I did another rev of the presentation with Brian yesterday, and got some more feedback. I was able to practice the new order of information, and he had some really helpful suggestions about how to frame next steps. I hope the time comes in ok. I’m looking forward to it though. Good luck, friends!
The rehearsal with Brian was really helpful. As always, it was excellent to see what my classmates are working on — especially because these are students whose work I haven’t seen yet this semester! I loved seeing that Noah was also taking a more pedagogical approach to thesis, and Siri’s AI explorations always impress me.
Some of the feedback that I heard from Brian was that I need to get to the point much more quickly. I need to state up front what my project is, and then giving the background information becomes easier to follow and more relevant. I also need to be clear what the project is — is it Research as Practice, or is it pedagogy, or is the the sculptures. I’ve heard this from Sarah too, so this is further reinforcement that I’m not quite there yet with the explanations.
This weekend I am spending more time revising the presentation, and then I think I will find some people who have NOT heard about my project yet to practice with. Woohoo!
I had a lovely and supportive chat with Nicole today that was extremely helpful and centering. It is so helpful to hear about how other students are navigating this ambiguous process, and get feedback on the clarity of my own ideas from someone who is not inside my head.
Sarah pushed me to think about whether the syllabus is the thing, or the nests are the thing. I think that the syllabus is primary, but that I don’t want to have one without the other. I think the syllabus, and thinking about birds, their intelligence, and their technologies, puts this thesis squarely within Process Oriented Work, and toeing into a Design Framework. I don’t think it is solidly a design framework, because the answer to what exactly the framework is has not been clearly articulated in my mind yet. The process of learning has been clearly articulated, as well as my progress through that process.
A link to my syllabus is here: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ZmNyiUIvmzF8WtP0beZYEcD4x32YfZoymxLgBZIKtIE/edit?usp=sharing
So while the syllabus is the primary artifact and the representation of the larger conceptual idea, I think that the physical objects are extremely important to follow through with. These objects are representatives of me moving through the ideas. And while I expect to finish formalizing my thoughts around the class as a whole, I think my object-making may only get to the mid-term of my syllabus.
My migraine vest, at this present moment, is a vest with an extremely oversized hood that I can crawl into when I’m feeling sick. It is my hope that I can build in some additional elements (fans, etc) to fully realize the idea. But this only brings me to the midway point of the class I am envisioning. To arrive at the point of the intended final, I want to consider vastly different materials, processes of fabrication, and parallel metaphorical forms revisiting this same purpose or topic.
Other ideas for Nests for Jamie that I’d love to realize, and then re-examine through the lens detailed above:
Great check-in with Sarah as usual. I am making some progress on two ideas — the physical migraine vest and the ideas around Bird University. It was helpful to hear Sarah articulate some of the things I need to figure out:
These are the things I will be thinking about as I continue to build the migraine vest and sketching out the syllabus.
Maquettes:
After Anna’s Hummingbird
After the bushtit
After Spiderhunter
After Tailorbird
After verdin
Foot Prints, a record of my interactions with the earth. Lost Dutchman State Park, Arizona
I had a positive and generative meeting with my mentor, Marina, this morning. We spent a lot of time discussing Bird University and playing with that thought experiment. We talked about the system of higher education — a system of education, knowledge possession, knowledge production, with implications on class, race, and privilege. We discussed different ways that higher education shows up in different places, from Reed College to ASU to the Ivy League . She mentioned Tagore, a poet who started his own university, something I need to look into.
We then talked about what Bird University might be a system of. It’s not FOR birds —Â birds have already graduated. Is it a missionary school, set up to re-educate humans? Does it play with Dartmouth (my alma mater)’s messed-up history of education for Native Americans?
Lots to dig into here. Who are the teachers at BU? Who are the other students? Where is bird university? Does it follow a migration route? What do the birds get out of it?
We applied similar systems thinking to nests. Nests as fitting into things that birds need — shelter, food, families, babies. Birds that walk, swim, fly. Birds that migrate, birds that dont. Nests as collection of materials — spit and dirt, or sticks and leaves and plastic, or cobwebs and down.
