ME

New Project for English 240

Prezi Slideshow

The link to my Prezi !

DIY Definition

DIY was something that I was always aware of but never really took the time to fully understand. Before this class DIY was mostly a phrase that I linked to anything that I “ did by myself”. Mentally, I never really put the label of DIY on my creative process. My DIY definition involves the description of a process that is always evolving, not only is the process in which we make craft evolving but our perceptions of how we go about doing it and viewing it as well. DIY means different things for different people. There are many sociocultural aspects when it comes to understanding the movement as a whole. There are many ways DIY craft is interpreted and how everyone should benefit from the movement.  I feel as though one of the key aspects of DIY are the perceptions of what art are and where they originated from. In the Atwill readings the concept of “techne” is explained. To me techne IS art, craftsmanship and a cornerstone in explaining DIY craft. DIY craft is a form of art and techne that creates a path that both transgresses and redefines a boundary. A techne or craft is never one tangible “thing”. It can be described as a power, an ideology that guides, a strategy, a cunningly conceived plan, a coincidence, a painting, an installation (the list literally can go on). Techne resists the ideology of what normal is and often can be seen as in a stage to transformation. It can be perceived as good or evil, dull or bright, brilliant  of genius, or even mediocre.(48) Techne marks intervention and invention, and may spark a conflict or end a transgression. Fate and necessity may set temporary limits for invention of craft, but the boundaries are perpetually redrawn by creation of the craft itself. An equally important part of understanding DIY craft is the role it plays in a world dominated by corporate consumerism.  Karl Marx and William Morris took turns establishing the difference between man and machine in order to help define the meaning of DIY in this world better. It is important to understand them as separate entities at first to understand them as whole, especially as technology and traditional DIY craft becomes blended. Terkel and Jackson exemplify this meaning even more when it comes down to explaining what a pro-amateur is . DIY can be a difficult art and craft to fit in to the consumer world, especially when it comes down to today’s store competition, yet it is Morris and Marx that encouraged unification in order to keep the handcraft strong. The Crafters Manifesto, groups like stitch n bitch and the art of craftivism both promote unity and strength of DIY culture. In order to preserve the ideology of DIY one needs to also understand the blend of aspects between technology and the handicraft. As we evolve we must change our perceptions of what DIY is even if that means including a non traditional form of handicraft such as the digital arts. Blending both digital arts and handicrafts and seeing how they influence each other can be beneficial both to the classroom and to the individual. Understanding both will help individuals cross transcultural boundaries, as well as justice and gender boundaries. Overall, Providing a welcoming attitude for the future of DIY will help us find a balance between both worlds so the benefits can be shared by all. DIY can allow a whole new aspect for teaching, as well as understanding the world around us and in the end create unity on a multi level plane for the teacher, student, artist, and entrepreneur.

Guzetti, Elliot, Welsh and Balsamo/Anderson

Guzetti, Elliot and Welsh are instructors who work int he field of online resources, social media, and digtial learning. Despite children growing up in digital generation where ther are there own creators, todays teachers have not. Teachers should care about DIY media to engage and interest their pupils. In addition teachers will need will beneift by learning from there students whenit comes ot technology, “By allowing students to teach their teachers and peers these new literacies, educator can capitalize on students' strengths and acknowledge individuals as capable and articulate people who can inform others (3)”. Teachers will benefit by staying up to date, current views and innovations.Teachers who incorporate new media into their instruction in ways like these tend to realize that those who engage in DIY media practices are learning unique new literacy skills and abilities. (3) Bringing DIY to the classroom allows for children who suffer form economic hardship the ability to interact with new technology. Generally when it comes down to DIY digital cultures there are many bridges that still need to be joined,  both socioeconomic and gender related, at the same there are may new technology hubs such as public libraries, community technoogy centers, and after-school programs working to conjoin these gaps. By becoming familiar with and recognizing the importance of adolescents' DIY media, teachers can acknowledge their students as articulate and capable young people who have myriad ways of demonstrating their literate abilities (10)”.

The authors of the second article Anderson/Balsamo, are individuals that are connected in cinematic arts and divisions of interactive media. Their main argument is how media is going to be in the future. I think predicting that 2020 will be similar to the story written is not realistic but with the rate at which technology is exapnding I wouldn’t be surprised if this was correct. Personally I have always reserved Digital DIY for recreational at-home purposes and rarely have seen it in the classroom, as far as my college experience has gone. DIY has laregely been reserved as a part of my recreational/personal life and not so much my school life. I can breifly remember in elementary school taking computer classes as a requirement but that was in the age of floppy disks. I can also reacall basic typing classes being taught which I find as a benefit today. Overall my middle/elementary school was a poor one, with very little “new” technology interaction. As for high school I went to Milwaukee High School of the Arts, even there, there was very little digital intergration yet there was a large emphasis on creating with the minds and the hands, so more traditional DIY craft. This course has by far been the most hybrid version of digitial and traditonal DIY craft. I can’t recall any of other college classes integrating technology like this one has. Most of the integration has been left up to me, for example: typing notes/papers for class or participating recreationally through facebook etc. Alot of my professors allow students to access various resources online through D2L, as well as post answers and online discussions. Overall, technology has been used as a tool of convenience but not for learning or creativity in most of my classes.

Edupunk !

Edupunk is education with a Punk DIY attitude. Edu-punkers are individuals who are taking a punky anti conformist approach to education through the internet. Edu-punkers are a variety of individuals but mostly younger ummm "college" aged kids. Their goal is to open up the world to a new educational approach that allows EVERYONE to learn. People of the edu-punk community take a non traditional approach to work and believe the academic models of hard work, discipline, and highly structured learning need to evolve. This can be done and encouraged through online learning and communal participtation. Edu- punkers encourage the development of the community through group participation. "If an individual’s idea of adventure and discovery could be formulated into a game or mutually agreed fun thing, it becomes a communal effort." Overall the heart of our group is in finding social activities that are mutually appreciated and fun, and aims to rekindle the fire of the discovery we once had a younger age.

Questions: I would like to know how the edu punk theory would be beneficial to children in early developing stages, as well as current baby boomers who are learning new technologies.

The New London Group

The New London Group is a team of ten academics that were concerned about how literacy pedagogy might address the changes of literacy due to rapid globalization. This group believes that with the progression of civilization and diversity, the world of language and communication should be view more broadly. They seek to create this new literacy and impliment it to the classroom setting. 

