M 25-Jan Internet Invention Chapter 3 (72-94): “Home and Family”
- Discuss: Part Two “Family Discourse”
W 27-Jan Shelley Jackson: my body—a Wunderkammer(1997) and The Doll Games (2001)
- → Instructions for “Inventory” page here.
R 28-Jan Screening:Sink or Swim (Dir. Friedrich, 1990) & Hide and Seek (Dir. Friedrich, 1996)
F 29-Jan Discuss: Mediating Family-Memory-Home Online Discussion (see below)
- Due: “Inventory” Page created and updated (notes through week 3 “in progress”)
Pages on Ulmer’s supplementary site for Chapter 3:
The Antlers – Shiva – A Take Away Show from La Blogotheque on Vimeo.
Instructions for “Inventory” Page
- Dashboard → “Pages” → “Add New”
- Title: (Inventory, Lessons, etc. — your choice)
- Body/Text Field:
- Heading & Section for Internet Invention
- If you’d like a solid line to separate, type “< h r >” without quotes or spaces.
- Heading & Section for “Relays”
- New Media: Sunshine ‘69, Waves/Girls, S.Jackson, etc.
- Films: Y tu mamá también, Virgin Suicides, Friedrich, etc.
- External/Personal Media/Culture (film, TV, books, music, visual art)
- Click Publish
Instructions for making Sub-Pages (for the “Relay” notes instead of sections on one page)
- Dashboard → “Pages” → “Add New”
- Title: (“Relay: New Media”)
- Add Body Text
- On Right sidebar → “Attributes” → “Parent” :
- Choose “Inventory” (or whatever you’ve named page)
- Click Publish
- Add Link(s) to your “Inventory” Page:
- (click “Edit” page)
- “Relay: New Media” (add hyperlink with the new page URL)
- “Relay: Film”
- “Relay: Personal”
- (if created: “Lessons: Ulmer” for example)
- Click Update
∴ Now you know how to create pages and sub-pages!
Friday 29-Jan Discussion
- Required (for attendance/participation)
- 1st comment — Due: 2pm (feel free to post earlier!
- 2nd comment (reply) — Due: 4pm (additional replies due 9pm)
In a comment below:
- first, post one specific lesson or instruction from any of this week’s material (Chp 3, S. Jackson’s sites, Hide and Seek; include your rationale, with consideration of Project 1 (both components). This item can/should be from your “Inventory” of instructions — whether conceptual or stylistic (web design and writing/composition).
- e.g. from The Virgin Suicides, include types of media & mediation; this shows historical context/period and reminds how experience and memory relate with media.
- later, post a reply to a classmate’s comment; try to articulate praxis for the project — concretely, with an example or technical idea for web design.
- For example, one might reply to my idea above with this advice: “include images of audio and video cassette tapes, of old technology like TV and typewriter, and of paper media like books/comics, journals, drawings.”
Alternatively, feel free to discuss/debate the rationale — referring to textbook and notes when necessary, and always considering our “operating principle” — electracy is a new mode of thought and expression, to be invented through experiments and “relays.” In this case, comments must be productive and respectful in order to receive credit; remember that we are collaborating to invent the new expression this term!
- Note: Discussion Parameters
- We need to derive instructions from all four items this week; if necessary, I will “close” discussion of items so that we cover all.
- Once someone posts a specific lesson, this can not be posted for credit (which would be the same as repeating someone’s point in class!). Instead, if you’ve thought a lot about this lesson, reply to the initial comment and engage with the rationale in terms of praxis.
- On this note, feel free to post follow-up comments to group members from Wednesday (e.g. elaborate, clarify, remind).
- Additional replies (after first required one) will receive extra credit for participation; two maximum (for credit), due by 9pm.
I had trouble relating to film, Hide and Seek , on a personal level. But I feel like it tied into this week’s concept from Ulmer, the endocept, which he described as ‘personal/private glimmerings’ on p.89. I feel like the girls personal experiences in the moment and retrospectively were conveyed in way that was very exposed and uninhibited. This, to me, allowed the viewer (who’s removed from the story), to become aware of what the girls experienced or went through even if without understanding their point of view personally.
The film we watched today (Hide and Seek) was a film that I was suprisingly able to relate to on a personal level. It definitely wasn’t the gay aspect, but the part where each women were talking about the strange feelings they got through puberty. It is definitely a tough time for girls and this was also expressed in “The Body” hypertext as well as “The Virgin Suicides” film.
