Talks by Tommy Nilsson and Glenn McGarry

Tommy and Glenn will both give talks during this digital lab meeting.

Tommy Nilsson - Visions, Values, and Videos

This talk is a preview of my DIS 2020 paper presentation. I will be discussing the outcomes of a focus group study during which we asked participants to debate two contrasting visions of future UbiComp infrastructures; one emphasizing efficiency and user convenience, the other promoting a social and engaging lifestyle. By analyzing the reasoning of our participants, we identified and elaborated a number of relevant values involved in balancing the two perspectives and articulated practically applicable takeaways in the form of a set of key design questions and challenges.

Glenn McGarry - Relic & Roll: An exploration of guitar 'relicing'.

I will present a research proposal currently in development that aims to explore the phenomenon of guitar  ‘Relicing’: a trend in which the finish of instruments are artificially aged in order to give the appearance of a rock & roll ‘relic’. The market for reliced guitars is driven by consumer interest in genuine relics, typically of 1950’s – 1970’s vintage, but which are becoming increasingly scarce and highly priced. This in turn has opened up an ancillary industry of guitar finishing workshops specialising in techniques for distressing the paint and lacquer finishes; adding ‘dings’ or dents to the wood; and tarnishing metal components, all of which are skilfully applied as testament to an imagined history of the guitar’s ownership and use. (see: http://www.fendercustomshop.com/series/time-machine/ for examples).

Relicing new guitars divides opinion from those who ‘get it’, to those who consider it disingenuous, and a range of subjective views in between. The proposed research aims to gain some empirical understanding of attitudes toward relicing amongst guitar enthusiasts and address two overarching research questions:
•    What meanings, values, and stories, if any, do guitar enthusiasts embody in the damage, patina, and wear of their own instruments, and how important is authenticity to the ‘relic’ aesthetic?
•    What do these understandings mean for the personalised relicing - reapplying patina, wear and damage captured from one guitar to another – and how might this relate to data-driven smart products?