Precedents (Systems of Exchange and Commodities)

Both of them are made by India

Reflection on all 3 Markets - Maryam

Immaterial materials Posts 

The market of immaterial labours created a busy environment, which left a great experience. It has many pros and cons however, I am sure each market had learnt from each flaw. The immaterial market was a successful market which achieved many things a market should achieve. One main stopper was the sense of direction which unfortunately lacked in this market and it did impact our personal experience as it didn’t allow us to experience the market the way we should. There was a great environment occurring throughout the market, some stalls felt were not exactly prepared for a mad rush. Some stalls got a but repetitive amongst all 3 markets, however each stall did have a valid answer to define their stall to match their market theme. This market was lucky to have the extra space and for the streams to come in separately. It did make an impact with the constancy flow however, I felt there needs to have been a little more work done with the organisation of the stalls, layout and flow as it was all over the place. The stalls were engaging and provided a labour of exchange. We developed an understanding of the concept of immaterial labour when visiting each stall, and we were given a brief overview of how they portrayed immaterial labour. A couple groups had a clear explanations where they provided hot drinks while being able to draw on these fabric patches. Then, when the market is completed, they were to as a group, knit the patches and donate them. Several stalls either donated their products or gave their products to their customers, such as a stamp, abstract image, pot plant etc. Successful stalls like that define the markets concept of immaterial labours. The experience and aesthetic of the beach chill out was a great way to end the market. The dark room stalls were great. They were unique, and being a participant in those stalls was a great experience. 

Abandoned materials Posts 

The overall market had a successful turnout, a couple stalls lacked is showing the concept of abandoned materials as they didn’t exactly talk through with the participates. Others were very informative and helpful. I liked the the atmosphere and vibe, it was a good environment to be in. The market flow was a little confusing, when you walk in there is no sense of direction so it wasn't guided very well. the ending ended oddly, the coffee made sense to be a relaxing end however we were guided to leave to the last abandoned dreams stall. it was nice but i think needed to be situated somewhere else? Also the fact that when our time ended,we had to leave and and not continue as the next stream walked in.

Impossible things 

The market of impossible things was a successful turnout. It was a tricky theme to work with however, it pushed us to look into it further.  The markets flow had caused a little bit of issues regarding queueing, this did effect the experience of the visitors as they were too bothered by the fact that they were waiting too long rather than the experience of the stall.

Our stall was ready and prepared, however there was a little stress prior the market and during the planning stage. We were originally set based with having an art class, and experiencing the past with art. This idea would relate to most students at Massey, having this concept was really nice and were definitely  able to push ourselves further. Unfortunately, other groups started pitching their ideas and it was going to get repetitive so we met up as a group and started brainstorming what our other options were. somehow a birthday party came into conversations and from there, we decided to look into throwing a birthday party. It worked well with the past theme we were in. We each allocated roles, i was a overly excited mum who would greet every one coming through and give them a gold sticker, It was a little out of my comfort zone however I am so pleased with the encouragement i got i was able to do it and it was such a exceptional experience to have. 

We recieved great feedback from participants who understood our concept which was great to hear.

The order of the past market flowed nicely.. Some saw it as a happy accident however, we had to somewhat fight(not literally) for the area we got. There was slight issues, and miscommunication between a couple groups so when it came to the prototype everyone was all over the place. We all had a talk and the prom com managed to sort it out which was great and they did an exceptional job at communicating with us. 

Things to improve would be 

Do a little more research and have a more party atmosphere. Duncan suggested creating a treehouse, go all out and crazy. Thats a environment i would like to have explored if we had more time. It would have topped of the nostalgia/ past experience. Having a physical house built will balloons surrounding it would be great, the atmosphere would be wonderful and we would receive timeless reactions. 

Review of all the markets

Impossible Things

The market excelled on appearance and the performance of the people running the stall. Aesthetically the market was really good, colorful and striking to the eyes which gave all the stalls an initial positive response from the customers, while watching them walk thorough the area I noticed a lot of them were looking around and genuinely intrigued with how everything looked. The Market also benefited from how much the people in the stalls interacted with the customers, most people approaching them before their stall, further strengthening the atmosphere of the stall, some examples of this are, our stall (birthday party) Maryam and India approached the people as they came towards the stall and wished them a happy birthday, making the theme of the stall clear, another example was the detention stall, where Calum walked around handing out detentions, making up reasons for these detentions. Due to the compact space we had to work with and the decision to make the market linear, there was a lot of congestion and the later stalls in the pit didn't start getting people till about 30 min into the market, because of this the start of the market was very cramped and chaotic and a large collection of people missed out on the last couple of stalls, one thing to note is everyone's reaction to the fact they couldn't go to the remaining stalls was disappointment, which indicates how much they enjoyed the market and how much they wanted to see the rest.
Perhaps if we had more time, both in organizing and running the market these problems wouldn't have been as bad, (or existed) there was definitely a need for us to have run another mock market so that the congestion problem would've been realized and a solution made for the problem.


