Objects’ Agency: The Case of an Anime Figurine

~ Leia ~ Leave a comment

Objects can act as symbols and conveyors of meanings. By having meaning, object prompt us to feel or do certain things. This can be understood as object agency.

Agency can be defined as the socio-culturally mediated capacity to act (Ahern, 2001 in Hoskins, 2006, p.74). In applying this definition to objects, I want to stress Steiner’s point on the “significance of human agency and the role of individuals and systems that construct and imbue material goods with value, significance and meaning” (in Hoskins, 2006, p.75). This stresses that social interactions around objects give them meaning. I support that objects are embedded with agency and a purpose by human interaction around them. They do not have agency independently of human societies. However, with this constructed agency, objects influence what we do and how we interact with them. Hence, it can be said that objects play a role in all that we do and that people and objects are entangled (Harding, 2016, p.5).

Hence, an object’s agency is tied to the individuals and systems connected to it. Moreover, an object’s agency can be tied the personal relation one can have with a specific object.  Things have value both individually and societally (Canham el al., 2020; Harding, 2016, Hoskins, 2006). For example, a kitchen utensil like a metal cup can be symbolic of the living conditions of a certain class of people in a certain time and space but can also connect someone to their grandparents and trigger memories they have of them.

In this blog post, I focus on agency in the sense of how objects prompt us to interact with them. I will be discussing the agency of the object I digitized into a 3D model and reflect on the agency of the physical and digitized versions of the object. The findings are based on observations of my own experience with the figurine.

I digitized a Pop! figurine of an anime character. The character is Kirua Zoldik, from the manga and anime hunterxhunter. The anime has been running as a TV series between 2011 and 2014, while the manga was published in Shueisha’s Weekly Shōnen Jump since 1998.

The anime is now available on Netflix and gained a renewed interest from older and new fans. On the picture, you can see the character represented by the figurine second from the right.

Hence, the object of the figurine is embedded in this cultural system of anime fandom, in which people grow up with characters over several years and get attached to their personal favorite and to the fictional universe of the story.

The purpose of an object like the figurine is to extend that fictional universe into the physical world. The embedded agency of the object is to connect the fans to the universe of the anime by manifesting a character physically. It is clear in this case that the object does not have agency on its own, and that its agency is dependent on the system of interactions around it.

One could even say that a certain knowledge and expertise is necessary to embed this object with agency. One must know the universe of the anime and recognize the character for the object to have agency. With those conditions fulfilled, this object can have important agency on the people interacting with it.

This object highlights how object agency differs depending on how different people relate to it. For example, a child who just watched the show on Netflix will see the figurine and want to play with it. The child will re-enact some scenes of the show, or even create their own stories. In this case, the figurine prompts creation and play by providing physical access to a fictional universe. However, if the figurine is gifted to an adult who was a big fan of the show as a child, the figurine might prompt feelings of nostalgia, endearment and might make the adult want to watch the show again. Hence, the same object can have different agency on different people.

Parts of the agency of this object are lost when digitizing it. As physically interacting with the object becomes difficult, a child might be less interested by it. The child will probably still recognize the character, but will not be able to play with it. As for the adult, while the object might still prompt nostalgia and endearment, a form of distance can also be felt.

Indeed, the purpose of the figurine is primarily to bring a piece of this fictional universe in the physical world of fans, allowing this universe to step into one’s room and close surroundings. This creates a sense of direct connection with the fictional universe and character. Once the figurine is transferred back into a screen, this sense of closeness is lost. The object is no longer part of one’s direct physical surrounding but is back into the computer screen, in the same space as the anime itself. This refers specifically to fans of the anime, as fans of the manga might feel different about it since the latter is a physical object as well.

This blog post discussed the agency of an anime figurine. The case of this object is useful in demonstrating discussions on objects’ agency. Namely, that they are dependent on human interactions and systems and that agency can transform, depending on the person interacting with the object and as a consequence of digitizing an object.

