ADVANCED RESEARCH

ADVANCED RESEARCH






Seminar #3
Text: Revealing the Self in Travel Writing

The questions below have been answered according to my understanding of the text “Revealing the Self in Travel Writing”, by Carl Thompson.

Questions:
The text highlights the ways in which ideas of the Self have influenced the approaches of travel writers across the centuries, in terms of the production of their travelogues. Can you identify two or three ways in which the Self influences the kind of work produced by these writers?
-        In  the case of Addison it is said that he provides details about ‘political and economic’ affairs that could not have been given, for example, by a woman at that time, nor by an individual with no care or understanding of the subjects.
-        In Ralegh’s case, he is gifted with superior literary skills than the majority of travel writers of his period and uses it in his favour to describe his failed expedition in a way that could redeem himself in the eyes of queen Elizabeth I.
How far can these uses of the Self be applied to research within our own disciplines?
I believe that the self is extremely influential when it comes to the way we perceive and describe our life experiments and the places we’ve been. There are an uncountable number of variables that can determine how things are interpreted. For example, one that is fluent in the language of the country one is visiting will probably have a closer view to a native of that place. In Fashion, designers often do field trips to gather inspiration for their next collection. During these trips, their full experience will be influenced by the designer own understanding of the places visited, being sensitive to the designer personal interests. Perhaps that is the reason why, for example, two designers that are asked to created a garment, for example, inspired by the same monument can – and most possibly will – have extremely different final designs.
In what ways might the Self inluence the kind of research carried out by designers and illustrators?
               I believe that the self influences every little detail of the research, and that the more personal a research topic the better. Perhaps one way in which designers and illustrates let their ‘self’ influence their research is regarding to what public they want to speak to, usually it is a public with which the artist has a connection. For example, a designer that wants to speak to/for oppressed women might be interested in researching feminism as part of he/she work development.
Many researchers in different fields reveal aspects of their selfhood in the kind of research they choose to pursue. How does this statement apply to your own choices in terms of research?
               In my current research I am interested in create prints for my garments that can represent the colours, textures and soul of my hometown, Fortaleza. As a Brazilian fashion designer, this is important for me as a stand for my national identity, and as a way of going against the commodity of cultures, particularly of the Brazilian culture.
Pages 113-118 discuss the ways in which travel writing can be used to increase self-knowledge and self-realisation. To what extent can research in your discipline be viewed as a self-fashioning tool? Does research in the design field constitute a way of finding out more about ourselves?
               I think that research can basically be seem as learning, and when learning new things we become more dimensional. I believe that researching gives us a level of awareness of the subjects that interests us that changes the way we perform completely. Learning something new can change some projects dramatically; sometimes you might learn something positive that will improve your project, other times you learn that you’ve been wrong all time and that leads you to take a completely new direction, or even to starting over.
Page 119 discusses the ways in which travel writers use their research as a means of accumulating what Pierre Bourdieu describes as ‘cultural capital’. Do designers and illustrators ever use research / practice as a way of increasing their social status and accumulating ‘cultural capital’? Give examples.
               I think so, I believe that it is often even necessary in the art and design world to succeed. From my experience, for example, students that had the opportunity to go abroad to study fashion become automatically more prestigious.
Travelling can be seen as a form of self-development – our contact with ‘the other’ can be used to create our own identities. Can we view travel as a legitimate form of research and how might travel be understood as a research methodology for the designer / illustrator?
               Travel can be considered a type of field research. During a trip the designer/illustrator has the chance to collect significant data that can serve as inspiration for their research.
Write a short travelogue (300 – 500 words) that incorporates an encounter with your own area of practice. For example, you might write an account of your encounter with the typographic landscapes of London (or any other city you have visited), or with the fashion cultures of another locale.
               When I went to Seoul, capital of South Korea, in 2014 I was extremely excited. At the time, I was very interested in Korean pop culture, and quite obsessed with a couple of K-pop groups. Initially, I was going in the trip with three dear friends. The four of us scheduled our tickets several months before the trip, which was planned to happen in June. However, two months before the trip two of my friends had to cancel; meaning that only me and one other friend – the one that I was less close to – were actually going to Seoul that year. Knowing that two of my friends were not coming anymore did make me feel less thrilled about the trip, but my plans of visiting South Korea that summer were not altered.
               At the time I was living in London, doing an one year exchange programme. My flight with Qatar airways left from London Heathrow. It was my first time flying with that company and, for someone who had already gotten used to low cost flights with Easy jet and Ryanair, it felt luxurious. Especially because the flight was significantly empty, and I was lucky enough to have an entire row for myself. I met my friend in Doha, were both our flights – mine coming from London and hers coming from Rio de Janeiro – had a connection. It was great to see her and speak Portuguese for the first time in a while. The Doha airport was very beautiful, hot and huge. We only had to wait two hours before our next flight, therefore most of our time in the airport was based in us running through the security check and towards our gate. Soon enough we arrived at the Incheon airport in Korea and that was when the experience really began.
               Before going to Korea, I actually had a strong image of what I was going to find there. This image, however, came mostly from K-pop music videos or Korean Dramas. The first thing that I have noticed when I got there was that it was all very different from the image sold in those Medias. In general, I could say that I was a little disappointed with what I thought was a lack of diversity. Obviously, my idea of diversity had been altered based on my experience in London. Regardless, Seoul let me down, not only because it was hard to find those fashionistas you see on media, but most importantly because I thought, in terms of fashion and beauty standards, there was a strong general mould that was promoted and followed. For me, a confirmation of this was the unbelievable amount of ads marketing plastic surgery that you could see literally everywhere. Although I had particularly nothing against plastic surgery, what bothered me is that it felt that there was a ridiculous pressure, especially for women, to fit a very particular beauty ideal, and this phenomenon seemed to also reflect in the way people dressed.
               Paradoxically, I was very impressed with the authenticity that I could observe in the way people dressed in Seoul. Ultimately, I thought that there was a very strong national identity in their lifestyle that did not need traditional garments to be expressed through clothing. One particularity that I observed there was the strong presence of what I would like to call “Couple Wear”. That is a habit that differs tremendously from my own Brazilian ‘couple culture’, and seemed to be strong in Korea. One interesting aspect of Couple Wear in Korea was that not only romantic couples but also friends would match their outfit to go out, and I thought that was lovely.


