of fact.

• Logical Fallacies: Basically this is errors in the facts. They can be spotted due to a lack of evidence or misuse of statistics for example. Just think of Donald Trumps’ use of coronavirus statistics.

• Inductive Reasoning: This starts with facts and works it’s way to a conclusion through more of an explorative process. It may be a way to generate a hypothesis from a series of facts rather than using those facts to prove a hypothesis.

• Deductive Reasoning: Starts with a theory or hypothesis and works its way towards a conclusion based on evidence. For example, my hypothesis is that technology can be used to create engaging interactive experiences. If I can provide examples and evidence that supports this I can deduce (Mr Watson) that technology indeed can be used to create engaging interactive experiences.

'Touch': A panel discussion about the use of touch in performance, led by Jane McLean, Ruth Spencer and Laura Blake

A panel discussion about the use of touch in performance, led by Jane McLean, Ruth Spencer and Laura Blake.

I particularly found the work of Laura Blake interesting for my research on touch interaction and accessibility.

Laura Blake:

• Visual Artist creating work that can be touched and interacted with.

• Co-design is part of her practice, audiences test ideas around works.

• Works with neurodiverse audiences.

• It’s important they have the experience they want to have with it.

• “Objects become a tool for communication between people.”

THE SOCIALLY DISTANCE FUTURE OF TOUCH:

• Do we need to think about changing the art materials?

• Continue to advocate for touch, don’t forget about it.

• Touch language of the supporting adult is very important.

Artwork by Laura Blake

Artwork by Laura Blake

Oily Cart Interview with Joanna Grace

Joanna Grace is an artist, academic and writer creating work and writings about people with profound and multiple learning disabilities.

Some of the issues discussed:

• Creating sensory theatre for multiple layers of work for people of all intelects.

• Talks about vestibular sense stimulation ie moving through space as a participant.

• Peri Hand space is an extra sensory ‘helper’

• “Shutting up can be a powerful thing”

• Talked about sensory rooms and ways they can be successful or unsuccessfull

Sensory Being for Sensory Beings by Joanna Grace

Haptography: Digitizing our sense of touch

The Science of Touch

Skin based interface from MIT researchers