GD 495/Documenting Apiculture: the farmer, the bees, the lifestyle.
This class is for marrying together both science and design.
This interdisciplinary topic is one that I have great interest in and have always wanted to approach. I believe that design and science are very much related because both require patterns of thought, which are fluid and concerned with possibilities rather than limitations. With science nothing can be proven, therefore questions are all that you have. In design the better the question the better one can ideate. Good ideation leads to even better design. Thus, quality design starts with thorough question asking which considers culture, both object and social, past history, current positioning and a speculation for the future. That is the only way a designer can effectively address problems and communicate in a way that resonates with an audience. Sometimes its about bringing clarity to a complex subject matter by exposing present contradictions in a photo essay, while other times it may be about improving pesticide labels so that companies can adequately inform farmers, consumers, and the public at large. Design relates to both material usage and social human-centered issues relevant to any particular community.
The objectives of this independent study are to document local North Carolina bee farmers—their work practices and lifestyles— and the major role honeybees’ play as pollinators in agriculture in the form of photography, videography and writing. These different formats will be used singularly and in concert to support the design of a web blog and of a complementary printed information piece. Also, at the end of this investigation an awareness-building presentation will be designed and potentially delivered in a 4th grade educational classroom setting.
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So in a nut shell, this blog is about:
1) Science + design
-----] a. Science: will focus primarily around apiculture, the study of honeybees, in Dr. David Tarpy’s lab.
-----] b. Design: will focus primarily on the forms of photography, videography, and writing. The design aspect is most concerned with the format of delivery, such as a web blog, photogallery, printed information pieces and a presentation. It is about designing the relay of knowledge from science to designer to participant (aka the co-designer. This is the theory that the designer creates; however, the participant completes the experience with what previous experiences, exposure and preferences s/he may have).
2) There will be additional fun side topics on what ever comes up. I’m getting a dog named Scooby in mid-July, so maybe I’ll have some pieces and photos of the ecology of dog and dog parent :) Also I may touch on things like SCUBA diving. I’m in a SCUBA class so that when I go on vacations I can see the sea as if I were a crazy cool sea creature AND so that I’ll be more competitive for aquatic lab jobs or studies.
