For the remainder of the semester, I’m working on a project about communication between generations.
Since the launch of the Person in Time project, I’ve been thinking about capturing something about my elders – specifically my grandfather. We’ve always lived on opposite sides of the country, and in the last couple years, he’s expressed a sort-of regret over not having been as active a presence in my life (we’ve also gotten quite a bit closer, so that might show some contrast to how things were when I was a kid).
The general frame is this:
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I think about the things he says like “I regret never getting to know you as well as I wish I could have”
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I notice changes in him and changes in my dad (his son) over time.
- Lately, I’m also wondering whether I will be able to see him again.
How might I close this gap that he is worried about? How might I remotely capture the passing of time & knowledge between these 3 generations?
1. To dive in more, I’ve been doing research on ‘knowledge transfer’ methods to see what other people out there tend to say in very different disciplines.
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“Objective” – corporate knowledge transfer methods —> would be weird, and maybe awesome to try and repurpose a stiff “corporate knowledge transfer machine” for hyper-personal use. So far, I’ve done quite a bit of reading and I have to say that the results are hilarious. :)
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“Subjective” –
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‘knowledge as an heirloom’
- indigenous knowledge transfer methods
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2. Possible Capture Methods – this is an old list, I haven’t revisited yet since doing research above.
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Mobility: walk cycles, motion capture
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Storytelling, audio interviews
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handwriting
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Facetime – record audio & video from there
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Diary study (via sms?)
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Collaboration over an app (we all download the same one, and capture something about our lives)
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We all capture ourselves doing the same thing (could use a fun app above)
- “Leaving a trail” – Nina Katchadourian’s sorted books
3. Possible Output – also an old list
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Generally, video with interview audio overlay
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Family dinner —> do it live over some digital tool, or create a digital one via certain artifacts
I will have more to share about the research – but I want to post this for now! Sorry for the delay.