Utopian Ingredients

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Aiga first!

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Glossary

For our constitutional preamble to preserve and protect the interests of New Zealanders, values are needed as a statement of who we are and what we believe in. These values are identified as:

Mana

Mana is a spiritual power and prestige that is inherited at birth, or is gifted by higher earthly authority. It is a supernatural force that surrounds a person, object or event that empowers other people, land and activities. Mana is a charisma and empowerment that gives people the authority to lead, organize activities and to make decisions on social and political matters. It gives a person dignity, and enables tolerance and respect when each person's Mana is recognized.

People, objects and events can possess Mana, and the more prestigious they are, the more they are surrounded by Tapu, or sacredness. Since Mana is spiritually delegated to a person under special rites by the Tohunga (expert or leader), the person remains an agent of Mana and never the source. 

Kaitiakitanga

Stewardship of the environment,  and the trust that exists for people to guard natural resources for the continuity and provision for future generations to come. It speaks of a sustainable world-view and future endurance of both the natural world and humanity.

Kaitiaki is the name for a minder or guardian, custodian or keeper in this role.

Fairness

Free from discrimination or dishonesty and a level playing field. Equal and open access for all people to the same opportunities to success and to justice. It provides a diverse community with democratic equality and accessibility to freedom and resources.

Accountability

Describes transparency and openness in interactions between people and the state. Central and local government are accountable to their constituents for the decisions they make and be held responsible for any imbalances in power. Accountability also encompasses legitimacy and two-way dialogue between government and citizen.

Liberty

The desired outcome of democratic participation. Liberty is the privilege of freedom and autonomy to make choices that enable both the nation, groups within the nation and individuals to choose their own destinies and actualize their own desires. It speaks of being free from despotic governmental control, but also binds citizens to the same code of conduct under constitutional rule.

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Things to do! 17 April, 2013

Well, I figure it's time to get a list going. I am a list person – so looking over the things I need to do since my first supervisors meeting and the first critique:

Start a glossary of terms: 

Transformational design (theory)

Constitution & what NZ constitution is

Mana

Kaitiakitanga

Fairness

Liberty

Accountability

Anonymous surveys: What do you already know about NZ's constitution? Is politics important? What values do you think are important? What do these 5 values mean to you? What subjects are taboo?

Investigate 'Eating Design' and its precedents Where have they been used? What is the intent? Who have they been made for? What has been the result? Is it performance-based? Participatory?

What other constitutional/political celebrations are there in the world? E.g 4th July, Australia Day etc

Feasts & Signing of the Treaty of Waitangi What happened with food around this event? What did each 'host' do?

What is 'Reverse Colonisation'? How has food affected NZ culture?

What is the relationship between Mana and food? What happens when we play with our food? What are some symbolic foods in NZ?

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Whiteboard session #1.

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Revised Research Question – 16 April

How can designed haptic experiences help shape the way young people interact with principles of New Zealand's constitution?

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New Research Question

Could an immersive, transformational space that involves designed haptic experiences help young people engage with New Zealand's constitutional principles?

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Marije Vogelzang's Philosophy

"There is no material that comes as close to human beings as food."

  It is often thought that designers who work with food only design the shape of it. Vogelzang's aim is to look at the content and background of the food as well; the shape is just a tool to tell a story. 

"You put my designs inside your body." 

After 10 years of experience with food projects, Vogelzang has developed a philosophy consisting of eight inspirational points. They can be used as a tool to inspire designers and creatives about food. Eating design is a uncultivated area with an endless amount of possibilities. The eight point philosophy gives insight into where the possibilities of working with food can lead. 

"Food goes to the stomach, but it can also activate the brain and can rouse strong memories and emotions."

