DIY culture – Tzu Hsu Chu

Consolidation Reflection

Coming into the course, I was rather excited to learn more about incorporating aspects of DIY ethos and maker mentality into the education and pedagogy, as I felt like the theoretical pedagogy was what I lacked in my current arsenal of tools.

The Provocations and Maker Challenges were great opportunities to think about the application of the theories we have learned in class. It was the perfect time and place for me to brainstorm the ways I can incorporate my personal interests with creating meaningful activities for others to think more deeply about topics relating to EDIDA frameworks and Liberatory Design Thinking, grounding the theoretical concepts and rendering it more tangible and meaningful.

One example of this was reflecting on my visit to Our Community Bikes, and later on, exploring the intersection of identity, accessibility and community building through the Critical Learning Task in conjunction with the Anti-racism Speaker Series podcast. This personal connection also allowed me to embed lived experiences into the narrative, further demonstrating how makerspaces can serve as platforms for storytelling and advocacy.

With accessibility and inclusivity at its core, this course also challenged me to think more thoughtfully about the utilization of technology and creating multiple points of entry for participation. On the no-tech side of things, using recycled fabric to create a quilt, or magazines and scrap paper to create a collage zine, this made me reflect on the the value of resourcefulness in inclusive makerspace to democratize making. On the high-tech side of things, the incorporation of AR/VR elements created opportunities for engagement in digital spaces, which made me reflect on the module of multimedia and multiliteracies, which was an opportunity to consider the ways how technology can enhance access and interaction without overshadowing the personal, hands-on aspects of making.

Constructivist theories, which emphasize learning through experiences, deeply resonated with me in this class, especially when it came to sharing our own artefacts with each other on the discussion boards and providing feedback to each other. I learned a lot about how each of my colleagues implement their maker mentality in their personal and professional contexts, and getting to know one another through this mixing and remixing of ideas was rather fun and insightful! This reciprocal exchange highlighted the power of collective making, and underscores how diverse perspectives can enrich meaning-making, moving beyond individual experiences to create shared understanding.

Along those same lines, our instructor, Keri, provided such detailed feedback throughout the semester, her encouragement and guidance affirmed the effort I put into integrating personal experiences, scholarly frameworks and hands-on practice. This reinforced my confidence in using storytelling and personal insights to make theoretical concepts more accessible and actionable. Keri does not forget to push us further to think about how our work connects with the critical theory, and invites us to refine our work iteratively throughout the course, metaphysically embodying the Liberatory Design Principles that we have learned! Thank you again for your thoughtful guidance through this course, not only affirming my progress throughout this program, but also providing clear pathways for improvement and growth. I look forwards to applying these insights to my future work, and continuing to bridge personal resonance with critical engagement.

Though most of the readings are centered around Makerspaces, I think the biggest paradigm shift for me was requiring us to expand our ideas of what “making” and “makerspaces” can look like — a walk in the park, a craft circle amongst friends, a repair café at the community center, a workshop at school — can all be sites of making and creating. This shift of perspective has made me realize how embedded in “making” I already am, and realizing that has only expanded my ways of participation! These moments reinforced the idea that makerspaces are not confined to workshops or classrooms, they’re embedded in daily life!

This course expanded my understanding of makerspaces as dynamic, inclusive spaces rooted in both theory and personal experience. By embracing the maker mindset in everyday life and projects, I’ve learned to see making as a form of storytelling, advocacy, and connection. Moving forward, I am excited to apply these insights to help facilitate and make spaces that honor diverse voices and foster meaningful engagement.

Challenge #4: Digital Storytelling and BIPOC Cultures Linking VR/AR and Mixed Reality Tools and Technologies

Find the brief for the challenge here: Digital Storytelling and BIPOC Cultures Linking VR/AR Mixed Reality Tools and Technologies

Instead of going into BIPOC cultures, I will be reviewing an interactive AR zine based on an artist’s experience with ADHD and my conversation with them about their design process. I believe this topic still intersects with the challenge’s main learning objective of reflecting from an EDIDA framework perspective.

As someone with ADHD myself, it was an refreshing to see a common experience visualized in a way that was thoughtful and creative. I have included the QR code to the zine in the blogpost below, and purposefully excluded any screenshots, as to not detract from the AR experience for the readers.

The other day I visited the art studio Slice of Life located on Commercial Drive as part of the East Van Culture Crawl.

In a corner, someone was showcasing their zines, which piqued my interest. I initiated a conversation with the artist, Rowan (@keeponcreative), who created an interactive AR zine on their ADHD experience.

Before continuing to the rest of the blogpost, please take some time and experience the AR interactive zine yourself here:

Rowan created this zine to visualize the ADHD experience first-handedly through the interactive dialogue panels of a conversation. They hope to increase the ADHD awareness so that neurotypicals can understand the challenges that ADHD folks have during conversations with others.

