Process
Each session begins with one participant sharing his/her favourite love song and the story behind it. This participant also wears a special piece of clothing to the session and shares the story behind it. Read about the participants and what they've shared here.
The group then shares their experiences of the Everyday Task that was given as homework at the end of the previous session. Typically, the Everyday Task is set by one or two participants. The list of tasks is found here. Read Geraldine Kang's article on the Everyday Tasks here.
Here is a summary of each session's unique footprint, as they happen:
Session 1
After introductions, we discussed "getting to know others", and came up with three questions for a getting-to-know process. These are part of The Question Archive. We did a group round robin with one question from each person. We talked about the different ways to record an interview. We interviewed a partner with our questions and presented the interview in writing. Kallang CC provided kuehs and cream rolls for snacks. We shared initial ideas for our chosen topic in the Handbook.
Session 2
We shared experiences from last week's homework- to interview three people with three questions. We rewrote our interviews to find different approaches in presenting research. We discussed "everyday life" with prompts such as "what does 'everyday life' mean to you?" and "what do 'the little things in life' mean to you?" We broke up into groups, discussed objects, actions and spaces of everyday life and shared thoughts. Kallang CC provided donuts.
Read the article about discussions on everyday life here.
Session 3
To kick off a walkabout session, Tom shared his stories of the area with a hand-drawn map, including those of his mother and grandmother. We walked around the Bendemeer Mall area, then shared observations of things each person found interesting. After that we went back to the CC and brainstormed ideas for individual sections of the Handbook with a partner, leading up to a confirmation of topics next week.
Read the article on the walkabout here.
Session 4
Each person shared three images of their everyday lives and talked about them. We looked at mapping- maps as being able to combine the spatial and personal, and a map as potentially being a blueprint of a person's unique view the world. Each person then drew a map of a space they know. We reviewed interview guidelines and tips, then brainstormed ideas for individual sections. We confirmed each person's topic, with an idea on how research would be conducted.
Read the article on mapping here.
Session 5
We shared research done on the handbook and helped confirmed all topics, with more ideas on how to present information. We discussed important design ideas for the handbook- namely the cover and official title of the project.
Session 6
We shared research done on the handbook, gave each other feedback and further brainstormed topics.
Session 7
We shared research done on the handbook, which turned into a discussion on the area's history and how to help one participant, Jason, find the right angle for his high-vantage-point photos of the area. Feedback on the cover design was also given.
Session 8
We shared research done on the handbook. For a final Question Archive activity, we came up with three questions each for a person in our lives we were curious about. We paired up and had our partner ask us the questions, imagining what our chosen person's responses would be.
Read about book-making processes here.
Each session begins with one participant sharing his/her favourite love song and the story behind it. This participant also wears a special piece of clothing to the session and shares the story behind it. Read about the participants and what they've shared here.
The group then shares their experiences of the Everyday Task that was given as homework at the end of the previous session. Typically, the Everyday Task is set by one or two participants. The list of tasks is found here. Read Geraldine Kang's article on the Everyday Tasks here.
Here is a summary of each session's unique footprint, as they happen:
Session 1
After introductions, we discussed "getting to know others", and came up with three questions for a getting-to-know process. These are part of The Question Archive. We did a group round robin with one question from each person. We talked about the different ways to record an interview. We interviewed a partner with our questions and presented the interview in writing. Kallang CC provided kuehs and cream rolls for snacks. We shared initial ideas for our chosen topic in the Handbook.
Session 2
We shared experiences from last week's homework- to interview three people with three questions. We rewrote our interviews to find different approaches in presenting research. We discussed "everyday life" with prompts such as "what does 'everyday life' mean to you?" and "what do 'the little things in life' mean to you?" We broke up into groups, discussed objects, actions and spaces of everyday life and shared thoughts. Kallang CC provided donuts.
Read the article about discussions on everyday life here.
Session 3
To kick off a walkabout session, Tom shared his stories of the area with a hand-drawn map, including those of his mother and grandmother. We walked around the Bendemeer Mall area, then shared observations of things each person found interesting. After that we went back to the CC and brainstormed ideas for individual sections of the Handbook with a partner, leading up to a confirmation of topics next week.
Read the article on the walkabout here.
Session 4
Each person shared three images of their everyday lives and talked about them. We looked at mapping- maps as being able to combine the spatial and personal, and a map as potentially being a blueprint of a person's unique view the world. Each person then drew a map of a space they know. We reviewed interview guidelines and tips, then brainstormed ideas for individual sections. We confirmed each person's topic, with an idea on how research would be conducted.
Read the article on mapping here.
Session 5
We shared research done on the handbook and helped confirmed all topics, with more ideas on how to present information. We discussed important design ideas for the handbook- namely the cover and official title of the project.
Session 6
We shared research done on the handbook, gave each other feedback and further brainstormed topics.
Session 7
We shared research done on the handbook, which turned into a discussion on the area's history and how to help one participant, Jason, find the right angle for his high-vantage-point photos of the area. Feedback on the cover design was also given.
Session 8
We shared research done on the handbook. For a final Question Archive activity, we came up with three questions each for a person in our lives we were curious about. We paired up and had our partner ask us the questions, imagining what our chosen person's responses would be.
Read about book-making processes here.
Copyright 2015 Ng Xi Jie, Geraldine Kang