Welcome to the Symposium

So today (finally) saw our official introduction into the symposium styled lecture… So how did it go?

Overall, the concept ran smoothly and while it didn’t quite make the dramatic impression on me that I thought it would (maybe as a result of three weeks’ worth of hype), I enjoyed the free flowing conversation that ran between the tutors as they bounced ideas off each other. I also thought it was a very welcome change to have students be able to participate in the discussion, whoever though such a thing would happen?

That’s enough from me about the structure of the symposium; now let’s move on to content. I struggled to maintain attention at all times, as I was mostly distracted by the sudden return of my Gastro an hour prior to the lecture (I really should rename this blog to ‘A Blog About Someone with Gastro Trying to Navigate His Way Through Networked Media’…. A bit too wordy?), however there was one point raised that stuck with me in particular. One of the questions posed was ‘as content producers, is it more important to speculate far into the future or pay more attention to the present?’. I was interested by this question when Adrian first posted it, as it was the biggest query I had in relation to Networked Media. In my creative work I’ve always strived to voice experiences common to the world but which are rarely documented, hoping to engage with an audience who can hopefully relate to my work. While Design Fiction is an incredibly fascinating practise, I have questioned its relevance to me. Jasmine and a voice from the audience did however really articulate what I now strongly believe that design fiction should always be a projection of the future which is deeply rooted in the present, as well as clarifying that Design Fiction isn’t necessarily about looking decades into the future but can merely be looking beyond today.

So with that in mind, I’m off to see if I can apply Design Fiction to my usual style of work. Wish me luck 🙂

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