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Yueqing Dai

Assignment 2 Topic Selection

Plan for Assignment 2 for now (10/20/2022):

Topic:

Culture – Language – Deletion of words’ pronunciation in Mandarin.

Point of view:

The deletion of words’ pronunciation in Mandarin reduces the rhythmic beauty of some ancient poems. On the other hand, it reduces the pressure of learning the language for the beginner.

Stakeholders:

  • Poet, Mandarin speaker, Mandarin learner, historian, the young generation in mainland China

Target Audience:

  • Mandarin speaker, Mandarin learner, the government (not sure about this)

Intended experience/outcome:

  • Three different layers of outcome are expected:
    1. For the most audience: feel the beauty of the ancient poems.
    2. The second level: realize the change in the poems’ pronunciations somehow destroy the beauty.
    3. The third level (if possible): this action would lead to the loss of  traditional culture

Related articles (in mandarin):

Daily Practice – Day2 Kazoo

Daily Practice:

Try to play 水调歌头（Prelude to Water Melody)  with ~6 different instruments.

Prelude to Water Melody is an ancient Chinese poem. It has been set to music, and the song is popular in different generations of China

The wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuidiao_Getou

Day 2: Kazoo

The kazoo is an American musical instrument that adds a “buzzing” timbral quality to a player’s voice when the player vocalizes into it. It is a type of mirliton (which itself is a membranophone), one of a class of instruments which modifies its player’s voice by way of a vibrating membrane of goldbeater’s skin or material with similar characteristics.

The Record:

I’ve tried several different playing styles and tones and this is my favorite version. Also, this piece of music is a continuation of the piece from yesterday. I hope I can get the full version of this song on the last day of practice.

Audio Player

Daily Practice – Day1 Kalimba

Daily Practice:

Try to play 水调歌头（Prelude to Water Melody)  with ~6 different instruments.

Prelude to Water Melody is an ancient Chinese poem. It has been set to music, and the song is popular in different generations of China

The wiki link: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shuidiao_Getou

Day 1: Kalimba

The kalimba is an African musical instrument with a wooden soundboard and metal keys. In the classification of musical instruments, the kalimba is in the category of lamellophones or plucked idiophones (Hornbostel-Sachs system).

The Record:

Audio Player

Final Reflections for Assignment 1

This blog is shown in bullet points since this is a collection of thought pieces.

  • First of all, obviously, I learned how to make a pop-up book.  Also, system mapping helps a lot when developing a topic and researching.
  • The most important thing I started to learn is being confident and firm. I was easily trapped in “the critique” itself in the past. This is the first time I have started not caring about the “points” the work is worth. This is the reason I came to IMA Low Res. Although this assignment is not “well done” by the old standards I lived with, I am happier than before, which is essential to me. 
  • Most feedbacks I received are positive. One point in the feedback is that since I chose an abstract way to represent the work, the meaning behind the work did not successfully deliver to some of the audience. This evaluation is expected. The visual language needs some further development.
  • I’ve taken some similar courses before in my undergraduate study, and I’ve learned what critique is and practiced how to be critical. I used to create works on social problems and political topics. However, I do not have the answer to why critical. And I don’t have the will to be critical. I’d rather keep silent instead. For now, I still have the same question, but I feel I have started to get the answer.
  • If I need to do this once more, the workflow would be different. For this assignment, the topic is developed with each week’s lesson. I did not know what the next step was and how the work I did could support my work at that time. It’s like doing jigsaw puzzles without a frame or crossing the river by feeling the stones. Now I’ve understood the entire workflow and what are all these steps for. I can have a general structure in my mind at the very beginning.
  • Imaging the big from the small is really helpful when having a large topic.
  • Critical lens is something I have not fully understood yet. I am a bit struggling in this part, and I think part of the reason is that I have not been exposed to similar concepts in my native language environment. This is the part I need to figure out myself.
  • I am trying to develop a tone with my personal style during my study in this program. Following the project I did for the summer term, this pop-up book is a step further as an experiment in the non-tech form.
  • I am a bit too focused on the tone and the audience while developing the guide and the intention is a bit lost. The result is still something I want to express and show to the public, but it’s away from the intention. I next to pay more attention to balancing for my next project.
  • For this assignment, I spent more energy on experimentation since the form is new and exciting to me. However, more time was spent on researching since I had no idea what my topic was at the very beginning. The research is not effective. I just forced myself to work more on the research part. I believe that methods come from practice.