Ito and Lessig

       According to the opening of her new blog, Mimo Ito is a cultutral anthropologist that studies new media use through younger people, especially in Japan.
The author of amateur media production invites us to look at amateur media as an essential sociocultural learning tool. She encourages the reader to let go of the ideology that amateur is bad and as an essential for cultural production. Amateur media production is distinctive cultural domain characterized by an ethic of peer-to-peer appropriation and experimentation that differs fundamentally from more professionalized forms of media production (itofisher.com).  In this day and age the study of amateur media cannot be ignored as we are encouraged by various social networking site, blogs, and media to be individual creators.Three key things focus around amatuer media production innovation, reputation, and participation. Ito states that amateur media is coming in to the limelight and even surpassing the importance of commercial media. The video for “Code Monkey”, was exa,ple of how someone who is percieved as amateur can use innovation, participation, and reputation to gain pro-status in the world of digital media. The role of the collaboration plays a big part in promoting amateur media artists becasue the fans fuel the artists and the artists fuel the fans. Collaboration and innovation combined with humor and imitation seem to off set a large number of social media changes that inspire and keep the amateur visions alive and growing.

Overall Mimo Ito sums it up best with this paragraph, “ The AMV scene is an example of a creative community that has been highly successful in recruiting a very broad base of young creators into video editing practices, keeping barriers to entry low and the pleasure of creation high. At the same time, the community has developed ways of highlighting and celebrating the work of those who have the commitment and skills to develop exceptional work. Although participants in the scene experience tension between the more "common" and "elite" forms of participation in the AMV scene, both are integrally related and synergistic. The health of the AMV scene as a thriving amateur, non-commercial, and networked creative practice is predicated on the diversity and hierarchies that have evolved over the years” .

Lessig

 Lawrence Lessig is a well-pronounced academic that has ahd the honors of teaching and studying in various departments at Stanford and HArvard Univerities.For much of his academic career, Lessig has focused on law and technology, especially as it affects copyright. He is the author of five books on the subject, including the one for the Introduction, Remix.
In the beginning of this article Lessig introduces a woman by the name of Stephanie Lenx, who like many of us, taped a video of her baby dancing to prince and posted to youtube.com for her relatives to view. Univeral Records, the owner of the rights to Prince’s music retaliated against youtube stating lenz violated the right sof the company and should pay. Lessig goes to point out the ironic and paradoxical train of thought that a multi million dollar company would be after an innnocent women playing an innocent part in the social media when in fact the lawsuit they were creating costed them more moeny then what they were suing her for. Overall I feel as  though lessig was trying to point out that corporate amaeirca is irrational and being wuite destructive and hypocritical, to an innocent and innovative participant of social culture. Lessig goes on to describe a gallery by the name of, “White Cube”, in London where T.V.’s filled with normal people singing John Lennon’s Solo’s were played back to back. A female artist artist with the last name of Brietz was respondsible for the works. The focus of th work was nto so much a tribute to Lennon but a tribute to the lives of the people he touched, since they were the star of the show. The core meaning of the exhibit was to focus on what happens after the distirbution process of such media processes sucha s music. However, like Lenz, Brietz faced a laerge legal battle to get the right to have ordinary people use pre claimed corporate media. I find this ironic becuase half these legal battles don’t have anythign to with the artists wishes but the corporate greed and control the record executives wish to have on social media. Lessig conveys that the blend of free media and culture have the potential to become something great for everyone. However it is industiry that is resisting this creative revolution by making erroneous claims about about money and rights, just to keep the ball in their court and not in the peoples. Jsut like the people have become interavtice in blending thses medias the record companies to become involved witht he remix culture, not oppose it aand artists can be that bridge, by donating music and certain rights to Creative Commons. This poses a great benefit for the artist and the label, as new people viewing the music perse  through a group of synchronized performers on t.v. Are feeling the same creativity and ispriiig artists int he same way the music was introduced to the audience years ago.

McCullough and Wiener

        The digital world brings hand crafts into the 21st century. In digital production craft refers to the condition where people apply standard technological means to unanticipated or indescribable ends. This article explores the paradox of craft through the use of hands, whether we use them to make a basket or create something through photoshop.
According to McCullough, the term craft implies amatuerism and difference. Over time the tem craft has evolved into a catergory that explains crafting as not quite art and isolated in the field of folk arts. However, with the emergence of the digital world, crafting can be viewed in a similar but new light, without negative conotation. Overall craft is skilled work whether done with or without technology. This article emphasizes the use of touch and direct manipulation when it comes to understanding the creation of digital craft, the term haptic exemplfies this. Computers and electronic symbol processing. Through computer usage one may may be able identify the minimal use of skill in other areas of ones life. Learning the ins and outs of computers actually helps you understand the skill, and mode it takes to learn a handicraft or even an instrument. Overall “ craft no only share technique but the capacity of the medium itself, a passion for practice,and moral values as an activity independent of what is produced”, this should apply to both the physical DIY realm and the electronic realm.


Cybernetics
This article involoves the problems of communication engineering. Communication engineering has brought up many issues to humanity, it  imitates human behavior, implying human behavior is slow and ineffective. Scientists and engineers who work in this field have tendency to be percieved as exploting technology at any cost. People now idolozie computers and their marvels yet the rapid expanse of technology in genereal seems to impose some kind of forbodung consequence on humanity that we all seemt o be unaware of. This article aims to find the role of message to man from technology, through the terms of input, output, and memory. Wiener states “it his thesis that the operation of the living individual and the operation of some of the newer communication machines are precisely parallel” .

Barbrook and Schultz

        Barbrook is an academic at the University of Cambridge where is obtained his BA in Social and Political Science. He obtained his MA in political behavior at the Univeristy of Essex and his Doctorate in politics and government at the University of Kent. He also heavily involved in radio and hypermedia studies. Schultz is an artist, author, and computer professional that lives in Berlin. He is project manager for reboot.fm, a Berlin based open radio that is a local and international P2P network of groups, individuals and non-commercial radios that combines "old radio" and "new" open source software.

The Digital Artisans Manifesto is a satirical manifesto aimed at preserving the practices of the graphic designer in the early 90’s. I feel it was written out of the fear of the unknown of the dot com era . Overall, I find this amusing yet I feel as though some of the assumptions made by EDAN on the direction in were digital artisans are placed in the future was a bit misguided. At times I found it hard to realize the objectives of EDAN, esepcially when they would oppose traditional economic systems but then put themselves in the likeness of the same systems such as the European Union. I also think inviting “everyone” to be a part of this system of artisans was a bit of an overstatement because I feel not everyone who works in the digital zone belongs in this catergory.

