What did I learn in LAB....... I kept on thinking what I get out of this three months experience and I have realized that the lesson I take comes from failing. At the beginning of the process I was a little confused. I have never been a huge fan of experimenting, I normally like heading to a concrete point and letting the project evolve on the way to the final end that I have in mind.
But for LAB the process was completely different. I didn't know how to handle it and I felt frustrated. The subject was passion driven, and until here everything was perfect; but then I felt like I couldn't work the way I like, the way I want. I felt like working for the teachers. Then the process got stuck; I didn't feel passionate about it any more. I think I had a really poetic idea in mind on how I wanted my image of music to look and I didn't know how to overcome the situation where you are heading to a concrete point but you don't really know where you are heading and how are you going to get there.
Then I started collaborating with my fellow students and everything got to a new dimension. Now I was working on something completely new and I didn't have any ideals of where did I want to go. I started feeling way more excited, every new discovery was bringing me a step further on a way where the end was not a goal. It had no end, it was about the process.
This is the lesson I take from this experience. I think I didn't tackle the course in a proper way at the beginning. Not having a concrete goal on a project gives it a way more playful approach and brings a lot more harmony between the projects and it's final form. I think everything is more meaningful as every single step is the result of a conversation between you and the project; instead of a monologue from me to my project. First year was a lot about experimenting and I did have a lot of trouble as it is not at all my way of working but this trimester in LAB I think I have seen that even if this is out of my comfort zone it can bring a whole new perspective to the design process. Until now I always felt really alienated from my projects when I was approaching it this way. But with the last steps, from the discovery of the captivating sounds of the white noise recorder in front of a speaker to the theremin making, I have seen that I am also able to work this way.
So to conclude I think I would say that I learnt how to handle freedom, how to manage myself and the most important thing I think is that I lost fear for the unknown; being able to go towards an end still to discover.
Did LAB contribute towards your development as a designer? Most definitely, I think I still need to discover what is the best way for me to work, and this experience taught me another one. I don’t think it is the method I feel most identified with and the one I work the most comfortable. I think a clear proof of this has been my difficulties to proceed with my projects.
As I said in the previous question I think I discovered how to talk to your project. In a point where you get stuck there is a way out. Asking for some input to what you are doing. Hacking, seeing how far it allows you to go, and then a completely new range of doors open.
Apart from this I started working with processing for first time in my life, and this definitely helped me towards my development as a designer, I think it’s a tool that can be really helpful for the work I like to do.
How can I use LAB-mentality in my design assignments The LAB mentality is definitely going to be present on my future design assignments. As a man and communication student we are always embracing new technologies, new computer programs and even programming. The LAB mentality is for sure the mind set that I need in order to learn how to embrace this unknown worlds. And then once again forget about the rules and play with the failure, but is it really failure? or just another option?
Judge your results in this trimester Sufficient. Although my process didn't go really smooth and I kept on jumping from idea to idea I think I reached a point where I feel satisfied. At the very beginning the work flow went good, by the middle I felt super alienated from my project and by the end I felt passion for what I was doing.
Many times during the process I felt like giving up, quitting. But I am proud that I kept on working and trying to make my way because at the end I saw light, at the end I realized how it was meant to be.
So I think that my results are not Good because my commitment wasn't at the 100% but in the other hand I don't think they are Insufficient because I feel proud of what I accomplished; and because I feel like I take something out of this three month experience.
Name your best and worst project BE AWARE OF WHAT YOU WEAR I am extremely proud of this project we did for Communication next to Freek and Jim. We managed to organize everything in one week and even like this we accomplished what we had in mind. It arises from a project that I had in mind really long ago on making people aware of what messages we are wearing on our t-shirt. Through the collaboration with my fellow students the idea got to a new stage. We joined forces, we joined creativity and we joined criticism to get a strong final result that for me out-stands for its simplicity, how clear the message is and the strong statement behind it.
https://vimeo.com/106800107 (more info about the project on the video description)
PAINTING WHITE NOISE The worst project I did this trimester was when we tried to work together with Olivier; at the very beginning we thought about using my sound-drawing program to draw with the white noise recorder. It completely failed. I think we just glued the two concepts together instead of thinking what could bring one to the other one in order to get it to a next level. I think that's why we ended up making music. (Where we discovered the beauty of the white noise of the speakers) I looked like fun, and most definitely was! But the try to glue our two ideas together was a complete failure.
If you could do LAB again would you go about it in a different way? Definitely, during this course I think I got to understand the LAB mentality. Now that I know myself in a new way of working I think I can go deeper on it. I actually feel like continuing LAB, now that I see my fascination and I understand how to approach the process I would really like to keep it going. I think I discovered how to work too late.
