Week Six - Workshops and Presentations

Week Six: The final week of classes was spent in electronic workshops, working with my group to prepare our project, presenting our project in class and attending other critiques. Classes are officially over and the course winds down with this post and a few final blog entries.

New Media Production was a compact course that introduced me to an array of ideas and ways of thinking. I may find some of the techniques we worked with useful for my thesis, but haven't determined in what way.

Classes were held two times per week. We moved at locomotion speed and sometimes I would have liked to reflect more in class on some of the concepts and themes that accompanied the readings or questions that arose from our hands-on learning environment. Along with the course readings I purchased two books - one on blogging and the other on convergence culture. I learned about social networking and Web 2.0, became an avatar, experimented with the MaxMSP software and gained some basic knowledge about working with arduinos and electric circuits. The highlight of the course was working with fellow students to create a video installation entitled "Watching" (formerly "Watching the Watcher"). The part I'll take away was seeing the new media projects unfold and the wide range of approaches students imagined.

The final two weeks were dedicated to our final projects. I'll provide further detail about the development and presentation of my group's project in an upcoming post.

The Spring semester has ended. We have also completed the first year of the program - one down and one to go. There's a big pot luck party at Elaine's for all the MFA students, faculty and staff. After I attend a live performance of Guy Maddin's My Winnipeg at the Royal I'll try to join the fun. I'm sure many of my friends in the program will agree that this has been a swift, productive six week course with some fascinating project outcomes.