WELCOME TO THE FIRST NEW MEDIA DOCTORAL SEMINAR OF 2022!
We kindly welcome you to attend the first New Media Doctoral Seminar of the Spring semester! The seminar will take place in Zoom today starting at 16:30 and ending at 18:30 (UTC/GMT+2, Helsinki, EEST). Neha Sayed will be presenting her work ‘The changing meaning of an urban place’. The seminar is mediated by Professor Lily Díaz-Kommonen.
PRESENTATION
‘The changing meaning of an urban place.‘
by Neha Sayed
ABSTRACT
The research contribution lies in presenting an approach to study the meaning of place for design intervention and exploring the role IoT technology may play in the changing meaning of place. It also contributes to the IoT paradigm by indicating a pro-community approach for technological development. The research contributes to the urban planning discipline by revealing the disparity in the meaning of a place. More immediately, the project contributes to new media research by indicating the role of media studies in the developing understanding of IoT.
BIO
Neha Sayed is basically an architect from Mumbai. She has done her MFA in Experience Design from Konstfack, Sweden. Before pursuing her PhD at the Department of Media, she has a done a combination of architectural practice, teaching and design research.
She started her tenure as a doctoral student in January 2016. Part of ‘Systems of Representations Research Group’, she is advised and supervised by Professor Lily Diaz-Kommonen. Her research is focused on assessing impact of sensor driven technologies on urban precincts. As part of her doctoral research, she conducted her fieldwork in a traditional port town on the west coast of India by adopting a multidisciplinary approach.
LAST NEW MEDIA AND VCD JOINT DOCTORAL SEMINAR OF THE YEAR – Thursday, 16 December 2021
WELCOME TO THE LAST JOINT DOCTORAL SEMINAR OF 2021!
The last joint seminar for this year will take place on Thursday, 16 December, and will be held virtually on Zoom starting from 15:15 (UTC/GMT+3, Helsinki. Please see link below).
Mediated by Professor Masood Masoodian, we have a very interesting presentations by New Media DA candidate Dr. Eunice Sari.
Zoom link: Click here to join the seminar!
PRESENTATION
‘Toward Digital Transformation in Education in Indonesia’
by Dr. Eunice Sari
ABSTRACT
When the Covid-19 pandemic struck the world, most schools could not operate like normal and a lot of stakeholders were deeply affected including students, teachers, parents, and governments. The emergency mode has pushed every stakeholder to go beyond their comfort zone, to ensure appropriate education can still run and we do not rob the students’ rights for education. This talk will highlight several insights gained toward digital transformation in education in Indonesia from three personal case studies (2020-2021). These insights will be discussed also in light of the works done by the author in a similar area in the past.
BIO
New Media DA candidate, Dr. Eunice Sari.
Eunice Sari is a UX Design Researcher with more than 18 years of experience serving corporate clients around the world. She is also the CEO and Co-Founder of UX Indonesia and Customer Insight Pty Ltd (Australia), leading service design projects and initiatives in empowering digital transformation for global organizations. As a Designer and Researcher, she loves working in the field, building empathy with people she designs for.
Book Launch: ‘GROUND TRUTH’ by Sheung Yiu
SEASONAL BOOK LAUNCHES PRESENTS: ‘GROUND TRUTH’
A book by Sheung Yiu
Book launch this Saturday, November 27th, 16:00 @ Art Gallery Kosminen, Helsinki
Sheung Yiu is launching his book ‘GROUND TRUTH’ this Saturday at art gallery Kosminen, Helsinki, at 16:00 (4pm). Please feel free to join the casual celebration and meeting around the local community TTBookshelf books and friends!
Event Name: Seasonal Book Launches, The Temporary Bookshelf
When: Saturday 27.11 17-20:00
Where: Kosminen, Pursimiehenkatu 13,00150 Helsinki
Kosminen
Instagram + @sheungyiuphoto , #sheungyiu #theeriskayconnection
The Eriskay Connection
‘GROUND TRUTH’
What is the relation between what we see and what is there? Ground Truth observes the evolution of visual technology in conversation with our perception and surroundings. The more technology develops, the more abstract seeing becomes.