So, instructions for our praxis? Include “private moments” uninhibited (uncensored by our superego); express the “strange feelings” of earlier time(s) of our lives?
What will this stylistic approach look like in the new mode of expression? (electracy)
Oral : “Confession” : to confidante (Priest, sibling, etc); conversation.
Literate : Journal entry (or Novel) : to one’s self (individual subject/author); chronicle / record.
Electrate : ___________ ?
towith _____? (collective? assemblage?)I related to Hide and seek on a personal level. Just as you said, it was the wasn’t the gay aspect, but I found this connection with the women and their childhood. I grew up like a BOY; my sister was way too old and so my brother and our best friend David were the only two kids to play with. Just like the little girl from the movie, getting my period was nightmare for me and I hated myself at some point because neither my brother nor David had periods.
I also find a especial connections between this movie and The Body hypertext; in both of them puberty is the time to discover your body parts and sensations. This film and The Body were easier to understand but I find the Doll Games hypertext and Virgin Suicides harder to relate to. I see the film as an autobiography and each scenes represents what this women are trying to explain, their thoughts and feelings during puberty. So is the case of The Body, Jackson explains how she felt about her body.
I would like to have on my website a MAP, just like The Body, it makes it easier to navigate and more interactive.
I totally agree with Paridhie Patel about identifying with the girls going through puberty and feel uncomfortable with it. It is very hard to be a girl and going through so many changes and knowing that most of your friends still havent experienced any of it.
As I was watching the film (Hide and Seek) it was like I was seeing the new media novel These Waves of Girls (2001) by Caitlin Fisher in real life! Everything that was discussed in this sort of documentary was exactly what happened in each hyperlink of the online novel. I am starting to see a trend of sex and lesbian/gay aspects in the online reading’s as well as the film’s. Is there suppose to be a third meaning to this? Whether a girl that is going through puberty is a lesbian or not; there are very many struggles we go through to become a “woman” and on that aspect I did relate with the characters. I think as the characters were starting to realize they were lesbians they were getting closer to defining themselves as a person and finding their image of widescope.
Heather,
Completely agree with the connection to These Waves of Girls and the general trend of a woman’s sexual identity in our readings. Also, I think a component of the movie we fail to recognize is the black n’ white aspect. Hide and Seek was produced in 1996, yet made completely with no color. Maybe their exists irony of how these women don’t perceive life as purely black n’ white. Black n’ white representing the norm or distinct roles established by society.
On another note, I agree that most women and obviously males in the class are unable to relate to the lesbian component in the film. Most fail to recognize, but sexual identity formation plays a significant role in all children. Straight children see their coming of age to be normal and accepted. Gay children are confused, hurt, reject themselves, denial, etc. And maybe even a straight female/male can recall having a small crush or perhaps even the development of feelings towards another female/male (most will never, ever admit it).
And maybe the personal lesson and addition to our own widescope (if not already acquired) are a few of the struggles that females, especially gay females, have to endure internally and externally as they push through the harsh criticism of children. Let that movie expand class knowledge away from the traditionally of straight relationships and thoughts.
You pointed out a significant component of the film that many may have overlooked. The director may have made the film in black and white for a number of reasons, but I think he/she may be trying to highlight the notion that many do percieve people as simply either gay or straight, and not look past that. Although, I have not personally experienced it, I can understand the struggles that females endure as they go through puberty. I can not however connect with gay children being “confused, hurt, reject themselves, denial, etc” I look at homosexuality as a characterisic that people are born with. Although, people may grow up straight and become gay, I believe it is a characteristic they were born with similiar to being tall, short, blonde, etc. If a person feels confused, hurt, reject, denial, etc about being too short, too tall, too blonde, or anything else out of the norm of society, then I will agree with you that they would for being gay also, but for now I believe that it is just a characterisitc that they choose to express. In conclusion, I do not believe that all people who are gay are confused, hurt, reject themselves, denial etc in this era. Maybe a few decades ago, when social normalities and expectancies were more strict and not as liberal or openminded, but not now in this decade.
Crucial to remember that we are not interpreting nor (least of all) presenting arguments, as neither is generative toward invention (keep in mind experiment, especially our method).