The eight points are:

- the senses

- nature

- culture

- society

- technique

- psychology

- science

- action

The eight point philosophy is thoroughly covered in Marije's book EAT LOVE

From: http://www.marijevogelzang.nl/www.marijevogelzang.nl/philosophy.html

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Designers who work with the subject of food are often called 'food designers'. According to Marije Vogelzang, food is already perfectly designed by nature. Instead, her designs focus around the verb 'to eat'. Vogelzang is inspired by the origin of food and the preparation, etiquette, history and culture around it. For this reason, she doesn't consider herself a 'food designer', but as the first 'eating designer' in The Netherlands.

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10/5: March 25

Beginning with the broader questions of who the audience is and what type of needs they had in relation to understanding the influence of politics and the constitution in their daily lives. Further quantitative and qualitative research is needed to provide evidence of the lack of understanding young people have of the constitution—this could come in the form of anonymous surveys, polling and eventually a focus group. A glossary is also needed to help define what I mean when I talk about terms such as 'haptic experience', 'constitution' and 'transformational design' – as I am actually referring to a particular theory of transformational design (via Pine & Gilmore). A more resolved research question is also needed so that I am able to focus the design response (for the first critique, anyway). 

Haptic experiences involve the 5 senses, but don't necessarily need to involve all of them at the same time. Further research into the area of Proxemics and Haptic Theory will provide more insight into conveying meaning and emotion through touch, smell, hearing, seeing and tasting. The 5 'values' that the EmpowerNZ working group produced could be expressed through the 5 senses. This could be an important insight because physical experiences are more memorable than relying on one sense alone (e.g sight).

Moving forward, I need to experiment with expressing the meaning of words such as kaitiakitanga, mana, liberty, fairness and accountability through the senses. What do these terms really mean? For example;

TASTE: What tastes could represent mana? kaitiakitanga? fairness? livery? accountability?

HEAR: What sounds or music could represent mana? kaitiakitanga? fairness? livery? accountability?

SMELL: "  "

TOUCH: "  "

SEE: "  "

Most of all, (as well as focusing on reading and research) I just need to play and experiment for now.

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Developed by stockholm-based humans since 1982, 'a million times' is an installation designed for victor hunt that is made from 288 special two-handed analogue clocks - powered by 576 electrical engines to drive the minute and hour hands independently - which collectively create a giant display which visually expresses the time digitally. The 576 individual rotating hands to form extensive texts and elaborate customized patterns and graphics.

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Developed for the EPFL+ECAL lab in switzerland, SOFTlab has designed the exhibition and graphics for the installation 'gimme more: is augmented reality the next medium?'. conceived in collaboration with pentagram's natasha jen at the eyebeam art + technology center  in new york, the intervention showcased seven different installations by artists such as yuri suzuki who use augmented reality (AR) to tell  stories in new ways. the typographic work for the show played on the intersection of AR - objects, environments or interactions that have been  enhanced with virtual content with the material and immaterial, using simple elements of light and shape to create an abstracted effect helping introduce visitors to the subject.

Using large structures made of tyvek sheets, SOFTlab's design defines the gallery’s open, industrial space. wrapped around suspended cardboard tubes to create volume, the panels act as dividers to help separate the installations and create an environment for the show.  back-lit by custom-designed lighting fixtures, the volumes contrast the texture of the tyvek to create a kind of glow at each installation. pixel-like, modular typography forms the identity of the exhibition - scaled for various applications - from large graphics in the gallery window to the printed exhibition program. in exhibition signage, the triangular modules were cut out or projected to create type that  was dimensional and constantly changing.

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Initial presentation to fellow MDes students and interested faculty outlining what the project is about and showing initial concepts and experiments.

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As part of the application criteria, a submission outlining the initial research questions and scope of the potential Master of Design project in 2013. Includes initial research questions, context, precedents, portfolio of relevant works and supporting letters.

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And we're off! These are my first pages of notes from my MDes workbook. So far the topic of helping young people understand the role of the constitution in New Zealand hasn't changed too much, though I can see in the near future a drastic need to refine and further narrow the scope of the project—as the breadth of resources and demands of design will become too much.