research salon session one
In our critical reflection seminar with Anna Branch, she offered an opportunity for students interested in research to come together and form a salon. The research salon is a student led group that congregates to discuss their research. Its intentions can be set forth by the students but based on last year’s salon, it seems like a space to encourage students sharing out their research as it relates to their art practice.
When presented with the offer, I decided this would be a valuable experience for me. Since joining the MA, I've had a desire to meet. with likeminded folks in the cohort and this allowed a space for me to form those connections. Also, the research salon provides a space to test out my research inquiries through getting responses from my peers.
After setting up a Whatsapp groupchat, we landed on our first meeting being in the MA Sculpture studio on the 5th Floor at 4pm after Wednesday’s lecture. Once Wednesday arrived, a peer, Hongyi Chen, shared their recent readings discussing “the role of the machine in human pscyhe.” A key part of his inquiry was the human desire to constantly improve. The readings provided questioned the dangers of screen usage and its ability takes us out of the present moment. By not being able to stay in the present, we miss out on life. Chen led with the example of being on a phone call while traveling to another destination. During this scenario, the person is unable to be present at a destination because its focus is on the screen. And the screens we look at are actually just ‘black mirrors’.
We learned more about the student’s art practice. He creates a binary code for his brushes and painting techniques to simulate an automated painting process based on the boundaries he set forth. The code is created using outlined parameters and he translates this code on canvas through repitition. The act of repetition is machine-like but the eyes gravitate towards the mistakes caused by human error. Following the reading, he led a discussion to examine the ways machine learning or automation shows up in our work or making process.
This was the first time I thought more about the role ‘black mirrors’ play in my performance practice. I often stray away from screens with hopes to occupy viewers attention with my body. However, I’ve been inclined to use more screens to stimulate the senses of my viewers. I question whether if the presence of a screen takes us out of the present moment, then where do we go? Where does our minds go when we scroll? And will I lose the attention of my audience by implementing more screens, more automation, more machines?
