In our first CATS session we were introduced to our course tutor, Tom Hodgson and given a task to create a washing line using historical events in chronological order. We were given 16 different pictures to organize. Of these 16 pictures we had to decided which was the earliest, and which was the latest, and fill in the gaps in-between. Personally I enjoyed this task as it allowed me to meet new people in the group and helped me with working in groups.
27th September 2010
Technology discussion and research
In this session we had a lecture on technology and we discussed the advancement of technology over the years. We began by looking at such things as the IBM home computer and how the IBM was the model that went on the spawn the Windows and Mac computers, and how the each model advanced through the years. We also discussed other platforms like the first gaming console and how these have advanced from basic arcade games and puzzles such as Tetris, which later have made the gaming industry one of the most successful markets, and continues to evolve with such things as online gaming on PS3 and Xbox Live.
This session gave me a good insight into the development of technology, and where it’s roots began and what the inspiration was for such developments..
4th October 2010
Evolution of the Mobile phone
In this session we started by getting into groups in order to research the development of the mobile phone. We found that Motorola were the first company to come up with the concept of the mobile phone and it was conceived by one of the CEO’s of the company, Martin Cooper in 1973. Mobile phones were originally larger in size and a lot smaller in memory than the phones of today. The mobile phone continues to grow smaller, and continue to gain more applications, such as video players, cameras and web browsing capabilities. The advancement of the mobile phone has been very fasted paced and continues to advance. In stands to reason that in another 30 years the phones of the future will be even smaller, have much more applications and uses and we will rely on them even more.
I found looking into the history of the mobile phone very interesting as there is many things I didn’t know, and they’re was many things that I thought I knew about the original mobile phones that turned out to be incorrect. When looking into the development of the mobile phone I found in interesting discussing about what the mobile phones of the future will be like, and how some of the phones today, that we thing of as bang up to date will be ancient technology in the near future. I also found it interesting upon realising how much we rely on mobile phones and how much we have relied on the even more over the past years.
11th October 2010
Signs and meanings
In our third session we discussed signs and the different interpretations people may have of them. We analysed look at how certain colours, such as red can mean different things to different cultures with red in our culture meaning hazardous but in other cultures it may mean good luck. We also looked at how images are used, as most cultures will interpret an image the same, and opposed to using text, as using a sign mostly text written in English will be largely useless in, for example, China. As a group we found that the most effective signs use images, with a combination of colours and images, but at the same time are very simple, such as the road works sign, which is a red triangle, with a man shovelling dirt.
I found this session interesting as we were looking at different cultures, and I didn’t know what each colours meant in different cultures so I found it very interesting finding this out. We also, in groups, found some signs which were terrible in design, and just made no sense, and example of one of these signs was simple just a wheelchair on an incline.
18th October 2010
Semiotics
In this session we were given a lecture of semiotics, which is the study of signs. We discussed how signs can tell us what they mean; some signs can have be instantly recognised just from a colour, shape or image. We also looked at how some times have hidden or ambiguous meanings.
I already had a slight bit of knowledge of semiotics, coming from an art background, but I found this session useful as it gave me a greater insight into how we can see something, and immediately understand what it is, and how it can have so many different meanings. Everyone’s interpretations of texts are different, and we could gather an oppositional reading based of a text based on our background or views. Semiotics can be applied to virtually any sign that signifies a meaning.
1st November
Session cancelled
8th November
Communism and the history of Tetris
In this session we began by looking into the game Tetris and we discussed how it was related to communism. We found that Alexey Pajitnov created Tetris in 1985 in Moscow, Russia. Tetris became hugely successful upon its release however there was a huge dispute over the rights and developers of the game. Pajitnov had little defence against the major companies in the game industry and he was forced into a long battle for his original game. By creating a game under the Iron Curtain of Russia and its communist regime the game legally was owned by Government.
I discovered that the PC version of Tetris was introduced to Hungary, where Robert Stein first caught sight of the game. Stein knew the impact of the game and immediately attempted to sell its rights to Mirrorsoft before coming into contact with Pajitnov. Stein eventually gained a license to Tetris, without any agreement with the Russian company.
I found this session interesting as I knew a lot about the Communist regime, and the Government in Russia, but it was interesting to find out how this effected such a successful game as Tetris, and I also had no clue that Tetris was created in Russia, and it was good to find out about the game of Tetris
15th November
The history of Tetris presentations
This session was a continuation of the previous session, as in this session we were presenting our findings the history of Tetris to the rest of the group. As a group we found that Pajitnov created an outstanding game, but it was Nintendo with the Nintendo Gameboy that were able to profit from the creation of Tetris. Pajitnov didn’t gain much profit from his creation, but was proud that his creation became so globally recognised. After several disputes about the games rights, Robert Maxwell’s company began to decline and his organisation eventually collapsed. Robert Stein made about a quarter of a million dollars from Tetris; however this figure could have been a great deal larger if he had gained full rights from Atari and Mirrorsoft without having to pay royalties.
I enjoyed this session as I was able to get up and do some presenting to the group. Personally I don’t enjoy getting up and presenting work, but I know it’s something I have to do, and I enjoyed being able to create a presentation about a subject that I could have a lot of opinions on.
22nd November
Feminism discussion and research
This was a session I was looking forward to, as I did feminism as part of my history A level, and I really enjoyed it, and did very well on it. In this session we discussed feminism and how the rights of women have changed over the decades. Women had little rights until they gained the vote in the 1920’s. The role of women continued to be that of the wife to a man, yes they had to vote, but they were still suppressed and treated on par with the children with the man still being the dominant sex in both society and home life.
As time has passed women activists have stood up and fought for their rights and have gained a more balanced society because of this. The role of women continued to grow more prominent, as they gained more rights and became more dependant.
We also looked at feminism in video games, and at Lara Croft and her role as a feminist role model. We were given group work to research this.
29th November
Session cancelled
6th December
Feminism continued
In this session we presented our work into the study of feminism regarding the character Lara Croft. Lara Croft is the lead character of the game series Tomb Raider created in 1996.
Lara Croft was the protagonist in the Tomb Raider games, in which she was the first female character to be the main playable character in a video game. Lara Croft was designed to be a young, beautiful, independent woman, capable of doing anything that a male equivalent could do. She is a symbol of dominance for women, but there is debate about the depiction of Lara Croft and how she has been created for the male audience. There is no doubt that a lot of attention went into Lara Crofts design, and how she looked, a massive example of this was during the creation of the character a designer “accidently” increased Lara Crofts breast size by 150%, to which the other designers responded positively, deciding to keep the 150% sized breasts. There is no doubt that Lara Croft is a sex icon of the gaming industry, and personally I think the designers created her for this sex appeal, in order to sell more units.
Lara Croft still remains as a symbol for female empowerment, as she attracted a lot of females to the gaming market, but there is little doubt that the character is still superficial, her capabilities go hand in hand with her appearance and the female audience could be left believing they have to look like her to be as powerful and dominant as her.
13th December
Research of Surrealism and discussion session outcomes
In this final session we briefly began to look into surrealism which is an art movement pioneered by Andre Breton. I research some surrealist paintings and look into the history of the subject. I did some surrealism when studying fine art at A level and found it interesting as you could create a painting that to some people wouldn’t mean anything, but to others it could be an inspirational piece of work.
Some of Surrealisms most prolific during the 1930’s with artists such as Salvador Dali at the forefront of the movement. Surrealism was a form of expressionism meaning so many different things to different people. I find Surrealism very interesting, as it is related to psychology, by the way Surrealism portrays the surreal, and this surreal image affects different people in so many different ways.