Equipped with the phenomenal power of computation, photography and hyperspectral imaging, a group of scientists set out to approach the boundaries of satellite imaging in the forests of Finland. Using meticulous on-site measurements of physical structures and spectral properties of trees, ‘ground truth’ data are experimental results to verify the performance of predicting models. Their quest is to develop an improved interpretation model of satellite data for remote sensing research, which allows us to distinguish various features of the surface beyond what is shown optically in satellite imagery.
In Ground Truth Sheung Yiu (HK/FI) interweaves archival imagery, documentary photography, experimental data, and artistic work, to acquaint the reader with the mathematical models that provide us the tools to ‘resurrect’ trees from a two-dimensional image. Ground Truth highlights the complexity of seeing in the age of algorithms. What do we see when we are not around? What can we see when there is nothing there?
Concept and photography: Sheung Yiu
Essay: Miina Rautiainen, Daniel Schraik, Aarne Hovi and Petri Forsström, Sheung Yiu
Design: Emery Norton
170 × 240 mm | 176 p
EN | softcover
ISBN: 978-94-92051-74-5
€ 25.00
ABOUT SHEUNG YIU
Sheung Yiu is a Hong-Kong-born image-based artist and doctoral researcher based in Helsinki. His research interest concerns the increasing complexity and agency of computational photography in contemporary digital culture. He seeks to expand its ontology by formulating the connections between photography theories and new forms of realism, object-oriented ontology, and network thinking. Engaging with artistic practice and multi-disciplinary collaboration as a mode of research, his works examine the poetics and politics of computational photography, such as computer vision, computer graphics and remote sensing. Yiu’s work takes the form of photography, videos, photo-objects, exhibition installations and bookmaking.
More info: www.sheungyiu.com
ABOUT THE ERISKAY CONNECTION
The Eriskay Connection is a Dutch studio for book design and an independent publisher. We focus on contemporary storytelling at the intersection of photography, research, and writing. In close collaboration with authors, we make books as autonomous bodies of work that provide us with new and necessary insights into the world around us. The key for us is to convey the essence of their work through high quality editing, design, and production. Our editions are mainly offset printed and bound in The Netherlands and we strive to work with local producers and sustainable materials as much as possible.
More info: https://www.eriskayconnection.com
Defence of Doctoral Thesis in the Field of Visual Communication Design, MA Ulla Björklund
MA Ulla Björklund will defend her thesis “Changing the Old and Designing the New. Contradictions in Visual Communication Design” on Friday, 19 November 2021 at 12:00 in Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Media.
The defense is organized as a hybrid event, and will be held live at lecture Y203 B-hall at Otakaari 1, Espoo, and online in Zoom (please click here for link).
Doctoral Candidate: MA Ulla Björklund
Opponent: Professor José Allard, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Custos: Prof. Teemu Leinonen, Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Department of Media
Information at Aalto University web page: English │Finnish
The doctoral thesis is available and publicly displayed 10 days before the event here.
ABSTRACT
This study looks at change in visual communication design from two points of view. Firstly, it locates the underlying need for change that motivates the collaboration with visual communication designers. Secondly, it recognizes how the actual design work is changing. The purpose is to better understand the work of visual communication designers and the challenges that are present in the design processes.
The main contribution of the study is the methodology for studying change. This means the way concepts from cultural historical activity theory are used to study visual communication design. Further, the two ethnographic case studies, a visual update of a publication and the visual communication design of think tank Demos Helsinki, describe visual communication design work, which is not yet documented. The case studies have historical value in creating knowledge of the profession.
The main results of the study show a historical contradiction present in visual communication design: How to use craft skills in collaborative processes and concept development? The designers’ skills include knowledge that is focused on the making of visualizations that is not easily verbalized or shared. Meanwhile, in order for the design process to be collaborative there needs to be tools for working together. While craft type of knowledge is useful, it is not easy to include others into the design process, even if it would be relevant for the end result.
The information gained from the study helps us to understand how the context of the designer influences the design process. Further, the study gives conceptual tools to locate where in the design process the collaboration between the designer and the other participants of the design process need support, in order for the collaboration to be better.
