Digital Culture: Production, Distribution, Function and Audience

Research Question:

Technology:

– application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes

'advances in computer technology' 

– machinery and devices developed from scientific knowledge 

' it will reduce industry ability to spend money on new technology' 

McLuhan believed that to fully grasp the impact of a new technology, one must examine figure (medium) and ground (context) together, since neither is completely intelligible without the other. He argued that we must study media in their historical context, particularly in relation to those technologies which preceded them.

The digital revolution is far more significant than the invention of writing or even printing. 

Digital Culture:

- set of values, beliefs, opinions, skills and practices shared by regular users of digital media fro production and distribution 

- A social phenomena of interrelated online and offline activities, experiences and innovations.

– what functions and devices encourage, enable and extend are ability to develop, communicate and distribute content 

– how do we use these devices, what do we use them for

what social, culture and creative relationships are formed around them. 

Participation:

– formal and informal online affiliations, connections, collaborations, expressions and networks. 

Remediation:

– new technology and media as a constant development remix of older media and refashioning of old media to meet the demands of new technology.

Bricolage:

- the creation of products through available media, re-using existing artefacts, remixing, remaking and redistributing through new-media distribution. 

Fanzines:

- self published magazines, known as fanzines, were a popular feature during the punk ear, they strongly demonstrated the use of bricolage. 

Bricolage and social media:

different way to build credibility and authority through followers, likes, comment and re-tweets. 

'Connect yet alienated- that us the paradox of our global digital culture. we have access to so many things, yet we are increasingly incapable of seeing those things, or ourselves, in any meaningful context' - Skye Jethani

Mail < Email

Newspaper < Blog 

Phone < Instant Messaging 

??< Twitter 

'Digital and social media is not about the exploitation of technology but service to community' - Simon Mainwaring

The saddest aspect of life now is that science gathers technology fast than society gathers wisdom.- Isaac Asimov

'Technology is just a tool. In terms of getting kids working together and motivating them the teacher is the most important' – Bill Gates

Parody and Pastiche

Postmodernism:
– late 20th-century style and concept in the arts, architecture, and criticism, which represents a departure from modernism and is characterised by the self-conscious use of earlier styles and conventions, a mixing of different artistic styles and media, and a general distrust of theories.

Jameson:
opinionated, un-objective text 
Simulacrum:

there is the real thing in the frist instance and then you have hte first representation of that ting and then the represetnation of the representation 

copy removed form original grounding, becomes ordinary and worthless

Representation:

– how we communicate visual 

Parody/ Pastiche:

from of representation of the past as a mode of communication  

Pastiche: 

negative opinion on pastiche 

mode of communication, 

Nostalgia:

Representation of the past is not in anyway accurate, based on stereotypes of what we interpret that time to be in order to convey the time period.

Modern examples, Peaky Blinders, Downton Abby, Mad Men, stranger things 

Creates effect of nostalgia based on the objects and artefacts you associate with that time   

Cultural production:

images, text, film, music etc. become embedded within capitalist production and are subject to exchange value but by doing that it disables the actual  value of these things, value is embedded in capitalist production rather than the artefact itself.   

Our recognition of understanding of history is fictions it just a representation of history through stereotyped  imagery 

Linda Hutchens, Politics of postmodernism:

Personal interpretation

not generally objective, critical analysis and criticism  

Contradicts James opinion of parody and pastiche 

Both talking about the same topic but Hutchens uses parody whereas Jamerson uses pastiche 

What Jamerson and others place on pedestal, modernist artefacts are just phalecentric 

Postmodernism in much more open to self criticality which is periodic. 

Discusses Jamersons interpretation however overly positive as doesn't leave space for the possibility of criticism. 

Uses architecture as an example of all post-modern art 

exists to tell people how they should appreciate visual things 

Jamersons idea of real history doesn't actually exists its just interpretations of event s

Post-moderism is good as it looks to constantly criticises the idea that real history isn't real 

Conclusion:

Mode of representation of pastiche/parody revolves around looking to history and how this informs design today. Looking at connections within 'original' history and its representations in the modern day. 

Drawing on symbols and signs of history for own purpose. 

Jonathan Barnbrook:

post-modernism graphic designer, references history within his work looks at past styles to inform his designs. 

Stanger and Stranger:

Informed by victorian typography and advertising, traditional modern type setting, etching.

representation of a representation.   

Fraz Ferdiand: 

looks at communism propaganda to inform design, representation of a former representation. 

Primary Research Requirments

If your primary research involves human participants you must get approval from university in advance. any research using vulnerable people must be approved by the ethics sub-committee
Research involving human participants must be anonymous and you must obtain informed consent in advance.