Belief : Judgment = Morality / Ideology : Religion / “Politics” Oral
Reason : Judgment = Empirical (“verifiable”) : Science, School : Literate
Body/Nature : Experience (pleasure/pain axis) : Aesthetics (Art, Literature, Music) : Electrate
See full apparatus chart from Ulmer here (more on this coming soon).
→ Q. how to “think with” experience, in mode of body/nature?
Hypothesis: attunement (“default mood” or stance, plus intuition).
To try and limit personal bias, I shall respond in accordance to Gary’s discussion requests:
Default mood as viewer: nonconformist; rebellion (whether it be positive or negative)
Default mood as woman on-set: acceptance; reflection; relief’; appreciation
Intuition is to view the women and their experiences as alternative. Maybe self-realization of the bias one might hold and/or a stimulation of memories once suppressed.
Perception and knowledge varies from the different developments of each individual’s mystory… Can a true lesbian appropriately represent the straight community? Vice Versa.
My mom was born in the 1950s, so I grew up on old school music, like the Supreme’s featuring Diana Ross whom were featured twice in the movie, “Hide and Seek” twice. I have this notion that every emotion can be expressed in a song and I think the director definitely used that as an ‘entertainment’ cue to reflect Lu’s affection for her friend…”Stop, in the name of love before you break my heart.” I think all of us can relate to This simple statement whether straight or LGQBT.
Important observation and a potential lesson for our poetics.
Setting aside everything from the Judgment paradigms (Belief/Morality and Reason/Science),
—”we’re too busy singing / To put anybody down.“—
we ask “What is this feeling of the song — of singing along with and pantomiming the gestures of the other girls in this moment?” (or dancing together in the concluding scene) — pure experience
Hypothesis: to compose with this feeling in our work, a new mode of thought and expression…?
Think it o-o-verrrr…..
The theme that kept popping into my head throughout the film Hide and Seek was the theory of community within a popcycle. The characters throughout their interviews always compared their “different” affinities to those of their peers and to the norms of society, making them feel as if there was something wrong with them.
Julia,
I totally agree. I think the society aspect was definitely there. It was rather different since they kept comparing themselves, so i think that in project, including comparisons to others and seeing how you felt differently would be an interesting addition. You can use school, city, or another form of small-ish community.
I totally agree with the two of you. I don’t knwo if you girls noticed the fact that the tall and blonde girl kind of compared herlsef with the other girl, the one who wanted to be an actress. Also, it was interesting to see the Lu’s physical attraction for her friends. Each character, I feel, was portrayed different to show us how society is constructed.
As Julia said, the popcycle is a vital tool used in this film. Girls personalities were shaped according to their families backgrounds and their memories.
I agree with your statement. I would also like to point out how they asked one of the females about if she ever wanted to or thought about being a guy so that it would be more “accepted” for her to like girls. Even though she stated no, this reminded me of Sigmund Freudian theory of “Penis Envy” in which a female secretly wanted a penis or wanted to know how it would feel to have a penis.
Phillip I totally agree with the comparison of penis envy I am currently taking a class called marriage and families and there are so many more things I notice with these sort of films and media. The world today is becoming more and more accepting of LGBTQ people and their lifestyles and this has some kind of effect on everyone whether they label them self with these communities or not. In my project I would like to be able to take a closer look at everything around me and see how is effects me directly.
I had trouble reading the “Doll Games” hypertext. I personally think that the structure of the webite makes it very hard to read. It is not as interactive as the ones we read before; therefore, the reader cannot control the perspectives from which he views it. Thus, one of the things that I will take into consideration for my project is to keep the navigation (structure) as simple as possible.
I also had trouble reading the Doll Games. My Body was easier to read and understand, as it was constructed from a main page, which had a a drawing of a body, with the body parts labeled. Through clicking each individual body part, we were able to learn about the girl and begin to understand her. On the pages of the individual body parts, some words were hypertexted, but for the most part lead you back to another body part, in a way which I was able to follow. I believe the image of the body, and the parts labeled were a strong point in understanding the interactive literature. The fact that it was easy to navigate, and retrace your steps also made it stronger.
