Category: Unlectures

Unlecture No. 4

arthurcortez on

I was glad to see the kind of evolution that this subject had turned out, with the symposium being successful this week. We had moved on and are now tackling the content provided in last week’s readings, ultimately with the tutors reiterating what we had opened up in the tutorials and allowing the students to make comments…as some people had done already.

Upon committing to last week’s readings, I had assumed that design fiction was a design process that allowed scientists and inventors to break the bonds of constraints today. However, it has been clarified in the unlecture that it is in fact, incorporated to most professions in the known community; medical, architectural only amongst those given examples.

“What do you think your job will look like in 2020?” was one of the questions posed by Adrian, in explaining the concept of the topic. Except design fiction is not about forecasting the future, but assessing the present and creating possibilities with tools like “How will I make money?” and “Who will pay me?” The example of the dwindling business in wedding photo/videography was provided and perfectly encapsulated the concept that was being spelled out to us. As the random guy in the crowd said, one could not look too far into the future without looking at the problems of today. So a part of the process is to absorb the constituents and to create an abstract interpretation of solutions to these socialist ‘problems’.

I don’t know what kind of future is laid ahead, but I am learning  how to take advantage of anything thrown at me. Ultimately, it is a game of “imagined futures” (Elliot) that requires speculative thinking to take on new approaches.

Unlecture No. 3

arthurcortez on

This is likely to become a rant instead of the usual posts…

Frankly, I have just about reached my limit of hearing complaints about the subject. A majority of the unlecture was spent by Adrian addressing the “statement posed as a question” regarding the uselessness of the unlectures. Considering that these forums are supposedly propelled by the content on our blog posts, I can only begin to imagine the negativity on the blogs of my peers. I don’t really understand how people continue to question and be confused by the structure (or lack thereof) of the subject. My initial interpretation of the forum was to open up the readings to the space, not the consistent, insecure defense of the subject’s importance.

Although Elliot and Jasmine were able to share their take-away on the readings, it was pushed back to the last 10 minutes of the unlecture. I suppose it may be a case of double-loop learning in re-tackling the issues we faced two weeks ago, during the introduction process. But this isn’t double…more like fourth loop including the weekly tutorials.

This would officially be the first time I opposed the forum. I do hope we can all move on next week, far away from the usual wingeing of my fellow classmates.

Unlecture No. 2

arthurcortez on

“We are at the precipice of a revolutionary change in media and communications.”

Those final words still ring in my head from the afternoon’s unlecture and I knew I just had to get this post out of the way. Although the entirety of the hour was spent answering the (mostly vague) questions of my anonymous peers, it was the last question that seemed to penetrate whatever pre-existing knowledge of the media course I had. Despite me not asking a question (and my mummy taught me never to say anything unreasonable), thoughts still buzzed in my head from the unending regurgitation of nuanced methods in modern media.

The term revolution, not to be taken lightly, captures the not-so-gradual transformation of the way we live today. Things that are deemed worthy and particularly essential to the development of society no longer comes from a single source that was once controlled by a specific group of people. Nowadays, information comes from anyone regardless of gender or social markings. Anyone can write anything on the internet and the fact that we are on these student blogs do make us the “vanguards” that Adrian described.

A big responsibility comes with this, just as we are responsible for what we publish on our digital portfolios. For me, being born in a world of technology, this was a thing I had taken for granted, to the point where I was shocked to be told not to use laptops, Ipads or phones during the unlecture.

Did I mention I was using my smartphone for this blog post?