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Yunshan Jiang

Guide 2 project

presentation: https://docs.google.com/presentation/d/1a2H6gPsT7QdK8xzMEh_cj6YjNvG5kSBwQP3ckl5SYR0/edit?usp=sharing

Guide link:https://github.com/YunshanJiang/guide2.git

critique: Younger Generation Lost Interest in Buddhist Culture and Art

Intention: I want to share buddhist culture and art with younger generation by merging modern or fashion elements with the basic forms of Buddha, which also gives younger generation more opportunities of knowing buddhist philosophy. 

Research trail: 

  1. I had a general looking on different countries Buddhist figures and made the system map: https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/critex-monika/2022/10/31/topic-2-system-map/
  2. For the daily practice, by changing some key elements or feature, I made the collage of different countries’ buddhist figures.

  1. Buddhist figures are various according to different countries and cultures. So I narrow down my research and image resources on Tibetan area Buddhist figure and Chinese Buddhist figure.

4. I did a series of research on natal Buddha 8 patron saints which are common in east Asia. Each of them and their parts have particular meaning. Research note: https://miro.com/app/board/uXjVPFj1a44=/?share_link_id=712752205624

4. After analyzing the traditional buddha figure, my idea was to imitate the layer or structure of buddha figure. 

Guide: 

Original idea: I tried to make a fiction website that shows disassembled 8 natal Buddha figures and presents each part by 3d models, I redesign the parts and user reconnects them. 

After elaborating my guide forms to my brother who are taking the art doctor degree in Japan and one of my friend, he gave me some suggestions. Here is the link of user testing: https://itp.nyu.edu/lowres/critex-monika/wp-admin/post.php?post=3905&action=edit

Finally I decided to make a fictional website for user to DIY their own buddha figures by collage.

Before building buddha, the website show the samples of 8 natal buddhas and explain their meaning and key features.

step one: choose avatar

step two:choose accessories

step three:

final results sample:

bibliography:

  1. Powers, J. (2009). A bull of a man : Images of masculinity, sex, and the body in indian buddhism. Harvard University Press.

2. Kieschnick, J. & Shahar, M. (2013). India in the Chinese Imagination: Myth, Religion, and Thought. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press. https://doi.org/10.9783/9780812208924

3. Jones, C.V., ‘Introduction: Buddhism and Its Religious Others’, in C.V. Jones (ed.), Buddhism and Its Religious Others: Historical Encounters and Representations (London, 2022; online edn, British Academy Scholarship Online, 22 Sept. 2022), https://doi.org/10.5871/bacad/9780197266991.003.0001, accessed 8 Nov. 2022.

4.FERGUSON, J. M., KENT, D. W., MCDANIEL, J. T., THOMPSON, A., MAKLEY, C., BERKWITZ, S. C., SCOTT, G. A., JERRYSON, M., ELISON, W., GAMBURD, M. R., LEIDER, J. P., LEDGERWOOD, J., GELLNER, D. N., & JOHNSON, I. C. (2016). LOOKING BACKWARD: Inventing Tradition in the Modern World. In J. Samuels, J. T. McDaniel, & M. M. Rowe (Eds.), Figures of Buddhist Modernity in Asia (pp. 15–56). University of Hawai’i Press. http://www.jstor.org/stable/j.ctvvn6w6.6

5.Leighton, Taigen Dan (1998). Bodhisattva Archetypes: Classic Buddhist Guides to Awakening and Their Modern Expression. New York: Penguin Arkana. pp. 158–205. ISBN 0140195564. OCLC 37211178.

6.[1]常云霞.虚空藏菩萨与“佛法”的故事[J].农家女,2014(4):33-33.

7. Lopez, D. S., & Stone, J. I. (2019). Two buddhas seated side by side : A guide to the lotus sūtra. Princeton University Press.

8.“The Tantra of Caṇḍamahāroṣaṇa”. 84000: Translating The Words of The Buddha. Retrieved 28 November 2022.

9.Pinte, Klaus (2010). Vairocana/Mahāvairocana. obo in Buddhism. doi: 10.1093/obo/9780195393521-0094

Guide 2 User Tests

Storyboarding:

User flow diagram:

User Journey:

Persona: A young people who are interested in fashion, art or any new stuffs. Also, he/she has limited knowledge about Buddhism.

