Venn will I start my final project? (get it? Venn?)

* Domains:
What are the domains/fields with which your project engages? List keywords, terms, phrases, concepts, industry-jargon, tags that illustrate these domains. What relationships exist between these domains? Illustrate the domains your project deals with in a Venn diagram.
Make a list of 3-5 primary questions that explain what it is that you are trying to discover. AND, illustrate 3-5 the primary motivations for your work. Your primary questions or motivations may contain a set of sub-questions/motivations as well.

- How are various cultures of the world represented on an international stage?
- How do museums and other sacred spaces recontextualize culture?
- How can technology reconstruct and/or contribute to history?
- How can something politically charged be explained to a mainstream audience?

Bodhisattva
Tibet, 12th century
gilt copper alloy
C2003.24.1
Rubin Museum of Art, NY

This Bodhisattva from the Rubin Museum of Art is an inspiration for me. As you can see from the various bullet holes and overall abrasion, that the object was caught in the crossroads of the Chinese Cultural Revolution. Yet, here it stands, in a New York museum, quietly tucked away in a corner of a gallery that most of the world will never see and certainly never connect to its rich provenance. I am interested in exploring methods of presentation, representation and communication for my final project. At the moment I am thinking of creating an interactive 3-dimensional space that will allow users to navigate through worlds that no longer exist in order to explain history, while highlighting the cultural and political tension that the art evokes.

While this is one idea, I am open to the possibility of exploring other realms of my interests. I appreciate this exercise because it forces me to articulate all of the things that have been circulating in my mind. I hope to become more focused in my research efforts. I always find that I get overwhelmed in the process of defining myself, my areas of study and my work. I think about all of the potential things to look into and it feels like everywhere that I look is something that I need to research and I get unbelievably overwhelmed. I find that this kind of thinking prevents me from moving forward. One of the reasons that I was so interested in this graduate program was the possibility that I could have some strategy to overcome the blocks that I create for myself with my constant feeling of being behind on research.

The domains that I have listed above are the areas that I feel strongly about. I feel that these domains are top level domains in that they are areas that I always want to keep in mind when I am working. I think that as I develop a more complete concept for my final project, other areas will be identified that are of importance maybe to the particular project but not my overall scope of interests.

The idea that technology is a collection of skills and techniques that we discussed in class really helped to ease my mind about the possibilities of what I can do within the construct of this program. The Venn diagram that I have created above illustrates my range of interests and I feel that the current area of flux that I now reside in is innately visible. The skills and knowledge that I came to the program with are listed in areas such as: history, community, storytelling and handmade. Areas that I wish to improve or acquire more knowledge in are also listed: animation, digital art, narrative and public interaction. I also have a del.icio.us account and I feel that this acts as another aggregator for my domains. I am going to look at this Venn diagram as an evolving and organic chart. I hope to revise it often to reflect my current areas of intrest.


References to look into (suggestions welcome):
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Venn_diagram
http://www.himalayanart.org/search/set.cfm?setID=211
http://rmanyc.org/
http://www.latse.org/
http://www.tibethouse.org/
http://www.asiasociety.org/