As a group we all went to Flat Rock, an expanse of rock at the very northern tip of The Grampians (not to visitors, it seems there is no longer signage indicating flat rock but it is now the Mount Zero picnic ground). Regardless, it is a shelf of rock that is an easy walk, and at the top you get wonderful views southwards over the ranges, and across to Mt Stapylton and its ampitheatre of cliffs.
I made sound recordings, recording some commentary on the way up, as well as some sound effects from the location (wind, birds, steps, breath, possibly the sounds of the conversations distant rock climbers were having). I used my mobile phone as a still camera and took some very soft photos, which I may or may not use. Laurene was doing some interesting work, I think photographing lichen and other fine patterns as lace. Some of the students gathered quite a lot of material, others seemed pretty burnt out and since we didn’t spend time looking at work, or going over it, the context of what was going done, and their contribution, was probably starting to feel thin.
As the first such trip I think I’ve learnt quite a bit from it. The first is to ensure there are formal (ie structured and scheduled) debriefs at the end of each day where a discussion is held about what has gone on, what worked, what didn’t. A sort of critique which is about working out a new or altered set of practices (where relevant or needed). Would also be good to have a data projector set up and to get everyone to show work.
The second might be to get a house. The YHA at Halls Gap is stunning, but a single location which is smaller, more controllable, and more ‘owned’ could be more productive (if productivity is the aim). On the other hand if the emphasis is on developing collaborations more generally, the hostel is fantastic as it comes predefined with rules for cleaning up, washing, up, scraps, compost and communal spaces. (This is handy because as a hostel it is defined as a space for others to need to be able to share so common and explicit rules are necessary.)
The third is to be able to begin to see how the work is contributing to a project as you go. I think seeing the work at the end of each day, and having a discussion around it, and then using that to start to think about how the larger project (the map) might develop, would have achieved this. I suspect for the students it was a bit too much like collecting media in a vacuum, it just isn’t clear enough for them the ‘why’ of what is going on. This will change shortly, as we build the atlas, so perhaps a second session might be of value?
Tags:
Lifes Little Pieces,
Network Literacy,
practice