Gabriel and Wagminster

    Teshome Gabriel is an Ethiopian American Film scholar and professor at the UCLA School of Theater, Film, and Television in Los Angeles. Gabriel’s expertise lies in African film with an emphasis on developing countries. Fabian Wagmister teaches audiovisual creativity at the University of California, Los Angeles and I s a professor in the department of Theater, Film and Television as well.

     In this artciles Gabriel and Wagmister attempt to explain the paralells between weaving and modern technology.  Both authors encourage readers to think beyond the structures of modern technology as well as the ideology that handicrafts like weaving,  are a thing of the past. It is emphasized that in order for older, traditonal societies to come into technology there needs to be an understanding and bridge between both ideologies. “The assimilative process is not to mimic traditional forms in a new medium but to actually mutate the medium itself and have it respond to the aesthetic, intellectual, and spiritual characteristics of the community.” 

     According to Gabriel and Wagminster there are already features present in both mediums that coincide with each other. For example: both require the use of hands, the lexicon of both are integrative. Integrating technology through weaving holds benefits for both third world and western societies. Western societies often don;t acknowledge the the roots of their digital orgins or make the correlation that the weaver is much like the photoshopper. Photoshop can be taught much like weaving and vice versa if the conceptuality is taught with the right mind frame. Overall, the main theme of this article is that technology and weaving should render each other in hopes of benefiting both societies.

Writing to you on Nyquil

This has been my week: Monday I contacted a bladder infection by Wednesday I had an Upper Respiratory, Its now Sunday and all this sickness has made it up to my right eye giving me a stye on top of it all. OH and my car broke down in Friday. I have 2 projects due this week and an exam I have been trying to make up for 2 weeks. The blogs are delayed but are coming soon ! IM trying very hard. ::cough cough, drinks Nyquil::
BLAH. Bare with me.

Digital Editing from Over the Break

The  following is a pic I edited during break. I took an un-copy written photo and edited it in both iphoto and photoshop software. Im attempting to get it into stencil format, so I have to precise about where I edit...You have to make these things called "islands" which allow you to cutout pieces in the stencils without the stencil losing form. It is more difficult than you think.

Jenkins Intro/Chapter 4/Project Progress

 Jenkins Introduction and Chapter 4 

Henry Jenkins is an American Media Scholar and Professor of Communication, Cinematic Arts,and Journalism at USC. He recieved his PHd in Communication Arts at UWM. Jenkins focuses on how individuals in contemporary culture combine numerous different media sources. He suggests that media convergence be understood as a cultural process, rather than technologically. Jenkins research also includes the field of video game studies.
Convergence culture is “where old and new media collide, where grassroots and corporate media intersect, where the power of the media producer and the power of the media consumer interact in unpredictable ways”,  as well as the relationship between three concepts-media convergence, participatory culture, and collective intelligence.(2). Overall, Media convergence is a world where all worlds (technological, social, cultural) collide and can be explored by all. It is shaped by peoples differing perspectives and unique experiences to various media, melted together by both grassroots and mainstream media sources. Convergence also alters the relationship between existing technologies, industries, markets, genres, and audiences. Jenkins states that it is our participatory nature that keeps media convergence alive. Through the use if colective intelligence we are able to create new ideas out of old and reworked concepts, so the continuation of these concepts can be reworked into even more creative and new ideologies. Jenkins warns of the dangers of media convergence moving to quickly, stating “ old paradigms are breaking down faster than the newones are emerging”. Moving to quickly doesn’t give time for reflection on the current state of media technology and dismantles companies before they get a chance to fully develop.  Jenkins specifically discusses how the delivery system of media is converging and convergence elements are both compatiable and  mismatched socially, culturally, and physically.
Overall, Jenkins’s perspective can be stated in this paragraph, “We are entering an era of prolonged transition and transformation in the way media operates. Convergence describes the process by which we will sort through those options. There will be no magical black box that puts everything in order again. Media producers will only find their way through their current problems by renegotiating their relationship with their consumers. Audiences, empowered
by these new technologies, occupying a space at the intersection between old and new media, are demanding the right to participate within the culture”.
In Chapter 4 Jenkins uses Star Wars as an example of media convergence and advancement. Star Wars is a great example of media convergence and exemplifies the ideology of a participatory culture. Without the Star Wars participatory culture, the legend of Star Wars would not exist. The way Star Wars fans intereact with movie is very diverse. Fans re-create and parody movies on the internet , are inspired to produce new media based on the movie, hold conventions, and have developed a collector’s market that thrives in-store and through the internet. Through the use of the internet visibility of fan culture is more prominent than ever  (131).
Chapter 4 restates that the current moment of media change is reaffirming the right of everyday people to actively contribute to their culture, a culture that encourages broad participation (shaped by socio-cultural protocols), grassroots creativity, and a bartering or gift economy. Everyone's a participant but participants may have different degrees of status and influence.
When it comes to dealing with the intersection between corporate and grassroots modes of convergence,neither produces or consumers will the have answers. 
Jenkins says consumers can achieve balance by accepting and actively promoting some basic distinctions between media. Media producers can gain greater loyalty and more compliance to legitimate concerns if they court the allegiance of fans. Future media will be place more emphasis on the consumer than ever before thus the participatory nature of the consumer is essential for the thiving of media. To me this means we will be in control of the content we are marketed by how we respond to it, this can have both negative and positive consequences.
        Overall, Jenkins looks at DIY craft as an essential aspect of participatory culture, he encourages it yet warns of both the negative and positive aspects it has on culture, society, the consumer and big business. 

Midterm Project Progress

So, I have been making slow but steady progress with my project. The most I have accomplished so far is the gathering of materials. The other day I went to Michaels Craft Store and purchased meltable glycerine as well as shea butter soap. I added a new scent, “Pearberry”, to my collection of scents and picked out sum soft glitter for my soap. I also stopped by American Science and Surplus (cafty odds n ends type store) and picked out some glass bottles and soap molds. I still am working on picking out the exact recipes I want to use, I have few ideas but want to do some more research. 