Yeah right, I think the fact that each story in The Body can stand alone, makes it easier to read. For example, I tried to focus on reading the 5 senses+the Brain and it made my reading much more enjoyable and interesting. I agree with you that the parts labeled were a strong point in understanding the interactive literature. Also, the composed photographs help a lot to think beyong the reading, let your imagination flow and somehow portray yourself in the same situation to see how you will react/feel
The Doll Games by S. Jackson presents an alternate scene to the traditional activity of young girls playing with their dolls. The status-quo of this innocent play (including all their limbs, fully clothed, playing traditional girl/boy rolls) is completely abolished. For most of us, The Doll Games sway greatly have our childhood experiences and memories with doll playing. The friction/drama/soap-opera storyline of Doll Games plays to the entertainment side of a popcycle. The dolls all have very unique personalities and play a critical component in the development of the storyline and leave the reader seeking more.
I agree with your post. I would also like to point out that the entertainment side of the popcycle was further stressed and made relevant due to how this website was conciderably different than the others with regard to how the site was set up. My opinion is that the site was better for me to comprehend and it allowed for a greater audience of people living in todays interent and digital society to better understand to concept and ideas of the people who created the website.
I would also agree with your comment stating that The Doll House had a “friction/drama/soap-opera storyline.” From the glossary of terms on the site to the “names” of the dolls; this from of entertainment brought me back to the way in which I created stories for the “action figures” in which I played with aas a youth.
One thing I found interesting this week was the discussion of the two economies in Internet Invention. Ulmer discusses how we are under a Restricted economy through the beginning of our lives growing up under the stresses of cultural and societal norms. I saw this reflected in the film Hide and Seek through the anxiety expressed by the women as they recalled beginning to discover themselves in environments that were often hostile to their sexualities. Ulmer then introduced the concept of General economy which we find in charge or adventure that presents itself, and I saw the women seeking this economy to find happiness in their lives and on their terms.
Good reminder of a key point from the chapter. While we did not discuss the two economies directly, this view concerns our “quest narrative” (heroine of our own myth). Question emerges: in which economy was I at time of epiphany; or, when was my transition (and how related to my “stance” / default mood)?
After watching Hide and Seek, I quickly noticed a connection between our latest reading, and the film. Ulmer describes how much of a person’s ambitions, success, expression and identity stems from the home. However, as these girls in Hide and Seek grow up and face the challenges of puberty, they begin to explore their sexuality. They didnt grow up wanting a penis, they wanted to grow up being beautiful, elegant woman. They were born that way. Maybe their sexuality did arise from their home, but one of the girls describes how her and her sister grew up in the same setting and she liked girls, but her sister liked boys. I believe many things stem from the home, but I do not believe sexuality was a result of their home, although certain situations may have influenced it.
Reminder: we are looking for lessons or practical instructions for our project, whether conceptually or stylistically (design or writing/composition). We want to avoid interpretation and explanation (literate mode), especially the impulse to analyze the hypertexts or film with the question “what does it mean?”
Instead, try asking / proposing “how does it work, as unconventional expression?”
If you’ve posted a more analytic comment, be sure to follow the prompt about “relay lesson and rationale” for praxis (connecting to project) in your reply to a classmate later today.
What I got from hide and seek as well as from these waves of girls and my body—a Wunderkammer was memory uninterrupted. While their memory may not be particularly clear being that they took place long ago, and while it is not our inclination to reveal what society has taught us to view as “shameful” memories, such memories shed tremendous light a the person as a whole. All three outlets used this unrestricted memory and through it depicted a far more complete view of all that contributed to the person that is now looking back on the story. Through especially the websites we viewed, their childhood memories were recalled in a fashion which was not childlike but reflecting on childhood with more mature understanding influenced by the synthesis of their experiences. So it is interesting to then view these experiences accounted after their influence on the author are applied. The stories are both adding to our understanding of the storyteller as a whole, while the story teller as a whole is adding to the stories. It is an interesting concept. One of which I think is crucial in creating a complete picture of self.
I think Jenna brings up a great point when she mentions many childhood memories that we suppress have the potential to play a large role in shaping us as a person. In almost all of the readings and films we have encountered, information is shared about certain personal experiences that – if I were to venture a guess – hardly anyone would ever want to talk about or share. Very intimate details of people’s lives have been shared with us, and I think that the new mode of electracy has played a huge role in allowing that to happen. The women interviewed in Hide and Seek or Caitlin Fisher in These Waves of Girls probably don’t discuss on a daily basis the thoughts and experiences they’ve had while discovering themselves. However, new visual media and electracy has created a medium with a certain degree of separation that has allowed anyone to expose different “layers” of themselves in a healthy and creative way that is truly a form of personal expression.
