These are the echoes: Sound Proof 2008-2012

Article in peer-reviewed journal Culture/Kultura for their thematic issue, Art Media and Cultural Memory. Based on the conference talk given at CCCS Annual Conference on Cultural Memory 4-7 September 2013

Becoming the Olympics: The Sound Proof series of exhibition (2008-2012)

Presentation at the Heritage Architecture LanDesign conference. Organised by Le Vie dei Mercanti and sponsored by Forum UNESCO. http://www.leviedeimercanti.it/2013eng

Zones of Intensity Invested with Desire

Based on the conference talk given at the Centre for Culture and Cultural Studies Conference, 'Media: Theory and Practice', Skopje, Macedonia, 4-6 September 2014. Abstract: This paper explores the meaning-making potential of cultural sites of historical importance within the current framework of human communication that now seamlessly intertwines digital, electronic and organic forms of contact. The paper argues that the computer-guided communication prevalent now favours the systematic and programmed and that has repercussions in terms of our sense of identity as organic beings living in a physical world. A response is to reinforce a sense of place via direct experience in cultural sites that are invested with a strong sense of place, referred to as “zones of intensity invested with desire” (this term was coined by Russell West-Pavlov and referenced by Darko Radovic to address the visual bias of urban planning). The argument follows that there needs to be a conscious reconnection with all the senses, overcoming the current visual bias encouraged by communication via the printed word. Art as alternative modality of relations has a strong role to play to reconnect us to the meaning-making elements in physical sites and reinforce the sense of place so crucial in our existence as organic beings

The Case for Informal Spaces in the Workplace

Summary: This chapter makes the case for informal spaces in the workplace by emphasising the qualitative benefits they can provide, most specifically in the realm of innovation. This goes against the current bias in evidence-based policy that the most valued evidence is that which can be measured (Belfiore & Bennett, 2008, p.5) and aligns with qualitative forms of representing experience, knowledge, and outcomes. The link is made here between transformation and innovation. Innovation is seen as the fertile offshoot of creating a space for growth, debate and experimentation; one parallel to and overlapping with the more formal channels of established communication and interaction in the workplace. Transformation is difficult to substantiate and requires qualitative forms of expression and analysis to come into view. This chapter aims for a more balanced view of all forms of analysis and argues that qualitative forms are the most effective at capturing innovation. Background: The current bias for quantification is the result, as Eleonora Belfiore and Oliver Bennett outline in their intellectual history of cultural policy, of a growing reliance on evidence to make the case for policy. This took form in the 1990’s as a pragmatic response to what was then viewed as ideologically driven decision-making. Decisions would be based on effectiveness rather than political bias. Elements would be measured against one another in order to ascertain the best way forward. In an effort to make the case for evidence-based decision-making, “hard data, such as facts, trends and survey information, were widely seen as the ‘gold standard’” (Belfiore & Bennett, 2008, p.5). Quantitative forms of analysis took over as they provided a way of measuring and comparing which sated the need to base decisions on clearly-arguable numerical frameworks. If experiences and spaces can be reduced to numerical units, comparisons can be more readily made, and more importantly, argued. This approach was all about making the case and the decision was made to base it on scientific methods as those had the most credibility. The subtext riding below the surface of this approach was (and, it is argued, continues to be) that qualitative forms of analysis cannot be trusted to formulate decisions