Wendell/Fasenfast Writings

          Wendell Berry, is a man of many talents. He is a farmer, poet, activist, and critic, known for his many writings on sustainability and resourcefulness in the natural world. In this essay he proposes that agriculture shouldn't be dealt with as an industry. Berry focuses on the fact that we treat agriculture as an “industry” where the materials that are non living versus a true agricultural perspective where we are dealing with living and breathing things . Berry states that farmers who don’t farm on the basis of just making money are more nurturing, and are less likely to rape the land of its resources (industry).  Agricultural farms are workplaces and homes, so things are cared for with greater detail, thus farming for agriculture serves purpose and has a direct connection to the farmer, and  serves as the farmers craft. Berry denies the perspective that the soul purpose of agriculture should be to export and make money, and believes growing for consumption as well as sustainability (food, shelter, fuel etc). Berry believe agricultural farming helps diversify local farming, increase local employment,  and is environmentally friendly (125).
We cannot see the true value of agriculture in a free market because agricultural productivity has no direct or stable relation to value (126), which he blamed on the fact that humans live artificially. The American market is also hard to work in as the costs and loss of agriculture are constantly overlooked and the price to run a farm at the governments rate are pricey. Good American farmers are thrifty and that is how production and money are made. Berry states a common misconception of the agri-business is that there are too many farms, an ideology I am unfamiliar with and can’t really explain.  Farmers are constantly being driven towards industry which results in the loss of handwork. Also there is the belief that that farm work is often mislabeling as hard unrewarding work, which effects the ideology that agriculture has to be co-dependent on industry.
Overall Berry stresses less emphasis on agriculture as a industrial and capitalistic process. He encourages people to  look at the multidimensional resourcefulness of agriculture, “from the topsoil to the dinner table and beyond”, to encourage sustainability and survival.  He wasn’t specific on what political movements have formed his ideologies but did compare farming our current way of farming to how commercial farms were established in communist Soviet Union.


Harriet Fasenfast was Born and raised in the Bronx, but now resides in Oregon. she is a firm believer in the economic resourcefulness of using the qualities of the garden within the home. She teaches classes on food preservation and organic home economics at place called Preserve and and is a published author inspired by the works of Berry Wendell. Her book, householders guide to the universe, is a cookbook based on resource and sustainability. This book was formed when her small business was forced to make changes due to the globalization of the American work market. As a result she was forced to be a multi-faceted preserver and found a new home in the natural world more than the industrial. Fasenfast is a firm believer that the earth calls the shots, thus if the earth is sick we will all suffer in one way or another. She believes we are all being fooled by an market based economy. From her works and beliefs she redefines the term “householding”, stating, “Householding is in form and function the foundation for a home-based economy because it is in our homes, gardens, and Communities that the work needs to be done” .  Overall, Fasenfast promotes a move away from a consumer culture and toward a culture of producers.  It is a reclaiming of skills that were once common among people who lived in simpler times.
I feel that both Wendell and Fasenfast are really inspiring and offer a new ideology that everyone should take into consideration. Both uphold my ideas on resource and sustainability and offer more inspiration for the foundation of my project. I look forward to reading more from both since I’m feeling the need to move away from the ideology of large scale consumerism and globalization. 

In class writing reflection for 2/28

I see my craft as a form of Craftivism with nostalgic undertones. Since I'v decided to make home made beauty products, I see that as an opposition to large corporate consumerism, especially since it emmanates the ideals of sustainability and resourcefulness. I see my craft as re-romanticizing the good ole days where women's beauty products and remedies originated from nature, the garden, or the kitchen. For example: Bathing in buttermilk was supposed to keep skin fair. I also see this form of craft as idealizing the present day green and eco-friendly movements.

LOLCAT

Greer/Black/Burisch

Greer

Betsy Greer is  fellow crafter and activist. She has a masters in Sociology. Her master's dissertation was on knitting, DIY culture and community development. She writes about craftivism,* craft, creativity, the positive side of activism, the squirmy chaos of identity, the psychological ick of war, among other things. Sometimes, however, she writes about all those things at once.(craftivism.com)

Greer discusses how she wanted to create her own mark in the crafting world, specifically through knitting. Knitting started out as as simple to do project for her but spawned into activism, when she delved into the meditative state of knitting. Specifically during the times after September 11th and the Iraqi/Afghan Wars she and many others found themselves filled with anger and frustration which fueled her need to be more creative. She found the need to protest, but not in the conventional way.  Her goal became to meld craft and activism together, but with positive conotations. During this period Greer creates a term called craftivism, which is a visual form of activism, through the use of a craft, that isn’t sign holding and marching. Greer learns to realize her definition of craftivism once shared with everyone is intangible and varies depending on the user. Overall craftivism is a reminder she can always make a change in the world, even if its small. Some of the assumptions Greer makes about her readers are that they will use the term craftivism incorrectly. I feel she at times undermines her own work “referring to it as a small way” of making change. It is ironic that knitting and activism would cross paths yet the visual and physical impact it has had on the world seems more massive than even what she predicted. 

Black and Burisch 

Anthea Black and Nicole Burisch who are Canadian artists and fellow craftivists. Both are active within the coomunity and put a strong emphasis on crafting and protest with unity. Black however, is more involved with the LGBTQ arts community versus Burisch who is more involved with the cultrual and academic aspects of the crafting community. Overall this essay was a more elaborate explanation of how crafting and culture work within the community, versus the personal experience, Greer gave us. 

The LOLCAT experience with Photoshop. 

Since I’m still playing catch up with all the work, I have yet to make an LoLCat. However I have and did dabble in photoshop on February 28th. Editing and creating through photoshop is a relatively new experience, as is creating my own personal beauty products outside of soap. The motions of the hands brings on a feeling of frustration yet positive production of completeing and working on a new task. I will be producing and lolcat today. 

Cox/Minahan

STELLA MINAHAN 

- a Senior Research Fellow at Deakin University.

Her research focus is organization change and consumer behaviour. 

She is published in Organization, Journal of Organizational Change Management, Culture

and Organization, Journal of Arts Management, Law and Society and co-authored a

research book Why Women Shop.

JULIE WOLFRAM COX 

- holds the Chair in Management at Deakin University.

- Her research interests include critical and aesthetic perspectives on organization

theory and change. 

- is an associate editor for Qualitative Research in Organizations

and Management 

- a member of the editorial boards for Organizational Studies, Journal of Applied Behavioral Science, Group and Organization Management

and for Tamara.

