Affordances

Affordances:

One way of understanding the difference between ergonomics and affordances is the difference between what is brought to the activity and what the activity brings about; these things are closely connected. Ergonomics is a description of how well the creative person can be fitted with activities that are a good expression of their interest and skills; affordances are an examination of the actual potentialities within the activity for expressing beauty.

According to Christiansen and Townsend (2010), affordance is “the particular arrangement of objects in the environment”. It can be the interaction between an object and a person; “the object's design suggests its purpose, function and usability and the user determines the object's affordances”.

"It is through our activities that we…practice skills, express our feelings, experience pleasure…” (Hopkins & Smith, 1983), so it seems that activities afford us to develop as individuals

Norman (1999) described affordances as follows:

‘Affordance refers to the perceived and actual, properties of the thing, primarily those fundamental, properties that determine just how the thing could, possibly be used. A chair affords (‘is for’) support and, therefore, affords sitting. A chair can also be carried.’ [Norman, 1999, p.9]

Norman (1988) stated that he believes that affordances result from the mental interpretation of things, based on our past knowledge and experience applied to our perception of the things about us.

Gaver (1991) stated that:

‘The concept of affordances points to a rather special configuration of properties. It implies that the physical attributes of the thing to be acted upon are compatible with those of the actor, that information about those attributes is available in a form compatible with a perceptual system, and (implicitly) that these attributes and the action they make possible are relevant to a culture and a perceiver.’ [Gaver, 1991, p.81]

References:

Christiansen, C. & Townsend, E. (2010). Introduction to occupation: The art of science and living. (2^nd eds.). Prentice Hall.

Gaver, W.W. (1991). Technology affordances. CHI’91 Conference Proceedings. 79-84.

Hopkins, H.L., & Smith, H.D. (1983). Willard and Spackman’s occupational therapy. In Crepeau E. (2003). Analyzing occupation and activity: A way of thinking about occupational performance. In Crepeau, E., Cohn, E., & Schell, B. (Eds.), Willard and Spackman’s occupational therapy (10th ed., pp.189-198). Philadelphia: Lippincott, Williams & Wilkins

Norman, D.A. (1988).  The Psychology of Everyday Things. New York: Basic Books

Norman, D.A. (1999). Affordance, conventions, and design. Interactions, 6(3), 38-42.

My interpretation:

I view the concept of affordances within activities much like a line of dominos: you tip the first domino over and watch how it affects the next, and how that one then affects the one after and so on. The initial domino, or initial activity, lends itself to influence or create or contribute to another activity (another domino), like a tree with never-ending branches.

Considerations within affordances discussed in class are: aesthetics, spirituality, link to history and physical aspects. There are also: communication properties, moral properties and action properties.

Affordances with my activity:

Communication properties: This is how the activity to lend itself to communication. Communication is essential for human interaction as it allows us to connect with others and express ourselves. Composing music on the harp is one of my greatest communication skills; I am not very good at expressing myself verbally and so often turn to music to portray feelings I cannot seem to express in spoken word. The communication properties of composing (a tune for or about someone) allow me to connect with others on, what I believe to be a, deeper level of communication. Sound seems to amplify feelings, and my feelings are ingrained in the sound of the music that I compose.

Moral properties: This refers to the perception of what is the “right” or “wrong” way of doing something. I have to chuckle at this aspect of affordances … I know what I compose sounds and feels “right”. However, in the theoretically and musically literate world, the actual way I play when I compose is “wrong”… but I don’t care! Because my friends, family and strangers that hear my compositions really enjoy and appreciate them, which in turn motivates me to keep playing and composing the way that feels “right” for me. (I had a lady kiss me on the head yesterday because the composition I was playing ‘touched her heart’! Several women have asked me to play at their weddings, and another lady wanted me to teach her how to play the haro because it sounded so ‘beautiful’).

Action properties: Is the story of the activity, so beginning (what happened before), middle (the activity) and end (what happens afterward). This involves me engaging in the tasks that prepare for the composing … so: getting comfortable on a good chair, tuning the harp, maybe taking some deep breathes and then start to play and just let what is inside turn into music. Usually, I am unable to complete a composition in one sitting, sometimes it can take months for me to be satisfied with what I have created, thus the activities that proceed this one, are usually my day-to-day activities.

