COM 327
January 15
1. Quiz!
1. Housekeeping
1. Group presentation
1. Critical making overview & discussion
QUiz
Question 1
1. Jenkins refers to Pierre Levy's notion of
"collective ______" to characterize the ways
online communities produce knowledge.
a) collectivism
b) firepower
c) standardization
d) intelligence
Question 2
2. In his discussion about the need to rethink
intellectual property rights, Jenkins references
copyright debates around which popular book
series & media franchise?
a) Fifty Shades of Grey
b) Twilight
c) Harry Potter
d) Persepolis
Question 3
3. Ratto refers to critical making as a way to
connect _____ and goal-based physical work, two
engagement modes that are usually considered
separate.
a) politics
b) education
c) artistic design
d) critical thinking
Question 4
4. What book does Ratto quote throughout his
article to emphasize the importance of care and
investment in relation to critical making?
a) The Little Prince
b) The Old Testament
c) Where the Wild Things Are
d) The Hunger Games
Housekeeping
1. Sign up for group presentations!!
“COM 327: Group Presentation sign-up”
2. “Go Meta” assignments are due next Tuesday.
Find 2 journal articles, from the list of journals
provided on the syllabus, that discuss the same
(multi)media franchise.
Create a 4 page write-up, in 3 sections:
i. Introduction
ii. Chart comparing the 2 articles
iii.Discussion of the differences between the two
critical approaches
Critical Making
- Roots
- Examples
- Limitations
Cultural & technological roots of “critical making”:
• The DIY movement
• Zines
• Culture Jamming
• Fandom
The DIY movement
Roots in home repair and renovation
Now refers to any/all of the following:
- Environmental sustainability
- Self-published books / podcasts /
zines
- Indie music labels
- Crafts
- Indie game development
- “Life-hacking”
The DIY movement
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8vcacRA7O5g
The DIY movement
“REMIX CULTURE”
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0D0bM2NCQ4
ZINES
• Date as far back as 1930’s-1960’s
grassroots sci-fi publishing
• 1970’s & 80’s: British punk scene
• 1990’s: “riot grrrl” scene
ZINES
• Usually unpolished & ‘raw’
• Typically an outlet for
marginal & activist
subcultures
Culture Jamming
- Form of media activism
dating back to 1970’s
billboard defacing
campaigns
- Popularized in the 1990’s
by Adbusters
- ‘Hacking’ advertising
imagery and techniques to
form anti-globalization,
anti-marketing, anticonsumerist messages
Culture Jamming
Culture Jamming
“You owe the companies nothing. You
especially don't owe them any courtesy.
They have re-arranged the world to put
themselves in front of you. They never
asked for your permission, don't even
start asking for theirs.”
“Banksy”, English graffiti artist
Culture Jamming
“Co-opTaTIon”
Fandom
• Fan-made ‘remixes’ of popular
culture franchises
• Brought to light in 1990’s by
Henry Jenkins (same dude)
• Very multi-media: visual art,
written fiction, movies
Fandom
Fandom
Fandom
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=RZwM3GvaTRM#!
So what is Critical making?
“a practice-based engagement with pragmatic and
theoretical issues”
“it seems that when one uses technologies he or she
remains aware of their nuanced relationship to
society, while when one theorizes about them they
seem much more “brittle” and inflexible”
3 steps to critical making
1. Do research: Which theories are you going to ‘enact’, and how?
2. Build prototype
3. Reiterate and refine
(Ratto, p. 253)
WhaT’s MIssIng hERE?
(what comes before Step 1?)
RAINBOW
FLAMETHROWER
(Alex Leitch, 2012)
Spray it forward (Pagee, 2012)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ml6ExyAE5Tk&feature=player_embedded
FREEDOM BRIDGE (Magnuson, 2011)
http://www.necessarygames.com/my-games/freedom-bridge/flash
What are the limitations of critical making?
For next class:
Stuart Hall reading is D E N S E
Wikipedia entry on “Encoding /
Decoding” is helpful.
Question: How does his model of
mass communication modify the
TRANSMISSION model?