Observational Practices Lab

Author: Pascal

OBJECT AMERICA
Online Publication
since 2018

As a response to recent changes in the political landscape, the lab initiated the research project OBJECT AMERICA

Ask the object what secrets it knows.

based on — Cindi Katz — Geography & Environmental Psychology

Inventory other people and things the object could be connected to.

based on — Michael J. Barany — History of Modern Science and Mathematics

Speculate about the places the object has been before it encountered you.

based on — Gyo Joon Hwang — Interior Design

Create a narrative that connects two characters through the object.

based on — Jhon Valdes Klinger — Creative Writing

Navigate from the object’s Wikipedia page to the “microplastics” page.

based on — Juliana Beecher — Anthropology

What function, object or behavior did the object replace?

based on — Lisa George — Media Economics

Take 5 photographs of the object, each at a different vantage point. Rotate. Repeat.

based on — Allison Kobren — Communication Design

Imagine the object in an environment that made you feel “at home” in the past.

based on — Erica Eisenberg — Transdisciplinary Design

How does the material of the object change your body language?

based on — Anuja Bagul — Material Science

How many different sounds can you create with the object using only your hands?

based on — Roarke Menzies — Music

Take 30 pictures looking for variety in the object’s silhouette.

based on — Gabrielle Nti — Fashion Design

Ask the object what it would like to be remembered for.

based on — Fernando Kawai — Clinical Medicine

Sketch and draw shapes and thoughts you associate with the object until you get completely exhausted.

based on — Katie Merz — Visual Art

Stress-testing Observation Scores
week 6

Week 6: 2/28 Stress-testing Observation Scores (Instructions) “The first examples of what were to become Fluxus event scores date back…

Translating Observations

week 5

Week 5: 2/21 Translating Observations In order to instigate a conversation about the different ways we are looking at the…

Scientific Atlas
— Visual Archive
week 4

Week 4: 2/14 “Atlases are systematic compilations of working objects. They are the dictionaries of the science of the eye”…

One object.
Three observations.
week 3

Week 3: 2/7 This class explores questions of how observational practices work, what different disciplines might learn from another’s approaches…

The Thingly World

week 2

Week 2: 1/31 To better understand the very nature of observation each participant will focus on a single object to…

Intro Case Study:
Observing Ice
week 1

Week 1: 1/24 Introduction This course aims to provoke dialogue about practices of observation, and invent new ways of looking….

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