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Daily Practice 2

I continue my journey into the usage of the symbol in society. Continuing from Buddhism, I shift my focus to the usage of the character 卍 in Japanese society. It is more than a Buddhist symbol, although it’s definitely a part of it. I first realized the symbol is actually being canceled during my year abroad in Japan.

Apparently, too many western tourists had complained about the use of the Buddhist symbol on maps to represent temples. After some debate, the government decided to change the symbol on all maps, which then triggered a huge debate in Japanese society, as people are very used to it as a Buddhism symbol, and now that it’s somewhat decided to be removed because of western tourists’ confusion.

Over the years, the Buddhist symbol has also become a trendy “cool” symbol. Original with the meaning of blessing, young Japanese adopted the symbol to represent something “cool” “joyful” and “positively shocking.” In several manga and anime, the main characters who represent the good and heroic side are often associated with this symbol.

The symbol is even chosen as the most popular internet slang among Japanese high school girls in 2016, with the American-influenced “BFF” coming in 7th place.

 

 

 

Daily Practice 1

My topic is something to do with the conflict of using the Swastika symbol in modern-day society due to the fact Hitler adopted the symbol and used it for evil.

This is a wide and complicated topic, and I aim to understand it better from all perspectives. To start, I started from where I’m most familiar with, its association with Buddhism.

 

The format I’m using for daily practice is to draw and collage directly on the iPad. I’m very new to the iPad, as I’ve been a little bit conservative and old school when it comes to drawing, and have only tried out the iPad for the first time two months ago. Recently download the drawing app, I am still very beginner with all the functionalities, and thought the daily practice is a good place for me to do some exercise about it as well.

 

Daily Practice 2

Day 2:

Avalokitesvara figure from Chinese Buddhism: 

When the Buddhism was imported to Han Chinese culture, there are some changes for the figures of Avalokitesvara. We can see the figure’s transition from west to east across China. In the westernmost city of China, Dunhuang caves painting show the characteristics of Avalokitesvara as similar as Indian style. However, it already merged Han Chinese aesthetics. Foe example, the face and body changed to east Asian looking. Also, the gender of Avalokitesvara is always female in Han Chinese culture. When we look at the east part of China, the clothes, hair style and race all changed to Chinese. Besides, most of the  Avalokitesvara’s figure in east side of China don’t have thousands of arm and eye. They looked more like regular people.

Assignment 2 Topic

Topic:

Cultural bias in (olfactory) assessment.

Inspiration:

Once I was taking olfactory testing for research. The machine released an odor for each question and asked the user to choose the odor’s image. But some odors in this test were not common in China because it was imported from the US.

Possible angles:

For the assessment and machine inventors, they might take the cultural difference in mind after viewing the work.

For other people, they might notice the uniqueness of the odor and think more about the odor, culture, and life.

 

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 – day 2

I shift the topic to odor. From today I’ll find the odor and draw it.

Today’s odor comes from osmanthus(桂花). The smell of osmanthus fills the streets during this season in China.

When I was drawing it, I noticed that its flowers were clustered but also sparsed.

I’m curious about from which part the smell comes. Petals or stamens?  I should try to figure it out tomorrow!

(Not good at drawing. It’s colored by PS. But fun too.)

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 – Day 1 (2022-10-19)

I’ve recently decided to re-dedicate myself to a skincare routine, and as part of that research I found myself in a rabbit hole learning about sunscreen. As an avid sunscreen user, I was surprised to realize how little I know about how sunscreen. For this project, I’m planning to focus on sunscreen in general, and am aiming to find a critical view point as I continue my research. One thought to focus on is to investigate the different rating systems that are used to measure the ability of the sunscreen to block UVA rays. In the US, we generally just see SPF ratings on our sunscreen, which I believe is only measuring how effective the sunscreen is at blocking UVB rays, without any mention of UVA rays explicitly.

For my first day of making I drew some diagrams while I read an article about how sunscreen actually works. I’m planning to continue this sort of process this week of drawing diagrams or system diagrams based on research resources that I’m reading.

Source: https://theconversation.com/explainer-how-does-sunscreen-work-what-is-spf-and-can-i-still-tan-with-it-on-88869

Daily Practice – Day 1

I’m still trying to narrow down my topic’s reach/critical criteria, to associate it with my Connections Lab History of Here project. I decided for this first day to explore the concept of “history” rather than “memory.” I started the mind map below to begin my dig to find a more critical lens and direction.