Martyna+Dakowicz

Wiki Contributions

 * Experience Using a Wiki**

When first encountering the wiki, I perceived it to be a great study tool facilitated by a dynamic, collaborative environment. The difficulty with a class wiki, however, is that often topics are discussed briefly, sometimes trail off-topic, and are usually simply inferior to Wikipedia articles. This poses a challenge to creating a meaningful interaction, especially for users searching for specialized information. I have also used wiki spaces last year in CCT205. The most important aspect of the learning experience was the teamwork involved in putting together an integrated database of information. It was interesting to observe partial pieces of text coming together, undergoing an iterative editing process and finally serving as a unified source of knowledge.

An effective study guide emerged in the class, which was continually being edited and improved. This was an example of when the wiki was effectively used toward class goals. Summary of readings, lectures, and key concepts were presented in an organized manner.

The CCT300 wiki is slightly less focused due to the broad definition of what a 'media genre' entails. Further, some gray area existed between a media genre and an //example// of a media genre, which we were asked to differentiate. The wiki does, however, offer students the opportunity to explore various media genres individually, even if the given article isn't as thorough as others existing sources exploring the same topic. The wiki is, overall, a productive tool for independant study and collaboration; especially since it is a //simplified// learning tool.


 * Expectations for the Process**

I expect to study the topics I post in-depth, as opposed to offering only a description of what they are. Throughout the course I will continue to find genres that I am interested in and conduct research related to them. My edits contribute to the addition of certain topics and a discussion of what they are and how they relate to other genres in a similar field as well as their social impact.

Topics I Explored, Published and Edited in the Wiki
For the purposes of this wiki I focussed my research mostly on film studies and multimedia. Headings with which I interacted include: Film, Independent Film, Cyberpunk Film, Independant Music, and Media Art.

I chose to expand my research and knowledge within these topics because I was intrigued by the fluctuating taxonomy of underground media. The notion and definition of independent music and independent film has evolved from associations with low production-cost content and progressed to a stage at which language becomes descriptive of a certain artistic //style//. Such a process can be described as //Cultural Overturn//, to use Bruce Mau's term. The implications of cultural overturn include interpolating the underground aesthetic into the mainstream and capitalizing on its cult status via infiltration through viral marketing and eventually outright direct advertising.

Becaue these "Independent" genres retain a certain artistic quality, I decided to expand this exploration to encompass the field of Media Art, which includes sub-genres such as Video Art and Sound Art (both interrelated). I was also interested in the variety of films classified along these lines including Underground Film and Cyberpunk film, and I often chose to discuss these in terms of social influences. I also contributed to the wiki by editing and linking pages, as well as by adding relevant images to the topics presented.

Movies Movies & Society > >> >
 * Independant Film
 * Independant Film - Definition
 * Art Film (edits in Video Art)
 * Experimental Film
 * Film Process
 * Dogme 95
 * Underground Film
 * Underground Film - About
 * Alejandro Jodorowsky
 * Cyberpunk
 * Cyberpunk Film
 * Cybertext

Music Music & Society
 * Post-Hardcore
 * Hardcore

Media Art

Hierarchy of Media Added music & film genres, etc.

Mav Jamming Co. Lab 1. Original CNN-Starwars content/banner/poster.

Looking Back
The biggest challenge in working with the collaborative class wiki was to be fully motivated to work within an environment with a substantial "ongoing" component. Because of the indefinite parameters and time constraints of the project, this seemed to be a very immersive, //formless// project with indefinite objectives. I was less inclined to design the wikispaces with flashy designs etc. than to actually write effective, substantive content. I also found that I was interested in topics that were neither 'hot topics' in the class, nor of interest to the majority, so I ended up researching these topics mostly independently (Independant Film, Music, Media Art). Conversely, I was uninterested in much of the content posted by other users. The advantage again was that the wiki was collaborative meaning that there is always a lot to be learned.

The course itself worked well with its truly interesting textbooks and sets of readings. I thought the readings could have been 'sold' more though... really emphasizing how interesting and pertinant they are to the course. I also found a lot of things on the CCT300 wiki to be annoyances- these include mediocre, unfinished 'reading' notes (I thought it's better to read the reading than take these 'shortcuts') as well as the publicity postings on the home page, and the (overkill) selling of the labs' groups' culture jamming projects within that space. It was annoying and inappropriate; it turned into an advertising space! Ok, the lab projects had a reason to be in the advertising space since it is a culture jam. They may have been a little intrusive. Also, it was frustrating to observe that the "Table of Contents" was not a "Table of Contents of Genres" at all. In fact, there are not that many media genres present, surprisingly. Hence the process involved some confusion. On the postive side, I had a chance to explore the genre (film) that I am currently most interested in, and I tried to make it interesting and explorative as opposed to just "historical".