Tinkering is a creative process that also incorporates social aspects. It entails fiddling around with something, somehow breaking it down, understanding it, reconstructing and repairing it, making it more beneficial to society. There are many different scenarios where tinkering can be applied including pieces of writing, physical or online ideas/objects, works of art such as paintings and drawings as well as others. Come to think of it, most of us have been tinkering for a very long time. Consider grammar, as stated in the reading, for example. From as early on as the first grade, we have been editing our work, learning how to write, draw, and create which all represent forms of tinkering. More recently, my eyes are constantly attached to the computer screen. People have been tinkering with computers and technology for years, finding ways to understand it and improve upon it.
Before I reviewed the “Tinkering” readings for this week, I had no idea what the term meant, nor did I think I had any previous experience in tinkering. However, now that I understand the definition, I realize that I have actually been tinkering for a while, especially with technology and various forms of media. Over the past few years, the computer science classes I took focused mainly on Photoshop which involved taking a picture, fragmenting it, using certain parts of it in order to create a new and improved photo that became useful to me. Lately, I also did some video editing where I captured specific clips within a video, enhanced and altered them in a particular way to design and develop a new version of the film. Until now, I did not know that these are all examples of tinkering.
I look forward to all the work that lies ahead of me with regards to tinkering. I am excited to gain more experience and gather further knowledge on this topic while I am in the New Media program!