March 2015 – Hannah

Mobile Cam Exercise #2

My location is a computer classroom on the first floor of ADM. I have chosen this classroom because, to me, it is all about connection; the room is filled with wires, internet, a projector, lights, sound speakers, and many many computers. When this room is full, the students are together physically, but they are separately engrossed by their own computers and in their own virtual world, disconnected from those around them. This reminds me of my text from our collective class text on Pirate Pad:

“If we’re speaking to each other through a technology box, are we really in the present (now)?

I feel as if I’m having a relationship with my computer, the concept of you, rather than you.”

I begin in this room. I exit through the only door, you can hear the sound of it opening and closing.

I walk down a long, cement hallway that slowly curves as I walk; there is little to no sound.

I end up at the ADM lounge on the first floor. There is a flurry of voices (at the time I scouted this location, there was no such noise as it was a Sunday evening).

I go downstairs to the lobby and join my peers.

Throughout this journey, there will be the background noise of a full ADM building and the sound of voices.

Micro-Project V: My Desktop World

I would be lost without my desktop; it holds some of the most important documents of my every day life.

When I analyze it (which I have never done previously), my desktop is actually a perfect mirror of my personality: I am endlessly organized in real life, while my desktop has a variety of folders with specific titles, within which there are sub-folders for all of the individual documents. However, I sometimes “let go” and get behind on my organization, which can be seen from the documents which are yet-to-be-organized and have been left astray on my desktop.

My desktop background of the map is my encouragement of self-education. I am a visual learner much more than I am an auditory learner, so I find looking at the map (along with any other informative images) to be the best way for me to learn about the part of the world that I am living in.

At the bottom of my desktop, I have very few application icons. This reflects my admiration for keeping things simple and only having what is necessary. It personally drives me crazy when others have a wide assortment of applications at the bottom or side which they so obviously rarely use.

My desktop is my home base, almost a reflection of my bedroom; I keep it my way, its layout is my decision, and I keep my personal items there. From day to day, it is my jumping off point into another world.

Micro-Project IV: The Telematic Embrace

I believe that the third space remains the third space. In a way, by partaking in these collective movements (as seen below), it feels as if we are together because we are creating something together.

However, there are distinct differences. When I am Skyping an individual, I am sitting at my desk, looking at my computer and talking to them about this or that. This is not a realistic interaction, unless it was an interview. In real life, my conversations elapse over an activity, be it washing the dishes, making a meal, walking to an event, or sitting over a cup of tea. It is quite rare that two individuals would sit across from each other, directly looking at each other’s faces, and sit there and speak until the conversation is over. A sense of intimacy and closeness can be felt from this interaction, as there is a similar stimulation coming from the auditory and visual parts of our brain (we can hear and see each other). Nevertheless, the interaction is missing the intimacy of being able to feel the physical presence of someone there with you. Of course the third space can be playful, absurd or compelling, as is seen in Hole-In-Space, when the knowledge of the third space and the protective barrier of known true distance allowed the individuals to act abnormally while remaining safe.

We R Here [Now] Response

We R Here (Now)

Poetic Response:

If we’re speaking to each other through a technology box, are we really in the present (now)?

I feel as if I’m having a relationship with my computer, the concept of you, rather than you.

The Ending?

I presume that the ending of this piece reflects on the true connection between people that are interacting in the third space.

I think a good ending could be someone missing an important event, such as a funeral or death, but is trying to be “present” through a webcam or Skype. Clearly the true connection is lacking and emotional ties are not as close as they could be in person.

My Adobe Connect Fail

Bridget, Kathryn and I attempted to have a conversation on Adobe Connect Mobile. We did so unsuccessfully. I’m unsure about what type of connection they were on, but I was on my data plan, so it should have been a fairly steady connection. I was unable to hear either of them for the most part. When I could hear Kathryn, it was incredibly lagged and nearly impossible to truly communicate. In regards to visuals, both of their screens were frozen for me (as you can see from the screenshot below). Throughout this entire “interaction”, our only true communication was through a Facebook chat on our phones. Seeing as how this was only 3 people trying to communicate, I am unsure of how it will work on March 31^st with even more people trying to use this app.

Project Hyperessay II: Technical Realization

My final project, where I will hold a telematic dinner party, will be entirely based upon technology. I will be using Adobe Connect, just as we have in our online classes the past few weeks. I will have my participants download the app and become a little more comfortable with it, myself as well. We will all act as we normally would throughout a dinner party: eating, laughing, telling stories, interacting, etc. However, I am aware that technical difficulties can arise. As we have experienced in class, when too many people are involved, the connection can become glitchy or lagged. It is for this reason that I am keeping the numbers small: 5 people in total. I will be sure to have all members on the laptops because, after experience it myself, the connection on the phone can be quite unreliable. As I have instructed all of the participants to be at home throughout the event, I trust that the internet connections should be quite steady.

Below is an image (screenshot) of my experimentation with Adobe Connect Mobile. As you can see, I am smiling in this photo because I am aware that it is happening. However, Kathryn appears “paused” and Bridget is not in the picture. This is due to our lag and bad connection, causing us to be unable to properly communicate.

Research Critique V: Life is a Performance

I am intrigued by the concept of an audience member “suspending disbelief” when viewing a staged performance, such as a theatrical piece or fictional film. When the audience member enters a the doors of a theatre, takes a seat in the red velvet seat and looks up at the large stage before them, at the moment that the curtain opens, they enter the world of the performance; they are no longer sitting in a theatre, and technically, they no longer exist either. What is presented before them becomes the truth, despite any limitations that would exist in the real world: they suspend them. The reading, ‘Webcams: The Subversion of Surveillance’, refers to JenniCam in a similarly theatrical way: the audience is still expected to suspend their disbelief and enter the world of Jennifer Ringley. It is mentioned:

“The audience is content to suspend disbelief and accept slowly changing Internet still frames suggesting a place and on occasions somebody within that space. The space is a stage: we are in a darkened auditorium occasionally observing, confirming her existence, and maybe she ours, a convenient exchange agreement not unlike witness Samuel Beckett’s Not I or Waiting for Godot.”

This quote mentions JenniCam using the Internet as a stage. Although Jennifer claims on her site that nothing is staged and it is just “real life,” it is still a performance. Every single day, each person (including Jennifer) performs the variety of aspects of their life: they perform the social roles of a man, woman, doctor, mother, father, friend, or many other possible roles. Despite that these are all true and realistic positions to play, the act of participating is performance.