Aesthetics: I consider harp music one of the most beautiful things in my life. Especially folk harp music; something I have turned into my own craft. I like to hear the sounds and melodies as I create them, I like to watch my hands flowing over the strings when I play. In doing so, the activity of composing on the harp becomes something else: it allows (or lends) me to take the role of an observer in an audience, much like someone who it as a concert or viewing a painting. I am creating the music, but I am also watching and interpreting it.

Spirituality: a key aspect of composing. I have come to believe that it is my spirituality that affords me to compose on the harp. Without an ingrained sense of connectedness to myself, others, life, emotions, experiences and belonging I do not believe I would be able to craft a story out of music. And in reward for a composition, the activity then affords me to feel more connected to my life and with others; sharing life stories and feelings through musical creativity and expression.

Historically: I have been playing the harp for 10 years; however due to the fluctuation of life experiences, sometimes getting the time and energy to play, let alone compose is difficult to do. However, composing has strong connections to my earlier life; and instills in me sense of belonging, contributing to my identity and perception of who I am and my life. There are many memories and past experiences that are intertwined with the activity of composing. One example: being 15 years old and living at home on the peninsula, plucking away at a composition on the deck, my Mum in the kitchen preparing lunch, my sister upstairs drawing, my Dad chopping wood around the back, my brother down at the seafront; all of us coming together on the deck for a cup of tea and lunch, and then I keep playing away for them to listen to for a while, before they each disperse and return to what they were doing. In those moments, I can see how activities lend themselves to more than what they first are perceived to be … Mum preparing lunch becomes something that brings us together as a family; we talk and interact while we eat our food. Dad chopping wood will later become a fire that will keep us warm when we stay in the house later in the evening as a family. My sister drawing will become a gift for someone else that week. My brother playing down on the seafront will later remind Mum that she needs help collecting seaweed for the garden; so we will all troop out to get some. My composing on the deck will momentarily become a small, informal concert for my family and reinforce our feelings togetherness and belonging as the notes sweep through our minds and hearts.

Physically: composing on the harp lends itself to improving my posture. It also becomes a sufficient way of strengthening my upper body. I am quite “lazy” because usually I do not bother to hold myself properly while I am composing; this sometimes causes muscle aching a few hours later, which reminds me to NOT position my body in such an inadequate way. Also, depending on how long I am playing for, my fingers can become hard and calloused; the lower octaves on the harp are steel, the middle octaves are cat-gut and the higher octaves are nylon.

Affordances seem to be about how an activity evolves, creates or influences (directly or indirectly) other activities to occur; they mesh together the occupations and routines of human beings, providing opportunity for spiritual connectedness, social interactions and sense of identity.

Ambience:

As I understand, ambience is usually linked to the ‘atmosphere’ of some place, or the ‘character’ of some thing.  Ironically, ambience is usually created with  music … think about all the times you’ve cried or laughed in watching a film and how the music influenced the eruption of your emotions, or when you’ve felt relaxed while in a waiting room playing soothing music, or felt energized by the pumping beats at a gym class, felt sad, angry, happy, hopeful (or any other emotion) whist watching a theatrical performance or evening shopping in a mall! (In Paris, they play bird songs over an intercom to create a calm and pleasant atmosphere for customers!). The ambience of an activity can simply be translated to essence: what is the essence of the activity?

To try to articulate the essence of composing music is somewhat more difficult than describing the essence of music, itself.  Some people suggest that music expresses the essence of the human will, the human soul, the human heart or the human spirit.

“Music … has little bits of all of us in it”, according to celebrated jazz musician Wynton Marsalis (http://www.bostonbanner.com/local12-2011-05-05)

However, in more technological terms; the essence of music is the harmony, the melody, the rhythm that actually creates the music. Maybe this is the essence of composing? Especially because a composition requires all of those musical structures. Personally, I think it comes down to who you are and why you listen to music, whatever types of music you listen to.

I believe the reasons behind why someone listens to a piece of music, creates the essence of that musical composition.