SKIN:Fenestra Final Guide

Walkthrough video:

https://drive.google.com/file/d/1sm1EtJd_JhX002DXHULzxngHH38yfULM/view?usp=sharing

Pictures:

Form: Pop-up book

Research and Progress:

I started with the meaning of my topic and found that it has usually been used as terminology (in biology, microanatomy, zoology, etc.). It usually means small holes and openings on/inside one creature’s body.  I was lost in different biology papers at the beginning and had no idea what I could do with the topic. After having an interview with a biology Ph.D., I got a deeper understanding of the fenestra. I realized that fenestra is usually used for balancing the pressure and transporting small parts in and out. I decided to go deep in this direction.  The guide should focus more on pressure and balancing.

When searching for the form of the guide, I want to find a form that can reduce the professionalism of the word and make it more interesting. Also, personally, I want to try something non-tech. The Pop-up book is typically used for children and educational functions. Also, it’s mainly used for storytelling or showcasing. I plan to focus on its storytelling part, but I want to tell a story that can interest both the children and the adults.

When thinking about metaphor, I decided to reconstruct the topic and get some key elements to follow in my project. As I mentioned above, the key concepts are pressure and balancing. While the pressure here means hydraulic or air pressure, the word “pressure” can also mean mental pressure. One step further, emotional balance comes out.

Then when I start to work on the guide, to show my content to everyone directly with the lowest age limitations, language limitations, or knowledge reserved, I choose to take a symbolic path. Also, I found out that showing the structure directly is not the best solution since it is hard for the audience who sees the guide for the first time to get “what it is” without a text explanation. Compared to explaining what a fenestra is, I want the audience to understand the story more. As a result, I used the term “the Gate” instead. And small dots to show the “emotions” instead of actual molecules. Also, I did some research on “emotions and colors” and “emotions and shapes” to choose the best visualization for different emotions.

[Update:]

[For friends who would go to the Skin Presentation: Please don’t read the words below before the presentation. Thank you!]

The idea behind the guide: Small openings, holes, or mistakes do not destroy us; it is part of us and sometimes help us get out of bad situations.

While making the guide, Venus de Milo comes to my mind. People have more or less sorrow and pain. It is these sorrows and pains that complete us. Miraculously, sometimes they give us the power to move on. “I’ve already gone through all these things; what else could beat me?” Honestly, these thoughts are far away from my topic: fenestra. However, they were born from all the research I’ve done and all the reconstruction I’ve tried. I was hesitant to continue in this direction, and finally, I decided to go and follow my heart.  We are all like fenestra with invisible openings to live our own life.

SKIN: fenestra Progress

Part-one: Guide form – Pop-up book
For now I am focusing on learning skills of making pop-up books.
I found some tutorials (videos and books) and practiced in several basic structures. My understanding of this form is developed in this progress, and now I have a general idea about how to make the guide. The next steps are: first, chooses the structures I need for this guide, and second, design the details about my guide to make sure I can finish it on time with all the information I want to display.

Part-two: Metaphor
I spent most of my time for finding out the best metaphor I want to use. I did this by deconstruct “fenestra” into abstract pieces and reconstruct them into different things, concepts and systems. Two topic appears at the very beginning: underground water&caverns systems and urban water circulation.

These are still one step from what I want to do. So I did several more times of deconstruction and reconstruction. Then I found emotion balancing. How each individual dealing with his/her bad emotions. This is the direction I plan to dig into. Based on this idea, a simple story-line is been developed.

SKIN: Fenestra Form Analysis

The form: Pop-up books

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

  • The pop-up book is a non-tech 3-D form of the book that is usually used to show some structures and buildings. I chose this form because my topic, “fenestra,” is about a kind of structure. Part of my goal is to show the structure to everyone directly with no age limitations, language limitations, or knowledge reserved. This pop-up book can perfectly fit my needs. What’s more, I still have the possibility to make it colorful and informative since it still follows the form of a book.

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

  • This form is typically used for children and educational functions. Also, it’s mainly used for storytelling or showcasing. I plan to focus on its storytelling part, but I want to tell a story about fenestra that can interest both the children and the adults.

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

  • I’ve thought about a single-page website, a digital interactive game, or a kind of creative re-use. However, for the first two digital forms, there are hidden age limitations behind it since small kids and elders may don’t know how to surf the Internet. Ecocriticism or the moral lens would be the lens the form I am applying emphasize. However, I am still thinking about this part.

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

  • Metaogors might be used:
  1. Underground water system (geology)
  2. emotion regulation (how one individual faces and deals with his/her pressure and other negative emotion)
  3. Reservoirs, Dams, and Flood Releases

SKIN: Fenestra – Interview Summary

I‘ve interviewed one non-expert and one expert. The non-expert is a designer, and the expert is a biology Ph.D. from NYUSH.