References:

Canham, H., Kotze, E., Nkomo, N., Nkomo, S. (2020). Retrieving grandfathers and histories through objects and affective registers. Emotion, Space and Society, 34, 1-8

Harding, A. (2016). Introduction: Biographies of Things. Distant World Journal, 1, 5-10.

Hoskins, J. (2006). Agency, biography and objects. In C. Tilley et al. (Eds)., Handbook of Material Culture (pp.74-84). London: Sage Pub.

Hunterxhunter information available here.

The process of building a 3D model: It is not perfect, but it is mine.

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At the start of this journey, we were warned that tears might be involved in the process of creating our 3D models.

Since then, I have spent a whole week taking pictures, selecting them, changing their format, creating more than a hundred masks, re-taking pictures, creating even more masks. Then, when that part was done, I tried again and again to merge different parts of my model together. Slowly losing my sanity, I watched as my figurine developed an ingrown ear or became a sphere made of two heads.  

I can now say that tears seem perfectly fitting to the creation of this project.

I have not felt like this during the whole process. Taking pictures, setting the light box and the camera was fun. Even if I had to start over because I had missed some angles, my mistake there was clear and although time consuming, it was easy to fix. The masks were extremely time consuming but also repetitive and not too challenging. I used those hours to listen to music or call my family and friends as I was working.

Merging my two dense clouds was the most nerve-wracking part of the process. Mainly because when something went wrong, it was hard to understand why. This made it difficult to improve. Fortunately, by then, I was familiar with Metashape and knew my way around the different tools. Hence, I was more comfortable trying out different things with my model. I ended up cutting out any part of my second dense cloud that I did not need to fill in the missing parts of the first one. This allowed my final model to have no weird overlap in certain sections and no second pair of ears.

Here is an overview of my thoughts during the process of merging my clouds together in the form of the renaming of my different attempts. This illustrates the type of learning curve you should expect when building a 3D model for the first time.

When my final attempt at merging worked I felt really excited and when the texture of the model was done, I jumped out of my seat. I was proud, of course, but honestly, I was also glad that this was over.

So here is my model, it is not perfect but it is mine.

Anime figurine 3D model by Leia Bonjean. Available here.

Design thinking, design research and biases in design

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Design thinking consists of a design process in which many ideas are developed into prototypes, which allows to try out many different solutions and address potential issues in the prototypes in a short time. The process allows finding creative and innovative solutions.

Most technology firms and digital developers use design thinking techniques as they are well adapted to a fast changing environment where innovation and consumer input are central. Steps were developed to guide this process and it became the usual way of thinking in many design projects.

In the course Design Thinking and Maker Culture we were introduced to design research. I was pretty confused at the beginning as what we read about design thinking and making sounded more like a belief system than a method. But as we learned more about the importance of design, the importance of design research became clearer.

The main lesson I took away from this course is the importance of understanding design processes to be able to address biases and flaws in those processes, especially the biases that result in products that are discriminatory and harmful to certain groups.

In the documentary, Coded Bias, face recognition technology is shown to have built-in biases. The program works remarkably well, but only to recognise white male faces. As stated by AOC when presented with those facts in Congress, “We have a technology that was created and designed by one demographic that is only mostly effective on that one demographic, and they are trying to sell it and impose it on the entirety of the country”. The Congress audience also outlined how that technology excluded people of different gender expressions and worked with diminishing efficiency on black and females faces, failing to recognise most black women faces.

This shows how a technology can have built-in biases that reinforce racist and sexist discriminations. The use of this facial recognition technology by police force and security companies could have devastating consequences for minorities who are already discriminated against. For example, the mis-identification of young black men by police using facial recognition reinforces existing stigma and police abuse on black minorities.

While the use of this technology was ruled against by the US Congress. The built-in biases here were found by Joy Buolamwini to be because the database used to teach the program contained a disproportionate number of pictures of white and male faces compared to pictures of black and female faces.

