#prethesis

1. Iterative Design

Iterative design is a methodology based on the concept of constantly testing, evolving and improving a prototype. It usually involves different stages of design, where the goal is to improve over time at each iteration. This methodology is very close to me, because I have been really interested in design-thinking and I participated in a Design For America project last semester. It’s also close to me because I have been teaching it as “engineering design process” to students in middle school. Ultimately, I believe it is a very efficient method of creating a solution to a problem or for going about solving a problem. Its inherent assumption that you will fail and will have to try and try and try again sets it up for success. It forces one to assume a solution will not be good enough until proven wrong, and that requires putting it through many tests.

2. Ethnography

Ethnography is the idea that a researcher will study a certain subject or population by immersing themselves into the subject’s environment, and putting on their shoes. It is technically a sub-branch of Anthropology, because it’s a specific approach to studying human habits, social norms and customs. Ethnography tends to be in-depth and qualitative, often consisting of in-person interviews of subjects and of “shadowing” them. In the past it has been controversial at times, especially in early documentary-films by Western academics attempting to study and present the customs of non-Western populations. When doing an ethnographic study it’s extremely important to be aware of the researcher’s own “fingers” in the research, as a true ethnographic study is clear of unconscious biases and personal interpretations of the researcher. I think this methodology will be really important for me in attempting to understand other people’s points of views in order to create solutions for a problem that affects both of us (biodiversity conservation, global warming...etc).

3. Media Analysis

Here are a few things that are informing my thesis idea (a transgender digital advertising art intervention targeted at my hometown, Binghamton NY). 

Squonk Opera (According to Luke DuBois they took out a bunch of ads in Pittsburg in the mid/early 1990s posing the question: What if Andy Warhol had stayed in Pittsburg?, suggesting a cultural shift was needed to support artists, in effect creating the Pittsburg art scene that is thriving today.)

Walker Art Center Buys Billboards

Jenny Holzer Truisms

Cybernetic Guerilla Warfare

Jesse Owens Letter to A Young Negro

Pop Art, Ex James Rosenquist

Market Research Using Google Adwords

Guerilla Girls Advertisments

Emergency Communication System (SMS and Text Section)

Faith Holland Clit Cam RedTube

This is the presentation I gave to the IDM program directors about the topics I am exploring for my thesis project. (It got a wee bit messed up when I uploaded it to SlideShare.)

So last week I posted a funny little video on Facebook of myself singing, playing guitar, and talking about about how my voice is changing due to taking testosterone.

I love to sing. Love it. I sing in the shower, the car, the kitchen, the elevator. But I do not sing in public. Last week was actually the first time I have sung in front of other people in maybe 25 years.

I signed up for guitar for two reasons: I needed a way to work on my voice as it dropped, but more importantly, my fiance and I are starting a conversation about what kind of family we want to be…and I always thought that when I had a family of my own there would be music. 

So, yeah, last week I got a little better at guitar and a lot better at being okay with not being good at something. In other words, I got better at being vulnerable.

Since then, it has been like I have tapped into some endless internal well of compassion, patience, and loving kindness. That one small moment of being seen and encouraged, though seemingly insignificant, opened up some long-locked doors inside my thinking. 

This morning I presented my thesis direction to my classmates: a cold war-inspired exploration of language, networks, trans-identity, belonging, talking to aliens, and Binghamton, NY.

I totally just did my own thing, and said what I was interested in, even though I have no idea where it is going and no way of knowing if it is good - because it is new and good is the wrong evaluator. And, I should say that in my class there are kids from all over the world, with all different kinds of backgrounds, many of whom are way younger than I am.

Here is what I want to do with my thesis project:

I want to create a language for talking about trans-ing art and technology. 

I want to use trans-ness as a generative methodology.