Material shifts in praxis: Projections of digital humanities embodied within space and place

Abstract

The essential problem of man in a computerized age remains the same as it has always been. That problem is not to solely how to be more productive, more comfortable, more content, but how to be more sensitive, more proportionate, more alive (Cousins,1966). Through communication in physical proximity; the researchers’ experienced human connexions exploring the interplay between the real and the virtual. And these connexions became the potentiality of co-creative spaces, opening us to see, reflect and make new opportunities for exploring and developing innovative approaches. Therefore we experienced a deeper inquiry into encountering the relationships between theory and practice led research methodologies and pedagogic praxis in and across art, design & architecture. “For art practices to be considered research, artists-theorists need to engage directly with theoretical concerns that can be investigated in studio contexts as well as through other mediated forms and methods” (Sullivan, 2005) As a playful testament to the rapidly changing digital landscape, as practitioners, we observed a nascent desire to visualise our ever-evolving digital society. In this Transitional setting for Re-thinking Textiles and Surfaces; Taylor, Unver and Benincasa-Sharman, share evolving specular projections of praxis through re-transitions of megalithic materials, pre-historic digital surfaces, historical contexts, space and place theories, archive point cloud data, human population tools and 3D fabrication. “The question persists and indeed grows whether the computer will make it easier or harder for human beings to know who they really are, to identify their real problems, to respond more fully to beauty, to place adequate value on life, and to make their world safer than it now is.” (Cousins, 1966) References: Cousins, N.(1966).The Poet and the Computer. In Pylyshyn, Z.W., & Bannon, L. (Eds.) Perspectives on the Computer Revolution. Intellect Books, 1989. Sullivan, G.(2005). Art Practice as Research. Inquiry in the Visual Arts. Sage, 2005