based on your current experience and ideas how might you answer the question what is research?
Research is the complete process of starting with an idea/ideas, until the completion of your project. After my experiences in many projects over the course, I have come to realize that research is not simply getting facts form the internet or interviews, but it continues when you try something and it does not work so you have to find out new ways. Research involves change and adaptation, the project can change dramatically by the end and the user needs to be open to adapting to change. New materials can found or new information could change the idea. Research can be the information from books or online sources, but it can also be the research you do find yourself through crafting a project through your eyes.
over the course of the semester what did you find or develop in your own practice as a maker/thinker?
Over the integration course of both seminar and studio I found that, in particular to this semester, I have a good sense of conceptual thinking. In my seminar research paper most of the problems the teacher was seeing in the class’s work was that they had facts and sources but not a big idea – the conceptual idea. To me specifically she told me that was not the case, I had the idea just need to cite it more (I had my sources I just needed to quote them more). It was interesting to realize I think in terms of the idea first and not the facts, maybe it was particular to that essay, but now I will notice it more often in my future papers, which side I start from.
how did your concept of both research and your own practice change or developed over the course of the semester?
in studio it went from one image and gave an answer – to two images that create questions
My research topic idea in seminar changes dramatically, it started off as an idea about how self driving cars will affect us and the artificial intelligence link to self driving cars are, to choice anxiety. Over the weeks brainstorming the first topic and trying to poke the idea in every angle, it wasn’t until Brie looked at my paper and from an outsiders perspective highlights what was most interesting and what could actually be more interesting than the common topic of SDC fears and worries. AI is a tool used in many products that help make our lives easier, by creating more time. In the added abundance of time we get an overwhelming amount of choice of what we can do in that time. That is where I talk about the hidden side affect from AI products, the situation you get yourself into when you have so much to choose from, you end up not being satisfied with anything you choose because its easy to think that another choice could have been perfect. Even if the result was great, it dampers the decision making process.
In studio my concept of the final project changed dramatically as well. My whole perspective changed from wanting to present one image of the future of self driving cars, and providing an answer to how it could be. To ending up with two images that instead evoke questions in the audience’s heads. After editing my initial idea, I realized I didn’t want to tell people what to think or that there is a definite answer. I wanted the audience to have to look at my piece and create their own scenarios from the two extreme futures of a dystopia and a utopia world of a life with self driving cars.
how do you see this in your work overall this semester, and where do you imagine it might go next?
Artificial Intelligence ties with a lot of my projects over my first year at parsons, and everything to do with design and technology being immersed together. I definitely want to continue pursuing these ideas, which I plan on doing in my major: design and technology. Next year my courses will be more major focused, and my field is about combining those fields, so I plan on diving into it next year. Since I am so passionate about this, I think I only scratched the surface of what I can possibly do with this field.