Notes on “Notes on improvisation and design”
My talk, “Frames: Notes on Improvisation and Design,” is online. Some notes and references follow:
- The Sound of Miles Davis: In a rare national television appearance filmed April 2, 1959, the legendary trumpet player performs with the Gil Evans Orchestra and one of his ‘great quintets,’ featuring tenor saxophonist John Coltrane, pianist Wynton Kelly, bassist Paul Chambers, and drummer Jimmy Cobb.
- Study: Prefrontal Cortex In Jazz Musicians Winds Down When Improvising: [T]he medial prefrontal cortex is involved in self-initiated thoughts and behaviors, and is very active when a person describes an event that has happened to him or makes up a story. …. While this brain pattern is unusual, it resembles the pattern seen in people when they are dreaming.
- Co-creation and the new landscapes of design: The evolution in design research from a user-centered approach to co-designing is changing the roles of the designer, the researcher and the person formerly known as the “user”. The implications of this shift for the education of designers and researchers are enormous.
- The Transmedia Design Challenge: Technology that is Pleasurable and Satisfying: Don Norman on transmedia today — the new emergence of multiple media in common pursuit of a story or experience.
- Erving Goffman: A sociologist well-known for his analyses of human interaction. He wrote on subjects ranging from the way people behave in public to the different forms of talk, and always from the point of view that every facet of human behavior is significant in the strategy and tactics of social struggle. More on Frame Analysis [via]
- Oral tradition research, captured by Milman Parry Collection
Improv patterns:
- Motoya Expresso Express
- HelloHealth
- JetBlue Story Booth
- Pop-up Lunch
- Zero Energy Media Wall
- No Pants Day, Improv Everywhere
Soundtrack:
- Visualization of Giant Steps, John Coltrane, Courtesy Dan Cohen
- Prelude, Op. 28. No. 7, Chopin
- String Quartet C-sharp Minor, Opus 131, Beethoven
Thanks to those who were able to come!
