Abstract
In craft practice, embodied knowledge is constructed (‘coded’) through the hands-on experience of making and application of technical rules, subsequently deconstructed (‘decoded’) through reflection and analysis, before being rebuilt (‘recoded’) to further develop practice and outcomes. In this paper practice-led PhD research into the development composite woven garments is used to demonstrate the vital role that process and object analysis play in the advancement of creative practice and a successful transition from hand to digital production. Drawing parallels between hand weaving and computer use, it explores how the ‘digital thinking’ inherent in weaving can facilitate a productive relationship with digital weaving technologies. Presented as a ‘visual essay’ this paper aims to bridge the gap between implicit and explicit knowledge, using a predominantly visual method to maximise the reach of the research, communicating implicit and explicit knowledge with equal clarity and offering an alternative approach to the dissemination of practice-led research.
Keywords
embodied knowledge; composite garments; hand weaving; digital production
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2016.415
Citation
Piper, A. (2016) Code, Decode, Recode: Constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing knowledge through making, in Lloyd, P. and Bohemia, E. (eds.), Future Focused Thinking - DRS International Conference 2016, 27 - 30 June, Brighton, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/drs.2016.415
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Code, Decode, Recode: Constructing, deconstructing and reconstructing knowledge through making
In craft practice, embodied knowledge is constructed (‘coded’) through the hands-on experience of making and application of technical rules, subsequently deconstructed (‘decoded’) through reflection and analysis, before being rebuilt (‘recoded’) to further develop practice and outcomes. In this paper practice-led PhD research into the development composite woven garments is used to demonstrate the vital role that process and object analysis play in the advancement of creative practice and a successful transition from hand to digital production. Drawing parallels between hand weaving and computer use, it explores how the ‘digital thinking’ inherent in weaving can facilitate a productive relationship with digital weaving technologies. Presented as a ‘visual essay’ this paper aims to bridge the gap between implicit and explicit knowledge, using a predominantly visual method to maximise the reach of the research, communicating implicit and explicit knowledge with equal clarity and offering an alternative approach to the dissemination of practice-led research.