The Blind Observation

GGRB13: Assignment Two

Exploration 28

The Blind Observation, in this exploration the author asks to place various objects in your pocket and describe them by touch. After you've done that it says to go around your room in the dark and identify all the objects by touch (Smith 2008). This is a qualitative method of research. Everyone will have a different experience, everyone designs their room differently based on their personalities, the size, the amount of stuff they have stored in their room.

To make this exploration interesting I asked my mom to choose three objects from my room while I waited outside. I asked her to place them into a bag. I chose to do my exploration like this rather than picking the items out myself because then I would already have an idea of what the objects look like. By doing this I performed agency I manipulated the experiment to make it more interesting and exciting for me (Tuan 1977). Based on who you are the way you approach an experiment will be different.

When I dug into the bag the first object I touched was my phone. I instantly knew that it was my phone without a second thought. I know this object so well because of its size and texture. It is one of the most identifiable objects to me because I always have it with me and use it on a daily basis. Looking at the phone at a larger scale I went to the Apple store at Eaton centre in downtown. Being in that store was easy and comfortable for me, because objects I knew very well surrounded me. The experience of having an iPhone of my own makes going into that store more easy because I understand and know how to function Apple products, I have a sense of belonging in another location outside of my iPhone in my room. Unknowingly this object connects me with a larger world and people. Walking into a store where I wasn't aware of their products and familiar with them, I would feel anxious and want to leave. The Apple store is the complete opposite even though I don't go there often. Since, I have my own iPhone I am able to interact and hold up a conversation with people I don't know because we are connected through this object. This is also agency, I am restrained to perform at my best in certain situations based on the knowledge that I have. I have agency in the Apple store because I have a capacity to interact with the objects and people, change the experience for someone that isn't as aware of the products as I am (Tuan 1977).

This object has the ability of time-space compression (Massey 1994). Using my iPhone I am able to talk to my friends and family across the world through a single text without even having to pay extra. The product itself has no boundaries in terms of scale. It's made in one country because of cheap labor for the US and is sold across the globe. This new form of technology has no boundaries.