Interview with a non-expert:

  • I first let him introduce himself and his experience in biology. He is a system designer in the IT area. He likes biology and participated in the school’s biology competition. He gives up studying biology after entering the university because there are too many technical terms that need to be remembered. Then I asked him did he ever heard the word “Fenestra”. As I expected, his answer is no. After explaining what it is in words, I asked about his feelings, thoughts, or any other thing he wants to ask or talk to me about.  He first sympathizes with me having such a topic to work on, then he mentions some similar structures in the cell. He said when he first learned how those small openings can help support the whole body, he is truly shocked and realized each human being is a well-designed system. No matter how small a structure is, it contributes to the whole system subtly. And then he said this reminds him how a city works. Small installations in the cities are not been noticed but the city cannot function without them, like the roadside sewers which help balance the water level.

Interview with an expert。

  • I finally got in touch with her this Friday. The interview with the expert is not finished yet (09/25) due to her time limitation. We just discussed it for about 10 minutes, and we will have a more extended interview in the coming week.  Before the discussion started, I generally explained this course’s background and what I will do. I first asked her: do you know fenestra? And surprisingly, her answer is no. She then started to ask me questions about fenestra. After I showed her the information I researched, she immediately got the general idea of this structure and showed me some biology examples with similar functions. She said she would search for more information before our next meeting, and I also need to look at the examples she brought out to make more interview questions next time.

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 battle, or use orientational metaphors the same way the authors describe?

As a non-native speaker of English, I have two different language systems in my brain. For some sentences in English, I can understand it’s meaning but cannot translate them into Chinese directly. For example: “It’s difficult to put my ideas into words.” is a form we don’t use in Chinese. We usually say 只可意会不可言传 (can only be felt and understood in one’s heart but cannot be explained in words.) or 难以言喻 (beyond expression) to express the same meaning. In the phrase 难以言喻, 难 means hard, 以 equals “to, “言 means say/speak,  and 喻 means metaphor.

 

  • 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?

I love to use metaphors in my daily life. Metaphors and analogies help to think and express myself a lot. I like to analog my thought into something that is world-wild consensus to break through the limits of language. When I answered the “Who are you outside of IMA Low Res?” I said,  “I am a star in the sky who wish to light the moon up.” This comes out from a fact: the sun light up the earth. The moon is usually neglected when compared to the sun. However, the moon also lights up the night silently. I want to be like the star around the moons in society to accompany them when they try their best to light up the night.

Also, in Chinese, there are 歇后语 (a two-part allegorical saying). In a 歇后语, the former part is a metaphor or metaphor, and the latter part is an interpretation of the meaning. It’s commonly used in my daily life. Here are some examples of 歇后语:

黄鼠狼给鸡拜年–不怀好意。 A weasel wishing Happy New Year to a chicken —  bad intentions



肉包子打狗–有去无回。 Chasing a dog by throwing meat dumplings at it — no return.


兔子尾巴长不了。 The tail of a rabbit — cannot be extended; won’t last long.


    

  • 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?
    • 



This is the main difficulty I face when working on my topic: fenestra. Fenestra itself is used as a metaphor. The word initially meant window, but it’s now used for small openings on the bones, blood vessels, and insects’ wings. Fenestras are usually used for transporting molecules and balancing pressure. This makes me think about the underground water system,  funnels, sluices, and filter papers.


		

	






	

		

			
System Thinking Response
    

  • Which system (type of stakeholder) that Easterbrook identified did you find your own understanding of GMOs most aligned with? Why? What are some of the stakes of these stakeholders?
    • 



It‘s hard for me to choose one single system. In my view, system 3 (a system of ecosystems and contaminants that weaken the,), system7 (a system of potential threats to human health and well-being), and system 8 (a system of sustainable agriculture with long time horizons) all align with my understanding of GMOs a lot. If I have to choose a “most,” the answer would be system 7 – a system of potential threats to human health and well-being. One significant stake in this system is the irreversible future. This stake appears in both system 3 and system 7. What’s more, from my perspective, GMOs are food for humans, so food safety must be the very first. Human beings rely on food to be alive. Mistakes in medical experiments are mostly under control in labs, but errors in GMOs would affect people all over the world.


    

  • Using your own topic for research, can you Identify 3 stakeholders with different perspectives, and then describe the system from which they are operating?
    • 



    

  1. Scientist doing research:  Focus on how different types of fenestras function for different kinds of animals, plants, and insects. The problem they would face might be animal protection during their experiments. Also, their research might pose a risk to ecosystems.
    2. 

  2. Artist doing art projects: Fenestra is treated as a biological pattern under this perspective.
    3. 

  3. Medical investigator: They would focus on potential diseases related to fenestra in human bodies. Their research might pose a risk to people.
    4.