Relevant magic card

Postcard I made

Real life wall

1.Introduction

My name is Lauren van Leen
A second year illustration student
Currently based in Haarlem

2.The Act of Reading

Design, When everybody designs

Is there a difference between art and design?

-> Use the terms
Benefit from people's assumptions

Arturo Escobar

3.Tuning In

I had several ideas about this and decided to try out three different ways of tuning in.

What I found interesting:



-New ways of working together.
-Working together on a larger scale, all around the globe.

"Today the small is no longer the small and the local is nog longer local"

Arturo Escobar (born 1952) is a Columbian-American anthropologist.
His academic research interests include political ecology, anthropology of development, social movements, anti-globalization movements,
and postdevelopment theory.

Breaking the Waves
I recently watched a film called breaking the waves. A drama by Lars von Trier that came out in 1996. Set in the Scottish Highlands in the early 1970s, it tells the tale of Bess McNeill who is a young, beautiful and very strictly religious Scottish woman. Who has, in the past, been subjected to unenlightened psychiatric "treatment". She falls in love with an outsider: oil-rig worker Jan Nyman. Despite their differences they get married. As their honeymoon ends, Jan has to get back to work and is send back to the platform for a couple of months. Their split is heartbreaking. During his time away their is hardly any interaction possible between the two of them. Her family doesn't own a telephone so she waits by the nearest phone booth until he rings.

There is little to no interaction between them but when there is it is beautiful.
It is pure and romantic.

1. I send postcards (see introduction) to my family, who I don't visit or speak to very often in general.
As a way of reaching out, showing them I do care even if there isn't much of a relationship between us.

Only one of them responded, my late grandfathers' girlfriend. She told my mother she liked the drawing.

2. I reached out to one of my friends who is going through a tough time because of Covid-19.

The last thing I heard was that her father was taken to the intensive care and I wanted to know how she was holding up and if there was any news.

I wrote her a personal letter and she called me right after she received it and then we had a wonderful long talk.

3. I asked all of my friends to send me pictures of there home offices.

I did this because I was interested in how they remain sane while working from home.
I received a ton of the same sort of photo; a (dining) table, a laptop, some plate with leftover food..

The responses were not as inspiring as I hoped.

Het RIVM:

"Het is wel extra belangrijk dat u bij intimiteit en seks het risico op het Coronavirus zo klein mogelijk houdt. Bespreek samen hoe u dat het beste doet. Spreek bijvoorbeeld met eenzelfde persoon af om lichamelijk of seksueel contact te hebben (bijvoorbeeld een knuffelmaatje of ‘seksbuddy’), mits u klachtenvrij bent. Maak met deze persoon ook goede afspraken hoeveel andere mensen u beiden ziet. Hoe meer mensen u ziet, hoe groter de kans op (het verspreiden van) het Coronavirus."

What was most important to me during this exercise was that I started to question why do we (have to) stay in touch?

Breaking the Waves

Did we get more social or did we just get the tools?

Awesome cinematography by Robbie Müller

4.Bridging the Distance

Learning to love you more

This is me

5.Going Public or Going Underground?

Something I found interesting was this app called "DuoDisco" or "Distance Disco".

You can either host your own disco party or join one. Everyone you see is dancing to a song and you need to figure out who your dance partner is that is dancing to the same song.

It's a fun way to meet people during social distancing.

Distance Disco is a digital matchmaking dance party: find the person dancing to your song!

6.Final Practice Assignment / 7. Final Theorie Practice Assignment

An example of an artist that came to mind was Miranda July.

Learning to love you more is a project she did where she uploaded assignments on a website for people to perform.
The results were organized and visible on the website.

You could question who the artist is in this case. Miranda, who thought of this idea and came up with the exercises. Or the contestants who delivered their work?

Going out, dancing, meeting new people, falling in love for the night..

How does this happen in Corona times?

Amazing soundtrack

Online flirtation

Artikel gepubliceerd door het Parool

Readings:

There are many ways to find love online. Most famously Tinder, Grindr, Bumble, etc.

Any social media platform with a chatbox can be used as a way to connect to new people.

I came across something I found hilarious; "Coronasutra".