Many cases of built-in racism and sexism in technology exist. This shows the importance of supervision and feedback on design processes. Design research reflects on how design processes can be used to counter such biases by insuring that a diverse group of designers work on a product for example or by creating feedback loops between the designers and a diverse group of customers. Importantly, design thinking puts user input and consumer needs to the center of the design process. This is crucial to build fairer, more sustainable technology.

Who controls the narrative?

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Stories are central to our society. They have been our way of exchanging and remembering knowledge for thousands of years. Stories and their narratives create knowledge. By controlling narratives, one can control knowledge, which has important consequences in our society. The extent to which one can have control over knowledge stems from the authority one represents. For example, anti-Islamic propaganda during the crusades in the Middle-Ages was issued by the church, the most powerful institution in society at the time. Stories can also be used to control knowledge and eradicate certain forms of knowledge. Another example is how popular tales of witches were used to facilitate the hunt and execution of female doctors and botanists in the middle ages. This led to the loss of a large part of the knowledge they had (Chollet, 2018). The question “who controls the story” is crucial to understand the power dynamics at play behind the knowledge we consume.

With the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), our approach to knowledge changed. In the course “Machines of Knowledge”, we discussed the evolution of the internet, which included its role as a space to share stories and create knowledge. In the assignment “Who controls the narrative?”, we discussed how players such as Facebook and Google dominate the online information market and have a disproportionate control over the information we receive. They control and curate almost infinite amounts of information using algorithms. Algorithms can work in different ways but are aimed at channeling relevant information for the user. To do so, they use preferences, previous research history, or even localisation and friends’ preferences (Bozdag, 2013).

This algorithmic catering of the stories we have access to can have harmful consequences. For example, algorithms are found to create filter bubbles and echo chambers. Eli Pariser, who first introduced the concept, argues that filter bubbles are

“information intermediaries [that] silently filter out what they assume the user does not want to see, hiding information posted by [the] opposite end of [the] political spectrum”

Pariser, E. (in Bozdag, 2013, p.218)

Echo chambers refer to a similar phenomenon in which users only interact with other users who share similar opinions and hence reinforce their common perspectives without considering opinions viewed as challenging or critical. Those phenomena are linked to the rise of political polarisation (Spohr, 2017). Hence, what started as a tool to efficiently sort through information turned into one that polarises our society.

One might think that the time of the crusades, when a population would blindly believe a polarised narrative in its most extreme form “the good against the evil, the light against the darkness” is centuries behind us. However, the impact stories can have on our societies is magnified when they are shared through the internet as they are available globally and instantly and issues like fake news and the rise of political extremism around the world might suggest that we are still at the mercy of some narratives.

However, spaces for debates and conversations between opposite opinions do exist on the internet (if you want to know more about it, read this post). Although some users appear to cross over filter bubbles, efforts must be made to circumvent filter bubbles and echo chambers and offer equal access to all kinds of stories on the internet.  

References:

-Chollet, M. (2018). Sorcières – La puissance invaincue des femmes. Zones

– Bozdag, E. (2013). Bias in Algorithmic Filtering and Personalization. Ethics In Technology, 15, pp. 209-227.

– Spohr, D. (2017) Fake news and ideological polarization: Filter bubbles and selective exposure on social media. Business Information Review, 34 (3), pp. 150-160.

In the presence of sharks: the use of webcams in conservation efforts

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Sharks are scary. They are predators, can attack you when you are swimming at the beach, they look scary with their teeth sticking out of their mouths and popular representations of those animals in movies and stories did not help with this problematic image (popular culture probably did the opposite of helping actually).

Sharks are not cute, nor are they cuddly. They do not have endearing qualities, such as fierce paternal instincts and behavior, to make up for their ugliness. Shark pups are known to consume each other in the womb. As this fact is so shockingly different than what humans can relate to, it creates a barrier to feeling attached to, protective of, and invested in, the shark.

Bader & Cegredin 2015

While they might look scary, sharks are crucial to marine ecosystems and the balance of oceans. And this problematic reputation they gained over the years hinders conservation efforts to safeguard these animals.

