März 16, 2012

Last week we had research based project developing where we learned about different methodologies regarding how to conduct research. Bruce Archer defines in "The Nature of Research"

• research in the science tradition: produce explanations that have enduring validty
• research in the humanities tradition: present findings generalisable within a given context
• research through practioner action: a product or other innovation can itself institute new knowledge

He also defines the design oriented; research through practioner action in a threepart scheme:

• research about practice
• research for the purposes of practice
• research through practice

At the end of the workshop we had to apply what we´ve learnt during the week and and try to plan our project in a more concrete manner under the titles: Summary/Abstract, What, Why and How. This is my status quo under the titles:

Abstract

Photography is often looked upon as a way of documenting the reality. But what kind of reality is it portaying? The reality of the photographer or the subject? A photograph is just a frozen moment which is soley chosen within the power of the photographer pressing the shutter. It is an image which represents just a fragment of the reality, a constructed reality that is. Augmented reality is also a constructed reality. An augmented perception of the reality which transforms, adds and even interacts in another layer. So what happens if you bring these two contructed realities together? What happens to the traditional interpretation of the photograph if you can interact directly with the frozen moment? How will various contexts adjust the interpretation and interaction with the image?

What

I want to make a series of photographs of a chosen topic in the portrait/documentary genre. With the technology of augmented reality and image tracking I will add an additional layer to the photograph which people can explore and interact with through their tablets and smartphones. The photographs will be exhibited in various public contexts like for example a gallery, a train station, public toilet etc. It is crucial that the user will be able to alter and comment on the tranformed image in the augmented layer. The augmented layer will contain mixed 2D media for example video, graphics and animation. Hopefully will the photographs together with the augmented layer create an interestesting output that I wish to perserve either in a book or on the web.

Why

Before I wandered into the world of digital design I studied photography. That was my first passion. Over the years I´ve missed telling stories within the frame of a photograph. Thus I wanted to make a project where I could explore photography. But i didn´t want to make a project which explored photography within the tradional frame of a photograph. I want to challenge the boundaries of photography as a medium.

What

Research

• Reseach other artists in the augmented reality field.
• Reseach the technology/image tracking
• Reseach other artist/writers which are interested in the concept of photography and the perception of reality.

Partner/mentor

• Find mentor/partner within the augmented reality field.

Photograph

• Photograph in the traditional frame of photography.
• Find the content and the subjects I want to photograph.

Experiment augmented reality

• Experiment with and test technology

Prototype

• Bulid prototype of a installation with the photograph and the augmented reality layer.

Tests

• Test the prototype on a chosen target group
• Evalute results

Produkt

• Make photo installation/exhibition of a chosen topic
• A book/web with the user generated content vs photographies.

So the conclusion for my project would be that I choose to do research through practice: a design/product