CCDN 271 - Assignment One

Everyday Design:

In the very early stages of text messaging development, around 1993, SMS – Short Message Service – was considered to be something relatively minor, but just like many other technologies, the power of ‘txting’ was only discovered by the users. The use of a cell phone to transmit data without having to make much physical effort caught the attention of many people and became very popular due to its convenient use. Even though SMS was only considered part of GSM (Global System for Mobile Communications), the concept was pressured to be further developed due to its massive and successful use. The book “Cell Phone Culture” elaborately explains how text messaging became a part on people’s quotidian and how it shaped social, media, and cultural practices through its everyday use. The book gives emphasis on the fact that instant messaging was actually an incident and provides several rather insightful elements about its history.

Reference:

Goggin, G., (2006). Cell phone culture: mobile technology in everyday life. New York, United States: Routledge.

Critical Design:

Since the 17^th century women have been embedded to the idea that their perception of reality is generally naïve or contained, however, in some cases this has been their source of inspiration to express their opinions by painting and designing unexpected as well as criticizing art-work, some of which have taken place into history. The book “Danger! Women Artists at Work” cites nine different moments in history where women that felt oppressed by their own surroundings or went through unfortunate life experiences expressed their emotion-driven standpoints through mediums of art. From the early years of the 17^th century until the 20^th century, artists such as Artemisia Gentileschi (1593–1654), Käthe Kollowitz (1867-1945), Meret Oppenheim (1913-1985), Elizabeth Catlett (1915-2012), and Marina Abramovic (1946), have explored the idea of not playing it safe. They created provocative and incendiary art-work that transmitted very strong meaning through appealing aesthetic. Their views were represented with the exposure of shock and pain which they found the most appropriate to represent their rigid opposition.

Reference:

Mancoff, N. D., (2012). Danger! Women artists at work. London, England: Merell Publishers Limited.

DIY:

In the book “Interior design of the 20^th century”, Anna Massey (1990) explores the different interior decoration’s stages on a before and after schedule. She comically refers to the profession as a mere exchange of antiques before the twentieth century and the reason lies within the inexistence of the specialisation in the time period. The convincingly pattern of well-executed interior decorations were only recognised after the First World War due to a series of social and economic changes, when men came back from the war and incentivised woman to spend more time at home. Massey quotes Jacob von Falke (1879) agreeing that the good taste of design is natural to the female gender, and even though the elaborate decoration that was executed at the homes of Victorian middle-class women was well respected and gave them control over the environment, most of the lower class was encouraged to work in factories during the war, thus having very little opportunity to express their gifted handicrafts. In 1877, Candace Wheeler (1827-1923) took a step further and opened the first establishment targeting the exploration of the specific subject, and since then the profession has gained its well earned recognition and added a whole new perspective to the professional world of design.

Reference:

Massey, A. (1990). Interior design of the 20^th century. New York, United States: Thames & Hudson Inc.

Google Warming:

Ubicomp, as well referred as ubiquitous computing, is the main subject of the book “Divining a Digital Future”, written by Paul Dourish and Genevieve Bell. In the chapter “Rethinking privacy”, several arguments towards the unawareness of technological privacy within our global society seem to have proven that when it comes to Google Warming, the subject of largest importance – not only as the stand point of the book, but also throughout the history of computer development – is how much people value and understand the flows and exchanges of their given information. People’s concerns about their own privacy are clearly expressed and identified in numerous cases; however, their acknowledgement on the several risks that are linked to the slow paced but continuous development of the unnoticed ubiquitous computing is quite superficial, and as the book suggests, the interpretation of the restricted self-data’s concept does not go very far since it lies within a “specific series of cultural and legislative frames” (Dourish & Bell, 2011, p. 139).

Reference:

Dourish, P. & Bell, Genevieve. (2011). Divining a digital future: mess and mythology in ubiquitous computing. London, England: The MIT Press.