In conclusion, changes in the design context affect the need for design. Understanding the changes taking place in the context of the design work can help the designer to understand what is expected from the design and improve the collaboration with clients.
THE DOCTORAL CANDIDATE
MA Ulla Björklund.
Ulla Björklund has an MA in graphic design from the University of Art and Design and has studied graphic design at the Institute of Design, Lahti Polytechnic. She has spent four years studying activity theory at CRADLE (Center of Research on Activity Development and Learning) at Helsinki University. Her special interests are ethnography and the design process.
Contact information: email / +358 40 830 4578
FIRST NEW MEDIA AND VCD JOINT DOCTORAL SEMINAR OF THE SEMESTER – Thursday, 21 October 2021
WELCOME TO THE FIRST JOINT DOCTORAL SEMINAR OF THE AUTUMN!
This first joint seminar for this academic year will take place on Thursday, 21 October, and will be held virtually on Zoom starting from 15:15 (UTC/GMT+3, Helsinki. Please see link below).
Mediated by Professor Masood Masoodian, we will be starting strong with two very interesting presentations by VCD DA candidates Nicola Cerioli and Dohee Lee.
Zoom link: Click here to join the seminar!
PRESENTATIONS
‘Understanding complexity to improve the visualisation of complex datasets’
by Nicola Cerioli
In the context of information design, the term “complexity” is often used without a clear definition. This implies a lost opportunity to frame the design problem and structure the design process in a way that is conscious of complexity. My research aims at building a coherent design framework to work with complex datasets in the domain of information design and data visualization. Firstly, a definition of complexity is proposed; drawing from the work of Murray Gell-Mann, and hybridizing his definition with semiotic theory. This will open up different design possibilities on three different, although interconnected, levels: the nature of the represented data, the interface, and the mental model of the user. By adopting this new perspective, several tools and paradigms from philosophy, cognitive psychology, mathematics, and computer science will become available as support to the design process. The object of this research is to explore the different possibilities that a comprehensive understanding of complexity can bring to the information design and the data visualization design process.
Nicola Cerioli is a doctoral candidate in the Aalto Visual Communication Design group. He is interested in the visualization of complex data, to further the understanding of multifaceted phenomena. For this purpose, he studies the synergies of design methodologies, mathematical methods, and philosophical frameworks.He is collaborating as a project researcher in the FINNGEN project, exploring new methods to visualise molecular biology and health care data.
VCD DA candidate Nicola Cerioli
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“A systematic co-creative approach to evaluating arts and health interventions for creative well-being of older adults”
by Dohee Lee
Although older adults’ engagements in arts and design-based interventions have shown positive outcomes in terms of their health and well-being, evaluations of such interventions have rarely taken into account various elements that they consider important in contributing to their creative well-being and quality of life. We will present a narrative interview-based study we have conducted in Korea and Finland with multiple stakeholders, investigating ageing-friendly co-creative approaches to evaluation of arts and design-based interventions for health and well-being. By considering a range of factors – such as artistic and aesthetic values, ethical concerns, and evaluation measures – we propose an evaluation framework that would enable multiple stakeholders – including older adult participants, arts and health practitioners and facilitators, and arts organizations and agencies – to monitor, support and inspire each other systematically through better partnerships in resolving transdisciplinary challenges in such interventions. In particular, we focus on the potential of late-life creativity in supporting older adults in becoming more active participants in such processes, by utilising the knowledge they have accumulated through their own ageing. The aim of the framework is to take a cyclic approach to fostering collaborative co-creative relationships that seek alternative solutions, while dealing with the complexity of implementing arts and design-based interventions.
Dohee Lee is a doctoral candidate in the Aalto Visual Communication Design group. She has a MA in Material Futures with international working experiences in different communities in collective forms. She believes in the combination of design narratives and social aspects that she has been doing qualitative social design research and project coordination in various geographical, ecological, cultural, and social contexts. Her research aims at developing design strategies for social integration and social well-being of older adults through arts & design practices.
