TASK 4: Reviewing the blog

I have been using blogging before but not on this way like I am doing it now to communicate with my teachers and group from the course. 
I was familiar with Blogger too but for this time I had to use a template with layout and functional aspects that really communicate and link the user with articles.

After some  trying and changing at Btemplates I have found my temp. template which is designed by Arscin and created by Blogandweb .
What I like the most is the neutrality that it offers and its simple use functions which will serve till my personal company concept is finished and applied here. I have been working on template html code to costumize it for my needs. There will be more in the future.

• Blog title – I am using my name for the moment till I finalize the concept for my company name on the Business for Design module and apply it here.
• Navigation bar – buttons allowing user to view the blog’s home page, posts RSS and all comments.
• Widgets – About Me, Blog archive, Followers
• Tags - Every task is taged and can be found easily
  
• Labels - Which are very useful while searching for a particular post or topic.   

TASK 5 - Project outline & working plan

STORYTELLING EVENT

The scenario of bringing generations closer especially the elderly which these days are facing loneliness, is very current all over the world.They miss a lot of things, one of them and most important is love & care of their son & daughters, grandchildren too and of course their mutual communication. Also I can mention that the younger’s lose a lot from their lack of contact with the elderly, because their continuous contact with people that have passed the barriers of their life helps them to mature and be prepared and understand life better from the lessons that they get from the elderly.

The idea is to create an event on which would include two or more generations while promoting their social activity, in this case of a “game” involving the young people and the elderly in a round table where they can talk and share their different experiences from their past while telling stories which are recorded and showing photos which remain as a archive of the organization that organizes this event and then are used for certain purposes, eg. monographs, photo albums, exhibitions or any documentary.

My opinion for the idea is very positive because the storytelling event with different topics including culture, personal life, technology, love, fashion, war etc would be a better opportunity that generations come more closer, eg. The younger’s to learn more for the elderly like how it was before without internet, telephones, tv etc… where the only form of communication were letters and the elderly would learn more for the entertainment that the younger’s have, technology and convenience that it offers that is taking over the world more and more, for instance internet is one of the most entertaining  and popular form of communication

This “game” would be very attractive and entertaining not only for the players that will learn new things but also the way that is designed is fun, exploring the mysteries and beautiful stories of real life in recent decades, with dialogue and discussions, explained from the elderly and the younger’s in an interactive way .

This combination of ideas, or storytelling affects the realitonship of the elderly and the younger’s very much, makes them learn more for each-other and this would serve that they understand more the relationship between them and that they decrease the distance between them along with the elderly loneliness in particular.The idea could work if at least once “a month” such a event or activity would be held at different organizations that deals with age concerns, with different people like everybody to have chance to meet new people from different generations especially the youngers. Above all in the end we will all get older and  come to the days where they are found today.

In this case the elderly wouldn’t  be faced with loneliness  and the lack of socialization and the others would understand them better and would learn a lot of things that would be helpful and inspiring in their future life and for example the idea of collecting their stories for  a documentary would attract attention.Because at the end It is good to help and show solidarity with others, if you want that later to be helped and that someone else take care and show love for you... after all; this is cycle of life.

WORKING PLAN

TASK 6: Postmodernism - exhibition

Last friday we visited the V&A museum to explore the exhibition of “Postmodernism”. We had the opportunity to see various works of different creators within that time including architecture, fashion, music, posters, signage, sculpture and magazines. Postmodernism is a movement of art that rejects the ideas of modernism such as order or discipline in favor of expression and instincts.

During the visit I was impressed by the work of:

Alexander Brodsky and Ilya Utkin, the best known as Paper Architects,

whose work “Paper architecture” saw print but has never been build,

Giulio Paulini ”The other figure” postmodern mood sculpture where you can see two identical portraits staring at the third one that lies between them on the

floor smashed into pieces “Melancolia”.

Peter Dunn and Loraine Leeson “Big money is moving in”, Docland community poster project, a billboard that shows a bricolaged London skyline, with huge piles of cash sweeping away the existing cityscape.

Interesting political protest with postmodern techniques.

Jenny Holzer, “Protect me from what I want”, her artwork prompts critical reflection on desire, it`s causes and effects and the whirlwind of commerce that surrounds it.

Wendy Maryama, ”Mickey macintosh chair”, a handmade chair that features the most famous pair of ears.

It was a very effective exhibit, telling its story and passing the message. One of the exhibitions strengths is its presentation with a variety of media and formats like audio, video, print and physical objects! The method is very effective and I think that the artifacts are appropriate for the topics as the samples listed above and they do convince me with their message. The labels and their descriptions are very helpful and easy to understand and the audio-visual segments communicate clearly. I have learned a lot of new things from the interactive components of the exhibitions and yes; they do tell effective stories about the movement. One of the attributes that made me slightly loose interest in the exhibits is the over exaggeration of fashion and its style, as if it were from a different planet. In addition, the movement as a whole over does and over uses decorations deterring my interests.

 

Being impressed by their ways of expression I think that postmodernism can be the most controversial movement in art and designs history. Postmodernism came as a response to modernist needs of opening a new window and by contrast was more like a broken mirror or a reflecting surface made of many fragments with its key principles that were of complexity and contradictory. The movement brought a drastic freedom to design, through actions that were often funny, sometimes provoking and in some cases bizarre. Above all, postmodernism brought awareness about style itself. What is next?

 Alexander Brodsky and Ilya Utkin, Paper architecture

Giulio Paulini ”The other figure”

Jenny Holzer, “Protect me from what I want”

Peter Dunn and Loraine Leeson, “Big money is moving in”

Wendy Maryama, ”Mickey macintosh chair”