So, What’s Yours Is Mine And What’s Mine is Mine, Right?.
Digital Textuality Final Portfolio Paper
Laurie Boyer
May 10, 2011
Introduction
In What’s Mine Is Yours The Rise of Collaborative Consumption Rachel Botsman and Roo Rogers there is emphasis on sharing, bartering, lending, and trading. Many websites and ideas are introduced. New ways of thinking are given such as lending your own car and even collaborative lifestyles.
In my final portfolio there are four pieces. Text, also known as Cycle 101. The still image object I’ve named “The Fallacy of Consumption.” I call the moving image piece “The Adventures of Mr. Boxxe” and for the final piece, which is sound, I name “Electronic Revolve”.
Here is a look at my work.
“Cycle 101”
The Process: Text object version one is a persuasive essay and short review of “green websites.” It is two pages long and 900+ words. There is no remediation and is intended for informational purposes. It is very organized and the websites are summarized. I open with a joke to keep the atmosphere upbeat and to keep the reader interested. It may cause one to ponder and can be provocative in the hopes of action. I open with a few of my own thoughts and later give suggestions on a few websites that I think would be of help to those seeking relevant sources for “green material.” I pose for the reader a question. Why is it that we can’t find products on the shelf that is made of all post consumer product? The second half of the page is a short review of three websites. It in the form of an annotated bibliography. I followed the form from the Purdue Online Writing Lab. I give a short summary, an assessment, and reflection. The summary is a sentence or two about what you might find available on the website. I list the pros and cons in the assessment. The reflection are my thoughts about the website.
Artist’s Statement: The connection to the ideas and concepts in What’s Mine is Yours (mainly chapter six) is being green and staying green. The ideas are from the book and What’s Mine Is Yours gives a lot of great ideas, which leads to further exploration.
Reflections and Revisions: The argument or challenge for the text piece is to actually find green and recycled products on the shelves of known retailers. Although some subjects might change a bit, the idea is still the same. I leave the solutions to the readers. For revisions: I added length, and a title. I am pleased with the final version.
“The Fallacy of Consumption”
The Process: I chose to make a comic on Pixton.com. The idea came from chapter four, I believe.
There are nine frames in version two. frame one is Pete, the main character’s introduction and how he is proclaiming that life is good. He is walking on his way to work. Frame two references a fictional website I named snagasuit.com where he can order clothing and have it sent to his place of work. In Frame three, he arrives at his office. Frame four his boss knocks at his door. In frame five, his boss delivers some bad news and Pete is let go. Frame six Pete is told why he lost his job. Frame seven is a close up shot of the book, The Age of Access. Frame eight, he is still in his office thinking to himself all that he has done for the company. Finally, frame nine, he is at a café and has apparently kept the suit putting it to a different use that he will benefit from.
The colors that I chose were lighter colors, to imply happiness and to keep the mood lively. There is no religious context. The text supplies the reader with information that is needed to “get” the joke. The backgrounds are all different to designate different locations, The panels are consistent in size, there is not much white space at all. I want the reader to focus more on the actions and dialogue.
The Artist’s Statement: Pete is an earthy guy and is down to earth himself. He goes to work expecting to be treated fairly because he treats his company that way. When he learns of his loss he can’t help but feel betrayed. Pete feels that the company has cost him his job and he in return “charges” the company for his new suit. The fallacy is that we often take things in life for granted.
Reflection and Revisions: on the whole, I believe the comic is successful. It’s simple and straightforward. It’s easy to follow and I enjoyed making it. For revisions, version one started out as seven frames. For the two extra frames I added the book “The Age of Access” and another frame to ease the transition and to provide information I felt would help the audience as to why he ended up with the suit.
“The Adventures of Mr. Boxxe”
The Story: in the short movie, The Adventures of Mr. Boxxe; Laurie finds Bradley Boxxe in a parking lot. She has a great idea for his use. She has a frame to send to her friend Judy that would be a perfect fit! He is repurposed, then travels from Texas to Greenland and then he gets recycled and starts his life over again.
