Struggle…

Here I am – back after months … Months of struggling with health condition and a knee surgery… Still walking with crutches but I am much more confident than the last months…

During the time beeing immobilized I was thinking a lot about my subject. I noticed that I was exhausted about my own media behaviour – I got a slave of my own digital media behaviour and had trouble to filter information and to de-energize… I felt that my project had a kind of negative influence for my life – but at least it was just my own behaviour. I was struggling with my project and thinking about changing the subject.

The last months I was more focused on living an analog life – escaping from the digital jungle. But soon I missed my digital life – I am a digital person… Living without digital enviroment isn’t possible anymore. There are so many people outside who feel the same like I do. We have to find a healthy balanced way between our own analog and digital life and behaviour.

I noticed from the last months of my studies that my focuse on my subject was primarily negative. I do see the developement of digital communication behaviour – especially about social media – critically… but I also feel that is has positive effects. I decided not to give up my subject and studies. My goal for the last year of my MA Studies is to have a balanced view about the digital behaviour. To use my own experience to develope artwork.

I started to improve my photoshop skills and learned new techniques for special effects.

I will restart my studies in September – till then I will use this blog to collect interesting information, videos and artwork.

Did you know…

Interesting discussion…

While surfing on the creative review website, I found an interesting discussuion about “HOW TO GET THE MOST OUT OF THE NEXT GENERATION OF DIGIAL CREATIVES”

so, check it out….

http://www.creativereview.co.uk/crtv/debates/adobe-future-digerati

1W49.01_Tuesday evening…

… it is the first time after weeks, that I have  enough time and the mood to check up my classmates blogs. While I am reading the blogs, i feel that I do really miss our weekly chat, exchanging thoughts, ideas and see how everybody developes as an artist.

I am pretty busy at the moment with work – everything is very exciting. The good thing about my work is, that I still do some research for my project. Marketing and digital communication are so close, and so everyday I am researching social media developments, new marketing strategy, viral marketing etc.

Last week I bought the UK magazin wired. The Title is “You will buy me .  How persuaders are hacking your mind… to control your desires.” I still hadn’t have the time to read the full article. But it seems very creepy and on the other site very interesting. I always was interested how people get contolled by media and marketing. Maybe I will change my Project into that direction… I will see – I do have enough time during the next year to develope more the ideas…

1W43.01_I am currently living a non digital life…

… and I am really enjoying my time beeing offline and beeing without most of my digital devices. I am a little behind my research for my project – but actually I do my own personal research. My digital communication behavior has changed in the last 2 months. I try not to spent to much time in front of the computer – just for work, to answer some emails and check up my facebook account. I try to be more focused on the personal communication – to interact face 2 face with friends, colleagues and people.

It’s some weeks ago that I started my new job – which I really love and enjoy! My brain is full with new information and new  impressions, that it makes it really hard to be focused on my studies. But I hope that I will find some time to restart my research soon.

1W40.01_Beeing offline…

Since I am back from my holiday I am enjoying beeing offline most of my time. It is a brand new feeling after weeks, months and years beeing offline and at the computer every day. The last days I just went online, checked my emails, read some news and checked my facebook account. I didn’t end up in surfing around the web – and getting lost somewhere… I felt very happy and felt that beeing on the computer was not just a waste of time. Sometimes, I just want to check my emails, and end up surfing from one website to the other – and at least I got stucked 2 hours in the web – and finally haven’t done anthing productive. So finally my experience in the holiday – with beeing offline most of time – was a great and successful  experience for myself! I think I have a better balance now – by using the computer and the digital communication tools.

My goals for next week. First I will start my new job – I am very excited about it! This will be the first priority for this week – but I hope at the weekend I will have some time to work a bit more with Adobe Premiere. I got a HD Camera 2 weeks ago and shot some clips in Thailand. I experiment a bit with the Programm tried some out some effects, which was fun… But at least I would like to make a little video…

1W28.01_Almost real_Connecting in a wired world

During my research I found this interesting documetary from Ann Shin, 2002.

Almost Real_Connecting in a Wired World

This documentary presents a few individuals for whom the Internet has become a way to connect with like-minded souls in surprising ways: a cyber punk based on an anti-aircraft rig in the English Channel who operates a rogue Web server, a monk developing “wireless prayer technology,” a “gamer” who re-creates himself in an online game, a retired couple living in an Internet-controlled seniors’ complex and a divorcée who exchanges vows online with a man she’s never met.

1W27.02_Twitter me…

Around 2 weeks ago I signed up at twitter. I wanted to find out what is so fascinating about twitter? Why is twitter becoming so popular?

By signing up I immediately got some suggestions to follow other twitterers… I am following now 8 people – just 2 of them I do know personally. I uploaded the twitter iphone app to follow the twitterers when I am travelling.

Last week I was in Berlin for a couple of days. I just logged in my iphone and was surprised – I got 200 following messages! 200 in just 4 days! Of course I didn’t had time to read all of them. Most of them were pretty boring and a waste of time. Some were pretty interesting  for my research into social networking.

What does people push to write a few times a day short messages at twitter and follow other twitter messages? Is one of the reasons why it became so populare, that you also can follow celebreties?  Ashton Kutcher for example has 627,862 followers. Or is it just a great marketing strategy to make twitter more popular?

Is Twitter  just a short time experience and will dissapear as fast as it appeared?

1W20_Flow…

Title: “flow” // February 2009 //

“Flow is the mental state of operation in which the person is fully immersed in what he or she is doing by a feeling of energized focus, full involvement, and success in the process of the activity (Wikipedia).”

The last 2 weeks I was searching “my” flow… I recently got a bit depressed about my project. I felt that my project would end up in a total marketing study. As you know, my background is marketing & communication. One  ambition of mine is to leave the marketing person behind and be focused more on my art. I felt it really hard to combine the research process and the art process.

To get not lost and more depressed into the reading process I decided to be more focused on improving my software skills. Also, I read 2 books about digital art for hoping to get more inspiration. Throughout this process I was constantly thinking about how my final work could look like. I had a great idea a while ago but unfortunatly the idea is pretty tough to realize from the technical part/ which is into laser technology. So I gave up that idea (just for the moment/ it’s still in my mind..:) ) and was searching for another possibilty to combine my research and art. I felt it would feel easier to have an imagination how my final work could look like and then beeing focused on the realization and research.

It took me a while but now I have a great idea to combine both parts. My final work will be a little movie with hybrid media. The context of the movie will be 24 h in the life of a fictional person and how digital communication, modern technology change (and will change us into the future)  the social  and mental life. Thatfore I will write a script,  a storyboard, shoot the video, and do the editing and the video effects. I am not sure yet, but I think it also will include some of my photography, graphic designs and maybe 3-D.  It is a huge challenge, but I am very excited about the idea!

In my turial Andy recommended me to read a book of william gibson – Idoru. It is a science fiction novel. I hope to get more inspiration for my script.

It feels really good to be back on the track – and once again to feel my “flow”.