You are boring and casually browse social media on Instagram or WeChat. You see some friends who post various buddhist figures that are not classical but have many modern elements on them. There are a link on their posts’ comment area. You feel curious so you click the link. After that, you open a website which demonstrates a lot of fashion style buddhist figures. The description of the website tells you that you can DIY your own buddhist figures. You feel excited because you like the fusion of cool parts with classical buddhist elements. The buddhist figure will make you feel distinct and creative. You immediately follow the steps on the website. All the buddhist figures and parts have the description of their meaning. They pray for health, wealth, goodness, and etc. First, you choose the blank buddhist figure based on your birthday. Second, you choose the background of the buddhist figures. Third, you choose the clothes. Fourth, you choose the head and wrist accessories. Finally, you get the NFT image of your buddhist figure. You can buy the image or order a 3d printed model of the figures on website. After you finish your DIY, You see the history and background of them; also, you learn and know the knowledge of Buddhism. The process of buddhist figure’s DIY is also a course for people who are not familiar with Buddhism. You feel the website is so cool and it is a good start for younger generation to know the conventional Buddhism concept; therefore you also post your buddhist figure with the website link on social media.  

I narrated the user journey to one of my friend and my brother who are taking the art doctor degree in Japan. I asked them couple question.

Did you find any aspects of this confusing?

They feel confused about the guide’s intention. 

How would you feel experiencing this work?

Limited space for user to create. The contents are too serious and it didn’t resonate with user.

Which aspects would you most need to see or try to understand this work?

Everything is clear. But the 3d models part are hard to made. It can be replaced by collage. 

Did you learn or interest in anything from this work?

The form of DIY is creative. 

Are there ways I might adjust this to better meet my goal?

Give users more creative space. Don’t limit user on the natal buddhist figures.

Topic 2 Final Reflection

What did you learn?

From this course, I learned how to do a deep research on a topic and how efficiently filter useful message from a bunch of words. Also, I learned how to use different tones to express idea so that the target audience can be better accept my information. Lastly, interview and user test are also important part for doing a project as they provide different perspectives from public or counter public. Their voices will be helpful for improving the project’s contents and presentation. For the final guide, I also learned a lot about different buddha figures and the meaning behind them.

What feedback did you receive? Any reflections on critique itself?

From what Sarah said, my intentional critique sounds like have different tones with guide’s form. This is also what I tried to solve. In a way, I want to have an educational or serious tone which user can have more insightful knowing on Buddhism, however, my guide showed more on material design and contemporary art, which weakens the element of Buddhism even though I used the key features of buddha figures when user DIY Buddha. 

What might you do differently in terms of process or content?

I will not do too much differently eventually. However, I will clear what my tone is and have more changeable elements on the website.

What was inspiring? What parts?

The precess of designing guide form and doing research is inspiring cause they are the most difficult part of this course. To find an appropriate guide for a topic need a lot of research. This need to spent time and be patient.

Revisit the assignment prompts: how did your project relate to the original prompts, in terms of critical lens, audience, tone, etc…

My project has clear target audience(younger generation) and the tone is humour and ironic. It also has strong intention. However, the critical lens is a little bit off.

How did you balance research and experimentation? Which is easier for you? How can you focus more on the areas that you shy away from

For my understanding, research is necessary before doing an experimentation because it will make your target or thesis clearer and has strong support. Experimentation is easy for me as I don’t like reading research although it is significant. By solving the issue, I will try to cultivate good reading English texts habits. 

Publics and Counterpublics

Analyze an existing artwork/project/piece of media (TV show, game, etc) and the systems within which it operates. Try to identify: Who created it? For whom? With what materials and metaphors? With what intention? What impact? On whom? How? Did the artist identify a public or create a counterpublic?

The project I chose is Sayonara Wild Hearts which is an indie game created by Swedish developer Simogo. The game is described as a “pop album video game.” It narrated a story that a heartbroken girl lied on the bed. The heroine that the divine arcana created transformed into a butterfly and she transported the girl to the alternate universe. Then, the girl transformed into a masked heroine. She defeated different foes and collect their pieces of heart. Finally, She then imagines herself as each of her former foes, and proceeds to fight each in turn. Instead of defeating them, she forgives them with a brief kiss. She came back to real world and reconciled with the past. Finally, her broken heart healed. 