I have been thinking about material sourcing for my maquettes that I have been making, and for the Jamie Nest I have been building. I have asked my family to give me their singleton socks so that I could use them for material. Disposability of the current fashion industry as a rich source for materials that serve similar purposes to what a nest could do.
Marina also gave me a long list of people to look up:
Tagore – poet started a university
Elizabeth gross – Chaos in Territory
Alphonso Lerus
Gordon Hampton Dawn Chorus
Antenna magazine, a multi-species art magazine – did a piece on the recording of Dawn Chorus.Â
Africam – network of high-res camera/audio set up at watering holes.Â
Jill Haefele
Climate clock Andrew boyd
Jennifer Monson, iLand – biology and dance, followed migration routes, several species.
Richard Long – walking movement.Â
Hamish fulton – walking
Francis Alÿs – the green line. Line by palestine and isreal.Â
Suzannah Sailor and Ed Mars Canary Project
I have made some significant progress this last weekend, which feels pretty good.
The larger idea within which a lot of my thesis work lives is this idea for Bird University (working title…). The main premise for Bird University is that human intelligence isn’t the only meaningful intelligence, and it might be less meaningful than many other species’ intelligences as the world changes around us. One of the species that we could learn from is birds — what would it look like if humans went to Bird University?
One of the ways I have been exploring this idea is by watching videos of birds building nests, and making small maquettes of nests after these birds’ style. This has felt like birds teaching a Nest Building class. Maybe it would be called Nest Building; Function, Craft, and Sustainable Architecture. If that were the case, then the maquettes are homework assignments. The final assignment would be building a nest for myself based on similar principles. This project would focus not only on techniques for construction, as the maquettes did, but would move deeper into looking at some of the why’s behind nest building. What is it for (comfort? growth and nurturing? protection? from what?) and how does it meet those needs? How does a consideration of materials factor into the specific design of the nest?
^^ That is where I expect to spend the bulk of the next week, getting the “Jamie Nest” which is a Migraine Vest, closer to completion. I have made progress roughing out the vest itself and drafting the hood, which is the key migraine feature. I will finalize that shape/design early this week, and plan for some other features that I will work on later. This will include an internal structure to create more shape, fans (laptop fan? something small) that can create some air movement within the hood, and…?? what else?
As I have been working, I have been thinking about what makes the rest of this class at Bird University. Who is the teacher? What is their bio? What is the syllabus? (I have the basic outline of the syllabus outlined above — what else?)
And then what is the rest of the University? What are the other classes? Who are the other students? Where is it, when is it?
Marina encouraged me to think about what the birds get out of it. I’m still working on that, but even if it starts with a deeper appreciation and understanding of birds, what they do, and what they need, that seems like a step in the right direction.
are all jamie nests just a take on a hood?
in quickly prototyping im finding that the most comfort is coming from covering my face/head. i also want to tuck in my feet, but that is a secondary priority. oh dear, this is toeing into a whole other space.
Just got off a call with my thematic group partners and it was energizing — exactly what I needed to jumpstart my day. I think I get more energy from digging into the projects other people are working on than my own, for some reason. Not sure what that says about me or my work but, ah well.
It was really helpful to hear what is resonating with my classmates. In my study of birds, bird nests, and creation of my own nests, I am relieved to hear that it makes sense to people outside my own head. I am still mulling over “Bird University,” what that means, and what direction it should go.
I have sourced material at the local salvation army for my first iteration of my flight nest. As we discussed in our call this morning, sustainability and circularity should be an element of this. Ideally I would like that to get down to the materials themselves. Can I make a nest out of seaweed? Out of plant fibers or something else? Even though it is authentic to bird nest creation, using down feels problematic. (Also not personally what I want, I don’t think warmth is something I’m chasing atm.) Is it enough to use found objects, and second-hand items? Nothing “new” (except thread, I guess.) Something to keep mulling over.
Hopefully a prototype of a flight nest will be mocked-up today…
In reading my book on birds’ nests, I keep wanting to figure out what it means for me. There are two ideas that I have had:
These are feeling ridiculous, but I think I need to try them. I will look for some prototyping material this week and make some sketches in the meantime. I also want to read the next chapter of my bird book, about the different layers of the bird nests. It might give me more ideas for how to make my own nests.