Overall the Journal for Material Culture looks to explore the link between craft and society, weighing addictional factors such as time and generation comparison, social indenties and influence in correlation to product and culture.

Researchers and this journal would be interested in DIY culture and specifically knititng for many reasons. StichnBitch Groups groups are formed by and for women who get together to knit as a highly social form of creative leisure production. Overall, Knitting iis a handicraft and social sport and is constantly evolving into a bigger movement through the use of technology. It also explores the realms of business and charity, and can further be broken down by cultural relativity.

I would defeinetly syay my approah to my handicraft can be seen as nostalgic with a focus on conservation. My craft, hand maiking soap and beauty products, does bring you back to simpler times when consumerism was less prominent. Before the age of Wal Mart ,Target, and Sephora, many women followed DIY beauty remedies, alot of which have originated from the kitchen and/or natural surroundings. My craft romantisizes this concept, and also plays a role in in opposing over consumption and corporate consumerism.

The Crafters Manifesto is a piece that welcomes everyone to participate. It perpetuates unity through four key ideals.  First being craft is personal. Owning something uniquely handmade is a treasure, not only do you help your neighbor but your buying a piece of art, something special that took time, love and, dedication. Craft is also powerful because your taking home a piece of the authors/artists personality. The craft you purchase invites you to get to know the artist on a physical level, as you will probably be able to interact with the artists during the show/flea market etc. Craft is political because it opposes corporate consumerism, and promotes culture and independent business. Most importantly everyone can parcipate, whether your rich or poor, amateur or professional, working together, or by yourself. Crafting invites everyone to participate in various forms of culture.

Buszek and Stevens

Buszek and Stevens

In the following article Buszek explores the world of handicraft in conjunction with the worlds of contemporary art and technology. Buszek further details how artists who experiement with fiber, glass, and wood, are caught in between the paradox of the traditional handicraft and contemporary art world. Buszek goes off writings by Risatti, stating artists in this dilemma should refer back to the roots that originally seperated the “fine arts” from the “applied arts” yet that artists should not be bound by these differences in producing their art. Buszek continues to detail from era to era how the lines have been blurred for the traditional artist and the crafter. Buszek states that early postmodern artists placed great faith in the value of folk and popular arts that had traditionally been viewed as the realm of women's, queer, and non-Western cultures as a means of communicating beyond an elite community and letting the "real" world back into the art world . For artists working today media, naturally, are generally chosen with regard to “sociohistorical” undertones of a medium, rather than regard for unique material properties.

Buszek elaborates that emerging artists in today's art world enjoy a tremendous amount of freedom in exploring craft media, yet educational institutions and museums fail to recognize these art forms.  Overall, the essays demonstrate that many artists drawing on craft culture do so in ways that defy the boudaries of craft and art but do so in “Ironic and ambivalent ways” different from (or even poking gentle fun at) the romantic or moralizing sensibility with which their predecessors often approached these media. 

Stevens

This essay considers the impact of the Internet on craft practice. In this essay  craft work is defined as requiring tacit knowledge-often called "personal know-how"' an is motivated by an ethic of working with one's hands yet  explains how capitalism contradicts this ideal.  

“The ideology of craft work and capitalism seeks efficiency in all matters, while craft, though it possesses many positive attributes, will always be a highly inefficient way of getting the job done”.

Key Points of the Essay

• societal standards dictate what forms of intelligence that are valued over one another.
• Corporations like Wal-Mart and William Sonoma have made it harder for blue collar and modern crafters compete. When companies like these make cheap imitations it poses an idea on society that kinda downgrades the organic and fruitful concept of what owning a handicraft is.  Objects of traditional craft connect people metaphorically and metaphysically to the tangible. People who produce these crafts offer a “ holistic bonding that occurs organically among groups of people through association, connection, or alliance and is  marked by shared beliefs as well as collective kinship”.
•  valuing craft and choosing to be a maker of craft in contemporary society is a decision  about identity and lifestyle as much as it is about values.
•  Each closely connected, craftbased community of practice has an internal system for indoctrinating and validating its members.
• Community is strengthened through crafting because it requires people to socialize while performing their craft.
• Ecommerce is now being used to strengthen the voice of the handicrafter to the world which results in a new community of bonding amongst crafters.
• Discusses Ideal Types...an ideal type cannot be rightfully formed since art is percieved from generation to generation under different circumstances.
• DIY ethos seeks to confront mass market consumers and the perceived homogenization of culture as a result of the aggressive expansion of multinational corporations.
• DIY craft does not often seek validation within the traditional methodologies of the museum, the media, or the market; it is rather motivated by a desire for creative and economic freedom from the same. (54)
• DIY craft seeks to redefine the antiquated nomenclatures of artist, maker, craftsperson, designer, and small-business owner. Although the DIY movement has a certain reverence for what American craft represented, it is unquestionably an independent and burgeoning cultural and economic force, as evidenced by its own magazines, websites, fairs, books, television programs, and documentary video projects. (55)