Containing possible sex positions while keeping the acquired distance..

René Magritte, the lovers, 1928

Illustration from Lotte Dijkstra

Artikel uit het NRC;

Seksuoloog Eveline Stallaart: “Huid-op-huidcontact is een basis levensbehoefte. Door elkaar aan te raken wordt er oxytocine aangemaakt en dat werkt stressverlagend en versterkt het immuunsysteem. Een paar weken zonder intiem contact gaat nog wel, maar als het te lang duurt kan het tot somberheid en depressieve gevoelens leiden. Dan krijgen we last van huidhonger.”

What is public and public space if you are (primarily) locked in your room? Can we still speak up? What is visible and invisible communication?

Public Action

Underground Action

+ Exposure
+ Interaction
+ Space





- Vulnerable
- Limited
- Illegal?

+ Anonymous
+ Comfortable/ Safe
+ Free
+ Exclusive




- Invisible
- No Dialogue
- Exclusive

Ways via which I can send a signal from home:

- Whatsapp
- Text
- Call
- Letter
- Email
- Chat
- Instagram
- Facebook

Pro's & Con's:

Habbo Hotel is something I vaguely remember from my youth. I came across this vice article; about sexual assault at the digital hotel.

It is a different way to meet people. But it is too anonymous, by creating an avatar, you are not recognizable which makes it easier to misbehave.

Habbo Hotel

We know that human contact (touching, being touched) is a basic need, why don't we treat it as one?

Slow Love
Slow Love
Slow Love
Slow Love
Slow Love
Slow Love
Slow Love
Slow Love
Slow Love
Slow Love
Slow Love
Slow Love
Slow Love
Slow Love

These apps are specifically for dating and/or casual sex. And that's great. My problem is that it has replaced romance.

There's hardly any left because of the directness of these apps. Everyone using it knows the purpose, so it seems like there is no need to beat about the bush and instead get straight to the point, which is having sex.

It seems to me like people don't want to take the time for courtship any longer and I feel like they are missing out.
These times offer a chance to rethink the way we 'date' and slow down.

There are two options for people who are dating during the pandemic:

1. Social distancing -> Meaning no intimacy
2. Quarantine together -> Basically living together

“If the virus doesn’t take you out, can I?”

Article about the ways the virus changes the way we date

"Isolation means the loss of that portion of life most young adults count on to forge grown-up friendships and romantic relationships."

- by Eliana Dockterman

In the past, marriage was the beginning of a relationship. Today it is the end.

Almost every article concludes that right now is a good time to date and get to know someone before meeting in person.

We have more time on our hands, why don't we use it?
Why don't we allow ourselves to take our time?

Dating apps move to fast. Even in times of a pandemic, people expect to meet in person or get annoyed if you take to long to answer a message.

What can we do to adjust the speed of conversations?
Changing the medium? I want to get rid of immediate responses, comment sections, chat-boxes etcetera..

I haven't been dating in years, since I have been together with the same person for a long (and happy!) time now.
So I can't experience truly what it's like to be single and date in this time.

I have however experienced the benefits of taking some time off and reflecting. I had some struggles with a friend I've known for ages and instead of immediately calling/ meeting up in person to talk things over I suggested we took some time to think and regain focus. After a week we met (outside, at 1,5m distance) and had a long fruitful conversation. We came further than we would have otherwise and decided to keep it going and meet up again next week.

What do I find romantic?

Voyager 2 Golden Record












This one may be difficult to explain. The Voyager golden records are two phonograph records that were included aboard both Voyager spacecrafts launched in 1977. The records contain sounds and images selected to portray the diversity of life and culture on Earth, and are intended for any intelligent extraterrestrial life form who may find them. The records are a sort of time capsule.

What intrigues me is that this is an elaborate attempt to reach someone or something out there without knowing the receiver, without knowing whether it will be received at all.

NS Hartkloppingen















A great example of Dutch romance. Train crushes. Have you spotted the love of your life on your trip to Deventer, but didn't have the courage to talk to him or her? Or perhaps you wanted to but you were wearing rags and your hair looked like shit? No worries! You can write a love letter and send it to cupid NS. They will publish your message on the screens in the train and if you are lucky, chances are small, it might reach your love interest.