Reference List:

Thompson, C. (2011) 'Revealing the Self' in Travel Writing, London: Routledge, pp. 96-129.












---------------------------------------------------------------------------------













Seminar #2
Text: Reading the landscape: describing and interpreting field sites

               This week we were given the text “Reading the Landscape: describing and interpreting field sites”. In the text the author goes through several methodologies that can help an unexperienced researcher to efficiently collect data during fieldwork.
               Below you can find my answers for some questions that have been proposed about this week reading:

What are the key uses of field notes? Why are they a useful tool in research?
When you decide to take your research outside, to a field work, there are some precautions you have to take in order to organise your findings appropriately. Field notes can help you to collect and organise your data. Field notes are extremely useful because there are several different types of field noting techniques, which allows you to choose the one that best suits you and your research. In addition, they can optimise your time and avoid the loss of significant thoughts. Particularly, I am constantly taking notes. Most of the times I take my notes using my cellphone, taking pictures on the camera or using the note pad app to write down any interesting though I might have. I also try to always have a pencil and a notebook with me, this way I can also sketch whatever is too complex to just write.
What does the text indicate as the key issues in interpreting and manipulating visual images as part of your research? How might the interpretation of visual material be pertinent to research in your own field?
               Visual material is extremely important in Fashion. Sometimes fashion designers take pictures of fabrics they intend to use in their next collection, or they like to photograph street wear. In general, pictures are significant materials that fashion designers use to communicate between each other, thus being able to properly interpret an image in crucial in this industry.
Pages 124-126 describe the use of found images in a research project that used postcards from Paris as a means of investigating the connections between France and Algeria during the era of French colonisation. Can you think of a research use for found images in your own discipline? Briefly outline a possible research project of your own that makes use of found images.
               This question made me think of one of my classmate’s past research project. She was using various hand-pleating techniques to develop a garment design that was inspired by the architectural lines of the Aqua Building, in Chicago. During the entire process, she used images to guide her work; primarily she interpreted images to match the best hand technique that could mimic the building in that image, and secondarily she used images to register the different patterns she created with her chosen pleating technique.
Pages 133/134 outlines the use of soundscape recording within a research project on the social divisions between the daytime and nighttime inhabitants of downtown Edmonton, Canada. Can you think of a research use for soundscapes and/or smellscapes in your own discipline? Briefly outline a potential research project of your own that makes use of these textured layers of recorded sound or smell in the environment.
-        Soundscape: I think that the fashion industry is strongly connected with the music industry. It is very odd to think of a fashion catwalk show, or campaign that has no sound/song to it. I think that when you combine music with fashion you create a more complex message that, at the same time, can be easier transmitted.
-        Smellscape: When I think of smells in Fashion I think that they can be used as an effective Branding strategy. I believe that it is now quite common for brands to have their own and unique fragrance developed and used in their shops, packages, sprayed in their clothes. This creates a stronger shopping experience for the costumer. One brand that in my opinion really uses this well is the Brazilian Melissa. This brand is knew for its lovely plastic accessories that exhale an unique scent. I first started wearing Melissa in a young age and every time I pass by a Melissa shop or purchase an accessory from them that fragrance inundates me and gives me a strong feeling of nostalgia.


