All Outputs (8)

Interactive documentary and thick description: Embracing complexity and transcultural understanding (2017)
Presentation / Conference
Aston, J. (2017, August). Interactive documentary and thick description: Embracing complexity and transcultural understanding. Paper presented at Visible Evidence XXiV, Buenos Aires, Argentina

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... Read More about Interactive documentary and thick description: Embracing complexity and transcultural understanding.

From ‘embodied interaction’ to ‘emplaced interaction’: Thinking through the transformative potential of interactive documentary (2017)
Presentation / Conference
Aston, J. (2017, June). From ‘embodied interaction’ to ‘emplaced interaction’: Thinking through the transformative potential of interactive documentary. Paper presented at NECS: European Network for Cinema and Media Studies, Paris, France

In 2016, interactive pioneer Chris Milk launched his new company With.in through an article on ‘The Future of Virtual Reality’, in which he called VR “the last medium” and claimed that it “will be more than just a storytelling platform. It will be a... Read More about From ‘embodied interaction’ to ‘emplaced interaction’: Thinking through the transformative potential of interactive documentary.

Teaching multiplatform documentary (2013)
Presentation / Conference
Oldham, A., & Aston, J. (2013, July). Teaching multiplatform documentary. Paper presented at NAHEMI, Talking Shop, BFI

Transliteracy and polyphonic narrative: a case study (2010)
Presentation / Conference
Aston, J. (2010, February). Transliteracy and polyphonic narrative: a case study. Paper presented at Transliteracy Conference, Phoenix Square Digital Media Centre, Leicester, UK

This paper will look at the role of transliteracy in the creation of a series of texts relating to a long-term ethnographic study of displacement in the Sudan/Ethiopian borderlands. It will draw on a rich audiovisual archive recorded by the anthropol... Read More about Transliteracy and polyphonic narrative: a case study.

Spatial montage and the enchantment of everyday life: towards the development of fluid interfaces for interactive documentary (2010)
Presentation / Conference
Aston, J. (2010, January). Spatial montage and the enchantment of everyday life: towards the development of fluid interfaces for interactive documentary. Paper presented at Documentary Now! 2010, Birkbeck College, London

Building on Lev Manovich’s ideas about spatial montage and interactive cinema, this paper will provide examples of the author’s approach to interactive documentary based on an ongoing collaboration between the author and the anthropologist, Wendy Jam... Read More about Spatial montage and the enchantment of everyday life: towards the development of fluid interfaces for interactive documentary.

Direct cinema and a making of the ‘real’: polyphonic narrative, spatial montage and cinema-sincerity (2009)
Presentation / Conference
Aston, J. (2009, November). Direct cinema and a making of the ‘real’: polyphonic narrative, spatial montage and cinema-sincerity. Paper presented at International Jean Rouch Symposum, Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique, Paris

Building on Rouch’s thoughts on cinema-sincerity, this paper will interrogate new possibilities for the creation of polyphonic narratives brought about by the multiple windows environment of 21st century computing. Drawing on material recorded in the... Read More about Direct cinema and a making of the ‘real’: polyphonic narrative, spatial montage and cinema-sincerity.

Still pictures, moving contexts (2009)
Presentation / Conference
Aston, J., & James, W. (2009, November). Still pictures, moving contexts. Paper presented at The Image Relation: Towards an Anthropology of Photography, Wolfson College, Oxford, UK

This presentation will highlight ways of presenting still photographs, both black and white and colour, as well as colour slides, using multimedia methods which add fresh resonance to archival materials. Examples will be drawn from James’s ethnogra... Read More about Still pictures, moving contexts.

Database narrative, spatial montage and the cultural transmission of memory: A case study from the Sudan/Ethiopian borderlands (2009)
Presentation / Conference
Aston, J. (2009, August). Database narrative, spatial montage and the cultural transmission of memory: A case study from the Sudan/Ethiopian borderlands. Paper presented at ISEA2009, The 15th International Symposium on Electronic Art, University of Ulster, Belfast

A peer reviewed paper presented within the Interactive Storytelling theme of an international conference on Engaged Creativity and Mobile Environments.