This film reflects the new generation that developed during that time period. Seeing now how society is open to the idea that homosexuals are not children of the devil, or whatever other interpretation older generations had, but people just like anyone else. I do not particularly identify with the film because i have never gone through that, i found my self sympathizing with some of the characters. I thought about my own childhood and remember some of my friends that are gay now and imagined how they used to feel and the confusion the confusion they had while growing up.
From watching the film Hide and Seek and viewing These Waves of Girls as both a person who could relate and as a person who is listening fron the outside, I feel as if there is a strong connection to these projects and the concept of the popcycle with more emphasis on family and community (based on the stories told). However, one thing that stuck out like a sore thumb to me, that I have yet to notice anybody else mention, is that in these stories it is setup in a manner which unifies more than one story with a single idea (i.e. Homosexuality and Lesbianism). For some reason, this setup and allowing for the similiar stories to be told from different points of view was very interesting to me.
Amanda,
I definitely have noticed this theme in a large portion of our work. Maybe Gary can shed some light on this, in the meantime I will share my own personal thoughts. Perhaps there is a correlation between lesbian culture and the extent to which some of these women are willing to be open with their more personal thoughts and experiences, thus creating a larger body of media with relevant themes to our coursework, but with an overarching similarity of homosexuality. I personally would like to see these stories of self discovery told in a more diverse range of settings, but for now I am trying to find personal connections and “bridges” between emotions and universal themes that surpass characteristics like sexuality.
Remember folks, be sure to follow the prompt for discussion; we are not judging whether we can relate with the stories or film, nor to what extent they are “effective” as communication media (literate mindset).
Review prompt above — might need to edit / elaborate or to post a new comment, to this end.
“first, post one specific lesson or instruction from any of this week’s material (Chp 3, S. Jackson’s sites, Hide and Seek; include your rationale, with consideration of Project 1 (both components). This item can/should be from your “Inventory” of instructions — whether conceptual or stylistic (web design and writing/composition).
By going through the stages of discovery, definition and -sometimes- the solution of problems in my mystory will lead me to find my wide image. As I viewed “Hide and Seek,” I kept thinking of my discovery of myself-physically, emotionally, culturally- and realized like those grown woman, I am in the midst of my ‘definition’ stage. The woman in the movie did not see themselves as being defined as a lesbian, but through their experiences they went with what was natural to them. And that’s the important aspect. I can be defined as black, as female, as a senior, as a Floridian even as a Christian. But this does not mean I-in my natural state of Mary- define myself in those terms. So instead of delving into the how, when, what who, where aspects of where all these Western definitions stem from, maybe our natural being, as we are, as we live now-at face value- truly defines us.
One specific lesson from the movie Hide and Seek was how the movie played on the viewer by showing other forms of media while the story was going on. For instance, while a certain scene was occuring the visuals would cut to a scene of the same thing such as something on a TV show. The scene occuring on the TV show is telling what the girls in the present were feeling or experiencing without the girls haivng to flat out say what they were doing.
One might also comment on the music selection. Each song tied to the mood at hand. Strong connection between song media and setting of mood.
Also, one should look at the pictures of each girl during the movie and at the end of the movie. The pictures supports the idea that this movie is more like an autobiography and that the girls in the pictures are real and not just actresses.
I was looking at Maria’s entry asnd she was discussing the pictures in the film. I believe the film “hide and Seek” included these pictures of all females in order to show that lesbians dont look any different than anybody lse. That the stereotypes are just that stereotypes. The picures were supposed to releal the lessons that what we see on the outside does not always reflect our inner feelings. Also that our experiences as children can shape who we are as adults. And we remember these experiences as we grow up. When we reflect on these memories maybe we find meaning in them, but as we experience them at that time we do not recognize that it will effect our future.
