Master Weekly-schedule (September to December 2007) ***latest update: October 5, 2007

**Scroll down to check weekly tasks to complete before class-meeting

  M1/Sep 14 M2/Sep 21 M3/Sep 28 M4/Oct 5 M5/Oct 12 M6/Oct 19 M7/Oct 26 M8/Nov 2 M9/Nov 9 M10/Nov 16 M11/Nov 23 M12/Nov 30
Theme & Focus Introduction, overview, why-how-what... Deploying audio-visual media in ethnographic research   Researching and collecting visual/audio objects to gain insight into culture & everyday life   Beyond anthropology: things, objects, systems, archives

Ethnography and/for/in art-making: from ethnography to creative collecting

 

Collecting and art-making as creative intervention  
Lecture / theoretical exposition What is Ethnography? What is its role in Cultural Studies? Overview of the history and variety of documentaries and visual anthropology Visual methodologies (Sam Yiu: a reading of Sarah Pink's Visual Ethnography) The "Everyday": histories and conceptualization

Irving Goffman: presentation of the self in the dramaturgy of everyday life

 

NO CLASS MEETING (PUBLIC HOLIDAY) Michel Foucault: self-techniques, self technology, ethics and governmentality Things & objects in Critical Theory Narrativity in ethnography Organizing the material: archive as critical methodology Visual Ethnography as creative activity: performativity and interventions Ethno-methodology & history-writing
Assigned Readings
  • "Questions of Methodology" in Chris Barker's Cultural Studies: an introduction
  • "Film-making & Ethno-graphic Research" (Paul Henley in Jon Prosser 1998)
  • "Cinematography: the creative useof reality" (Maya Deren)
  • "Hypermedia in Ethnography" (Gary Seaman & Homer Williams in P.I. Crawford and D. Turton)
  • "The potentials of video-disc in visual anthropology: some examples (Alan Macfarlane in Crawford & Turton)
  • "The Aesthetics of Ambiguity" (Dai Vaughan in Crawford and Turton)
  •   "Self, Script and Situations: identity in a world of ICTs" (Bibi van den Berg) [download essay]  
    Workshop Discussion

    Screening excerpts from Chantel Akerman's Jeanne Dielman, 23 Quai du Commerce, 1080 Bruxelles (1976)

    Screening excerpts from Jason's Portrait + Linda Lai's All About Cinderella (2006) Screening excerpts from Paris is Burning (1990) + Irene Kong's book on her mother

    What's in family photos? + Adrian Bonnie's Framing the Bride project

     

    Desk-top: a world of connectivity

    The mysterious life of objects

    Yvonne Lau & Hung Ying's FYPs Eugene Atget's works into digital archives Harun Farocki's digital analysis of the World Cup 2006 Linda Lai's virtual walk through the urban space of HK in 1934  
    Group Presentation

    (Linda talking about her own research-creation histories...)

     

    (Linda)

    Early examples in visual ethnography: Robert Flaherty, Maya Deren, Jean Rouch: an introduction

    More early examples in visual ethnography: documentary works of Basil Wright (e.g. Song of Ceylon 1934 ) + John Grierson (works from the 1930s)

    (Sunday, Big Head)

    Jean Rouch's reflexive documentary and "cinema verite" (Chronicle of a Summer 1960) + Frederick Wiseman's Direct Cinema (e.g. The Titicut Follies 1967)

    [dossier for preparation of presentation]

     

    (Dan, Jone, Bruno)

    Surrealism, photography & the research of urban space (Surrealist works, e.g. Nadja, photography of Eugene Atget)

    [dossier for preparation of presentation]

    --

    (Kiki, Candy Ho, Sam)

    The works of Chris Marker (video and installation as cultural archives) + Trinh Min-ha (visual ethnography and critical visual essays)

    (Lilian, Damon)

    Fiction or facts? - Yvonne Rainer (documentary + fiction); Abigail Child (imagination with found-footage)

    (Ada, Candy)

    Tracey Emin (photography, installation, objects) + Wendy Eward's action-based photographic projects with children and minorities (e.g. Secret Games)

     

    (April, Dominique)

    Auto-ethnography & performativity: Jo Spence, Sophie Calle, and Vito Hannibal Acconci

    (Veronica, Suet)

    Comparison: photography project for women in Yunnan (Visual Voices: 100 Photographs of Village China by the Women of Yunnan Province) Vs mixed media research with women in Guatemala (?¡§Creative Arts and Photography in Participatory Action Research in Guatemala¡¨ by M. Brinton Lykes; in collaboration with the Association of Maya Ixil Women ¡V New Dawn, Chajul, Guatemala)

    (Ting, Rachel, Fei)

    History-making: the case of Oscar Ho + the "Atlas Group" and Walid Raad (Beirut)

    (Queenie, Hei)

    Topography of things: "Enthusiasm" and Hashen El Madani's photo studio practice

    Take-home Assignment -

    A day in life

    Planning & strategizing Check out camera on September 19 Start interpretation, narrative treatment and construction, editing... In-class presentation of Draft                

    Take-home Assignment -

    Tale-talking heads

      Check out camera on September 19     In-class presentation of selected clips              

    Creative Collecting

    Family photos

        start collecting start organizing start writing notes   bring collectibles to class with some basic notes and organization          

    Creative Collecting

    Desk-top views

          start collecting start organizing start writing notes start writing notes bring images to class with some preliminary analysis        
    Creative

    Collecting

    Objects

            identify your favorite object write short anecdotes on the object write short anecdotes on the object create a divergent, associative map for the object Bring a favorite object to class with a divergent map      
    Final Project   1-page brief ready in class Comments (from Linda) on brief returned to class members [summary notes] Initial resource planning + Revised plan (optional) Finalized plan + research started Field Research in action Field Research in action Field Research in action / Brainstorming for creative solution Research continued + Creative solution confirmed Research + analysis Analysis + production Analysis + production + presentation brainstorming
      M1/Sep 14 M2/Sep 21 M3/Sep 28 M4/Oct 5 M5/Oct 12 M6/Oct 19 M7/Oct 26 M8/Nov 2 M9/Nov 9 M10/Nov 16 M11/Nov 23 M12/Nov 30

     

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