ARTIST TALK: Art Studio Kimchi and Chips
Seoul based art studio Kimchi and Chips, founded in 2009 by Mimi Son (KR) and Elliot Woods (EN), will be giving an artist talk on October 19 at WHS Teatteri Union, Helsinki, from 6pm to 8pm (18:00 – 20:00). Mimi Son and Elliot Woods introduce their research-based approach to creating artworks that often involve volumetric images in fog and 3D projection onto non-designed forms.
Kimchi and Chips’ practice begins at the recognition that the arts, sciences and philosophy are not distant disciplines which must be bridged, but act as alternative maps onto the same territory, and that employing these maps in tandem allows the territory to be navigated more readily.
Free entry, but pre-registration is required. Register to the event by filling this form:
https://forms.gle/ZB7mtk1dfCw3YVR59
More information: Kimchi and Chips
TIME AND LOCATION
October 19, 2021
18:00-20:00
WHS Teatteri Union
Siltavuorenranta 18, Helsinki
https://teatteriunion.fi/
The event is organized by Aalto Media Lab,WHS Teatteri Union, and Object Festival
SYMPOSIUM ON ASPECT CHANGE, 21 – 22 October 2021, Bern, Switzerland
Symposium on Aspect Change
Next week, starting October 21st, VCD MA student João Emediato and head of MA programme in Visual Communication Design Arja Karhumaa will give talks in the “Symposium on Aspect Change” in Bern, Switzerland. The symposium is arranged by Hochschule der Künste Bern HKB. The event is held in English.
The multidisciplinary event will be streamed live and there is no admission!
TIME & PLACE
MORE INFO
Hochschule der Künste Bern HKB – Symposium on Aspect Change
COMPARING CULTURAL PRACTICES AND VOCABULARIES RELATING TO SHIFTING MEANINGS
With interdisciplinary contributions from international researchers in THE ARTS, PHILOSOPHY, GEOGRAPHY, DESIGN, LITERATURE, COGNITIVE SCIENCE
Hosted by Tine Melzer, INSTITUT PRAKTIKEN UND THEORIEN DER KÜNSTE, HKB
*** Please note: On site attendance with valid COVID certificate ***
Streamed on Youtube on the dates: http://www.tinemelzer.eu/aspect-change/
Online attendance registration for Zoom link via here.
https://www.hkb.bfh.ch/de/aktuell/fachveranstaltungen/forschung-aspect-change-21-10-21/
Contact via email
PROGRAM – Thursday 21st of October
9.30 Registration
9.30
Batia Suter
artist, Amsterdam
Film: Radial Grammar, 2018
(excerpts)
10.00 – Welcome
Tine Melzer
artist and researcher, HKB
»Towards Aspect Change «
10.30
David Zürcher
singer & film maker, Bern
Film: »Prekäre Dinge« 2017
10.45
Tobias Servaas
philosopher, Amsterdam
»It is always before one’s eyes – Wittgenstein on aspect change«
11.15
Silvia Maier
cognitive scientist, Zürich
»What you see is what you expect – A brain’s perspective on aspect change«
12.00
Alexandra Leykauf
artist, Berlin
»Both Sides Now«
BREAK
14.00
Christa-Maria Lerm Hayes
art historian, University of Amsterdam
»Aspect Change, Oscillation, Parallax, Untranslatability: Approaching inconsistencies in Joseph Beuys’ work«
15.00
Uta Eisenreich
artist, Gerrit Rietveld Academy Amsterdam
»It goes without saying«
BREAK
16.00
João Emediato
artist, graphic designer & performer, Aalto University Helsinki
»Atlas of Work«
16.45
Alina Maria Frieske
artist, Berlin
»Tracking Connections – Imagined Recordings«
17.30
Broersen&Lukács
artists, Amsterdam
Film: »Forest on Location« 2018 (10m)
PROGRAM – Friday 22nd of October
9.30 registration
10.00
Hinrich Sachs
visual artist and writer, Basel
»Taparanco yaycuuan or To my Fellows in the Future«
11.00
Benjamin Hennig
geographer, Reykjavik, University of Iceland
»Rediscovering the world: New maps and visualisations of a changing planet«
12.00
Lizzie Ridout
artist, Falmouth University UK
»Little clouds: Speech balloons and the air of language«
12.45
Tanja Schwarz
artist and researcher, Bern
»Panic for Beginners«
BREAK
14.00
Arja Karhuma
graphic designer & text artist, Aalto University Helsinki
»The horizon of typographic expectation«
14.45
Ilse van Rijn
art historian & writer, Gerrit Rietveld Academy Amsterdam
»Diatomaceous meditations«
BREAK
15.45
Raymond Taudin Chabot
artist, HKB
Film: »Cigars«, 2021 (14m 13s)
16.15
Florian Göttke
artist, writer & researcher, Dutch Art Institute Amsterdam
»Performance and Perception: Make Belief and Aspect Change«
17.00
Leila Peacock
artist, Zürich
Audio: »Factual Uncertainties« with Robin the Fog, 2011
17.15 Closing Panel
EXHIBITION: ‘Sarajevo Roses and Clouds of June’ – Third Space, Helsinki – From 4th – 10th October 2021
Exhibition period: 4th – 10th October 2021 from 14:00 – 18:00. Welcome!