Immaterial Labours

Unfortunately I did not attend this market due to me not feeling too well.


Abandoned Materials

This stall was very coherent and clearly displayed what it was about. The market as a whole looked like a single market rather a gathering of stalls in a designated space, most of the stalls using a similar faded color palette, of cardboard or paper. Most of the stalls clearly showed what their theme was, some even showed you the process they took to make what they were 'selling', from making paper from recycled paper pulp, to grinding their own coffee beans, this helped the customers to understand the process of cycle of what they've recycled. Upon entering the market there was no clear direction you had to take, however the market naturally ran in a clockwise direction so any collisions between groups of people were avoided, this process was assisted by the group of people who walked around and helped you if you were in need and made the market flow better. There was also some other forms of 'recycling' where adjacent stalls would use each others products to strengthen the others, this was really cool to see and was another example of recycling, a good example of the term, 'another mans trash is another mans treasure'. The exit however was very hidden and I almost missed it if it were not for those who were walking around, the 'exit', a dream space felt very disconnected from the rest of the market, from being very hidden to the fact that there was no 'material' that was abandoned, rather it used dreams.

Video for final market

Film India 

Edit Mady 

Personal reflection of all 3 markets

Impossible Things

I thought our market went pretty well, there’s definitely things I’d change however and I think given another week our market could’ve been pretty insane. There seemed to be a lot of congestion with people entering the market, However I think this was due to the hallway we were arranged in, had we have been outside it may have been a bit more open. I think the congestion almost added to the atmosphere of our market as everyone seemed really excited and up for anything. We were conveniently placed between the play dough & children's gallery stalls, although we did kind of have to work for this spot. when it came to everyone figuring out where they were going to be we knew that it would be strange to go from a kids birthday party right into detention, and so we discussed & came up with the order. Which worked well, the vibe followed through and everyone kind of got that it was very much a play on the time warp theme.

As people entered we would say things like ‘Happy 5th Birthday’ and welcomed them, giving them gold stickers & party poppers etc. Whilst most people reciprocated our excitement, we found some to be a little standoffish and shy, meaning we had to work a bit harder to get the response we were looking for, which we anticipated.

If we were to do the market again, without restrictions (such as money/time/space) we would probably change some things. Addings things such as a bouncy castle, walls of balloons, maybe making a playhouse big enough for adults would really get the vibe pumping. Here are some mockups of these ideas:

Immaterial Labours

Regretfully, I didn't make it to this market as I was sick that day, however from the other members of my groups review it looked really interesting and I thought they did a good job on all the decorations & look of the market. Mady said it was kind of repetitive, as in the stalls seemed very similar, which is disappointing but may show they needed to better communicate as a group to establish a larger variety of ideas. 

Abandoned Materials

I found the concept of abandoned materials pretty clear, and a lot of stalls were obvious in their approach. A lot of stalls had a little information sheet, letting you know the impact that the abandoned materials have on the planet & the sustainability of recycling. Certain stalls went out of their way to let you know how sustainable their product was. The compost stall & the nub stall really highlighted the full life cycle of their product, whilst most other stalls didn’t. On entry to the market, the path you were meant to take seemed pretty confusing. The market fit together pretty well, everyone seemed pretty cohesive & followed a theme. The placement I feel could’ve been better, as some myself & a friend walked straight past a stall and didn’t realize it existed until after the market had finished. The missed stall being the dream one that apparently sat in behind the coffee/pallet area.

Seeing as I was close to the start of the line we didn’t have to wait for long, and the organizing group seemed to be doing a good job of talking to people and welcoming them, handing out maps and things. We were also handed a plastic bag & they let us stow our personal belongings which proved to be really convenient. Everyone seemed excited & the energy felt comfortable in the space, friendly and welcoming.