The Process : The idea came from a website out of the book, What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption, chapter six, Usedcardboardboxes.com. The movie was filmed during the day so there is plenty of sunshine. It was made with iMovie and is 2 minutes and 56 seconds long. It is an original work, so, there is no remediation. The “soundtrack” is also an original piece made in Garage Band using emotional piano loops. This gave the emotional feel for the short movie. There is discord in the way it is filmed that is narrative to tell the story. In each scene the box has different expressions to show personification. I used transition slides as the dialogue because it is a silent movie. There is corrugation on the background of one transition, because custom doesn’t always “feel right” and now he is back to old his old self. On another slide the text passing right to left and vise versa of waiting to get picked up is representative of passing people, cars, trains, boats, and planes. He’s picked up and is on his way. The last transition reads “That’s a wrap” and is used in the film industry, it is the end called by the director. I used an aged film effect to give it more of a silent movie feel. There are three main characters: Bradley (the box), Curtis and Laurie.
The Artist’s Statement: Mr. Boxxe is an example of useful stuff being in the wrong place. In The Adventures of Mr. Boxxe, Bradley comes alive and we see the world through his eyes. Tying closely to the website usedcardboardboxes.com to be giving a character to and showing the life cycle of a recycled box.
Reflection and Revisions: I had fun exploring all the possibilities with iMovie. I would have liked to been able to slow down the first title transition, I realize it’s a bit quick. I am no movie editor and am not absolutely satisfied with the piece. However, I’m glad that everyone in general enjoyed the story.
In the first version there were a lot of ambient sounds as well as conversation and the transitions were silent. The transition slides didn’t coordinate well with each other. For the revisions I mainstreamed the transitions so the story would flow better with the footage. I added a soundtrack, and the aged film effect so all go nicely with the unstableness of the video.
“Electronic Revolve”
The process: for the final version for the sound piece is not a continuation of the first. It is the same idea. I lost my first piece, (Ripple to Electronica) and therefore was unable to edit the loops. I started over. I used Garage Band to create both of the tracks. The project plays in C major, for a tempo of 120 beats per minute, and has a 4/4 signature. It has 46 measures and is 1 minute and 31 seconds long. The loops begin with a clave and a shaker, bongo and maraca are introduced, then the conga, followed by a ceramic drum, a percussion combo, then a latin horn, next a Motown drummer. The transition: exotic beats play simultaneously with record player static, followed by an 80’s dance pad, exotic beats, a pop synthesizer, then cords with club dance beats, and fades out with a dance floor pattern.
The Artist’s Statement: Electronic Revolve begins as a collaborative effort in that the sounds chosen are world beats. The track follows music through history. We can see that in the beginning of the track and in time there are man made instruments only. As the track progresses instruments are remixed with the help of technology. The record static indicates the transition to electronic. The composition also relates to many others struggle with going green. The intent was for holistic, earthy sounds and what became in the end was far from that. Synthetic is more Europe and America, and is what’s popular today. I’ve found that no matter how hard we try to recycle and do good for the earth, in the end we can’t escape industrialization. In the quest for being green and earthy……….we become a bit electronic.
Reflection and Revisions: The first version I named Ripple to Electronica. Ripple is the name of a transition in iMovie. It means the transformation to technology. For version two, the beats are gradual and work well with each other. I have no formal education in any kind of music. I learned a great deal. I am very proud of my sound piece. This part of the portfolio I feel is the strongest and I am the most pleased with. Later I most likely will remix the track again. I am inspired to create more “mood” tracks later as time allows.
Conclusion
Portfolio Reflection: The book, What’s Mine Is Yours: The Rise of Collaborative Consumption (Botsman and Rogers) gave rise to all of the portfolio pieces.
Cycle 101 (text), The Fallacy of Consumption (still image), The Adventures of Mr. Boxxe (moving image), and Electronic Revolve (sound) all work together to maintain a funny, upbeat and/or informative approach to some issues regarding sustainment. This matches my personality well.
This is my first time using iLife, a wiki, twitter, pixton, and numerous other websites. I am glad that I was kind of forced to make it work for me. Now, I am more comfortable in my knowledge and can put that to good use. I am pleased with what I have produced. My favorite piece would have to be Electronic Revolve it was the most enjoyable for me, also it was easiest to write about and provided me with an organizational strategy for the final paper.