“Two possibilities exist: either we are alone in the Universe or we are not. Both are equally terrifying.”


― Arthur C. Clarke

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Places I visit during the week:

- Supermarket
- Work (city beach)
- The route from my house to work and the supermarket...

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Slow Love (by a slow student)

Unfortunately I couldn't come up with a final performative action.

During this period I focused on love and relationships in times of a pandemic.
What sparked my imagination was Lars von Trier's film 'Breaking the waves'. Because it depicted a long distance relationship in the 70's, where communication is limited.

Exercise three tuning in, made me wonder whether we always need to keep in touch, since this is something relatively new.
I struggled to find an answer to the question whether we became more social or that we just got the tools?
It seems like we feel lonelier than ever before. Especially among the youth with a large following on instagram or other social media loneliness is a big issue. Especially nowadays because of social distancing.

I especially wondered how singles are handling the situation because I can imagine that they are missing out. With bars and clubs closing, how are they supposed to meet people and is online dating a substitute?
It interested me after reading specific guidelines from the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM). They stated that if you are a single person and free of symptoms, you are now allowed to have sex again. On the condition that you stick to one and the same partner (which makes it already an exclusive relationship).

Instead of only reading articles online, I could have asked people myself. I know some of my single friends have a 'quarantine bae' from the start of Covid19. Some person they are exclusively dating without it being serious.
From the interviews I concluded that many people experienced this new dating situation as something positive. Instead of having to meet in person immediately, you could know take the time to get to know each other.
My plan was to come up with something even slower. A way to force slow communication. Getting rid of immediate responses, comment sections, chat-boxes etcetera.. For instance;

Tinder, but you are not allowed to swipe left, you don't even get to see pictures at first. You only get to write a short introduction about yourself.
When you find something that might be suitable you are allowed to write this person a letter. And you can use AT LEAST 140 characters. You want to impress cause this is the only possible way. The person you are writing won't see your shirtless profile pictures, in which you show how much friends you have and how athletic you are..
If he or she decides to write you, then both pictures will be unlocked or something and you can start a conversation if you like. But keep in mind that if the other person won't write you, your love letter will dissolve into thin air.


Social practice might not be for me, I enjoyed the first period and the exercises more than I expected beforehand.
I am glad I got introduced to Hot Glue, I really enjoyed editing my page.
It made me feel nostalgic to the times of myspace and facebook. :)
Working alone seemed like a good idea since I always prefer to do my own thing. What could have helped me was conversing my ideas to the teachers/ group better.
That's something I could have used to translate my ideas and get to the next step, that I couldn't take now.

Anyway, I hope you enjoyed my HotGlue page, thank you and stay safe!\

Lauren

I grouped with Maya for the resit period. After all these months of isolation it was refreshing to work together again.
Since the lockdown was basically over for her, while I was already back in Armenia in a full quarantine, we couldn’t relate the COVID isolation of April anymore. First, we had the idea of doing a projection mapping and sharing thoughts of people on buildings, so basically having the contrast of small bits of personal thoughts on big, uncomfortable spaces. This took us to a conversation about our current situations, and we realized that, in a way, we have similarities in our background: some current political heat, the socialist past, a lot of abandoned spaces.
We thought it’s more relevant and more open (educational, why not) to combine our current situations, common historical past and connect our project to it.

Also, we noticed how the quarantine detached people from the world, as everyone was literally interacting with their own close, small environment (room, laptop screen), so we wanted to create a space where people could just share simple images from their lives and see, learn what life is like in other parts of the world.


We thought of making collages with all these scenes/buildings and distribute it as posters around with short texts about human survival/class struggle/social conditions, however, not in a very sophisticated way.
For collecting images and sharing with people, we thought opening an Instagram and taking people’s submissions of places they live in, or just images from their city that mean something to them. This could be an Instagram page for instance. That would also allow to create a network and share personal images of scenery, to make these collective images (collages) and talk about really simple, human actions and encourage humans to share their visual environments with each other and think about questions, especially after/during a pandemic that has made us question a lot.

Our audience is every citizen, every person who evern walks around or just wonders how people further than they are living.