A Fish Can’t Judge The Water by Femke Snelting
With my troubles firmly stated, Unsurprisingly, I was stuck when reading A fish can’t judge the water by Femke Snelting. I concluded very little; I came to no summary as I had no understanding about what is being written. So, I will start with the little I understood.
Technology has become so second nature in our lives that we don’t even think about its uses anymore, we go right ahead and just use, ‘We practice software until we in-corporate its choreography. We make it disappear in the background. A seamless experience. We become one with our extensions'.The word ‘extension’ suggests addition or expansion but in this context, it illuminates the constant cycle of outgrowing each addition until it fades in to the background. Value, meaning and use are amongst the tings that are given to use when we use technology as 'Software is never politically neutral'. We have become such great dancer that it poses the question of whether we are objective enough to 'understand what software does to our work and working patterns'? She compares it to someone being 'able to read a typescript without knowing how to type'. 'Interested in the tension between the two positions', reader and typist as well as user and object, Constant uses open Source Software to allow for critical thinking and reflection of the 'instruments' they use.
The pro's of Open Source Software are inline with their artistic practices and beliefs in collaboration. The vast experiences and knowledge they get from the diverse community allow for discussions on '“user-friendly-ness” to start with. "Usability" might mean something else all together depending on who is using something, and what she is using it for'. Femke concludes her 'work is, as much as the software we use and produce, “work in progress” and this means it’s cut-off points are not necessarily concealed'. this illuminates her earlier premise, A work in progress suggests work that is in constant review and examination so critical thinking and refection is welcomed.
Technology has become so second nature in our lives that we don’t even think about its uses anymore, we go right ahead and just use, ‘We practice software until we in-corporate its choreography. We make it disappear in the background. A seamless experience. We become one with our extensions'.The word ‘extension’ suggests addition or expansion but in this context, it illuminates the constant cycle of outgrowing each addition until it fades in to the background. Value, meaning and use are amongst the tings that are given to use when we use technology as 'Software is never politically neutral'. We have become such great dancer that it poses the question of whether we are objective enough to 'understand what software does to our work and working patterns'? She compares it to someone being 'able to read a typescript without knowing how to type'. 'Interested in the tension between the two positions', reader and typist as well as user and object, Constant uses open Source Software to allow for critical thinking and reflection of the 'instruments' they use.
The pro's of Open Source Software are inline with their artistic practices and beliefs in collaboration. The vast experiences and knowledge they get from the diverse community allow for discussions on '“user-friendly-ness” to start with. "Usability" might mean something else all together depending on who is using something, and what she is using it for'. Femke concludes her 'work is, as much as the software we use and produce, “work in progress” and this means it’s cut-off points are not necessarily concealed'. this illuminates her earlier premise, A work in progress suggests work that is in constant review and examination so critical thinking and refection is welcomed.
I have trouble thinking about things contextually, for this reason this particular lesson scares the most. In order for me to understand and engage wholly the topic or read it needs to resonate with me. This sentiment was echoed by another student when he said my starting point for research should be stuff that I like. As simple as that sounds, looking into Make-up or Race in terms of Computational Art never occurred to me. The ideas from the class were flowing and they suggested I look in to Joy Buolamwini, a Computer Scientist who identified racial bias in algorithms as well as Make-up and AI.
The book I brought in Designing with Smart Textiles by Sarah Kettley is a beginners guide to Smart Textiles with tutorials and examples and diagrams. A Section of the tutorials use the Arduino software to program software and this what I am set to learn in my physical computing class. I have just downloaded the software and set up my Arduino board. With a background in fashion, I would like to explore the ways I can enhance my experience and interaction with clothing/ fabric. My Initial point of interest was clothing and Solar Power. Ultimately, I would like to explore ways to merge solar panels with Clothing, Accessories or Homeware as a way for Africans to utilise the sun on the go. But with no real knowledge of anything other than how to make clothes I have to spend time re-examining my starting point.
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