To change the public perception of sharks and change the narrative around these animals, sharks must be presented to the public as more than ferocious predators. While there are many ways to achieve this, one option lies in the use of 24h webcams.

Webcams placed in the wild, or in aquariums, and streamed 24/24h on internet platforms allow users to see places and observe the animals living there from wherever in the world, whenever they like. Ethical claims around the use of webcams in conservation efforts are that they allow users to build a connection to the animals. This would then create a bond between the people watching and the animals, which would raise awareness and public concern about the conservation of said animals.

Hence, webcams recording sharks could help present these animals in a more gentle and nuanced way than pop culture movies like Jaws, or other thriller type movies on the topic.

To research how a user could feel as in the presence of sharks when watching webcam livestreams, I watched two livestreams every day for a week. Using the platform explore.org, I chose the livestream of a webcam situated in the Atlantic Ocean, under the Frying Pan Tower and a livestream of a shark lagoon in an aquarium in Long Beach, California. I wrote two phenomenological anecdotes on this experience on the theme of the influence of frame (moving or still).

Two phenomenological anecdotes:

The aquarium tank in my screen, influence of a fixed frame webcam:

I am attentively looking at my screen, following the moves of the grumpy looking shark as it swims around the tank slowly. I have been trying to follow its movement on my screen to test if I can actually see all the way to the back of the tank. It gets smaller and then grows to the full size of my screen when it comes close. When it is at the other end of the tank, I can barely distinguish a shadow but I know it is the grumpy shark because I recognise its slow pace. It always moves at this impressively slow pace, which is very relaxing to watch. As the shark slowly swims to the back, I notice the turtle actively swimming against the wall. I am wondering if that is where it gets fed, or if the turtle is tired of the contained space and the thought of it makes me sad. I see the stingray and the ray shark (or what I call them because I don’t know what their species actually are). They are lying close together in the sand. It makes me smile. I go back to the grumpy shark, which has not moved along by much. Its slow pace makes it stand out from the other smaller sharks who move around faster. The view from my screen is clear and slow and I can check on all the tank’s inhabitants whenever I want since most often they are all in the frame. Suddenly, the frame moves. The camera shakes as if something hit it. I notice thins blocking the image of the stream and I recognise the turtle. The frame moves again as the turtle keeps knocking the camera. It came to swim actively against the walls by the camera. I see up-close images of the turtles’ body for a while as the camera shakes. I smile in my chair, completely fascinated and invested in the stream. Then the turtle swims back a bit and looks at the camera for a few seconds. It swims away and I happily sight. That was weird but also kind of special.

An unnatural gaze, the influence of a moving frame webcam:

The frame is moving slowly as if it was looking around. I see the grey sea, small fishes swimming around slowly and moving with waves. The frames stay stills for a while. I enjoy watching the light coming from above the surface, the fishes move with the waves, and I hear the sound of the water moving, almost as if it is around me. The frame moves with my gaze. Some bigger fishes with scary teeth are slowly moving with the waves as well. The camera looks up. It is as if I was sitting on the sea floor, looking up. A shark appears in the frame and I freeze in my chair. I intensely stare at the shark in my screen, observing its every moves. The camera accompanies it slowly for a bit and I smile, happy to be able to see it for a while longer. It is peaceful and I gaze at the surface of the water above me. Suddenly, the camera spins around 180 degrees so fast it gives me nausea. Why? It never did that before. I am now looking at a place I feel like I have not seen yet although I have been watching that stream for four days now. The frame stays on this metal structure for a while. Fishes swim around it, I am trying to recognise it. Then a group of fishes comes up to the camera. They get so close my eyes twitch as if the fishes were actually on my face. I am enjoying the livestream again. Another shark passes by and swims to the left of the frame. I sit up in my chair and my body tenses up, ready to soak in the experience. My gaze is already moving to the left to follow the shark. Then the camera moves to the right, away from it. My gaze stays attached to the shark for as long as it is in the frame then I sit back in my chair, sitting there, my back tense, my eyes still wide open. I sight, frustrated at what just happened. The camera is looking at the floor. I can see algae on the seafloor, floating like fluffy grass with the movement of the waves. I am frustrated and really wondering what is happening with the frame today. There are small colourful fishes swimming close to the sea floor. My body relaxes and I lean closer to look at them, still sulking but slowly forgetting about the frame forcefully taking my gaze away from the shark.