Reference List:













---------------------------------------------------------------------------------












Seminar #1
Text: The Welsh Dresser

My previous practical work, developed during the “Developing Practice” module of the MA Fashion programme, started with the keen to investigate the concept of identity, and how it is constructed/performed through clothing.
Throughout this study, I focused on the use of the human figure as a source of inspiration for artists and designers. My interest in understating the representation of the human body in visual arts and my curiosity for the body alterations/augmentations that can be find let me to Tarsila dos Amaral’s paintings. Successively, while studying the story behind these paintings, I learned about the Anthropophagic movement, that comments the philosophy behind the cannibalism practiced by native indians from Brazil, and creates a relation between that literal cannibalism and the social/cultural cannibalism that followed post-colonial Brazil. Inspired by the Anthropophagic movement and the concept of consuming others to modify/improve what already exists I created a series of designs made with paper collages, which “consumed” pieces of clothing acquired from charity shops in London to create new/improved garments.
Fig. 1: Antropofágica, the painting was created from the combination of two of her other iconic paintings A Negra (fig. 3) and Abaporu (fig. 4). painting by Tarsila do Amaral.
Fig. 2: Sample of Design-Collages.


Fig. 3: Sample of Design-Collages.


Fig. 4: Sample of Design-Collages.


Moving on to the module(s) we are currently studying, Advanced Research and Body & Space, the students were asked to think of the practical/theoretical research we want to be developing. Whereas right now I have not decided the path I am going to be following for my practical work to be developed, I know that I want my practice to continue to comment about identity, focusing on my national identity. In addition, my previous work has left a few open ideas/questions that I would like to investigate in the following weeks.
One of the questions that I have asked myself regards national identity, traditions and cultural heritage. Coming from a multicultural country like Brazil I have always felt that there are many questions about the construction of our society and the legitimacy of our practices, considering its origins.
Therefore, for my initial individual research I have decided to look for texts about Brazilian heritage, Brazilian traditional craftsmanship, tourism, commodity of cultures, etc. And the text that I picked to start my study with was “The Registry of Intangible Heritage: the Brazilian Experience”. The author of this text, Doctor Cecilia Londrès, has worked at the Minister of Culture in Brazil where she was responsible for the Decrew-Law concerning intangible heritage and she was the Brazilian expert at the UNESCO meetings for drafting the International Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Her text was very focused on the politics behind the registry of cultural heritage, especially of intangible assets. The text also briefly comments the political difficulties for former-European colonies, and explains that heritage is a concept that regards that which is considered by a group or nation a culture of ‘it’s own’. (Londrès, 2014, p. 167)


Due to having a strong focus on political aspects, this text was not satisfactorily helpful for my personal questions, however it was an interesting reading with an accessible vocabulary.



Reference List:

Amaral, T. (1929) Antropofágica [oil on canvas]. Fundação José e Paulina Nermirousky, sP, SP.

Londrès, C. 2004, "The Registry of Intangible Heritage: the Brazilian experience: The Registry of Intangible Heritage", Museum International, vol. 56, no. 1-2, pp. 166-173.

No comments:

Post a Comment