Exploration A, Parts 2 and 3
January 20th, 2013This word association portion of this project has been exciting and challenging in a few different ways. I’m not sure I’ve done these long lists since my creative writing class in high school! I remember back then, we’d start off each class with the teacher holding up an object, and we’d write as much as we could for a minute or two while she timed us. The first time we did it, I had 6 or 7 words. By the end of the class, I was having to flip my sheet of paper over from writing so much. We’d get extra points if we were able to make a leap in our list, like jumping form a word that sounds the same but means two different things (i.e. bear vs. bare). During part 2, the pressure of the clock ticking in Blackboard added some extra anxiety. I found myself wanting to edit my list and not just type everything that comes to mind. I wonder if I had written them on paper if that would have made it easier to be “free.”
Adding to our classmate’s lists felt sort of the same to me, but came a little easier since we had a defined amount of words (10-20) and no time limit to complete the task. With both parts of the project, I had a hard time venturing from the expected synonyms of the word. I tried to force myself to take a step back from the thing as an object and view it within the context of how we use it in culture. I found it easier to make connections that were based on actions: for example, one of my classmate’s words was iPhone. I tried to list things that I would do with that phone, like call or text. It’s amazing how many different ways we can use one device! I’m excited to see how this project evolves, and how our collaboration can challenge and expand our creative processes.