Jacky's paper proposal

Final Paper

Thinking back to all the class reading, discussions, and looking back to my old notes. It got me thinking about my life, how work and play, play apart in my life. I started  analyzing the idea of labor-time/ leisure, then going in to the idea’s of trade, game, or creative practice where the boundaries between work and play is particularly blurry. Expectly after the 1960, where some people would like to say we have entered a post industrial world. In the industrial time life was much more simpler, the I idea of labor-time/ leisure, task-time/ idleness, work and play. Was more black and white then what it is today, the today’s person who really try to do it all and so much is expected out of use today. With this in mind I would like to write about the blurry lines between everything that we have read. Comparing everything I have learned this semester to my crazy life. I am a full time student, most of my classes are in San Francisco which makes my commute on bart a hour and a half from Castro Valley, where I work on homework. On time of that I work over 20 hours each and every week in Castro Valley as a server, which makes my hours very late. So almost everyday I wake up at 7 out my door by 7:30 on bart by 7:55 start class at 9 get out at 3 then rushing back to CV working at 4:30    -10 then finally back home at 10:30, only to start homework. I don’t have leisure, I cant even remember what that feels like, my idleness is what keeps me sane.

Sophie's paper proposal

As a maker/ artist and an art student I find there are many ways in my life where work and play interact and overlap. Art is one of the things I enjoy most in life, both making and observing it. Being a student within the realm of art I am severly blurring the lines of play and work in my life, making my work life and my play life have a complex and strange relationship.

As a student I take many different kinds of classes which are all part of a curriculum. By fullfilling these requirements I can obtain a degree. Within these classes there are assignements and dealines. All of the words in itallic make the work I do for a school a f labor time, there is value for which I am working towards. However being a creative student I need to work with ideas and concepts which are inspired from many different places such as, radical boredom and meaningless work. The ways in which I need to work are related to task time, making something till it is done. Being a make makes me constantly question, observe and investigate work for fun or work for value.

I would like to write my final paper on the blurry line between what is work and play for a Mover. This will be presented through the personal point of view of my friend who works as a mover at a company Hartford Dispatch. He's mentioned the idea of loading a truck to the game of Tetris. At the point of reaching their destination, the movers must scan the area to figure out what is heavier and should go in the truck first. From there, they all work as a team to wrap and fit the rest of the pieces inside the truck as compactly as possible.

Since forms of play should proceed in the attitude and mood of play, the play aspect of a moving job is driven solely in the mover’s mind. It could be said that he looks at his work as task time when he’s having fun and as labor time when he’s solely doing his job to make money.

The pace of his play is set according to the size of the place he’s moving materials out of and the amount of materials he has to move. The more time it takes to complete a job, the more points ($) he earns. I say points and not spending money, because he puts his salary into his savings. He saves all his money, only to spend it on necessities (groceries, home and his dog… He rarely buys clothes and makes use of what he already has till it wears out) Having been a mover for seven years now, he will take money out of his savings to go on vacation now and then.

The idea of moving people in and out of homes as the end result is interesting to me. He mentioned to me once that he’s moved a family into a house that he'd previously moved one out of that same week. In that aspect his work could seem meaningless and reflect the game aspect of the real estate market in pre-2006 America. During this period houses were bought, remodeled, and sold for a profit in a matter of months. The movers make profit off people’s whim to move in and out of spaces, by transporting their material goods. A lot of the times customers let movers take what they wish to discard and this is how my friend has gotten all of his furniture.

Through the pattern of my friend’s lifestyle, I noted that not only his work, but his activity at home is predominantly extensive. He chooses to do housework on days he does not have to go to work. This leads me to believe that he looks at his whole day’s activity as tasks (even when he is doing labor work, it is simply task time.) When there is noting laborious to exert his energy on, he likes to do thousand piece puzzles, word and number puzzles, and play scrabble. He also plays DVDs of movies and T.V shows he likes when he idles. If he watches T.V. it is predominantly in the background while he winds down to go to bed and thus, his intake is chiefly extensive.

In my essay I would like to incorporate the theory of task and labor time, as well as of implosive and extensive work to outline his mundane life of play.