*** To visit the exhibition please wear a face mask and consider the safety distance ***
“Unless we stop indulging in metaphors and start to recognise the politics of visibility and invisibility within the power structure, ‘photography’s future will be much like its past. It will largely continue to illustrate, without condemning, how the powerful dominate the less powerful.’” (Excerpt from video)
Photography has always been a game of hide-and-seek — what to make visible and invisible — but at times of wars and mass protests, these decisions have real consequences. Humans and images are now entangled in the network, each controlling the life and death of the other. Visibility is not just a picture; visibility is lethal.
Amid global protests to support the Black Lives Matter movement, some have called for photojournalists to blur out protesters’ faces to protect their identities. The encrypted communications app Signal released a feature to blur faces in photos. Software developer Noah Conk created an iPhone shortcut that does the same thing and erases their metadata. Some photojournalists oppose blurring and insist that the key issue is consent. That argument misjudges the lethality of visibility, especially in the context of overt and expansive state surveillance. On the other side of the world, Hong Kong pedestrians are filming the arrest of the protestors on their smartphones as they shout their names and ID number, in the hope that their families and lawyers know which police station to look for them and in the fear that they won’t see the sun again — visibility as a means to protect.
“Sarajevo Roses and Clouds of June” (2020) is a 22-minute video essay on images and their relation to peace. Reflecting on personal experience and photographic practices in general, the video essay contemplates the role of photography in the recent waves of mass protests and social activism. The title is a reference to the memorials of the Bosnian War and the months-long protest in Hong Kong that began in June 2019. The video essay, made during the pandemic in 2020, is composed entirely of video footage found on popular free stock websites. In five chapters, the essay delves into the ever-complex politics of visibility and invisibility, offering a critical examination of how photography may or may not contribute to peace in the age of mass surveillance enabled by hyper-connectivity and the omnipresence of cameras.
“Sarajevo Roses and Clouds of June” (2020) is the third chapter of I was there but you didn’t see me*
DOCTOR OF ARTS IN NEW MEDIA & VCD SEMINARS – Autumn 2021 Schedules
This Autumn semester the Doctor of Arts in New Media seminars will be held jointly with the Visual Communications Design seminars as online events. The Seminars will be led by Professor Masood Masoodian as Professor Lily Díaz-Kommonen is on a partial leave.
The meeting dates for Autumn will be held from 15:15-18:00 on the following dates.
- 21 October
- 18 November
- 16 December
In addition, there will be a special, non-mandatory session on 30 September, from 16:00-17:00, which will serve the function of re-connecting and updating, and give new doctoral students an opportunity to introduce themselves. During this session participants can also discuss how they have been coping in the changing situation with the pandemic.