Feeling “as if in the presence of sharks” is referred to using the concept of co-presence, defined as the feeling of being in the same place, despite being in different geographical locations (Pols, 2012, p.100). The findings of my research suggest that feeling as if in the presence of sharks depends on many different factors, including the frame. Firstly, a moving frame can strongly emphasise co-presence if it moves slowly and mimics a natural gaze. Secondly, the closeness of the animal can encourage feelings of co-presence. Finally, a fixed frame can create co-presence in a different way. In my case, it brought the place broadcasted in my room rather than bringing me in the place broadcasted.

While I would love to send you my research if you are interested, the purpose of this blog post is to encourage you to experiment with wildlife webcams. I had a lot of fun watching animals swim around in my screen. To have this in the background, especially when the livestream also has sound is very nice and if you have interest in a specific animal or ecosystem, check out platforms like explore.org and dive into it!

References: Baker, J. & Cegredin, M. (2015). The challenges and opportunities in valuing and conserving sharks. Working paper: available here.

Pictures by Phil Watson, available here.

The #Shirtstrom controversy: does unintentionality excuse sexist actions?

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In 2014, Dr. Matt Taylor, a scientist from the European Space Agency who was part of the Rosetta Mission caused an outrage also known on social media as #Shirtgate. He appeared on “BBC Breakfast” and a European Space Agency live stream to give an update on the mission while wearing a bowling shirt with a print of various women wearing skintight outfits and with guns in their hands. 

And with that, Dr. Taylor became the scapegoat on the diatribe about sexism, women in science and inappropriate attires. This controversy sparked many discussions and debates from feminist groups. Some of the reactions on Twitter went on like this:

One small shirt for a man, one giant sexist remark for mankind #shirtgate #CometLanding

Andrea Ayres Deets @missafayres Nov. 12:

As a result, Dr. Taylor issued a public apology in which he teared up and showed regret for what he had done but that did not end it.The discussion provoked by his shirt became so heated that he was linked to the #GamerGate thread and even Boris Johnson, which at the time was London’s mayor, got involved and stood for him via a column in The Sunday Telegraph.

This blogpost discusses the controversy from a feminist perspective. Feminism here refers to a broad social movement fighting for equality between genders and against discrimination on the basis of gender.

As outrage over Dr. Taylor’s shirt ensued, there were also people coming to his defense. One major argument was that the shirt was made by a friend of Taylor’s, a woman named Elly Prizeman, who gave him the shirt as a birthday gift. She also came to his defense, explaining that she thought Dr. Taylor was being nice by wearing it in public. However, there were also other people coming to his defense who were not as close to the situation. These people’s arguments could be summarised as what is called “adorkable misogyny“: when men are able to get away with “a wide range of creepy, entitled, and downright sexist behaviors” because they seem to unintentionally misread social codes and practices. The fact that the man appears as stereotypical masculinity but also kind of dorky can excuse his behaviour, for some people. The audience perceives these actions as less harmful.

Assuming Dr. Taylor did not wear this shirt purposely to objectify women on an international platform the question arises: Does unintentionality count as an excuse? Do we excuse him wearing a shirt with almost naked women on public television, because a woman gifted it to him or because he has a wife and two children?

There are certain sexist habits which many men still incorporate into their everyday life without even noticing it. They maybe also don’t mean any harm but after all: they, (un)intentionally, put themselves above women. This starts with simple phrases like “boys will be boys”. A comment which is often made after a man does something that is normally not acceptable but because he is “a boy”, implementing that this is just his nature, it is excused by society. A possible scenario for that would be catcalling a woman on the street. Maybe the catcaller really just wanted to compliment the woman but this act of calling out a woman on the street can make her feel very uncomfortable or even unsafe. In society we know that this is not acceptable, but it might be excused by a group of men, excusing this behavior because eventually “boys will be boys”.