Empiricism vs Rationalism:
two main approaches to knowledge
Empiricism:
something that is only true is ti is experienced using senses.
what you do through primary research
Rationalism:
truth can grasped intellectually using logic and reason. 
what you do through reading and discussion

Empirical Research:

• Start with the question 
• Questions that might not have already been answereed
• These questions will contain the clues to the potential methods by which you find the answers 
• I.E are they about peoples feelings, opinions, actives, circumstances, relationships, etc. 

Qualitative/ Quantitative Research:

Empirical research is all about data collection and analysis, however 'data' can take different forms:

• Quantitive data is organised in numerical form
• Qualitative data is found in language- written or oral forms 

Data Collection:

Focus Group:

gathering of deliberately selected people who participate in a planned discussion about a particular topic

Survey: 

Interviews:

– structured/ semi-structured/ unstructured 

Questionnaires:

– should be multiple choice, easy to complete, easy it read and understand without leading the questions 

Ethnography (study of people and culture):
Participant observation/ direct observation
e.g; how many times the female form is used as a sale mechanism on tv after a certain time...

Content analysis (extracting quantitative data from qualitative sources);
measures the frequency of pre-specified items within a particular context

Creative Explorations (Gauntleet, 2007):
using creative techniques as a means of gathering subjective data: lego building, collage, film making, etc. Asked people to take lego and build a scene that represents their identity and then explain there thinking around it. This gives the participant time to think about their response. 

Quantitative data:
To analyse successfully you need a hypothesis (what you expect to be able to prove using this data). The data should prove or disprove your hypothesis
Cross-referencing:
may have basic personal information that you can cross reference with other trends.
Statistically significant:
how you decided is the result is significant. This needs to be asked early on in the process and should have soem logical or rational justification.

Qualitative:
Coding:
making sense of numerous qualitative responses by organising your data into common themes/concepts.

Deductive Analysis (top down)
Using general rule or theory to find specific data in support of the rules
Inductive analysis (down up):
Using the data and your analysis to establish new generalisations about the subject.

What is research: Terminology

Praxis:

Integration of theory, research and action 

Initial research allows for the progression to practical ideas, development, theoretical/content development. This lead onto practical and written response which come together to form a praxis.

Stimulated approach:

Is a conscious or subcounsions search for inspiration from an external repertoire: in the surroundings, media, in discussion, libraries etc. The main concern here is the development of analogies and associative approaches which as further developed into individual solutions.

Systematic approach

Is based on systematic collective and modification of the components, characteristics and means of expression: such as by structure and restructuring, enlarging and reducing. Dismantle and deconstruct to see how an idea works. 

Intuitive Approach:

Development of thought process, internal repertoire of what you know creating your own practise.

What is research?

Research is the process of finding facts. These facts will lead to knowledge. Research is done by understanding what is already known. Innovative ideas come out of research which involves collecting information from a range of sources.

'Research is to see what everybody else has seen and to think what nobody else has thought'  Albert Szent-Gyorgyi 

Research is the process of finding facts. these facts will lead to knowledge. Research is done by using what is already known

Primary Research:

Developed or collected for a specific end use, you do and has never exists before. Data doest exist yet.

Secondary Research:

Published or recorded data that have already been collected for some other purpose. 

Analyse research to draw analogies to your project.

Quantitive research:

Deals with facts, figure and measurements and produces data which can be readily analysed. Quantitive research also generates numerical data or data that can be converted into numbers as it is objective as is can be proven. 

Qualitative Research:

Way to study people or systems by interacting and observing the subject meaning its not tangible/not necessarily provable.

'Research is formalised curiosity. it is poking and prying with a purpose' - Zora Neale Hurston 

• Purpose:
• Initial research question
• Paradigm:
• Refined research question  
• Design Frame:
• Methods and techniques 
• Data analysis, claims and references 

• COP: based on what you need to know and want to know 
• Scope and scale 
• Relevance and usefulness 
• Individual COP 
• Research proposal 

Stage 1: Assimilation 

Stage 2: General Study 

Stage 3: Development 

Stage 4: Communication 

Analysis:

identify a problem, what needs doing, what already exists etc. 

Research:

Ideas that occur from research, what happens when you try certain things 

Evaluation: 

which outcome successfully fulfils the brief, meets clients needs. 

Solution: 

what you want to do, is it feasible, cost effective, where to start

Ontology:

• Philosophical analysis of what is or can be known, analysis of facts, properties and processes that form knowledge. 
• Conceptualisation or categorisation of existing knowledge and what can be known. 

Epistemology:

• Philosophical analysis of the scope and nature of knowledge and how we can know something. 

Methodology:

• a system of methods used in a particular area of study or activity.
• Approaches: case study, active theory, experimental 
• Data: primary, secondary, quantitative, qualitive
• techniques: research, tools