Zines as qualitative forms of analysis

Purpose: This report brings forward the possibility of capturing creativity and human experience through a visual ethnography approach, applying the use of ‘zines’ as a means of capturing individual engagement with a process. Zines are small (maga)zines from the do-it-yourself movement. They began as a means for fans to express their support of favourite musicians. They are a means to express collective voice from the ground up, less formal than a publication produced by an entity, but formal enough to be considered publications in their own right. Zines can be handcrafted in rough method or can be beautifully designed and produced to very high standards. Zines are presented in this paper as a method of collecting and analysing data within a framework of qualitative analysis that retains more of the shape of the complete experience (Dewey). This is done so as to maintain a more overall sense of what the experience was for an individual participating in an activity within the organisational context. Accounting for experience only through evidence, this paper argues, loses many important elements of experience, such as tacit engagement, experiential knowledge, and individual judgement. What is being lost, this paper argues, is the human creative input and engagement with experiences in the organisational and workplace context. Design/methodology/approach: For IFKAD 2016, we propose to produce materials ahead of the conference (in the form of an advanced colouring book or a photo album) and invite participants to gather materials, notate impressions, draw and photograph in response to their experience in the conference. We aim for this zine to be a holistic record of a process, incorporating both positive and negative elements as a way of informing future activities. At the end of the conference, the researchers will collect and analyse the individual zines submitted by the conference participants and prepare an edited summarised publication of key impressions as made by the participants themselves as a response to the conference. Originality/value: This work proposed could be done solely for the Creative Coordination track or could involve all members attending the conference. The aim is is to implement this as a qualitative means of accounting for human experience by using IFKAD 2016 as a testing ground. Can we capture the thinking and impressions in this way to account for creativity and inform new methods? Practical implications: The researchers will co-create the materials. At the end of the conference, we will gather all mini publications from all the conference attendees who took part and create an edited summarised publication as a response to the conference. This will constitute a qualitative record of the creative endeavour during the conference

She lives in the coloured tape

A response to the work of Canadian artist and printmaker Julie Voyce in the form of a text piece and artwork. The artwork is a drawing made originally with fluorescent markers, then photocopied and drawn over with pencil. The text piece is a short essay on what impact Voyce's work had on me and on my practice. This is followed by a concrete poetry piece which functions as a set of instructions. The concrete poetry piece was originally exhibited in the Salon For A Speculative Future exhibition at Chisenhale Studios, London in March 2019. For the show the work consisted of single words on separate post-it notes in a constellation. For the book, the words functioned as a set of instructions that I followed when making the artwork

Service Design pedagogy and effective student engagement: Generative Tools and Methods

This practice-led investigation evaluates three generative design tools for active and tacit student engagement with postgraduate Service Design students, and their impact on the students’ approach to complex design projects. In Service Design education generative design tools have a robust pedagogical role for efficient knowledge creation and student engagement, yet are still under-explored academically. The Learn ’n’ link method delineates learning as an interactive dialogic practice for creative idea conceptualisation. The Zine Method is a visual ethnography approach that can be applied holistically to frame the problem area, propose a way forward, and prototype the solution. The Narrative Toolkit enables students to discuss and critique the narrative properties of existing designs and envision design outcomes. The students then use the Zine Method to qualitatively evaluate the methods’ contribution to their understanding of complex design problems and service user experience, and their function in bridging the gap between user research and generative design processes

The Zine Method

The Zine Method utilises a multi-page technique from the graphic arts, the zine, as a space where elements of a problem area or a solution can be mapped via the visual plane. Going beyond the single page format, the zine allows for multi-page and multi-dimensional expressions to come into contact with each other; for example, visual notions that have not been connected in the mind of the participant can be juxtaposed via this approach while still retaining their individual integrity in the single page. This format allows for notations to be made on the single page plane, so that focus can be applied to the singularity of that image, while at the same time allowing for an overview of the project to happen via the cuts and folds built into the construction of the zine. These allow for multiple ways of structuring and ’reading’ the information and for various juxtapositions to be made depending on proximity of spreads. There is an element of chance built into this design that frees the participant temporarily from making causal relationships between elements, and allows those relationships to emerge depending on how the structure is presented. It is a method that encourages intentional play, much like a game or a puzzle. Via the Zine Method, complex sets of elements can be represented in one package (the zine) letting ideas emerge from the active handling of the paper matter; by folding in different ways, by setting up the zine into a three-dimensional structure that refers to a larger concept taking shape in the mind of the participant. It is an emergent framework that expresses as an active process the subjective engagement with complexity and ambiguity in problem solving

Designer’s emotions in the design process

This is a position paper towards the establishment of a research network to address the impact of tacit experiential knowledge, emotion, and cultural perspective on a designer’s decision-making during a design process. With this network, we are aiming to start a focused discussion across geographies and cultures regarding the role and impact of designers’ emotions within their own design process. The function of this is to foreground the experiential and emotional domain of designers’ practice and examine the role of tacit experiential knowledge in design decision-making. The paper sets up the basis and context of discussion, exploring the three key areas to be addressed by the network: designers’ emotions as key drivers in decisionmaking; tacit experiential knowledge; and addressing emotion in culturally-situated design practice. This is followed by our proposed methodology and network objectives and expected impact and outcomes