Terkel and Jackson Reflections

The writer for the first selection, “Men Who Make,” is a man by the name of Andrew Jackson. In this selection Jackson speaks of another man who enjoys making wooden kayaks as a personal hobbie and craft. He is a Professional Amateur (Pro-Am), according to Jackson, which is word used to describe someone who takes part in a craft of great skill but is not labeled as a professional. Glynn, the kayak maker is a man of great skill, yet his craft cannot pay the bills ; the time/resources it takes to produce his craft does not amount to the money people are willing to pay for a personalized kayak, (even though his kayaks are unique and exquisite). Glynn has to work a professional job in order to make ends meet, yet he does not let his craft take a backseat in his life. Though Jackson seems to be speaking to Men who are Pro-Am’s, the Pro-Am lifestyle is something alot of crafters and skilled people can relate to. It speaks of a genre of people that put a large chunk of their professional income into their “amateur” activities. Most people couldn’t accomplish what Glynn does, but since Glynn is willing to sacrifice leisure time for developing his craft, and he is able to do what satisfies his soul, and still meet the needs of this harsh capitalist world. Jackson states Men and DIY activities of this sort were formed out of the need to fill free time with productive “male” work in the early industrial eras. Jackson also talks about what enhances and disrupts the “flow” of creativity or the feeling of enjoyment one gets from making a craft. Capitalism and profit being the hinderer of the flow of craft.
The second reading is done by Studs Terkel. Personally I found this reading very relateable, especially as a working class American. Initially I was very intrigued by this reading, mainly because this guy seems to think alot like I do. He actually gives you an intriging yet depressing insight into why we say and do some of the things we do in respect to our jobs and our crafts. Terkel is quick to examine and see how the american economy and work ethic, basically withers away at the human soul. As a result Americans are forced to take pride in their work as craft in order to compensate for the loss of leisure and free thinking taken up by their jobs. He further details this point by mentioning how we as americans talk about things, whether in opinion or at the dinenr table, that have a tendency to relate back to our field of work, resulting in ingenuine conversation. Overall, Terkel’s main point is being overworked results in the loss of creativity from the individual becuase profit and living becomes the main goal. If the individual is being overworked he or she does not have time to partake in the creative process, or even in productive human interaction (meaningful conversation). To relate back to Jackson’s readings, the only half way point for professionals who are artists is quasi-professionalism in American society. Under quasi professionalism the artist aspect of the individual is still made to suffer in some way by the over dominance of work and the capitalistic economy.
After reading these articles and many others it is clear that it is not easy to be a productive artist because the American work ethic is so rigorous. Perhaps more troubling is what the American work ethic is based off, greed and profit. Like Morris and the other authors, I believe that the state and quality of art is at risk because capitalism has infested itself in our lives to such a degree that its hard not to think about anything else. I find this feeling continues to intensify as the economy worsens and we’re forced to work harder and harder to make ends meet. 
As a student I have been struggling with this concept for years. Both having to work, go to school, and deal with personal issues has taken away from my soul wanting to do more of the enriching activities I used to do (soap making, writing, joyful reading). Not to say I don’t try but ambition gets warn away when school and working a job become the main priority, this intensifies when there isn’t much financial support to fall back on (parents). 
For example: I asked my friend Joe how he manages his band while going to school, I thought about it and answered the question before he could, he didn’t work. I thought about why my friends jen adn drew stopped doing art, because there main focus became money when they lost their jobs.
Ironically, all this stress about the economy and the American work ethic has made me want to write more, even though I don’t always have the energy to complete the task. It’s a paradox I wish I could solve. 
Overall I have re-thought my degree ten times over on the aspect of happiness versus profit, trying to find a balance between both, in hopes of ultimately avoiding being one of those miserable souls that rides the bus everyday, or being like my mom and dad where work is the topic of every conversation. However, I have faith, luckily my anthropological interests reside in Eastern studies of wisdom and conciousness, which invites me to live/study in different societies and explore different work ethics. Union is a central theme through out the course readings, and coming together and being “one” with each other is a commmon Eastern philosophy. So maybe one day I can bring that philospohy over here again and apply it to my work ethic and help others do the same.
Interesting !

"Slojd" and "The Craft of Experience"

Introductory Remarks “Slojd”

Slojd is a word with no english equivalent, implies skill in work rather than craft as productive activity. Slojd carpentry uses instruments that require skill to produce a work as well as non conventional tools to produce various works. For example in Slojd Carpentary, the Slojder would use a knife rather than a chisel, as a chisel is what is used in conventional carpentary. Also the manual labor of slojd carpentry is far less than that of a real carpenter. Slojd is creativity using primative and unconventional forms of tools and manual labor....it is designed so the “slojder” does not have manual labor out weigh skill and creativity. The Slojd teacher does not “instruct” but guide to ensure that primitive methods are ensured throughout the project, all designed to guarantee the slojder learns more from the skill than the actual craft.

Conclusion: The Philosophical Workshop

Pragmatism: The Craft of Experience

The first part of these readings centers around the history of Pragmatism. Pragmatism can be defined as a philosophical tradition centered on the linking of practice and theory. It describes a process where theory is extracted from practice (Slojd). 

Pragmatism further states that " The human working animal can be enriched by the skills and dignified by the spirtit of craftsmanship. One of the first Pragmatists was John Dewey, a non conventional thinker and educater who believed that many things were interrelated (ie:problem-solving and problem-finding, technique and expression, play and work (287)). Dewey states that economics is the element that divides many things. Work without play is just work, a meaningless activity, however, when you add emotion to the skill of work, then work becomes art. Philosophically, pragmatism implies freedom in order for work of any sort to be done well. Underlying this is Experience, which is divided into two German terms, Erlebnis and Erfahrung. “The first is an event or relationship that makes an emotional inner impress, the second an event, action, or relationship that turns one outward and requires skill rather than sensitivity. Pragmatist thought has insisted that these two meanings should not be divided (288)". Erlebnis is the feeling before your emotion is conveyed in Erfahrung (craftsmanship). 

This reading further continues to imply that this ideology can be applied to human relationships as well. 

The author states, “Material cahllenges like working with resistance or managing ambiguity are instructive in understanding the resistances people harbor to one another or the uncertain boundaries between people "(289). 

Pragmatism encourages self rule, or that citizens work to constructively solve problems together, which can also be applied to how a crafter thinks in order to produce a work.

The earliest forms of pragmatism do not include the influence of mass media, and offer serious distortions to true pragmatism. In other words, blabbing on facebook about your crappy day will not make you a constructive writer. Pride also taints the creative process. The author implies that many people get lost in pride which results in a  lost from the true meaning of their own work in its developmental process(295). A partial to solution to this ethical dilemma is for one to take moments away from their craft/work in order to better connect the true meaning of the work to the final outcome (296).

Cool New Terms

Kalos Kagathos (meaning beautiful in mind and body)

Aischros (meaning ugly and shameful)

William Morris: Art Under Plutocracy

“Remember we have but one weapon against that terrible organization of selfishness which we attack, and that weapon is Union.”

Art has been created since the beginning of time. Art and artists are not always “great” or of particular skill, and people of manual labor may not always understand art. Morris fears for the future of art because he is not sure how art will be defined in the furture. Morris believes in two types of Art, Intellectual and Decorative. Intellectual art feeds the mind without the over-bearance of material where decorative art has always been there, and is of service to the body. Morris explains there is an intimate connection between both and states that when art flourished most (mere opinion), the higher and lower kinds were not steadily divided.

Morris states: “Intellectual art is separated from Decorative by the sharpest lines of demarcation, not only as to the kind of work produced under those names, but even in the social position of the producers; those who follow the intellectual arts being all professional men or gentlemen by virtue of their calling, while those who follow the Decorative are workmen earning weekly wages, non-gentlemen in short.”

