Week 1 Readings

What is critical making?  I think that there are a lot of different potential interpretations of what this means. Even as we discussed this in class, everyone had different definitions of what they thought that critical making was. I think that critical making in comparison to any other type of making is something that is with a purpose.

I think that it is also the process of creating something without knowing that it is going to work. It is a process in progress. You can have bad versions, failed versions even, of trying to create what you have set to in your mind, but the goal is to keep creating until you have the finished product of what you set out to make.

I really liked Matt Ratto's interpretation and explanations of critical making through his eyes and what it meant to him. I thought that the parts about reflecting on your work were also very important. It is important to look back and what you have done and see what could be fixed or improved to move closer to making what you had intended. Reflection is also important for making your work very intentional.

Hertz's account of DIY culture was very interesting. I have often seen things on social media such as tumblr and Pinterest about DIY projects that have become very fashionable (almost to the point where people are spending more money on an artsy project than it would cost to buy the finished product). However, there is also a point to be made that the process and experience of creating that item is probably invaluable.

The introduction to this class as well as seeing the projects that the authors of the readings have been working on are much more technical than the projects that I have seen or considered working on. I think that this upcoming maker culture that is being described in the readings is a much better opportunity for truly learning. I think that working on projects that are beyond your technical abilities is good.

This process of analyzing your failures could really be a great way to pick up new skills that you did not have the capabilities for before. I know that when I take a test or a practice test, I remember the answers much better when I did not answer the question correctly. However, I think that our society doesn't encourage failure enough, but rather punishes it and sets the standard that if you cannot do it the first time around, you won't be able to do it ever. Hopefully, through both failures and successes in exploring the DIY world, we will be able to learn lots throughout this quarter!