Skip to content

September 2022

Interview

I asked my friend Rhyan if I could interview him since he has a dog. Down below are questions that I have asked him. Rhyan did not know what taxidermy was, and I gave him a brief explanation and history of taxidermy. He did find it weird that people did do taxidermy in museums for research and to teach others as well as ordinary people using taxidermy as a way to keep their memories alive with their animals.

 

Questions that I have asked:

Have You Ever Heard the Term “Taxidermy” Before?

  • No, I haven’t heard that term before.

Do You Believe That The Practice of Taxidermy Should Be Continued?

I think that taxidermy can be used to study animals, but it is not necessary to use it as a display.

What Do You Think You Think Of When People Say That They use Taxidermy or “Stuff Their Animals” to Keep Them In Memory? Would You Consider Using Taxidermy As A Way to Keep Your Pets In Memory?

I understand the reasons why people would use taxidermy because they love their animals. However, I don’t think that I would ever use taxidermy to “keep the memories alive” with my dog.

 

 

Metaphors We Live By Response

  • Lakoff + Johnson give several examples throughout the text of linguistic metaphorical systems. Are there any you found odd, outdated, or different from metaphorical systems that you use, either personally or in your language, culture, or social sphere? For instance, do you speak about conversation as a battle, or use orientational metaphors the same way the authors describe?
    • A metaphorical system example that I use would be, argument. In my Jamaican culture, arguments are like battles or wars. However at certain points, we do reason, but for the most part, when listening to the arguments there are a lot of metaphors being thrown at each other. For example, “You are dense”, “You are on thin ice”. Arguments like those are to dominate the other.
  • Can you identify a metaphorical system that you commonly use? What do you think is the motivating rationale (“experiential basis”) behind that system – or is there one? Have you ever intentionally (or unintentionally) changed the metaphorical system that you use to speak about a certain subject, to reflect a different experience or worldview?
    • One commonly used metaphor system would be that in Jamaican culture, people will not openly refer to their dogs or cats as their “pets” however in the United States, the word “pets” has a valuable meaning behind it. Pets are considered companions or “part of the family, whereas, in Jamaica, dogs and cats have specific purposes to keep rodents and intruders away. They are not considered “companions, but are needed in the house. I think that growing up in America made me realize the difference between the two experiences.
  • What metaphors/systems of metaphor are commonly used when discussing your topic? If “the essence of a metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” (5), what other kinds of metaphors might be useful for discussing your topic, or an aspect of your topic?
    • I would say for my topic of Taxidermy, that “preservation is life”. Many people use taxidermy as a way to preserve life, whether to study or in loving memory.

 

Form – Borders/Canals

I plan on creating a digital field guide for my topic. I was inspired by a field guide I picked up written by a company called Wildsam on California Road Trips. As I researched them, I learned that they have multiple series of field guides for locations all over the world. I appreciate how they group the information and wanted to leverage this organization for my topic.

Why this form?

I chose this form because I believe that it is the most efficient way to share information about my topic in this remote cohort. Additionally, a user could leverage its digital nature while independently traveling or investigating the topic independently. Lastly, it is the medium I am most comfortable designing in.

What are its features (stylistic, experiential)

I will break down the guide between general info, interviews, and field notes to categorize the information via the table of contents with the hopes of managing an automatic click scroll, so it is easily navigatable.

How is this form typically used, and what do you plan to subvert/imitate/utilize?

This form is mainly used to inform, I hope to do the same/imitate its format but in a digital sense.

What would change if you tried a different form? What critical lens does the form you’re applying emphasize? 

I believe we spoke about this in our last class session; knowing that I am not as confident in my tactile skills; it would evoke a different message to the user if I presented a more lo-fi physical book or guide.

Is there a metaphor well-suited to your form (i.e. cooking with code)? / Or, are there other metaphors you might employ?

Still working through this idea. I would like to play on the connections and separations idea and integrate the idea of flow. In addition, there are bodily canals I’ve ignored completely in my research since I dove right into waterways, and I’m not sure if that is worth integrating into the project at this point or if it would feel too disjointed.

Topic 1 Development Progress – Sketch and Pivoting

As I started trying to draw a map with the topic, I realized the difficulty of transforming information into the metaphor of speculative geography is much harder than expected, since I don’t have a concrete understanding of how Puppet-network works.

 

I just saw Monikia’s advice on considering other sort of maps (family tree, historical “famous persons” portrait map, periodic table”…) that will amplify the topic better, as well as finding the metaphor to use in place. And so I’ll try to sort that issue out first…

quilting form analysis

Analysis of guide
I would use a computer game as my “quilting” guide.

