I arrived in Stockholm today, four years ago. Never thought I’d stay this long. At the beginning, I thought it was going to be just two years (or as I’d like to say it before, 100 weeks) of Master’s study. But here I am now, two years into the PhD programme. It has been a very important four years: a period of change and transition, even when at times the transition seemed to be backwards. – One of the main theme of this period is a sense of closure and resolution. It’s a closure of a decade long journey started...
Category: Blog
Halo, kamu, aku sepuluh tahun lalu
Halo, kamu, aku sepuluh tahun lalu. Hang in there, buddy, everything would be okay. Aku tahu, kamu masih gamang menentukan arah hidupmu. Tahun sebelumnya begitu menyenangkan. Kamu bisa menghirup udara negeri yang sudah lama kita impikan dan hidup di sana, meski sejenak. Kamu bertemu orang-orang yang menginspirasimu untuk terus melangkah. Dan kamu ingin terus melangkah pergi kan? Jangan kuatir. Semuanya akan baik-baik saja. Tahun ini kamu harus memilih antara pekerjaan (project yang nilainya cukup untuk nge-kickstart startup yang kamu impikan!) atau sebuah pertunjukan musik dengan orang-orang terdekatmu. Aku bangga dengan pilihanmu. Aku tahu, di satu sisi kamu akan merasa gagal dan...
100 Weeks of Master’s Programme (part 4)
This is part 4 (last) of a series started here. 4. Social study of media technology These two courses were not mandatory. They were not even from my programme. As soon as I knew that my mandatory and elective courses quota is fulfilled, I looked beyond my programme and department to find interesting courses. Science Goes Fiction: Science Fiction, Film, and Technological Futures in a Historical Perspective (link) Future of Media In Science Goes Fiction, I got to watch a science fiction film every week and wrote on a topic related to the film as the assignments. Of course, the films were...
100 Weeks of Master’s Programme (part 3)
This is part 3 of a series started here. 3. Interaction design These courses were taken with the consideration of building a future career in interaction design / UX design. Interaction Design Methods (link) Interaction Design as a Reflective Practice (link) Physical Interaction Design and Realization (link) Interaction Design Methods course provided the basic knowledge of how an interaction designer works. Different types of designs were discussed (commercial design, experimental design, responsible design, discursive design), along with methods development (i.e: agile) and evaluation. One key concept from this course that I have used in many following courses is the Double Diamond...
100 Weeks of Master’s Programme (part 2)
This is part 2 of a series started here. 2. Sound and music I’ve worked as sound designer for a while back home, and I just want to learn more. Audio Technology (link) Sound in Interaction (link) Musical Communication and Music Technology (link) Audio Technology was the most difficult course I had during these two years period. There were lots of physics on acoustics and signal processing, covering topics from analog to digital conversion, audio coding and compression, to 3D sound. Sound in Interaction course focused sound as information carrier. Sound is used extensively in our interaction with technology, from smartphone notification sound to feedback of our...
100 Weeks of Master’s Programme (part 1)
I like the idea of having 2-year goals, only because there’s a nice round 100-week period in it (plus the extra 4 weeks for holiday). And I have just finished one of those periods, namely the Master’s Programme of Interactive Media Technology at KTH, Stockholm. As a closure, I would like to reflect on the courses I took. There are several tracks / specializations to choose from in the programme, and I tailored my courses as a mix between interaction design and sonic media (have a look here for more info on the programme). Looking back, I think my courses could be grouped into 5 categories....
Delapan Tahun Berlalu
Tahun 2008, saya kembali dari Italia ke Indonesia dengan perasaan campur aduk. Di satu sisi, saya hepi karena bisa merasakan hidup di luar negeri, meskipun hanya tiga bulan kurang sedikit. Tidak tanggung-tanggung, lokasinya pun sebuah kota kecil nan indah di atas bukit wilayah Tuscany, bernama Siena. Entah sudah berapa lama sebelumnya saya terobsesi dengan Italia: musiknya, bahasanya, makanannya, sejarahnya, dan lain sebagainya. Kesempatan itu datang berbentuk kursus singkat bahasa dan budaya, dan saya manfaatkan sebaik-baiknya untuk menghirup sebanyak mungkin Italia. Di sisi lain, saya pulang dengan rasa yang sama seperti sebuah tim sepak bola yang menjadi bulan-bulanan lalu tersisih dalam fase grup piala...
Sebuah Kesalahan
Sudah lama saya ingin aktif menulis dalam bentuk blog. Entah sudah berapa usaha menulis rutin di Blogspot dan Tumblr yang pada akhirnya terhenti begitu saja di tengah jalan. Padahal ide untuk tulisan tak pernah habis, selalu ada saja ide-ide yang begitu menggoda untuk dituliskan. Barangkali, sumber masalahnya adalah ketidakpedean, atau mungkin keinginan untuk menghasilkan sesuatu yang sempurna, yang lebih baik dari orang lain. Apalagi ada orang-orang di sekitar saya yang sepertinya dapat dengan mudah menghasilkan sesuatu. Tentang tulis-menulis ini bisa jadi sama dengan sejumlah ide musik yang pada akhirnya hanya berhenti dalam bentuk rekaman sketsa kasar, ataupun ide-ide lainnya yang berhenti pada sketsa dan coretan di...
