Really happy to be working with UMD’s very own Dean of Fine Arts, Bill Payne, on his video series Theater and Global Change. These short videos are a supplement to his online course Theater and Global Change on the New York Times Learning Management system Epsilen. Here is a link to his profile at the site.
Watch the story of stuff. Materials economist Annie Leonard will show what the problem with our current consumer paradigm is. This is a wonderful little reality slap that I recommend everyone watch! It’s easy going… 20 minutes or so and very entertaining.
I have yet to watch the other films she’s helped produce, but I see they are available to watch on her site as well.
Here is an example of what Processing is capable of. This is my former teacher Tim Armato giving a brief demo. Search Processing on Vimeo and you will find more.
Notice the filmmaker mentions the new narrative? This is the narrative of our current time and the narrative I am seeking to explore with my project and thesis. No longer are the stories of the hero’s journey: man v. nature, man v. himself, man v. anything resonating with us so strongly. Of course, we will have personal struggles and these stories are still important. However, in historical context, no longer will our collective consciousness be held by these terms. No longer is acceptable to believe that we will be saved by anyone but ourselves. Instead the new narrative explores how we are coming together to overcome challenge.
Sound familiar? It should. As designers we are currently discussing the changes taking place in our industry. Specifically, how teams are created of specialists (individuals) whom are coming together to overcome challenges of an ever changing demand to create something agile and flexible in a world of unpredictability.