They created the experience in Adobe Aero, and intertwined the digital interface of AR with the analogue form of zines and illustrations seamlessly.

In a choose-your-own-adventure type of interaction, the reader can choose from three different paths in a text message style conversation, with an insider view into the internal monologue; visual distractions obfuscating the dialogue bubbles; and rapid fire walls of texts.

Some aspects Rowan chose to focus on was:

- Info-dumping: Sharing a large amount of detailed information about a topic of interest is a way ADHD folks connect with others and to express that they’re excited about a specific topic. However, sometimes it may come off as overwhelming or dominating the conversation.
- Distractions: Staying on top of the conversation thread can be a challenge for ADHD folks, while overstimulating environments can also effect attention and participation in a conversation.
- Interruptions: for many ADHD folks, the mind stays active and often thoughts get left behind and fade away if they do not get expressed as they come along. This can come of as rude or misreading of social cues when they interrupt conversations.

While conversing with Rowan, I felt like they conveyed an AR experience that felt really close to my experiences with ADHD. I learned that they are slowly working on their capstone project, “Visualize”, that addresses the lesser known qualities of ADHD through experiential zine. They created AR simulations to supplement the zine with animations allowing the reader to engage in a more embodied way.

We also briefly discussed the challenges of creating AR experiences; the technical limitations using Adobe Aero; integration of more analogue forms of media, or making users want to engage in “going the extra step” to use technology in hand with art.

This conversation with Rowan has made me reflect more on the utilization of AR with DIY culture values of decentralization of knowledge through analogue media of zines, especially with leveraging the affordance of AR to embed an experience for more embodiment, engagement and interaction.

Task #8: Ableism in Makerspaces

Brief:

Critically analyze the impact of ableism on accessibility and inclusivity of makerspaces, while exploring strategies to foster a more inclusive maker mentality and a more welcoming makerspace.

Engaging with this task you are going to disseminate the discrimination of and social prejudice against people with disabilities. Disabilities can be visible and invisible.

The task is to engage with required scholarly work, supplementing with own examination of research and academic work to design an accessible maker space (physical, virtual or hybrid) that is inclusive of individuals with (in)visible disabilities from an anti-ableist lens.

Use the checklist below and the liberatory design thinking process as a means to guide your design using any of the educational technology tools listed below (or your own tool of choice). You will include a description and justification of your designed inclusive space using the scholarly work to support your claims, decisions, and configuration. You will want to check out Makers Making Change to provide you with ideas and additional resources to support your design.

- Accessibility standards and guidelines for makerspaces have been addressed.
- The space was designed using liberatory design thinking principles and practices.
- Inclusive vs. exclusive accessibility and usability has been considered.
- The design of your accessible makerspace is inclusive of individuals with diverse abilities
- Incorporated universal design principles in the design process of this maker space as it pertains to set up, equipment, materials, and navigation.
- Addresses physical and sensory barriers in maker space design and activities.
- Empowers individuals with disabilities through adaptive and assistive technologies included in the space
- Promotes inclusive practices and fosters a culture of accessibility and accommodation
- Recognizes and challenges ableist assumptions and biases within maker culture through the design of the space
- Space demonstrates an awareness and sensitivity toward diverse abilities.
- Implements inclusive policies and guidelines for equitable participation in maker activities
- Leverages community engagement and partnerships to support and amplify inclusivity in makerspaces as best communicated through the design.
- People first and identify the first language used in space.
- Demonstrates critical analysis of the texts through the design of the space.

Preface

After graduating from university, I was working as a BC Autism Funding service provider, working with youths on the autism spectrum. This project was inspired by KK, one of the youths that I used to work with. He would make elaborate builds of the Vancouver skytrain system within his Minecraft world, and we would often hop onto the server to build together during our sessions.

This made me consider online virtual spaces in connection with makerspaces and the potential ways that the Minecraft functions can be leveraged or modified to accommodate for individual user’s needs.

Challenge #2 : Fast Fashion and Climate Change Choice Board

Find the brief of the challenge here: Fast Fashion & Climate Change Choice Board by Natalie Pang

For this challenge, I connect it with a recent volunteering experience that involved fast fashion and sustainability at Science World.

The other day my friend K texted me to ask if I could volunteer last minute with their organization Threading Change, a fashion and sustainability non-profit based in Vancouver, BC. This organization addresses the systemic injustices and inequities that persist in the global fashion industry through education, collaboration with innovative ethical brands, and consultation with stakeholders to advocate for a just fashion future and circular economy.

