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Indefinite Origin
ABSTRACT
What is collaborative thesis, and what value does it bring to the process?
Indefinite Origin, is a thesis advocating for knowledge to be decentralized and treated as a shared resource. Deviating from a focus on originality, it engages in the creation of knowledge as a collaborative effort. Design flexibility is practiced through intellectual humility, negotiating methodologies and welcoming chance. This thesis explores ideas from Furtherfield’s Do-It-With-Other (DIWO) or Do-It-Together (DIT)4 philosophies that promote synergy around commons5, cultural and natural resources that are accessible to all members of society.
franciswatchingtv.com
Digital Media
1280x720 (web)
2021
This work exists in two parts that were filmed simultaneously from two vantage points. In this perspective, "franciswatchingtv.com" was captured over zoom. It exists as a website, functioning as an open access meditation tool that guides viewers through a visualization. The link below is an example of how it can be used in the form of a quick 15 min workshop. This workshop uses the visualizations to be entry ways into memories that can be channeled into writing exercises, introductions, or sketch warmups.
Embedded in the code of the work are Francis's words.
"The act of meditation presupposes intellectual humility because it presupposes the willingness to let go of what is contained therein. This piece allows the leader of the meditation to include themself, eradicating the component of the meditation leader or teacher as a service provider to the student, who may come in with expectations of an output predicated by capitalist hegemony. As the viewer watches this exchange between two visions of the same self, they encounter an experience as an observer rather than a consumer for whom a product was designed." (Francis Tanglao-Aguas)
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TV Francis
Digital Media, Arylic,
36"w x 24"h
2021
This work exists as two parts that were filmed simultaneously from two vantage points. In this perspective, "TV Francis" was captured with the iPhone. This work exists as a digital painting, projected in 3D space perpendicular to a reflecting plane. It draws upon a photo of TV Buddha, a digital sculpture by Nam June Paik. In the photo, we observe a Buddha sculpture gazing at it's own digitized reflection. In TV Francis, the observation of the work through projection remind us of the digital nature of knowledge. That we feel we "understand" and know a work, without experiencing it in person. This fact pervades in how we operate today through social media and the internet. Francis, like the Buddha, reminds us of our own humanness and that patience, flexibility or inner peace are things that come out of iteration and reflection.
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Assorted Works
Ceramic, Aluminum, Wood, Sculpy, Paper
n/a
2021
Objects circle around a reflecting glass accepting the duality of the creating today. Included are pieces that are made through 3D modeling & printing, generative algorithms, CNC-ing combined with artisanal techniques like mold casting and hand making. In the center of the objects sits a mini receipt printer that gives information about the thesis Indefinite Origin. It invites and instructs viewers to print photos from their phone to add to the time of inspiration that is presented for them.