Maria has a great point discussing the pictures. Now that we have discussed the importance pictures hold in our studies, I’m beginning to become more aware of the punctum many often hold. I think that because Ulmer gave us direction on the importance of images, I now am more acutely aware of the “third meaning” i feel when looking at a photograph. The images from Hide and Seek stood out to me particularly well. In fact, in remembering last night’s film now, what appears in my mind more than anything else is the pictures of the girls as young children. I find myself feeling joyful and energetic seeing pictures of these girls dressed up in costume or playing outside because I was constantly being reminded of my own childhood activities. For myself in particular and hopefully for others as well, the pictures brought an important human element to the film because one could relate to the girls on a much more personal level being reminded of similar times in their past.
Lesson:experimenting with ones own body and finding out you r own sexual interest:My bosy and Hide and Seek. Leanring how to deal with own own experiences and what they mean to us. Each person goes throught different experiences in their life that mold who they are.
Lesson: Being able to experiemtn with you own body and findng out how each part functions. This lesson was presented in my bosy website and in the Hide and seek video. It also taught that wach person changes due to their own experiences with the enviroment and with themselves.
An additional note to the movie recently watched in Hide and Seek were the levels of removal regarding the fact that the two girls liked each other or were lesbians. The girls did not directly say that they were lesbians or liked each other but it was heavily implied from one of the girls I believe her name was Lo from the future saying that she liked the other girl and from her as a youth not showing a fondness to wearing skirts, or there was another visual que when the teacher called her up to write on the board and it showed “I am a lesbian”. In my opinion I believe that was to show what Lo actually wanted to write when she raised her hand to write on the board.
Other levels of removal as I stated in a previous post was how the actions that the girls wanted to do were shown in other ways such as characters on TV discussing the action in which the girls were taking apart in.
Through the Film “Hide and Seek” and the hypertext new media “Doll Games”, I have found a profound connection with visual components. I have always been drawn to vintage, antique, worn items. photographs especially. My grandmother believes I have an “old soul”. She believes that I have insight into the human experience and find beauty in places and times before me. I was especially intrigued then, when the entire movie focused on the former lives culture of a community. The images stung me. The dresses, ribbons, vinyls, random knick-knacks, and hair. always hair. I feel misplaced. I feel like I have been there- and should have been there- before.
In Doll Games, the photographs were composed with such care. such apparent beauty- all while documenting an image in time of broken dolls and damaged plastic. Those pictures gave the dolls a soul, a history, and mystery. In any of my future endeavors, I wish to incorporate special images. meaningful images. images that may project that default mood, but allow the viewer to experience punctum. I do believe that some pictures are universally stinging, but my pictures- the pictures that affect me most- are oddities, places my culture does not know, or objects we find to be uncomfortable. It’s because we don’t know what to call them. I like the images and objects that haven’t been labeled yet.
Because once an object is labeled, it loses it’s ability to become anything else.
I really like the connection between Waves of Girls and Hide and Seek that people are drawing. The people or characters in these projects are actively searching, resolving, and posing questions for themselves, their identity, and the role they play in their community. Ulmer is trying to inspire the same sort of journey towards self realization that the people in these stories already began. by looking at our past and who we are, we can start to form these mystorys and find our most meaningful lives within our community (wide-image).
To extrapolate on what Philip said, I found these multiple mediums by which the same concept was expressed to be highly successful in telling a cohesive and impacting story. These different means made these stories impacting and relatable on many levels, drawing in a number of my own memories despite the fact that my childhood does not highly relate, but what I found to be particularly interesting were the brief inserts of educational or scientific experts speaking on related matters. I though this was interesting because it showed both a personal and empirical side to the same concept.
I also found “Hide and Seek” to be closely related in what we can take from it to These Waves of Girls in that, deep and “adult” emotions and feelings were applied to memories of childhood — emotions and feelings we never would have had the capacity to realize as children.
The reason I think this helps us going forward is because we need to be able to identify our own themata which often comes from our youth. However, at the time these themata were taking shape in our youth, we might not have been able to identify them as they were happening. For instance, one of the girls from the movie might want to incorporate something from the sleepover in their wideimage, even though at the time of the sleepover they didn’t realize that a moment like that was beginning to shape who they would become as a person.
We need to be willing to examine experiences/memories in our past from our current perspective in order to find what has made us who we are today, and who we will be in the future. If we do that, we will be able to take away objects from formative experiences to be incorporated in our wideimages.
I’m looking at the overarching theme of everything we’ve looked at so far. Basically, I’m trying to figure out why these readings and movies were chosen. They must have an all-encompassing lesson that I have to take away from this.