The project is under game industry system. The creators made the game for indie gamer and female player mainly. By acting tarot’s characters and playing the story of the hero defeating the enemy, Game developer presents heroinism and encourages girls to face difficulties positively. The foes in the game are the barriers faced in real life. Players defeat all of them and finally forgive them by kiss, which means we need to turn difficulties into motivation. Also, we have to accept our fail and look forward. 

I am not sure about the public and counterpublic for the game. A public the artist identify might be the players who want to see a story line about hero rather than heroine. A counterpublic might be players who support female hero which is opposite to the majority game market.

Ideas Arrangements Effects

  • At some point this week, look around you and produce a drawing (or take a picture) of a space that you feel is rich in arrangements. In a style similar to the diagram on page 33, annotate your picture or drawing with the “hard” and “soft” arrangements you can identify.

  • Map an aspect of your topic to the Ideas/Arrangements/Effects framework. For instance, if you were working with zoos: an idea is that animals should be able to be observed at will by humans; an arrangement is a cage at the zoo; an effect is that animals often become distressed. Since arrangements are “a rich and frequently overlooked terrain for creating change” (32): can you identify a way you could change your identified arrangement, and how that might reflect a different idea, or have a different effect?

Idea: The idea of my project is to let more people understand and feel the wisdom of Buddhism by looking at the Buddhist figures.

Arrangements: The arrangement could be the conservative presentation of Buddhist art form. Also, the ways of c’s spread did not change a lot since hundreds year ago. People go to the temple, read related books and listening to master’s explanation in order to learn the philosophical concept of buddhism. 

Effects: 1. People feel boring about buddhism. 2. The arrangements make buddhism’s notions be hard to be understand. 3. Younger people are refused to know buddhist concept. 4. It may mislead people that buddhism is a religion which has strict rules and hard for people to learn.

For the different arrangements, I will merge traditional Buddhist figures with modern and fashion elements so that it will be easier to accept by younger generation. I manifest different forms of Buddhist figures, which is also a way of attracting young people. Besides, for the guide I made, I might have an arrangement that users are able to DIY their one Buddhist figures, which means that the figures will not be fixed and they can have infinite possibility. It is also one of the notion from buddhism that the figure of Buddha are changeable.

Topic 2 Janky Prototypes

  1. lotus shape Fidget Spinner

I want to combine young people’s fidget toy with buddhist element. Because most of buddhism related things are boring and old, young people are hardly to accept them. If the Fidget Spinner combined buddhist element, it may give them a chance to get more interested in buddhism.

Video Player

2. Mini Electronic ma ni

Ma Ni is the prayer wheel in Tibet. I want to have made a mini size one of Ma Ni so that prayer can use it anywhere. Also, there is a screen that count the number of turns. When people are bored and nervous, it could also be a toy for them to release pressure.

Video Player

3. Wooden fish clock

A Wooden fish clock is a clock that is able for people to knock on its top with a stick. By doing so, people can be calm down. It is a good tool for meditation. 

Video Player

daily practice 6

Day 6:

Avalokitesvara figure from Indian Buddhism: 

In ancient Indian, Avalokitesvara looks like plain people. He doesn’t have complicated  decoration and his upper body is naked. He gives us an ascetic feeling. Below is my Indian Avalokitesvara figure’s montage.

daily practice 5

Day 5:

Avalokitesvara figure from Thailand Buddhism: 

In Thailand, figure of Avalokitesvara are usually thousand hands and thousand eyes. They also looks colourful than other countries’ Avalokitesvara. Below is my Thai Avalokitesvara figure’s montage.

Daily practice 4

Day 4:

Avalokitesvara figure from Japan Buddhism: 

Japanese Avalokitesvara are close to Chinese Avalokitesvara. The gender is also female. The dress is traditional female garment in the old time. On the left hand, Avalokitesvara always hold a bottle which a willow branch is inside it. Below is an image of Sendai  Daikannon and my montage of Japanese Avalokitesvara’s figure.