I think Erik raises an important issue about the nature of the design object
and our relationship to it. It is especially pertinent in the context of PhD,
where an appropriate notion of objectivity must be adopted. I am an
advocate of
a change in our notion of "objectivity", a disengaged kind of relationship to
the object, because, as Erik Stolterman says (2/12/2001)
>When we add something new into the world, we
> suddenly see aspects of reality we've never seen before. So,
> design is not only a way to change the world, it is also a
> form of inquiry into reality. This has relevance not only
> for the practice of design but for design as a special way
> to produce knowledge, and maybe a different kind of knowledge."
I have said (at a seminar in Lund)
Maintaining a pre-reflexive consciousness or immanent perception of an
object is an extremely difficult thing to do. It may be impossible. It
requires
the suspension of all of our cognitive and conceptualising powers that
normally we are encouraged to exercise. It is all too easy to end up in
"bad-faith".
All too often one recounts experience as a narrative to oneself and
thereby falsifies it. The immediacy of experience is just that, immediate and
experiential. How can that be captured and documented in the creative
process, and worse, how can one make a narrative report or thesis of that
process for someone else? The breaking down of the boundary between the
subject and the object is useful because it is a characteristic of design to
both construct objects and to construct meanings. Constructing new objects
changes existing meanings. The activity of design therefore requires a
dynamic concept of objects, not a static one.
Michael Biggs
***********************************************************
Dr Michael A R Biggs
Faculty Research Tutor
Faculty of Art and Design
University of Hertfordshire
College Lane,
Hatfield, Herts. AL10 9AB
United Kingdom
Telephone UK+ (0)1707 285341
Fax UK+ (0)1707 285350
E-mail [log in to unmask]
Internet http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes/practice/creac/
The full postgraduate prospectus is available online at
http://www.herts.ac.uk/
For information about art and design research degrees go to
http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes/resdegs/resindex.htm
Research into Practice conference
http://www.artdes.herts.ac.uk/res2prac/
The journal Working Papers in Art and Design
http://www.artdes.herts.ac.uk/papers/wpades/
The Centre for Research in Electronic Art and Communication is at
http://www.herts.ac.uk/artdes/practice/creac/
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