Ki Smith paper proposal

The Direction of Play

As we continue to evolve and move into a new technological and “implosive”
age it is interesting to see what play’s roll has become and were it is headed. Since
the beginning of time both humans and animals have had an instilled urge to play.
Whether it is two puppies wrestling or a group of kids playing tag, it is obvious to
see that we are bore with a desire and need to play. Originally playing usually meant
some sort of physical activity with or against a friend, however as we have evolved
so has are idea of play. Just as humans have evolved tools for work they have also
come up with tools for play. It is also important to notice that as our play tools have
evolved so have the rules of play. We have slowly come to a strange place in play
where we are dominantly using implosive system such as play-stations or x-boxes.
The heavy usage of these types of implosive games begs the question of weather or
not these games are fulfilling our “game quota” or weather merely putting more idle
time into our days.

My paper will be exploring these questions and hoping to seek a conclusive
point on the direction of play.

Emily Carrasco paper proposal

Much like art education and the creative practices where the boundaries from work to play collide, professional athletes face this type of conflict as well. Here these people begin their practices of playing football or basketball as little children where it’s all about running around, making friends and paying somewhat attention to the ball until this athletic interest gradually becomes more of a competition on so many different levels. Play time is considering the beginning of the interest in becoming a professional, like how it all started, what was it about the game that linked this small child to it. Then there is the very intriguing fact of how as the child grows and matures into different pressures that come with age, so does this profession or “game”. For example, body type is one pressure that is important to athletes, how fast they are, how strong, their endurance, etc. Also, how in shape they are (in general). If they don’t maintain their health, this can and will affect their profession. Also, much like art: while the child is growing up, they must maintain a clear interest in this profession throughout all of their years (including how we mold mentally and physically) in order to make sense in continuing on and into schooling for a degree (or in this case, getting drafted?-need more research-) If you want to get a college degree in art, it is a very slim chance of making it a comfortable environment and living comfortably for yourself once out of school, the same goes for athletics. Becoming a professional athlete is something that isn’t very common unless you have the right amount of talent, the right amount of money, or the right amount of connections- similar to the art world. We are the underdogs in a sense, but we chose to be. (Patching this up because it’s getting rather lengthy) In terms of work, I am looking at how once the athlete is acknowledged and even drafted onto a somewhat well-known team, although he is experiencing everything that he has prepared for, and trained for (body injuries and all), he will be facing the difficulties of its work. Its Work is to be the best, to make the touchdowns, to make the free throws, no exceptions, no excuses, no injuries. The athlete must fly from one state to another one after the other (without the consideration of families and time and health), show up for practice, listen to the coach and his play sheets, win games, carry the team, etc. What was fun for the athlete (or even artist) is now overbearing right? What was fun (shooting hoops with dad) is now work (playing against other professional athletes in an arena with thousands of fans who scream at you when you miss one basket). Even though a lot of artists are stereotyped for lacking any athletic talent, we really have a lot in common with them especially with how our lives will be structured and possibly how we may feel about it.
-Emily Carrasco

Final Paper - Courtney

For my final paper I want to analyze the job of Party Catalysts. Some of you may have heard the episode of This American Life called Plan B, in which the first act is called "It's Another Tequila Sunrise". The following 19 minutes are spent telling the story of Cuervo Man - who was hired by Jose Cuervo to go to bars and basically just have a good time, get drunk and get people to drink tequila. I was interested in this because when most people go out to a bar it is to relax once we are "off the clock" or done with our tasks for the day/week. Partying and drinking is a leisure activity which is done in our off time, but what if it was your job specifically to party? Work and play are completely intertwined in this position. The drunker you get, the happier your bosses are and the more they want you to work.

Kevin Kuo Final Paper Idea

Today too many jobs consists of the realms of work and play. They are not necessary tendencies toward one or the other, but sometimes by no means considered to be both. I would here propose my topic regarding these professional players in our daily lives. These people play sports and game like every other normal people do except they get paid for playing. The definition of their "Play Time" becomes extremely blurry, however I would further demonstrate the concept in my paper with research. I will also mention Thomson's task time and leisure in relation to professional players as well as Marcel Duchamp's work avoidance essay.

I would clearly state that the difference between a real work and play is money. Money divides these two subjects into half.

Professional players are trained to play in certain professions. Their works seem to be fun and enjoyable to some people, but they are actually not as easy as people might think. A job can be enjoyable if someone accepts and likes it.

Artists like us are extremely similar to professional players because we do what we enjoy. Here I would mention Marcel's work avoidance into context. It's a very different kind of subject, yet how he translate his leisure into a type of work. In addition to Marcel, Dandy will also be discussed.

