visual ethnography and creative intervention

PROJECTS AND ASSIGNMENTS:

[in-class presentation]

Each group (2-3 students) will take turn to do a one-hour presentation on a topic selected from the list of project ideas (see below). Each topic will be accompanied by a dossier (with readings and audio-visual material) prepared for the group by the instruction.

schedule to be set up after 1st class meeting

[personal class log / a personal interpretation of the course]

This is a journal (in digital OR print form) with weekly entries to document your response to each class meetings (one paragraph minimum), assigned readings, personal collectibles, documentation of group projects, and any thoughts relevant to the course's concern. [read journals]

[2 take-home exercises on visual ethnography]

[detailed instruction notes]

1. A 24-hour sketch of a person / 2-3 students per group / learning points: how to edit / where interpretation lies and how it works / how narrative construction produces knowledge / an exercise on documentary-making / planning begins after 1st week of class [visit gallery] [guidelines for in-depth discussion]

2. talking heads / learning points: how to use a talking head, what kind of a document is a talking head shot / the power of the shot + power of the frame + power of the face / a divergent approach... / research interest: collecting narratives [visit gallery] [guidelines for in-depth discussion]

related theorists: Erving Goffman, Michel Foucault, Andre Bazin

[read response papers]

[semester-end exhibition: a Group Show]

self-initiated project...planning begins 4th week of the semester with the identification of a topic / citing of the issue should be followed by identifying the right locations where these issues can be accessess / rules of the game: must involve participatory field studies, must involve at least 2 mediums in research process and creative solution, must carry a critical writing component / learning points: effectively turning everyday observation into a research agenda + building the bridge between critical investigation and artistic articulation / the final presentation is assumed to be an exhibition for now, but it can be a performance or other relevant forms [Details of individual Final Projects] [Memo: Managing your Final Projects + deadlines ] [Exhibition Venue + set-up schedule]

potential exhibition sites to be suggested in beginning of semester

ASSESSMENT:

Class participation (contribution to class discussion) / 5%
Take-home exercises: talking heads, 24 hours of a person (notes and collectibles) / 15% + 25%
Class presentation (individual) / 20%
Final group project / 30%
A summary report on the course's intended learning outcome / 5%

PROJECT IDEAS for INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATION [see full presentation list with presenters]

Auto-ethnography / History of documentary ( Robert Flaherty, Basil Wright, John Grierson, Maya Deren, Jean Rouch, Chris Marker, Fredrick Wiseman, Trinh Minh-ha etc.) / Narrative & research / Artists and research-creation ( Wendy Ewald, Jo Spence, Sophie Calle, Vito Hannibal Acconci, Abigail Child, Tracey Emin) / visual ethnography critical research (Wedding photo-taking culture in Taiwan, Guatemala project + Yunnan project) / Ethnography and history-writing (“Atlas Group” and Walid Raad from Beirut, Hashen El Madani Studio Practices, Oscar Ho)... ... ... [see full topics in Master Schedule]

PROJECT IDEAS for INDIVIDUAL PRESENTATION [see full presentation list with presenters]

DOSSIERS FOR INDIVIDUAL GROUP PRESENTATION:

[01 - Rouch/Wiseman] [02-Surrealism & urban photography] [03 - Chris Marker/Trinh T. Minh-ha] [04 - Yvonne Rainer/Abigail Child] [05 - Tracey Emin/Wendy Eward] [06 - Jo Spence/Vito H. Acconci/Sophie Calle] [07 - two action-research on women: Yunnan, Guatemala]

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