They were one of the participating organizations for the Girls in STEAM Summit held at Science World, focusing on bringing learners from ages 12-14 to expand their interest and explore potential career fields in STEAM.

For our table, K had come up with the activity idea. We asked learners to think about the environmental impact that fast fashion has, while sharing some current potential solutions and innovations that directly tackle this issue, from biodegradable fabrics made from kelp to ethical lab-grown leather. We invited the learners to invent a type of fabric they would like to see in the future that can be sustainable and eco-friendly. They would write down their ideas on a square patch of scrap fabric that they would sew together to create a quilt.

photo of person holding up pieces of sewn squares for a quilt

Some of the ideas they came up with were rather funny and creative :

- Fabric that stretches as you grow so it can be one-size-fits-all.
- Fabric that does not stain easily so that it saves water and helps out mothers around the world
- Fabric that is invisible
- Fabric that changes color under the sun
- Fabric with built-in deodorant

It was rather interesting chatting to the various learners and seeing their reaction. Some of them were super engaged with the activity, and seemed rather practiced with sewing; some were inexperienced but excited to learn; some seemed more disenchanted by the activity and just wanted a stamp on their activity passport.

Through chatting with the learners, those who were engaged and actively participating usually expressed artistic interest of their own accord, had someone in their family had taught them how to sew, or other crafting experience in DIY maker culture.

Reflecting back on this activity at Science World, I think it would be beneficial to incorporate aspects of understanding labour exploitation and unsafe working conditions of underpaid workers disproportionally located in the Global South, as labour concerns are also deeply intertwined with environmental impacts when it comes to discussion on sustainability. Through actual experiencing of sewing the quilt squares together, learners can have an idea of how laborious it actually is to create clothing that we wear day-to-day.

Human.Touch.Clothing is a clothing brand that visualizes the human labour essential to clothing manufacturing by using paint in the sewing process to show the handling process. It is a rather simple but powerful way to envision the invisible labour that consumers often overlook when they buy fast fashion.

Reflecting back on to the maker challenge as a whole, though it encourages learners to reflect on the environmental impacts and to create an action plan, I believe it was a missed opportunity to engage with the subject matter in a more tactile, embodied way when it comes to thinking about fast fashion and climate change, and create a more impactful exercise on reflecting on sustainability on a multi-faceted level.

Challenge #1: Visible Mending

Find the brief of the challenge here: Visible Mending Challenge by Katie Muzyka

This challenge caught my attention, as I am a strong believer in the values behind repair and mending as a form of sustainability by reducing waste; extending the life of objects; as well as embracing appreciation for imperfection, creativity and personal expression.

I thought it was rather refreshing that this challenge included mending techniques and history from different cultures, including Japanese Sashiko and Bengali Kantha embroidery.

Originally for both cultures, this kind of visible mending originated out of basic necessity to repair or prolong the use their clothing and other fabric garments. The process does not require many tools nor materials, and often re-incorporates waste fabric and recycling as input, where old scraps are given new life.

In the Youtube Video that introduced Japanese Sashiko, the artisan Keiko brought up an important point —- “when we are going to shout out and live the importance of sustainability, I would like us to care and be respectful of cultural sustainability as well. […] and not lose the whole picture of the wisdom and stories behind it”. Keiko also has an entire video where he discusses not to worry about the fine line between appreciation and appropriation too much, under the one condition that people who do practice this kind of mending do not ignore the voices of Japanese Sashiko artisans themselves, and strive to understand and learn more about this practice.

My roommates and I are avid menders when it comes to our household items or clothing. Sometimes we would have communal mending time, where we work on our own mending projects together in the living room.

One visible mending project was mending our couch — it came with a huge gash in the cover when we got it second-hand off online marketplace. It didn’t bother us much until the gash started tearing apart more with use over time. We weren’t able to sew the big gash together, so I crocheted a patch that was in the exact shape of the gash to close the gap. My roommate then sewed the patch in place.

This was an obvious instance where mending extended the life and use of the couch significantly without much effort, rather it became a fun collaboration of our craft skills and gave our living room a more personalized touch!

However, there are times where mending might not be the obvious solution.
In the introductory article of this activity on “mending as an ancient craft for modern times”, it talks about “whether we actually mend the garments we buy directly correlates to how much we value them.” I don’t think that it is completely true, as I believe sometimes we tend to take the path of least effort when it comes to mending.

Perhaps it is more cost-effective to buy a new version of the item because it might be more expensive to repair, or perhaps the repairs may not outlast the everyday wear and tear. There are many “lazy ways” to justify ones’ way out of maintenance, especially in the face of fast fashion.

In contrast, the decision to mend and repair then becomes more of a conscious action and choice, as a persistence of DIY values and resistance to the temptation of consumerism that envelops us.