AALTO CREATIVITY SYMPOSIUM 2021, Vaasa, September 10th – 11th
AALTO CREATIVITY SYMPOSIUM 2021 |
 Photo: Julia Weckman. Aalto Creativity Symposium is a meeting point for scholars and practitioners, which will take place at Vaasa this coming Friday and Saturday, September 10th – 11th, both on-site and online. Do you become more creative if you study creativity? This creativity symposium discusses creativity and creativity theories and invites you who wants to understand more about the science of creativity, whether you are a student, scientist, teacher, entrepreneur, a leader in an organization, an artist, work in the field of psychology or else interested in creativity. Creativity is a competence needed in times of change. We use our inherent creativity when solving problems, working in teams, or creating art or new products or strategies. Creativity theories submerge under the surface and make our tacit knowledge of creativity visible. International keynote speakers and national presenters talk about various aspects of creativity: imagination, chaos, the creative process, and more. The topics are not domain specific but aim to shed light on the fundamental principles of creativity. Read more about keynote and featured speakers here. The symposium is organized by a Team in The Department of Film, Television and Scenography ELO in Aalto University School of Arts, Design and Architecture:
REGISTRATIONRegister here. Online registration is free for Aalto people! For non-Aalto participants the online registration fee is €40. On-site participation €80. On-site registration fee includes coffee, tea, fruit, and snacks. Self-pay lunch in the restaurant (pre-orders will be sent to participants). Please note that due to pandemic restrictions the number of on-site participants is limited, and thus the on-site registration might already be full. VENUEOn-site venue is located in Sulva (15 km from Vaasa). Online in Zoom (link will be sent to registered participants). International and national participants are warmly welcome! The sessions will be recorded and can be viewed by participants for two weeks after the event. PROGRAM AND SCHEDULE FRIDAY – September 10th 13:00 – Lunch & registration 14:30 – Welcome & Definition and Aspects of Creativity (Elisabeth Morney, chair) 14:40 – Radical Creativity – What is it? The strategy of Aalto University (Tuomas Auvinen, Dean of School of Arts, Design and Architecture, Aalto University) 15:00 – Keynote: Intelligence, Creativity and Skill (Bonnie Cramond, Professor Emerita, University of Georgia, USA) 16:00 – Break (coffee) 16:20 – Imagination as a Source for Creativity (Hannah Kaihovirta, Docent, Senior researcher, University of Helsinki) 16:45 – Creative Thinking: Idea, Process and End Result (Riikka Mäkikoskela, Head of Radical Creativity, Aalto University) 17:10 – Improvisational Theater, Flow and Group Dynamic (Mikael Rejström, Actor & Creative Director, Stella Polaris) 17:30 – Marketing in an Equitable World (Dee Fretwell, Instructor, School of Business, Southern Oregon University, USA) 17:50 – Break (coffee) 18:00 – Keynote: Chaos, Complexity, and Creativity (Ruth Richards, Distinguished Professor of Psychology, Saybrook University, California, USA) 19:00 – Closing words for the day 19:15 – Symposium dinner SATURDAY – September 11th 9:30 – Welcome to symposium day two (Hannah Kaihovirta) 9:40 – Quality, Taste and the Creative Product (Elisabeth Morney, Aalto University) 10:00 – The Movement between Intuition and Evidence in the Creative Design Process (Kirsi Manninen, Aalto University) 10:20 – Break (coffee) 10:30 – Limitation as a Creative Resource (Kirsi Reinola, Aalto University) 10:50 – Ethical Aspects of Creativity (Marjaana Rantama, Aalto University) 11:10 – Break 11:20 – What is Creativity? Perceptions of primary school children in Malta. (Dr. Margaret Mangion, Senior lecturer, University of Malta, The Edward de Bono Institute for Creative Thinking and Innovation, Malta) 11:40 – The Role of Creativity in Interdisciplinary Work Groups in Higher Education Context (Dr. Daniela Bauer, Nuremberg Tech, LEONARDO – Centre for Creativity and Innovation, Germany) 12:00 – Lunch 13:00 – Keynote: Assessment of Creativity (Bonnie Cramond, Professor Emerita, University of Georgia, USA) 14:00 – Break (coffee) 14:15 – Round table: Do you become more creative by studying creativity? (Elisabeth Morney (chair), Bonnie Cramond, Hannah Kaihovirta, Riikka Mäkikoskela) 14:50 – Wrap up, final words 15:00 – End |