The Visual Matrix Method: Imagery and Affect in a Group-based Research Setting

The visual matrix is a method for researching shared experience, stimulated by a sensory stimulus relevant to a research question. It is led by imagery, visualization and affect, which in the matrix take precedence over discourse. The method enables the symbolization of imaginative and emotional material, which might not otherwise be articulated and allows "unthought" dimensions of experience to emerge into consciousness in a participatory setting. We describe the process of the matrix with reference to the study "Public Art and Civic Engagement" (FROGGETT, MANLEY, ROY, PRIOR & DOHERTY, 2014) in which it was developed and tested. Subsequently, examples of its use in other contexts are provided. Both the matrix and post-matrix discussions are described, as is the interpretive process that follows. Theoretical sources are highlighted: its origins in social dreaming; the atemporal, associative nature of the thinking during and after the matrix which we describe through the Deleuzian idea of the rhizome; and the hermeneutic analysis which draws from object relations theory and the Lorenzerian tradition of scenic understanding. The matrix has been conceptualized as a "scenic rhizome" to account for its distinctive quality and hybrid origins in research practice. The scenic rhizome operates as a "third" between participants and the "objects" of contemplation. We suggest that some of the drawbacks of other group-based methods are avoided in the visual matrix—namely the tendency for inter-personal dynamics to dominate the event

Surviving in Manchester: Naratives on Movement from the Men's Room

The Men’s Room is an arts and social care agency that works creatively with young men, offering them opportunities to get involved in arts projects whilst accessing support for challenges they may be facing in their lives. The project engages different constituencies of young men experiencing severe and multiple disadvantage, including those involved with sex work or with experience of sexual exploitation, and those with experience of homelessness and/or the criminal justice system. ‘Surviving in Manchester’ was commissioned by the Lankelly Chase Foundation (LCF) and aimed to explore young men’s routes into the Men’s Room as well as how they defined successful service provision. The research included ethnographic fieldwork, walking tours led by young men to sites that they connected with their survival in the city, and a Visual Matrix conducted with staff and volunteers. It argues that the relational approach of the Men’s Room is a key organisational strength. This approach combines informal and formal support, unconditional acceptance, clear ground rules, and gauging of supportive interventions in ways that are sensitive to the young men’s readiness and ability to ‘move on’. It also includes valuable opportunities for social gathering, creative expression and public storytelling and image-making that extend the artistic and imaginative capacities of the young men and celebrate their abilities and experiences

Recovery and Movement: Allegory and 'Journey' as a means of exploring recovery from substance misuse

The paper explores the quality of the affective and embodied experiences of a group of people in recovery from substance misuse as part of their involvement with dance and movement workshops provided by the Fallen Angels Dance Theatre. In the research we used the visual matrix method alongside individual and group-based movement sessions so as to explore associations and affect emerging from the visual matrix. We question the frequently used metaphor of the ‘journey’ in recovery and suggest ‘allegory’ to be more apt. The linearity implied in journey contrasts with movements – both inner and outer – that are ‘nomadic’, ‘wayfaring’ and ‘rhizomatic’, focussed on affect and experience rather than targets and outcomes. We conclude that people working in the field of recovery and other areas of social work may wish to reconsider the value of embodiment in movement, relationship and affect when working with the experience of vulnerable people