Critique of Maddy's Cyberhouse Room

11/27/01 Critique of One Room in the Cyberfeminist House

by Karen Keifer-Boyd

Lan, Lin-Lang (Maddy): Theorizing Your Room

Excellent use of technology to present your concept of Miss Julie's 19th c feminism (in the play by Strindberg) with 20th c. expressionist imagery. The terms (desire, etc.) in their Freudian connotations are challenged by many: Jacque Lacan, Betty Friedan in Feminine Mystique, and by 20th c. English feminist discourse, especially in the writings and art of Mary Kelly. Work with the contradictions between the Expressionist movement as art about one's emotional response to the world and women's emotions defined and psychoanalyzed by Freudian theories. His theories were popularized in women's magazines in the 1950s. Your room concerns how emotions have been inscribed for women and yet differ from their lived experiences. Has that changed in 2001? Is that still a problem for women today? For you? Raise the important issue and relate it today.

Lan, Lin-Lang (Maddy): Your Process Site:

1. Add to your process site:
sketch.jpg, profspot.jpg, theatrespot.jpg, womanspot.jpg

2. e-Video in menu is spelled wrong. I really like the section of the video in 3 parts. You should add one more video on the page or a new page to show the video as one piece. Perhaps before the analysis page of the 3 sections.

3. What do you plan for the homepage? Introduce what the site is about in a brief paragraph.

4. For your room link, name the room something that relates to the concept rather than your name.

5. It took about 5 or so seconds for the home page to load on my machine even with a fast cable modem connection. Check on different machines with slower modems to see if the images should be reduced in memory load or a message added describing how to set one's browser up for the memory allocation required for this site.

6. At this point the e-link picture does not appear and there are no links. Before providing the links describe how these links relate to the purpose of this site which is about your process in collaboration on the Cyberfeminist house.

7. At this point your room is not linked to the panorama and the image does not appear.

8. Include in your process site your PowerPoint presentation on your room's concept. There is a save feature for PowerPoint to html.

Lan, Lin-Lang (Maddy): Your Video

The explanations for each section in the process site clarifies the symbolism without overly describing the video. However, I provide suggestions for rewording and question the meaning in some places.
Reword to descriptions of video to encourage multiple readings stimulated from your intended meaning.
The date denotes a particular time indicating specificity.
Your version: The changes of the shadows on the curtain shapes for the shift in time. Emotion changes periodically with time. When the scenes are filled with natural light, it brings forth an extended mind.

Emotion changes periodically with time--a bit of a leap to the next concept--how are emotions symbolized? Do you mean all the scenes in the video when you state, "When the scenes are filled with natural light, it brings forth an extended mind"? Make a poetic analogy or clearer connection between natural light and extended mind. I am not sure what you mean by "extended mind."

My revision suggestion: The shifting shadows symbolize a shift in time. Emotions, like shadows, take form and dissipate with changes of light and time, Natural light pouring in through the blinds as they open is like an awakening, a self-awareness of one's life.
Favorite section: The video of the light, shadow, and blinds is beautifully filmed and edited.
Last section of video:I am not sure what you mean in the paragraph about the last section of the video. While the variation in movement and scene emphasized by the swirling effect of blending that results in 4 distinct outdoor scenes is intriguing, the filming is jerky especially in the beginning of the tree section and at the end of the playa lake final section. Use of a tripod would help to prevent this rocking in the filming or a pillow on the window if you are filming from a moving car. The telephone pole is a disruption although I can see that you wanted to continue to the sunset. The curtain scene it appears like you used a tripod or edited it in such a way to get rid of the jerky motions.
This is what I see: The page is turned to a new day. I am still looking out a window through the blinds referenced by the top and bottom black bands. The sun shines strong in the sky. Then swirling chaos and the sky turns to earth. The close up of the trees denote earth, even cracks in the ground like the dry playas in the area, but then as the camera pans back I see it is a canopy of trees lining a walk. Perhaps a reference to the 4 elements. Will fire and water be next I wonder? Or was the sky not air but with the sun symbolizing fire and so air and water will follow. The next scene of suburbia is a refreshing surprise to my line of thinking. Was the tree -lined path referencing manipulated nature when followed by the house-lined street indicative of how humans construct nature? What appears at first natural is not. I identify with the camera movement and feel like I am passing through suburbia, like I don't belong. Then the video concludes with the movement around a playa lake as the sun sets
.
Your version in italics, my comments in brackets: With different props, and the assistance of light and darkness, the content is being highlighted. [what does it mean here to "highlight content"--is the light and dark the content?] In the separated or serial scenes, the audience can experience that only through liberating oneself, one can really exist.[I am not sure viewers will interpret the sequence as a liberation of self. There is a leap between these and the next concept.] There are four continuous outdoor scenes, they convey the message of a hopeful future. [As you can see from above I was not interpreting a hopeful future, unless an escape from suburbia which was rather dark compared to the other 3 scenes is the hopeful future.]

