The design cluster included Pauline van Mourik Broekman, Joel McKim, and myself. We discussed some of the interfaces used to access and manipulate time in audiovisual media, for example the ubiquitous timeline in editing software. We discussed how interfaces structure the perception of viewing time, for instance in the default “enforced flow” of streaming platforms in which users have to explicitly tell the system to stop. Or the programmed deskilling of users through the constant reconfiguration of systems and interfaces.
Echoing the film and collections clusters, we also discussed some of the embodied, performative, and economic aspects in the production of films, specifically pre and post production practices. Pauline referenced Wendy Apple’s documentary The Cutting Edge (not the 1992 movie). Joel also mentioned how technical challenges in moving around data in space also shape the perceived temporality of media, he gave Sohonet as an example.