*Experiment conducted a week ago, 12/4/2020*
Aim
How does the Cyborg Witch "know" time?
How might I create an "object" that tells witch/cyborg time?
Clock Brief 4: How might we present an alternate historical timeline (either from a marginalised perspective, or a ‘what if’ version of history)?
How might I make a Wicked clock?
Precedents / context
Working off the alternate history prompt of Clock Brief #4, I want to start fleshing out this cyborg/witch world. Time seems like an interesting place to start.
Thinking peripherally about the methods I outlined in my presentation/pitch document — the body as a potential space/platform to experiment around.
Also was talking to Grace, and seeing her speculative experiments around designed 'blank' forms, as put forward in Paper Knowledge (Gitelman, 2014). Thought it was really cool, and I wanted to explore similar collaborative/participatory methods more, could I find ways to do this within the clock brief?
Process / methods
- Started thinking about an alternative history centred around witches. What if witches were to get their revenge on the patriarchy? How would that play out. Interesting idea, but I wasn't really getting anywhere concrete with it.
- Started thinking instead about how the Cyborg // Witch knows time. What is their form-expression/understanding of time? And subsequently, a "clock"?
- Different ways of knowing (mostly sensory): tell / know / see / hear / feel / sense / converse / taste / touch. Could this be explored through an object — knowing through speech --> a mouthpiece? Some sort of head piece?
- Brainstorming different kinds of timepieces, or time objects: watch, clock, crystal ball, book, timekeeper, sunkeeper, planner, daylight savings..?
- Brainstorming time metaphors (different visual metaphors) — tree, river, diverging paths, threads (spinning, cutting, the Three Fates), Chronos, thief.
- 'What if time was a choice?' — vending machine format — What if days were "administered" through a vending machine?
- Refocused on Cyborgs and Witches — What is politically deviant? wicked? — time? body? How to express, represent/exploit queerness, labour/class, gender, race?
- A clock that wastes time? I kept drawing these hourglasses because their shape was interesting. An exaggerated, deviant? take on the traditional hourglass. A room full of seconds? What does that look like?
- Started to think about othered bodies and how they have to fight to exist, and survive. What if all time was stolen? A time heist. Wicked, anti-establishment time. Time is the "quest".
- If it needs to be stolen, it was guarded. What is the protocol around this. Signifiers for stolen goods: security tags, clothing tags/labels, ways to hide items, store alarms, class signifiers and assumptions — "trashy"-expensive. I was mostly thinking about a shoplifting scenario — often associated with teenage girls, how to use/subvert this stereotype?
- Shifted from time to object-signifiers of the theft — quick sketch of a wanted poster, did a google search and found brilliant!!! 'I AM A THIEF' sandwich boards!!! They are real, and I assume the woman in the photo is a real Walmart thief — an alternative punishment to jail for shoplifting.
- Started to think about fake I.D.s and hiding your identity as a way to "steal" time, or "buy more time"
- Decided fake IDs would be a fun object to materialise "stolen time" through.
- It also ended up being an interesting object to try exploring authorial 'blanks', which Gitelman (2014) outlines in contrast to non-authorial blanks such as forms, invoices, cheque books. An ID card is in essence a form that you have filled, made official through printing on a durable sheet of plastic, that you are required to show to authority figures as proof of identity. Because the idea of a cyborg // witch world is so vague at the moment, I decided to use the idea of blanks (in the place name and years) to keep it open and give a sense of mystery.
- It was fun starting to think about names and place. I started making a list of cyborg-related and witch-related words, and stuck them together to create a 'coupling'; hybrid of both. E.g. 'Humanoid++ Na$ty'
- Looked at my own drivers licence for reference. I wanted the same "official" watermarked symbol in the middle, hence the quick venn diagram. For the photo, I obscured their face with a witches' hat, but you can see a knowing smile... it's fake, shhh.
Reflection on action
- I really like the idea of fake IDs, and framing these Cyborg Witches as criminals so devious and wicked that they shoplift time! And get away with a whole life on stolen time, in part because of these high tech fake IDs.
- I don't know if I'm doing the speculative design right, though. There are a lot of ideas here, and I think some could be explored further but I have a hard time pushing them past the 'what if' stage
- It took a while to get the to fake IDs/stealing time, was a bit frustrating but I think this could be explored more.
Reflection for action
I'm not sure what I want to do next. I could try and make a more polished version of the ID, but I'm not sure what I would get from the process if I'm just recreating the sketch. I did think about making other identification documents e.g. a passport, wanted posters, so could go with that.
I'm frustrated that I feel stuck because I think speculative objects and design work really well with my research area, but I feel like I'm having a hard time actually doing it. I might need to go back to my research agenda, pull out more specific prompts and find more visual precedents.
References
Gitelman, L. (2014). Paper Knowledge. Duke University Press.
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