Emily Cunningham proposal for Final

For the final I wanted to focus on the game Second Life. I thought that it was interesting how involved one could get in the game, and how much time and energy can be spent on it. The game is an online computer game where you can create an avatar, a character in the game, and let it interact with other Avatars in the game. In order to buy clothes or a house in the game, you must find a way to make money. The game is structured so that you could actually get a job and get paid in the game’s currency, linden. This is one of the main examples of the game crossing the line into becoming work. A job in Second Life is similar to one in real life in that your character must put in a certain number of hours of work to earn money. Some examples of jobs on the game are becoming a hostess for a club, becoming a DJ, a prostitute, or a dancer (most likely exotic). The jobs are either task based or time based, which is why I wanted to use the E.P. Thompson essay “Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism” to help describe them. I also thought it would be helpful to refer to Aspen Aar Seth’s essay “Allegories of Space: The Question of Spatiality in Computer Games”, because I would like to discuss how this game evolved off of other computer games.

Fin al paper proposal Venus

For my final paper I would like to analyze this limbo state we are in as student.

What are the types of student, how are they face with boredom, what come form this state? Are there any benefits if and so are there any differences between the types of students. And what role does student have on the work world.

Danny I hope I’m going in the right direction with this because I have a lot to say on this

Final Paper Proposal - Sofia G.

I propose to write about the occupation of yoga instruction as an example of where work and play merge in the professional realm, and the Western assumptions about lifestyle differences between the East and the West. I will draw mostly from the ‘Boredom’ text (for some reason the first page didn’t print so I don’t have the title or author; Danny, could you re-e-mail that to me and I’ll try to print in the right format?), and Huizinga’s essay. (It is interesting that Huizinga taught as an ‘Orientalist’ and wrote his doctoral thesis on the jester in Indian drama.) I understand that the “legitimate boredom” is different from what might be called ‘inner peace,’ but I want to draw parallels between the discussed kind of boredom and the state of consciousness one might seek in a yoga class. What role does the yoga teacher play for one who is trying to attain something like ‘void’? Does the yoga instructor benefit from the practice as much as the students? I will delineate between yoga instruction and Huizinga’s terms of play, and of work. I am interested in the gentrification (is that the right term?) of Eastern practices (from 3^rd World countries) amongst the upper class in the West.

Final Paper - Eva Chidester

For my final paper I want to analyze how Fast Food chains, specifically McDonald's, have changed the way the general public view eating in relation to play and work, time and space. I have identified a variety of elements present within the fast food system that function to make the experience more playful (eg. "fun" bright colors, monopoly games on cups, "happy meals" which include a toy- relating the purchase of food to be less about nutrition and more about playing, in-restaurant play centers- conveniently located mere meters from the cash registers... etc etc).

Fast food is also connected to a western idea, that time= $$. "Drive thu" windows enable the working class to eat as quickly and as cheaply as possible, saving valuable time that would be spent waiting in line or parking their cars- and get back to their work day.

For those who appreciate the ease and "fun" of a McDonald's burger, preparation and cooking time calls for much more from the consumer. The slow food movement requires 10x more time, space, and work.. as well as money. The cook must then make more money to buy the necessary ingredients. McDonald's success hinges on the connection between their food and play, as well as instant gratification and budget-friendly meals. McDonald's has also advertised free WI-FI... work and play can be accomplished simultaneously.

I want to discuss clock time and task time in relation to the drive thru, how efficiency is connected to time=money, clock time. I also want to discuss how the restaurants encourage a sense of leisure, through their "peppy" music choice and play centers.

there is also this (happymeal video game fun website thing)

Paper Proposal-Rani Khamphilavong

I plan to analyze a website that I was obsessed with in middle school, Neopets.com. Neopets is a game website that people create “pets” and take care of them. There are games that players can play to win money or “neopoints”. What began, as a fun site for procrastination became more of a job in the end. I wanted to get the highly desirable “Royal Paint Brush” and developed a plan that I followed to earn almost 2 million “neopoints”. This is the specific part that I want to analyze about Neopets. Players have to work to get the more special or desirable items that the game offers. But since it is marketed as a game, players don’t realize that they are technically working as well as playing.

Some ideas that relate to what I want to analyze about Neopets are McLuhan’s “Games” reading, E.P. Thompson “Time, Work-Discipline, and Industrial Capitalism”, Caillois and Huizinga. There was definitely a sense of task time while playing Neopets, because I would play all the games I needed to earn the quota of 30,000 that I set for myself. I would use the Caillois, Huizinga, and McLuhan readings to explore the play aspect of Neopets.

-Rani Khamphilavong