Project Proposal & Timeline

Project Title: Past Matters?

Project Summary:
This project explores how and why people care about the past in a collection of audio interviews contextualized through strategic questioning, post-production editing, and a soundtrack unifying the series to be published as a podcast.

Project Description:
This project explores how and why people care about the past in a collection of audio interviews contextualized through strategic questioning, post-production editing, and a soundtrack unifying the series to be published as a podcast.
Ultimately, this project asks how and why the past matters through stories mediated by language, audio editing, categorization, and the audience’s control. These are life narratives, a genre that constantly changes by engaging in the past to better define identity in the present, hopefully providing the interviewee and listener with a better sense of self and community.
I will benefit from this project as it furthers my investigation into identity related to personal and social expectations. This line of inquiry asks the public to reflect on their life and embrace reality in an autobiographical moment, addressing the following questions: Have you ever done any research on your genealogy? Is there anything in history that relates to your family story? Do you most value the past, present, or future?
Inspired by contextualizing methods used by the contemporary artist group Two Girls Working, I will use indirect questions to provoke authentic responses such as ‘Do you keep family photographs or heirlooms? How far back do these items date? How do these connections affect your perspective today?’
True to interdisciplinary practice, I will record a dozen conversations using a zoom microphone, refine the content using Audacity, and create a subtle musical soundtrack using Reason to unify and categorize the work as a podcast which allows listeners to experience a chosen number and order of tracks.


Schedule for Production:
9/22/09 - Project Proposal and Signed Thesis Contract
9/29/09 - Edit and evaluate strategic questions and content of two mock interviews
-First draft of artist statement
-Determine ‘who’ is the subject of interviews and ‘what’ I want to find out
-List potential titles for podcast and research posting process
-Write an introduction to podcast and formalities of format
10/6/09 -Complete first round of interviews with four participants
-Meet with David and Michelle(letters of recommendation); show work to outside artist
-Post a practice podcast on iTunes to establish timeline
-Subvert content? Reorganize and/or contextualize interviews
10/13/09 -Project samples (edit first round of interviews) and PPT presentation
- Weisman Grant Application
10/27/09 -Thesis Critique Week
11/10/09 -Conduct and edit second round of interviews
11/17/09 -Conduct and edit third round of interviews
11/24/09 –Create Reason soundtrack and introduction to interviews
12/1/09 –Post completed podcasts on iTunes
-Consider visual elements with audio clips as another layer/mediation
-Copy and images for thesis exhibition press release
12/16/09 –Turn in Weisman Grant materials
(January-April 2010: Review and refine work; write thesis paper; document project; pursue outside exhibitions and grants)
4/23/10 -Installation Week
4/29/10 –Soft opening of thesis exhibit