Why this form? What are its features (stylistic, experiential)

First of all, I am adept at making computer game. It is a combination of multiple media which has audibility, visuality and interactivity. By playing a game, we can have a deeper immersive experience. I believe it is a good method to transmit different ideas and it also a good way to narrate stories.

How is this form typically used, and what do you plan to subvert/imitate/utilize?

Player are able to control a female character in this game. They need to collect leftover materials and quilt a pattern in the end. And the key theme I want to present in this game relates to the power of female and the courage of breaking gender discrimination in Chinese handcraft heritage’s convention.

What would change if you tried a different form? What critical lens does the form you’re applying emphasize?
If I tried a different form, people may have less immersive experience as in a game, people can dive into a world that they will address themselves to the protagonist position. This will be easier for people to generate sympathy. The critical lens that the form I am applying emphasize on the gender discrimination in the Chinese heritage of craftsmanship.

Is there a metaphor well-suited to your form (i.e. cooking with code)?Or, are there other metaphors you might employ?
Visual metaphor is well-suited to my form. For example, I can use black colours, a lock and prison to represent the restraint of tradition on women. Red, bright colours, key and sunshine can represent the freedom for women to learn traditional crafts.

Metaphors We Live By

  • Lakoff + Johnson give several examples throughout the text of linguistic metaphorical systems. Are there any you found odd, outdated, or different from metaphorical systems that you use, either personally or in your language, culture, or social sphere? For instance, do you speak about conversation as battle, or use orientational metaphors the same way the authors describe?

“He’s living on borrowed time.” – Although understandable, “borrowed” means not his own time, means he’s dying. But I had not heard that metaphor in my language.

“He’s in top shape.” – Putting the words “top” and “shape” together makes me feel weird. Though I can guess it means he is in a good condition.

“He is my social inferior.” – I think it is outdated. Sounds like a rude statement…

 

  • Can you identify a metaphorical system that you commonly use? What do you think is the motivating rationale (“experiential basis”) behind that system – or is there one? Have you ever intentionally (or unintentionally) changed the metaphorical system that you use to speak about a certain subject, to reflect a different experience or worldview?

The central-peripheral and up-down system. When I want to talk about some complex concepts, a picture will appear in my mind and list the points. So important things are on the center of the picture. Or think about an onion rings structure, if we cut it in half, it’s a up-down structure.

About the change. Think about the half onion again, we can also say a core is at the bottom. So the change happens here: usually the important thing is on the top. But the foundation is also important. I can build a phrase “basic science is top science” to show the change or conflict here: both down and up mean the same thing. But from different angles.

 

  • What metaphors/systems of metaphor are commonly used when discussing your topic? If “the essence of a metaphor is understanding and experiencing one kind of thing in terms of another” (5), what other kinds of metaphors might be useful for discussing your topic, or an aspect of your topic?

My topic is “border – salt”. I think the metaphor for salt here is a link. Other metaphors may be money (need it and seek for it), lubricant in the machine (not a main part of a machine but essential).

 

Topic I Interviews: Plantation

I interviewed a friend who is an engineer currently working at the China Agricultural Machinery Research Institute. He’s research direction is on coating materials for agricultural machines

  • How do you understand the word plantation

I understand it as defining an area and planting specific crops in this area to generate economic benefits.

  • Can you think of some positive impacts of plantation on the environment.

To a certain extent, the vegetation coverage rate is increased, and at the same time, it provides a living environment and a suitable habitat for living organisms.

  • Can you think of some negative impacts of plantation on the environment.

In developed countries, agricultural planting is highly mechanized. From my research aspect, the wear and tear of machines will cause tiny metal fragments falling into the soil, causing negative effect on the soil. In addition, in developing countries, especially in areas with a low degree of agricultural mechanization, the level of mechanical agricultural planting is low. In these places, people still use traditional irrigation method, which causes a greater waste of water resources.

  • What other impacts do you think plantation might have?

1. May affect the abundance of agricultural products, thereby affecting economic benefits.

2. Plantation may provide certain employment opportunities.

  • If you want to know more about plantation, what directions/topics are you interested in?

1. Historical origin, when it comes to plantation, slavery often comes to mind. Why is plantation one of the representatives of slavery?

2. Are contemporary plantations have higher economical outcome than triditional farmland?

  • If you were asked to make a connection between the concepts of plantation and space, from which angles do you think you can connect?

Space plantation, if human beings want to immigrate to space, it will be essential to develop a specific space plantation. If understanding this word from a more general definition, plantation must be a kind of agricultural planting within a specific space. The establishment of plantation can be viewed as occupying space from nature in order for people to make profit.