Morris discusses what types of artists there are in various contexts. Real artists have struggled with their work and have learned the individuality of their craft by themself, despite art being taught through out the ages. Morris states that in the time when art was healthy, true artists operated with these qualities. Real artists in today’s world have to go against the grain, so to speak. They have to compete with the never ending definitions of what art is, combined with the perceptions of what people percieve as art, how artists that have exploited there art for the wrong cause and the burderns of capitalism. Today art suffers by so many factors that nature itself must be considered soley an art just to escape from all negative and contradicting qualities of what art is and what artists are, yet even the disrespect of nature is considered a hindrance to art.

“So long as the system of competition in the production and exchange of the means of life goes on, the degradation of the arts will go on; and if that system is to last for ever, then art is doomed, and will surely die; that is to say, civilization will die.”

 The true meaning of art will die as man is constantly forced and willing to participate in a system of work and capitalism as primary focus because there will be no more room for the pleasure of art. The motion of materialism and production causes man to believe in dreams of capitalism which inhibits the production of art in society. Overall, It is up to the human to preserve art and its true meaning because frankyly, the world will not be changing anytime soon. Morris encourages opposition of “the machine” and suggests a socialist artistic perspective in order to preserve art. He encourages the masses to still be influenced by emotion and turn oppression into “artistic activism” and overall unite to preserve the future of art.

Karl Marx: Machinery and Modern Industry

“Has machinery lightened the modern mans’ burden ? What is the difference between the machine and the handicraft ?”

According to Marx, a tool is a simple machine while an actual machine is considered a complex tool yet both make up a variety of simple processes. Man is the motive behind a tool, yet a machine can become a tool if run by man. The machine is a mechanism comprised of various parts in order to make it work. Machines are mechanisms derived from modified tools. Machines are continued to be modified/repaired by tools. The motive of man is the power behind by both tool and machine. Capitalisticaly the point of machinery is to save money, and shorten the work day for the laborer. (70,71)

Operations of Machines

Numerous amounts of  product are made by single machine where man is the power behind it (weaver and the loom). Machines experience “technical oneness” as they all run together to complete a process. The process of manufacture is the natural basis for division and organization of the process of production. Man must carry out “manufacture” and direct it, guide it’s process. (72,73)

The Factory

The factory uses the human being as a source of exploitation, and for the betterment of one’s individual wealth. Capitalistic exploitation is driven by the fact that man, with machine, can complete more work within more hours, resulting in more money for the factory owners. 

“The workmen are merely conscious organs, co-ordinate with the unconscious organs of the automaton, and together with them, subordinated to thecentral moving-power.” 

With machine in place, the actuall “skill” of the worker is overlooked. A division of the workers occurs as a result and hierachies are formed. Man becomes the tool in a negative manner. An individual becomes apart of the machine, not an individual seen with unique skill. In a factory people are replaceable because machines run continuously without constant supervision.  (74,75) “Increased production affects social process by benefiting the capitalist agenda”. In a factory a worker is left to feel disposable, without freedom, and a slave to the machine, figuratively and physically. (76)

Techne: Intervention and Invention in a Nutshell

Ancient techne requires us to put aside much of our common wisdom about science and technology. The Greeks most likely did not have a conception of technology. While more recognizable forms of science and engineering developed in Egypt and the East, intellectual speculation in Greece was qualitatively different. What was understood to be pure science, or episteme, in Greece was highly deductive and, by definition, not the kind of knowledge to be applied to everyday life. Techne defines itself, against physis (nature), Automaton(spontaneity), Tyche(chance), all of which can encourage or constrain invention.

Overall, this is what the chapter explores on various philosophical and scientific levels.To try and define this whole chapter would be an argument within an argument. “What is Techne: An art or Science?”

BOTH in my opinion, what fuels Techne at the time in which it is being produced, plays a role in its outcome of perception. Factors that play into this concept include: time, place, oppurtunity, and perception. Thus resulting in Art and technology overlapping each other in various catergories.

Ex: Ancient Medicine back then was considered an art, whereas today it is seen more as a form of technology.

In this day in age I feel like the lines are disappearing between what is art and what is science. For example the creation of an iPod, is it an art or piece of technology. 

Short, simple, sweet, and to the point.

My Craft: Eco-friendly, All Natural Beauty Products

So, originally we were asked to do 60 minutes of crafting on Tuesday,  but playing catch-up with the Atwill/Hauser notes is pretty intense (as well as the many other things occupying my life) so I didn't exactly have time to "craft" per se. However, I try to craft on a regular basis none the less. Normally I would probably choose cooking as my craft, but I cook so much with such variety that I felt I needed to stray from my normal path. I  have always had a love for the "natural" and have always been inspired to use things around me that are already present..."Why waste when you can reuse ?" "Why buy when there's so much resource to create ?" which is why I choose crafting natural beauty products as my focus for the upcoming "craft showcase". My main inspirations come from a woman by the name of Janice Cox who wrote a book called Natural Beauty Home, as well as EcoBeauty. Her books include a variety of recipes for hair, skin, body, and mind, as well as practical cleaning products for the house. Her recipes will the be the basis for my craft, but since I have my own  individual varieties of scents, colors, herbs, and etc I will be putting my own spin on some of my favorite recipes. Aside from basic beauty potions, I will also continue crafting my own soap, and possibly candles if I get the time. All the soap I make will be hypo-allergenic, and natural so everyone can use it. AND YES, that means samples for everyone. I would like to have the time to create unique packaging and labels for my potions, as well as experiment with Cold Press and Hot Press soaps (one involves just a basic melt and pour technique, and the other mixing animal fat, and lye with other things).....Overall, Im excited to see where this will go !...Updates and pics coming soon !

Rhetoric Reclaimed: Techne: Art and its definition

Techne and Formation

Art intervenes when a boundary or limitation is recognized, and it creates a path that both transgresses and redefines that boundary: Fate and necessity may set temporary limits for invention, but the boundaries are perpetually redrawn by techne.