Personal reviews

For our market
I think it is always important to make a plan as early as possible. Otherwise, it will be too hurried at the end of a project and could do many thing in vain. Our group teamporarily decided to make a stall about art class in the first place. Then, we found that somebody in our  market was actually doing that as well. To avid clash of stall to make sure that customs will have different unique experience, we decide to change our theme of stall. Fortunately, we did come up with a new good idea instead. However, we did spend a few weeks for the art class stall which end up with almost nothing. In a word, to make a decision early in a group, we should have discussed with the other teams more.

Moreover, some other unexpected accidents happened:Our group of market were trying to change our name as a big group and the certain location of our market was unknow until we had to start seting up. To solve those issues, we should have contacted to the organizational group or even the tutors more often.
All in all, I believe that chaos and unexpected accidents can be avoided by further comunication.

Review for the market of immaterial labours

I like the signs and instructions they put outside of the market, makes me feel more excited about the market.

Its quite nice that some stores provide little cards/gifts/drinks/candy. although some has run out before I can participate.

Although the themes are different, I feel like that some of the stores are a bit similar, like im keep doing the same thing.

the experience is nice, I felt comfortable to participate all the stores, I understood how each store works with giving instructions.

Felt really nice in the beach relaxing place and would like to stay there longer.

A review for market of impossible things

Our market is of impossible things. Staffs were selling experience while customers express their feeling in return. That is how the exchange system works. Each stall sought to create their own specific emotion as that is the goods they are selling. 

There are three different stalls on the photo above, the gallary stall,the party stall and the play doh stall.

The gallery creates a quiet and peaceful space in the very beginning of the market while the party stall could be the most hilarious part of the whole market. Then the rest of stalls presents less and less active emotion camparing to the party one. That was an accident but this arrangement of stalls which forms an ongoing experience does smoothly connect stalls together.
As Dr Elizabeth Suda mentions that:
 "The relationship between the subject and the photographer impacts on the meaning communicated in the image...While the subject has agency and communicates an image of him/ herself, the operator of the camera also has agency through the techniques employed with the camera and the context within which the image is created." The photo represents how the photographer thought the market is supposed to feel like. It suggests that the market offer elements to motivate customers.   

quote: Image as Text: Truth and Memory in Family History

A report/critique of immaterial market

The signs and decoractions in the beginning of the market shows a positive atmosphere. Staffs on the entrance allow customers to come in without chaoes. Each stall does present their own specific experience to customers and catch the theme of immaterial labours to some extent. For example, the drawing stall on the picture make each customer drawing a quarter of a portrait which result in a collaborative picture at the end. In this case, they supply equipment to exchange labours of customers. Besides, some stalls give customers particular "gifts" such as stamp on hand, a little plant and an abstract picture about the customer. That could be regarded as further experience of the market.
Emma H. Wood indicates that as an experiental market should has the potential to communicate (p248). Many stalls in this market do well about interacting participants. Some talk to the participants (The mini-sketch stall) while some ask question about them (The fok one?).

However, there are still some issues on it. First, there should have some more clear interpretion on some stall. For example, the contract on the dark room is just not on the right place as the environment is too dark that people have to get close to read. Second, Still, a few stalls do not interact to their customs very much. Take the stall of "animatied turetable" for exmple, They do not activate me (as a participant) and the effect of animation was not working very well.

No every stalls seem to fullfill the requirement as a system of exchange. Some just do not receive labour from the customers or do not really motivate customers.

 Overall, the market does create a nice environment for communication.




Emma H.Wood.(2009). Evaluating Event Marketing: Experience or Outcome.

Final market review

My experience for our final market was everything were a bit rush, since we’ve changed our idea from an art classroom to the birthday party, we only have 3 weeks of time to explore and experience new ideas, I feel like our market will be more successful if we have more time to prepare.Our market probably will create a whole different experience if we have unlimited budget to spend, we could have much more decorations/ better foods/ bigger canvas etc...  

We’ve got some good review with the food stand we provided, however I feel like many people were too focus on the food instead of the enjoying the environment we created. Maybe if we create some games or get in to our character more we can make participators feel more engage when they’re eating. 

The market flow were not too consistent, sometimes we will have 10+ people lining up waiting to do the finger painting, and sometimes there will only be a couple people walking around. These made us feel nervous about the number of party bags we’re giving away and end up with many of them left.