Scott Penman

Toward Computational Play

Last fall, I presented a summary of my thesis work at the ACADIA 2017: Disciplines and Disruptions conference held at MIT. It was an exciting entry into the publishing/conference world, and the condensed format of the paper supplies me with a nice, concise version of my thesis. I’ve converted it into a blog post, sansContinue reading “Toward Computational Play”

MIT: Semesters 4 + 5

Well, I guess I never wrote a “Semester 4” recap. There are a number of reason for that – but for now, I’ll just co-opt the fact that it’s better to tell the story of Semesters 4 and 5 together. Here goes: My fourth semester was supposed to be my last…

MIT: Semester 3

In my last MIT recap, I outlined a model of graduate research that started with breadth, as I pursued the many and varied classes that sparked my interest, and progressed to depth, as I focused my topics into a concise, thorough thesis. That’s a nice model, I suppose. And while it might roughly capture theContinue reading “MIT: Semester 3”

The Pursuit of Certainty

In setting up a counterpoint to last the last post (The Pursuit of Risk), it seems only fitting to again begin with David Pye: “With the workmanship of risk we may contrast the workmanship of certainty, always to be found in quantity production, and found in its pure state in full automation. In workmanship ofContinue reading “The Pursuit of Certainty”

The Pursuit of Risk

Building on my last post ((Re)Defining Play), I’d like to expand the idea that the core trait of play is an attitude rather than an observable, external activity. I intend to situate play within a broader notion of what I will call the pursuit of risk. This phrase pulls directly from David Pye’s “workmanship ofContinue reading “The Pursuit of Risk”

(Re)Defining Play

In my undergraduate thesis, I explored the topic of play at length. The fact that I was allowed to conduct a research thesis (rather than a design thesis) is arguably responsible for my current status as a grad student, but I admit I did not anticipate that I would ultimately repeat (and expand) the veryContinue reading “(Re)Defining Play”