Unintentional or not, behavior like this is not acceptable and should not be easily excused with phrases or tropes.

Unintentionality and the individual fate of Dr Taylor is not the main issue in the end. The importance of the shirtstorm controversy derives from the context in which the Doctor wore the shirt. In the end, it is about a white man from a powerful institution (the European Space Agency), from a scientific field that has little representation of women, wearing the shirt while on the BBC.

The issue here is an issue of power and representation. Feminism stands for an equal repartition of power across gender (but also race and class). Hence, this demands from people in positions like Dr Taylor’s to be conscious of their power and act accordingly. Simply because their actions can have important consequences and reinforce existing power imbalances. A lead scientist from the European Space Agency wearing a shirt with practically nude depictions of women on television is not exactly encouraging for more young women to pursue scientific careers, for example.

Like the Spiderman principle states, with great power comes great responsibility. And hopefully, Dr Taylor realises this now.

Written in collaboration with:

Bastiaan Meyes – Media, Digital Technologies, and everything inbetween

Gonzalo Fernandez – MEDIA STUDIES BLOG

Tom Gerbert – Talking Ctrl

References: 

A phenomenological anecdote : A not so silent (zoom) class

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I breathe loudly because I am sick and my nose is stuck. There is noise outside my window. I hear flapping wings and a loud cooing. The pigeons are fighting again and flying from the roof above my window to my neighbours’ roof. I hear my roommate pass by and her steps in the stairs as she walks down to the kitchen. I’m in class on Zoom. The mic of the teacher is scratchy and emits a high-pitched sound every time she speaks and it hurts my head. My nose is so stuck, I sniff loudly every 10 seconds and the sounds of my sniffs cover the teacher’s voice. I am breathing with my mouth opened like a fish. I hear cars bumping on the pavement in my street. I hear buses and traffic through my window from the larger street on the other side of my house. My roommate is cooking now while having a conversation in Italian on her phone. I hear her voice in words that I don’t understand and the sizzling sound of the onions in the pan. I hear the washing machine in the background. It is finishing a wash and is spinning fast, so I can hear it even though it’s on the ground floor and I am on the second floor. My chair creeks and I feel bothered by the sound of my mouth breathing. The teacher mentions the silence on her side since everyone is muted. Silence. I wonder what that feels like.

My favorite digital tools for studying: the lofi girl and study bunny

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This is the lofi girl. It’s a playlist that you can listen to live, anytime you want. She is animated so she studies with you, flips the pages of her book, looks outside the window, takes notes, and her cat is always there!

If you study at night, the view from her window is dark and her lamp is on, which reinforces this impression that she is studying all day and night with you. And most importantly, the music is pretty nice. I always put this playlist first thing when I start to study. It helps me focus and puts me in “study mode”. There is a whole community around the lofi girl and she is also available on Spotify and other streaming platforms, so feel free to check it out!

Every time I study on my own, I turn my study bunny on. He studies with you and for every study session you get coins that you can spend on stuff to pimp your bunny’s room.

You loose coins during breaks, but you also get little inspirational quotes from your bunny. He gets a cute little smile when you studied and starts sulking a bit when you haven’t studied for a while. The app allows you to track the number of hours you study every day. You can use a stopwatch or a countdown and also: you can name your bunny! Mine is called Tobio and I am pretty attached to him.. Plus, can you please note the pun in the name? Study buddy? Bunny? Right?

Why is it so hard to choose (a theme)?

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I have been looking at themes previews in WordPress for hours now. Just like I can struggle to pick an outfit to wear sometimes, I am struggling to choose what I want this blog to look like. To continue on the clothing metaphor, I guess you can never expect jeans to fit both your hips and waist and be the right length. I guess choosing a theme for a blog is similar; you need to pick your battle.

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