What are the parameters of the academic document? And how can its myriad forms deepen and shape the process of being in research? Ahead of upcoming postgraduate symposium Without End: Documents of Research (University of Northampton, 16 February 2018), Meghann Hillier-Broadley and Francis Blore reflect on the generative potential of the various fragments – from post-it notes to notebooks to highlighted texts – that form the material substances inspiring and driving research

Blore, Francis

Hillier-Broadley, Meghann

LSE Research Online

Materiality	of	Research:	Without	End:	Documents	ofResearch	by	Meghann	Hillier-Broadley	and	FrancisBloreWhat	are	the	parameters	of	the	academic	document?	And	how	can	its	myriad	forms	deepen	and	shape	theprocess	of	being	in	research?	Ahead	of	upcoming	postgraduate	symposium	Without	End:	Documents	ofResearch	(University	of	Northampton,	16	February	2018),	Meghann	Hillier-Broadley	and	Francis	Blore	reflecton	the	generative	potential	of	the	various	fragments	–	from	post-it	notes	to	notebooks	to	highlighted	texts	–	thatform	the	material	substances	inspiring	and	driving	research.	If	you	are	interested	in	submitting	an	abstract	for	the	symposium	ahead	of	the	deadline	on	1	November	2017,further	information	can	be	found	below	this	post	here.	This	essay	is	part	of	an	LSE	RB	series	examining	thematerial	cultures	of	academic	research,	reading	and	writing.	If	you	would	like	to	contribute,	please	contact	theManaging	Editor	of	LSE	Review	of	Books,	Dr	Rosemary	Deller,	at	lsereviewofbooks@lse.ac.uk.	Without	End:	Documents	of	ResearchImage	Credit:	(Without	End	symposium)Research	(noun)1.	 The	systematic	investigation	into	and	study	of	materials	and	sources	in	order	to	establish	facts	and	reachnew	conclusions.Research	(verb)	[with	object]1.	 Investigate	systematically	(Oxford	English	Dictionary)LSE Review of Books: Materiality of Research: Without End: Documents of Research by Meghann Hillier-Broadley and Francis Blore Page 1 of 4		Date originally posted: 2017-10-13Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/10/13/materiality-of-research-without-end-documents-of-research-by-meghann-hillier-broadley-and-francis-blore/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/Such	a	definition	of	research	feels	too	linear:	it	does	not	seem	to	account	for	the	frenetic	and	labile	nature	ofthought	as	it	breaches	the	‘new’.	At	the	time	of	writing,	I	feel	caught	in	a	metaphorical	microcosm	of	all	that	I	wishto	say	about	the	experience	of	being	in	research.	In	this	metaphor,	the	empty	white	page	is	the	gap	in	mydiscipline	and	the	text	is	the	‘new’	I	wish	to	create.	The	gap	is	that	space	within	which	I	begin	to	hear	the	whizzand	hum	of	the	engine	of	thought.	Its	openness	offers	room	for	thought	to	become	profuse,	to	unfurl	andpopulate.Without	a	map	for	the	new,	the	ends	remain	undisclosed:	these	speculations	multiply	faster	than	logic	can	attendto.	Thought	does	not	beget	thought,	but	rather	innumerable	seductive	possibilities.	I	am	piqued	by	all,	and	to	thinkof	the	play	of	potentialities	offered	in	this	gap,	to	constellate	and	cohere,	to	give	form	and	reason	to	the	new,	tocreate	this	text,	my	charge	becomes	a	giddying	thought.	As	with	any	research	endeavour	I	have	undertaken	thusfar,	there	are	so	many	ways	this	could	turn	out:	so	many	ways	to	constitute	meaning	and	so	many	meanings	thatcould	be	constituted.Yet,	to	say	something,	anything,	one	must	be	drawn	from	many,	and	the	giddy	must	become	steadied.	This	iswhat	Hélène	Cixous	refers	to	as	‘the	moment	for	cutting	short’,	where	a	hundred	sentences	are	suppressed	forone.	It	is	the	point	where	potentialities	must	be	postponed	or	deferred.	There	are	a	battery	of	thoughts,	intriguesand	insights,	a	tangle	of	possibilities,	either	sitting	outside	this	text	or	sleeping	beneath	it	in	the	palimpsest	natureof	its	constitution.	For	this	text,	as	with	any	output,	more	is	always	omitted	than	submitted.	As	I	am	writing,	I	keepreluctant	secrets	out	of	necessity	rather	than	desire.	