11/27/01 Critique of One Room in the Cyberfeminist House
			by Karen Keifer-Boyd
	Lan, Lin-Lang (Maddy): Theorizing Your Room Excellent use of technology to present your concept of Miss Julie's 19th c feminism (in the play by Strindberg) with 20th c. expressionist imagery. The terms (desire, etc.) in their Freudian connotations are challenged by many: Jacque Lacan, Betty Friedan in Feminine Mystique, and by 20th c. English feminist discourse, especially in the writings and art of Mary Kelly. Work with the contradictions between the Expressionist movement as art about one's emotional response to the world and women's emotions defined and psychoanalyzed by Freudian theories. His theories were popularized in women's magazines in the 1950s. Your room concerns how emotions have been inscribed for women and yet differ from their lived experiences. Has that changed in 2001? Is that still a problem for women today? For you? Raise the important issue and relate it today.	Lan, Lin-Lang (Maddy): Your Process Site: 1. Add to your process site: sketch.jpg, profspot.jpg, theatrespot.jpg, womanspot.jpg 2. e-Video in menu is spelled wrong. I really like the section of the video in 3 parts. You should add one more video on the page or a new page to show the video as one piece. Perhaps before the analysis page of the 3 sections. 3. What do you plan for the homepage? Introduce what the site is about in a brief paragraph. 4. For your room link, name the room something that relates to the concept rather than your name. 5. It took about 5 or so seconds for the home page to load on my machine even with a fast cable modem connection. Check on different machines with slower modems to see if the images should be reduced in memory load or a message added describing how to set one's browser up for the memory allocation required for this site. 6. At this point the e-link picture does not appear and there are no links. Before providing the links describe how these links relate to the purpose of this site which is about your process in collaboration on the Cyberfeminist house. 7. At this point your room is not linked to the panorama and the image does not appear. 8. Include in your process site your PowerPoint presentation on your room's concept. There is a save feature for PowerPoint to html.
Lan, Lin-Lang (Maddy): Your Video The explanations for each section in the process site clarifies the symbolism without overly describing the video. However, I provide suggestions for rewording and question the meaning in some places. Reword to descriptions of video to encourage multiple readings stimulated from your intended meaning. The date denotes a particular time indicating specificity. Your version: The changes of the shadows on the curtain shapes for the shift in time. Emotion changes periodically with time. When the scenes are filled with natural light, it brings forth an extended mind. Emotion changes periodically with time--a bit of a leap to the next concept--how are emotions symbolized? Do you mean all the scenes in the video when you state, "When the scenes are filled with natural light, it brings forth an extended mind"? Make a poetic analogy or clearer connection between natural light and extended mind. I am not sure what you mean by "extended mind." My revision suggestion: The shifting shadows symbolize a shift in time. Emotions, like shadows, take form and dissipate with changes of light and time, Natural light pouring in through the blinds as they open is like an awakening, a self-awareness of one's life. Favorite section: The video of the light, shadow, and blinds is beautifully filmed and edited. Last section of video:I am not sure what you mean in the paragraph about the last section of the video. While the variation in movement and scene emphasized by the swirling effect of blending that results in 4 distinct outdoor scenes is intriguing, the filming is jerky especially in the beginning of the tree section and at the end of the playa lake final section. Use of a tripod would help to prevent this rocking in the filming or a pillow on the window if you are filming from a moving car. The telephone pole is a disruption although I can see that you wanted to continue to the sunset. The curtain scene it appears like you used a tripod or edited it in such a way to get rid of the jerky motions. This is what I see: The page is turned to a new day. I am still looking out a window through the blinds referenced by the top and bottom black bands. The sun shines strong in the sky. Then swirling chaos and the sky turns to earth. The close up of the trees denote earth, even cracks in the ground like the dry playas in the area, but then as the camera pans back I see it is a canopy of trees lining a walk. Perhaps a reference to the 4 elements. Will fire and water be next I wonder? Or was the sky not air but with the sun symbolizing fire and so air and water will follow. The next scene of suburbia is a refreshing surprise to my line of thinking. Was the tree -lined path referencing manipulated nature when followed by the house-lined street indicative of how humans construct nature? What appears at first natural is not. I identify with the camera movement and feel like I am passing through suburbia, like I don't belong. Then the video concludes with the movement around a playa lake as the sun sets . Your version in italics, my comments in brackets: With different props, and the assistance of light and darkness, the content is being highlighted. [what does it mean here to "highlight content"--is the light and dark the content?] In the separated or serial scenes, the audience can experience that only through liberating oneself, one can really exist.[I am not sure viewers will interpret the sequence as a liberation of self. There is a leap between these and the next concept.] There are four continuous outdoor scenes, they convey the message of a hopeful future. [As you can see from above I was not interpreting a hopeful future, unless an escape from suburbia which was rather dark compared to the other 3 scenes is the hopeful future.]