Interactive documentary and thick description: Embracing complexity and transcultural understanding

Aston, judith

Abstract

This paper builds on my work as a founding director of i-Docs (i-docs.org) and on my background in anthropology. It explores how Geertz’s concept of ‘thick description’ can be applied to interactive documentary as a tool for engaging with complexity and enhancing transcultural understanding. Drawing on a number of examples, I will expand upon Paul Stoller’s recent intervention on how thick description can provide the kind of social and cultural context that big data usually overlooks (http://huff.to/2eFr7vw). I will also reflect on Kate Nash’s interview with media artist Florian Thalhofer, in which he talks about open documentary structures within interactive documentary, as a means of exploring multiple truths. I will relate these debates back to my own recent interventions on ‘Interactive documentary: what does it mean and why does it matter?’ (Aston 2016) and on ‘Interactive documentary and live performance’ (Aston 2017) to make the case for thick description as a pathway to knowledge within the discourses of interactive documentary. As part of this, I will expand on my thinking around emplaced interaction, to provide a philosophical underpinning to my argument and suggest some strategies for thinking globally and acting locally.

• Presentation Conference Type: Conference Paper (unpublished)
• Conference Name: Visible Evidence XXiV
• Start Date: Aug 2, 2017
• End Date: Aug 6, 2017
• Acceptance Date: Mar 10, 2017
• Publication Date: Aug 2, 2017
• Deposit Date: Mar 21, 2017
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Keywords: interactive documentary, visible evidence, complexity, thick description, transcultural understanding
• Public URL: https://uwe-repository.worktribe.com/output/883308
• Additional Information: Title of Conference or Conference Proceedings : Visible Evidence 2017
• Contract Date: Mar 21, 2017