Despite	this,	against	desire,	such	action	is	necessary	to	fleshout	the	body	and	substance	of	potential,	an	exchange	of	riches	to	buy	that	moment	of	quietude	and	consolidationthat	finds	progress,	direction,	so	the	new	may	form.Image	Credit:	(*_Abhi_*	CC	BY	2.0)In	looking	around	me	now,	I	find	that	to	move	from	the	giddy	to	the	quiet	requires	an	act	of	exorcism.	The	spaceneeded	to	allow	these	thoughts	and	potentialities	to	operate	and	act	out,	to	be	indiscriminately	curious	of	eachother,	is	too	expansive	to	be	observed	internally.	So,	there	is	evidence	here	of	thought	expressed	materially	–	ofthe	need	to	externalise	thought,	to	engage	it,	to	handle	it,	remember	it,	so	that	it	may	be	kneaded	into	asemblance	of	form.	Through	externalisation,	the	drawing	forth	from	the	capacity	of	the	body,	those	sprawlingspeculations,	shimmering	questions,	alluring	diversions,	become	material	agents	in	the	world	of	things.	All	thosecontingencies,	incompletes	and	bits-and-pieces	I	need	but	cannot	carry,	are	a	glistening	breadcrumb	trail	ofinteractions	and	fragments	that	allow	the	process	to	continue	ever	deeper.LSE Review of Books: Materiality of Research: Without End: Documents of Research by Meghann Hillier-Broadley and Francis Blore Page 2 of 4		Date originally posted: 2017-10-13Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/10/13/materiality-of-research-without-end-documents-of-research-by-meghann-hillier-broadley-and-francis-blore/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/At	my	present	point	in	the	process,	there	has	been	a	return,	a	recall	to	one	site	of	interaction	I	know	well.	This	siteis	my	desk.	Notwithstanding	their	standard	stock	build,	there	is	something	specific	about	a	desk	and	its	ancillarycomponents.	Bruised	with	ink,	blemished	with	coffee	rings,	this	desk	bears	witness	to	scuffles	with	the	new.	Thiscomputer	has	played	upon	all	vulnerability,	participating	in	both	the	feat	and	folly	of	searching.	This	chair,	with	itspeeling	arms,	has	been	a	support	through	nights	of	angst	and	labour,	of	toil.	There	have	been	so	many	times	thatI	have	been	lost	into	these	objects	and	these	activities	that	our	difference	has	blurred.	To	enter	this	site,	I	feel	myconstitution	shift;	I	exist	somewhere	between	these	objects.	The	return	to	this	interaction	is	awash	with	historiesthat	recall	their	loves,	desires	and	ambitions	to	the	present	and	inform	what	I	am	here	to	do.There	is	concurrence	of	this	type	of	interaction	in	all	the	objects	that	thought	has	brought	me	to.	From	the	outset,there	was	one	book	that	I	reached	to	out	of	instinct.	We	have	collaborated	so	many	times	prior.	The	words	nowtell	of	our	combined	narratives	and,	without	knowing	why,	there	was	the	sense	our	story	would	continue	here.But,	beyond	these	words,	the	connection	is	as	much	about	objecthood	as	it	is	content.	The	book’s	thumbedpages	and	battered	corners	expose	the	histories	coming	together	and	our	minimal	degrees	of	separation.		Havingbeen	studied	at	length,	the	object	itself	speaks	of	the	unformed	and,	as	such,	unutterable	decanted	wonderingsand	agitations:	that	enactive	mode	of	being	that	can	be	reclaimed	through	proximity.	It	points	to	the	effect	of	raptabsorption,	of	touch	and	time,	where	thought	and	being	have	been	enfolded	in	the	interaction.	It	points	to	thekinship	with	the	object	as	a	‘thought	companion’.Image	Credit:	(crabchick	CC	BY	2.0)This	kinship	is	enshrined	in	the	fragment,	the	fleeting	moments	of	lucidity,	scribbled,	scrawled	or	scattered	aroundvarious	apparatus	of	thought.	To	my	left,	the	notebook	is	open;	there	are	pages	of	notes,	free-wheeling	thoughtsin	anticipation	of	writing	this	text.	At	points	of	hesitation,	I	return	to	pages	with	everything	from	words	to	sentencesto	paragraphs,	from	nodes	on	mind	maps	to	multiple	draft	structures.	The	lineage	of	material	thinking	exits	thepage	and	rises	before	me	onto	the	wall	into	an	array	of	post-it	notes.	Their	mobility	allows	constellations	to	gatherand	loosen	as	the	thinking	of	the	text	mutates.	Following	the	trajectory	brings	me	back	down	to	the	desk,	to	thehighlighted	and	annotated	texts	within	which	I	have	sought	both	the	ignition	and	salience	of	speculations.	