A techne is never one tangible “thing”. It can be described as a power, an ideology that guides, a strategy, a cunningly conceived plan, a coincidence, a painting, an installation (the list literally can go on). This knowledge is stable enough to be taught and transferred but flexible enough to be adapted to particular situations and purposes. (47)

Techne resists the ideology of what normal is and often can be seen as in a stage to transformation. It can be perceived as good or evil, dull or bright, brilliant  of genius, or even mediocre.(48)

Techne marks intervention and invention, and may spark a conflict or end a transgression.(48)

Techne: Cunning Intelligence, Time, and Power

In the earliest works of Homer and Hesiod Techne is often associated with deception (53) Techne may refer to a "set of rules, system or method of making or doing," but it may also denote artistic products and concrete examples that might be used to illustrate those methods (books, which are also forms of rhetoric).(53)

Techne also refers to a craft or trade that can generate money. it is generally identified with something artificial as opposed to something natural. The material of techne may be taken from nature, however the artist produces something that nature on its own could not create. A great a example of this is through Technology, and in particular the computer ( which is derived from natural elements but perfected by unnatural means). Depending on usage, economic value, and culture technology can be defined I various degrees of craft forms and  

One of the most important dimensions of techne is its complex relationship to subjectivity. "Techne" is related to the ancient verb teuchein, which in Homer means to fabricate', 'to produce', 'to construct'”. At the same time, in its a noun form teuchos which can mean  tool  or instrument (53). 

An artisans identity is often defined, by technities or craftsmanship, and sets them apart from society which there elevates the artisans social status. Artisans also formed guilds that also played in the ride of social status. (54)

There is a battle between what is Techne in terms of technology versus art. Engineers products

are more accurately characterized a agalmata, luxury items that serve less as "material objects" than as symbols of "personal value and social superiority". Artisan's products are classified as thaumata-objects designed to evoke wonder and awe. As hierichies developed amongst competing guilds of artists the definition of techne became more ambiguous. (Ie: Is a manual labor who is a craftsman also an artist?) Overall, technes value and class status are largely dependent on one's perspective.(56)

Techne and Kairos

1. If Metis is the intelligence identified with techne, then kairos is the time "associated with techne. Kairos defines the correct time in relation to Techne. Aristotle distinguishes the rationality of techne from philosophical reasoning in its relationship to time, Both Plato and Aristotle said, the highest and most true knowledge transcends time; it is knowledge about things that "could not be otherwise" because the subjects of philosophical knowledge are immune to the contingencies of time and context. The sophists were keenly aware of the importance of "knowing when" to gesture, exhort, and intervene. (57)

According to Isocrates, Deploying an art at the "right moment" in a particular situation is a sign of the true rhetor, yet it is something that cannot be taught rules. Acquiring a "sense” of the right way and right moment requires careful speculation.

Art of Resistance and Transformation

Both bia and kraatos can refer to bodily strength, kraatos is more explicitly identified with the sense of "power over" either subjects or another force. Kraatos often refers to a kind of master/slave relationship and to "mastery" itself, as well as to victory. Bia may denote force and even a specific act of violence. bia and Kraatos generally refer to an external agency, force, or source of motion (60) As for Transformation the discovery of art shifts the balance of power between humankind and nature, and in a way that nature always win (61).

Challenging the Boundaries of Necessity and Fate

Although techne can mitigate lines of force and power, its most challenging boundaries may be anankii and moira. Generally translated as necessity, ananke can also refer to "force, constraint”. Aristotle also uses ananke in a technical sense in logic, philosophy, and the natural sciences to describe operations or processes that "cannot be otherwise”. Moira is a complex and ambiguous term with regard to techne. Though moira is generally associated with fate," its meanings vary and, at times, appear almost contradictory. On the one hand, moira refers to "one's portion of life" in the sense of destiny or fate. The Greek term for the contradiction that generally signals the end of a round of dialectic is aporia. Formed from the word poros, aporia means literally "no path," The distinctions between aporia as "no exit" and poros as a "way out" may mark the difference between philosophical and rhetorical traditions of inquiry and invention. (63)(64)

Greek Characters that Promote the Ideology of Techne 

In the Ancient World mythical Gods and Goddesses are manifestations of Techne. These mystical beings defined by techne often demonstrate power, craft, and disruption of power, with identities that are caught between dual realities, often from humankind to transformative (49)

1. Prometheus and Techne

 Promethesus, a fictional character in greek literature is often used, threw prom. Gift of art and technology he is able to help transform society. (50)

2. Hephaestus and Techne

Hephaestus  is the God of fire and craft. As the son of zeus and hana he is described as having been “skilled din all the crafts of heaven”. He is the god of the smith, frequently referred to as the "famous

god of the twO strong arms" He appears as the artisan who crafts the first woman, Pandora.  In Homer's Odyssey, he is husband to Aphrodite. (50) In Homer’s the Odyssyey hephaestus is known to devise to have crafted a weapon for punish aphrodite and her lover ares, with whom she was having an affair with.(51) The anger which inspired him to turn an act of love into bondage is a personification of techne(52)

3. Hermes

Hermes appears in Protagoras's version of the Prometheus narrative to deliver to humankind dike (justice and aidos (respect). Hermes i known as the messenger god, hence identified with good speaking or oratory )form of rhetoric. He is also associated with invention. (50)

4. The Goddess Metis

Meti 's unique character lies in her power of metamorphosis. Metis is Zeus's first wife, the "wisest among gods and mortal men" and mother of Athena. (50)What passes for art in this realm of appearances is the product of a different kind of reasoning, known as metis.(55) A number of terms might be used to describe meti : "flair, wisdom, forethought, subtlety of mind, deception, resourcefulness, vigilance, opportunism, various skills, and experience acquired over the year"(55)

5. The Goddess Athena

Athena" is the armed goddess who oversees cities and the crafts and arts. Athena is one

who "loves deeds of war" but who "saves the people as they go out to war and come back." Athena sexual identity as seen as adrognynous due to he attire of amour she adorns, must like Joan of Arc (51). Athena is often tied into physical and figuratively make references to the arts through her thoughts and actions, which illustrate the action of techne of skill they can be  transferred or learned (art, knowledge, craftsmanship, a lesson, war tactic). (51)

Fun Words with New Meaning

anake (necessity)

moiria (fate),

heuriskein (discover),

bia (compulsion), 

poros (way out), 

apate (deception), 

dolos (contrivance), Kratos (force)

technites (craftsmen),

Metis ( cunning intelligence),

chromos (time), 

Kairos (right time), 

aporia (no path), 

hodos (way, road), 

physis (nature), 

automaton (spontaneity), 

tychne (chance), 

episteme (pure science), 

mechane (trick or experiment), 

Theoria (spectacle), 

theorein (to look at, behold), 

mimesis (imitation)

 emperiria (experience, practice, craft), 

emperirias (experience)