I’ve been trying to notice patterns, keeping an eye out for elements that seem to recur. If I figure out the meaning behind all of this, I think I’ll be one step closer to figuring out both how to do my project, and how to think while doing my project.
I get a strong sense of stream of consciousness being used some movies and most of the readings. Punctum seems to be the name of the game in the movies, as they each seem to show small things with big personal meanings.
Maybe there isn’t a pattern at all, maybe I’m just wasting my time. If there is no pattern, then I guess that’s a lesson in and of itself.
Well, the experiment of course operates within the institutional setting of a class/syllabus, and patterns might likely emerge; however, we don’t know the outcomes in advance, as it’s an experiment for invention! This is to say, even if I confirmed there is/not a pattern, I don’t think this would change very much (Scientific mode of “verification”). Responding in order to re-orient us…
As I reminded earlier (“above”), we’re not asking what a film / text means — rather, how it functions, as a specified type of our ongoing Q. “what is this for me, in my experiment?” You’ve identified two aspects of the creative poetics, “stream of CSness” (true?) and Punctum — good, but how about more specifically in one of the hypertexts or film? and looking toward praxis (mindset and poetics of our project, as you noted).
See earlier posts by Kyle : themata; Phillip and Jenna : school discourse/media; and (especially) Mary and Alysa about concrete “media/cultural objects” (?) and the mood — concrete childhood accoutrements and historical/expressive songs.
Q. a potential relay? “Mystory update” would be:
“We’re just tryin’ to be _____, Come and watch us ___ and ____,
We’re the ____ generation, And we’ve got something to ____.”
“stop, in the name of ________, before you ______”
“Because I want a _____ To call my ______
I want a dream _____ So I don’t have to ______”
“you can’t hurry _________, you just have to _____”
You Can't Hurry Love (Ed Sullivan Show – 1966) @ Yahoo! Video
(NB I’d considered Dreamgirls (2006) for the syllabus, but figured most folks have seen…)
Antonio,
That punctum comment is no joke. I see it too. It’s a really good observation and you can maybe incorporate that into your project? I am thinking about it including it in mine becaue it seems like asking “what it does for me” is a part of what Ulmer says and that could only benefit your project.
I liked Maria’s take on her personal feelings about Hide and Seek, about the experiences of growing up. It’s very strange because I had a similar experience in my growing up. I was very tom-boyish, I liked to climb trees, explore, play sports (as a matter of fact I still do). I feel that has contributed to who I am now, even though I have evolved and embraced the fact that I am a young woman. So I agree, as Maria does, that the film was relatable on the more removed level of collective childhood and everyone has and cherishes their own experiences no matter the outcome.
Just as an additional idea from the group that I worked with earlier in the week (Heather, Paridhie, etc) we all really focused in on the hypertext “My Body” and liked the way the site was set up. We all kind of agreed/identified (I think from personal experiences as girls) with the premise of the site and found the personal present perspective of the writing really intriguing to read. I’d like to use this sort of layout for my Project 1, because I think it puts the reader in context with the author in some way and forces them to call to mind their own personal experience.
Another thing about the movie that struck me is the use of associative flashbacks. For example, the adult character would recount a random memory glimpse, and then a flashback of the actual scene would take place. Visually, the black-and-white setting was effective in setting the (’60s?) tone of the movie.
Associative thinking is what we discussed in Wednesday’s group referring to Jackson’s “Body” site.
I pointed out in a reply the qualities that I like about My Body, specifically the drawing/diagram of the body, with each part named and hyperlinked to give some sort of story or insight about the girl in sameway related to that specific body part, the simplicity and easy navigation are strengths, and the diagram drawing allows the imagination to come up with ideas, labels, and stories, before you actually read them. I would like to figure out how to draw some sort of diagram to do with fishing/ hunting, and then have hyperlinks off of them. Forexample, I would have a small journal on the side of my pocket with me sitting in my duck boat and that could link to my blogs. A homemade duckblind could hyperlink to assignments/projects/other such writings. A bag could link to notes, and quizzes. My picture could hyperlink to personal expression. Etc. Even if for the purposes of this class, there is no relation to duck hunting, I would still like to use it to link to other things as that diagram/image would help show expression and my identity as well as make the site simple to navigate and understand, similiar to the things accomplished by the structure/format of My Body.