In	themiddle,	the	current	text.LSE Review of Books: Materiality of Research: Without End: Documents of Research by Meghann Hillier-Broadley and Francis Blore Page 3 of 4		Date originally posted: 2017-10-13Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/10/13/materiality-of-research-without-end-documents-of-research-by-meghann-hillier-broadley-and-francis-blore/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/All	these	fragments	lock	their	generative	thought	into	their	physical	condition.	Their	material	condition	is	importantfor	‘the	term	‘‘material’’	describes	[…]	substances	that	are	always	subject	to	change’.	In	being	incomplete	in	bothcondition	and	content,	understood	as	material,	all	these	artefacts	of	thought	beckon	further	enactive	treatment.Through	this,	I	am	able	to	move	backwards	and	forwards	in	time	through	the	notebook.	I	can	feel	the	reach	ofdrawing	a	straggling	post-it	note	back	into	the	constellation.	I	can	be	detained	by	the	fluorescent	glare	of	ahighlight.	In	working	with	materials,	I	am	offered	the	opportunity	to	be	involved	in	the	process:	pickingup/internalise	thought(s),	putting	down/externalising	thought(s).	The	rub	creates	the	submissions	and	omissionsin	the	fusion	of	thoughts	into	an	idea.	As	one	highlight	reads:‘This	restlessness	creates	the	subject	through	coalescence,	coagulation	and	coordination,	here	moving	swiftly,there	moving	slowly.’Coalescing	ideas,	thicker	and	denser	than	thought,	fall	to	the	middle;	the	form	of	the	new	that	comes	to	be	thetext.And	thus,	the	text	is	cut	short	……but	outside	the	text,	encased	in	these	objects,	shot	through	these	fragments,	the	materials	to	which	I	haveentrusted	my	thoughts	remain	vibrant:	the	documents	of	research	in	potentia.These	‘documents	of	research’,	which	incite,	inspire	and	contain	the	precious	directions	and	deviations	ofresearch,	are	to	be	the	subject	of	the	Without	End:	Documents	of	Research	Postgraduate	Symposium	to	beheld	at	the	University	of	Northampton	on	Friday	16	February	2018.		Alongside	traditional	twenty-minute	oralpresentations,	there	will	be	an	exhibition	of	research	documents,	ranging	from	text,	image,	audio,	visual	artefactsto	specimens	that	showcase	the	diverse	materiality	of	research	and	its	processes.	The	intent	of	thisinterdisciplinary	symposium	and	exhibition	is	to	reflect	on	the	research	process,	of	being	in	research,	and	thedocuments	which	facilitate	and	inform	this.		If	you	would	like	to	submit	an	abstract	for	the	oral	presentation	or	adocument	for	the	exhibition,	please	see	the	Call	for	Papers	–	the	closing	date	is	1	November	2017.		WithoutEnd	seeks	to	be	an	academic,	supportive	environment	for	postgraduate	students	and	early	career	researchers	topresent	their	research	and	works-in-progress	through	the	framework	of	their	own	documents.Francis	Blore	is	a	practice	led	PhD	student	at	The	University	of	Northampton	researching	the	expanded	field	indrawing.		Francis	leads	a	Life	Drawing	class	at	the	university	and	has	presented	his	research	at	severalconferences	and	is	co-organiser	of	the	Without	End:	Documents	of	Research	Symposium.Meghann	Hillier-Broadley	is	a	PhD	student	at	The	University	of	Northampton	researching	the	Anthropocene	inChildren’s	Fantasy	literature.		Meghann	is	an	Associate	Lecturer	in	the	English	department	and	has	presentedher	research	at	several	conferences	and	is	co-organiser	of	the	Without	End:	Documents	of	ResearchSymposium.LSE Review of Books: Materiality of Research: Without End: Documents of Research by Meghann Hillier-Broadley and Francis Blore Page 4 of 4		Date originally posted: 2017-10-13Permalink: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/2017/10/13/materiality-of-research-without-end-documents-of-research-by-meghann-hillier-broadley-and-francis-blore/Blog homepage: http://blogs.lse.ac.uk/lsereviewofbooks/

Materiality of research: without end: documents of research by Meghann Hillier-Broadley and Francis Blore

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