Digital Asia – Digital Artifact – Jack Polglase’s Mukbang

Jack Polglase

I’ve completely scrapped the original idea that I had for this Digital Artifact after a revelation (an epiphany, perhaps?) that occurred to me at work, thanks to a colleague and I discussing cooking. This did essentially shift my work from being on the analytical side of autoethnography, to it being almost entirely evocative, by allowing my audience to “…experience an experience” (ELLIS, 1993, p.711; ELLIS & BOCHNER, 2006). I think this was the best case for me in my final BCM class to do something out of the ordinary for me, something challenging in both a video editing and physically time consuming way.

Mukbang: …“Meok,” which is a shortened version of the verb “meokda” — meaning “to eat” — and “bang” — short for “bangsong,” which translates to “on air” (The Korea Herald, 2013).

Writing down the idea – part 1.

It is a product of Hallyu 2.0 (Korean wave…

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Jack Polglase

SOLΔR태양, A two-member k-pop duo with a twist on popular k-pop culture. The aim of this series of k-pop inspired cover art/posters was an attempt to enhance our understanding of the Autoethnographic process, see what it really entailed to complete a series derived with the complexities of a different culture.

The K-pop phenomenon itself or The ‘Korean Wave’ highlights the growing popularity of a number of Korean cultural products across East and Southeast Asia from the late 1990s. The Chinese popular media began to use the term ‘Korean Wave’ (Hallyu) to describe the increasingly high audience ratings of Korean dramas on major broadcasting stations in Japan and China. From this period, Korean films and Korean pop music, widely known as K-pop, also increased in popularity in international music markets (Kwong, SH & Kim, J 2013, p.518)

K-pop has become the international face of South Korea thanks to an extremely regimented…

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Digital Asia: building upon my DA idea

Jack Polglase

It’s been a week or two since my last post regarding my idea for the Digital Artifact, and I think I’m still happy with my idea. The response has been positively received as well, with twocomments showing support and how I can further my idea along with a source that I can definitely use in the future!

Have I been watching TV over the past few weeks? Have I been watching a lot of it? Has it included anime? Has it included western animation? The easy answer is a definite YAAAAS while mulling over what we have learned throughout the semester as a constant self-reflexing audit of my thoughts, beliefs and presumptions of Asian (or Asian-derivative) media.

I’ve been doing so through my own DVD/Blu-Ray physical media (I am a bit of a collector), streaming services, and whatever happens to be on TV at…

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Digital Asia: my individual DA idea

Jack Polglase

I was a bit stumped as to how I could start off this Digital Artefact, as I had expressed earlier, do I stick to the familiar or try something new? Through some trial and error of possible ideas which were too familiar (literally anything ranging from Sailor Moon to K-pop), I decided to keep the concept of animation, but not anime (in the strict Japanese sense of the term), and to spin the idea to work in a way that requires further research, critical analysis, and reflection.

The programmes above are all created in the United States by (mostly) Westerners, but all have a very Asian influence and appeal. The Powerpuff Girls clearly shows the least amount of influence (still some), has a Japanese original spinoff/sequel which could be addressed. Therefore, some of the criteria that I had in mind to analyse were that the programmes…

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Digital Asia: Akira Live-Tweeting

Jack Polglase

Okay, straight up, I did not really like Akira (1988). I truly appreciated the effort put in, and understood how it represented anime film making of the time (and the legacy it still leaves today), but I could not get into it. Other than not understanding the plot and pace of the film (couldn’t agree more, Brendon), the rough aesthetics and design of the characters weren’t really my thing, the film being screened in English did not help at all. Unfortunately, going into the film being a massive fan of Neon Genesis Evangelion, it felt all too familiar despite being made seven years after Akira.

What I appreciate from this viewing is that I am having an ‘epiphany’ moment as described by Angus, key to the autoethnographic process, and I am biased towards other forms of entertainment. Ellis describes the epiphany as stemming from “…being part of a culture…

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Digital Asia: Gojira Live-Tweeting

Jack Polglase

Well, the first seminar for BCM320 Digital Asia was honestly one of the most interesting and funnest classes I think I’ve ever been to, especially for a first class, which are typically too administrative and content-lite. However, we were introduced to an important concept that will carry on for the rest of the semester: autoethnography. From Angus’, Chris’ explanation and the reading, the screening of Gojira and the live-tweeting was an important experience to be immersed in for the first seminar.

Prior to the screening, I thought about how I enjoyed the 2014 Godzilla (despite it being pretty average) and had vague memories of the 1998 Godzilla (I do not think I have seen it, maybe just advertisements or snippets from when it has been on television). I did not think about how I would react to the true original, black and white, Japanese subtitled 1954 Gojira. Through the…

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