Category: Micro-Project

The Facebook co-broadcasting feature was a fun experience for me after weeks of working on different forms of broadcasting. I think it has to be the most interesting because it allows collaboration to take place between two people. As an aspiring artist, I enjoy the idea of collaborative work because it brings together different perspectives and ideas.

I was really inspired by our professor’s musician friend who made use of the shortfalls of live stream delay in co-broadcasting for her work. There was something very  When faced with a problem, people are usually taken aback and they try their best to prevent the problem from happening. They find ways to work around it but seldom do they try to work with it. This can be very limiting in developing creative work as these short-term stumbles may be a distraction. I think the delay and the feedback of two co-broadcasters was something that I wanted to explore.

When my group member and I first started with the broadcast, we tried to move away from each other. However, the moving caused disconnection and it was frustrating trying to find a another location with better wifi connection in the school. We walked past each other and found the sound of feedback between the two phones by accident. We started finding ways to play around with the feedback by moving our phones closer and further away from each other. I think by accident, we starting circling our phones around each other which made it look as though we were jumping. I was surprised when our professor (who was watching the class’ broadcast) found it an interesting imagery because it was just a “let’s-whack-it-and-do-whatever” situation.

This reminded me of Tan Pin Pin’s most recent film, titled In Time to Come. The director, in a post-film discussion, talked about how people usually respond to the things that you don’t intend to happen in the creative work. In this case, we did not plan or intend for the circular hand-moving thing to happen and it was something that had gotten the attention of the viewer.

The co-broadcasting also opens a lot more options when we do our final project. As it requires more users at different places, this co-broadcasting will help to ease the problems we may face with connectivity when we work on it.

As someone who is usually uncomfortable in front of the camera, I found the filters on the OBS software ‘liberating’ as I was less self-conscious. In this live broadcast, I was having lunch and was not doing much on my desktop. There has been a social media trend where social media is used to broadcast people eating. People eat large bowls of noodles, huge amounts of burgers and other types of food and broadcast it to their followers. Sometimes they make commentaries of the food they are eating or share about their day. Some of them are unusually enthusiastic about eating and watching them eat naturally makes you happy while others use it as a way to earn extra money. I wanted to see if people would react to my eating and understand the attraction to such a trend.

This form of broadcast feels almost performative, as with the Jon Cates video. I wonder how people develop such trends. I find it awkward to have strangers watch me eat, let alone comment and respond to the food that I have having. Although people were watching my broadcast, we did not start any conversations. I tried not to let their views bother me as I felt as though my “real-life” image had fallen apart with this broadcast. It felt almost like I was under surveillance, not knowing who was watching and who will be watching. I also noted that I am more likely deliberately avoid making a mistake as compared to when I am alone. This also reminded me how Jon Cates approaches his art and how he uses glitches.

I think I would want to take the opportunity to study the trends of social media and use it as a way to better understand internet culture and how it influences the way people create art.

With Adobe Connect, the lesson felt more of a discussion or a seminar as everyone in the class had the opportunity to discuss a topic raised by the professor and build on one another’s points. It was quite uncomfortable for me to use the webcam and the microphone to attend a class, perhaps because it was a new medium for many of us. Many of the online classes that we have been through were more informative than participatory. Students were not expected to reply to questions raised or discuss with friends in real-time. Most of us comment on the topic through the online forums that the lecturer or professor has put up. It was mostly a one-way interaction.

I think it was an interesting experience for us as we sit in the comfort of our homes to attend a class virtually and at the same time see all of our classmates. By grouping students and then having them discuss with one another in small teams also gave everyone a chance to discuss the topic at hand.

The Adobe Connect platform was fun, up to a certain extent. I think the chatbox option allowed us to express our views freely without interrupting the person talking. Many of us were using the chat to agree or add on our views and opinions. This also means that people are free to air whatever views they wish to and someone was constantly adding mindless comments to the chat section. As with a physical classroom, I feel that there needs to be respect for one another so we do not deviate from the topic that is being discussed. The online session also enhances the classroom experience in allowing us to be creative with what we can do with our friends. However, it can become difficult when we face problems with our internet connectivity. For me, I had some trouble connecting to the class and had to clear my internet cache for a more seamless experience.

I think being behind the comfort of our screens helped us become more expressive (although it takes time to get used to seeing one another and ourselves on the screens). Being online also means that the physical spaces and social rules are blurred. People can now post or say irrelevant things to express their views.

There is a lot more to explore with the use of online spaces as a classroom and I feel that it can be an exciting experience in the future.

https://www.facebook.com/sim.xinfeng/videos/10155184183231888/

 

The in-class activity of social broadcasting took me by surprise as I was not expecting to be doing something like this on the first day of class. Prior to the live broadcasting experience, I always found social broadcasting to be extremely self-serving and narcissistic. I did not understand the need for people to share their live stories with the world (who cares about what you are doing). Having said that, I have to admit I do enjoy watching live broadcasts of friends who use this as a platform to share information about their work and places they visit (there is a purpose). I despise it when it meaningless and aimless.

The Experience
While filming myself, I felt uncomfortable and was unsure about what I had to achieve from the activity. Was there supposed to be a learning outcome? Were we supposed to use it for a project? As we began to walk around the school, I saw my friends interacting with their online friends who were watching the video at the time. I wondered if there was a need to communicate with anyone. What if no one was watching your broadcast? What if I kept quiet and then someone rewatches the video? Will they what was going on?

The uneasiness went away after filming a little longer. I also felt less intimidated when I saw my friends around me filming themselves.

Shots Taken
During one part of the process, I took the stairs to the first level. I found the imagery produced interesting. As the stairway was dark and only the sounds of my footsteps were heard, it looked as if I was documenting a horror film (e.g. The Blair Witch Project). I noticed that I was constantly looking for textures around the building. Perhaps I could expand on this interest the next time I do a live broadcast.

Post-Activity
I was taken aback by the reactions to the live broadcast. I thought no one would be interested in what I had to post, especially if it was such a pointless/aimless video of myself walking around the school. I guess this would be a good reason why some people like to do live broadcasting. It is a good way of reconnecting with friends and letting them know that, “Hey I am still alive and this is what I am doing now” without feeling too awkward having to contact them out of the blue.

Although I still despise social media up to a certain extent, I am also excited to explore the possibilities of what the internet can do. I am definitely looking forward to more live broadcasts (To the future me reading this, hope you did not regret saying this).