Abstract
This paper presents a research approach to investigate the body styles, embodied engagements and physical activity that designers bring to their creative work. The approach utilizes a set of designed objects in the context of the study termed “provocative artefacts”. These are under-determined three dimensional artefacts designed to elicit designerly ways of acting and moving in participatory research situations called Touch and talk sessions. This approach is grounded in shared knowledge of both the researcher and participants within the research sessions. The paper raises questions to be addressed by this approach in relation to a designer’s embodied ways of knowing: What is the body style designers utilise when they engage in the interpretive work of design? And secondly, what is the significance of this body style to the iterative, projective and interpretive work of designing? The broader aim of the study is to extend understanding of design action as embodied ways of knowing that are distinctive to the creative work of design. By placing emphasis on what designers do, that is the physical interactions with designed objects and how they interact with other designers in naturalistic research situations, the research brings into focus the inseparability of bodily comportment, practical activity and emergent understanding within the iterative projection of design possibilities.
Keywords
body styles; provocative artefacts; interpretation; participatory research
DOI
https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2013.104
Citation
Robinson, T.(2013) Bringing Action into View: Provocation and Ambiguity in Touch and Talk Sessions, in Nimkulrat, N., Niedderer, K., Evans, M. (eds.), EKSIG 2013: Knowing Inside Out – Experiential Knowledge, Expertise and Connoisseurship, 4–5 July 2013, United Kingdom. https://doi.org/10.21606/eksig2013.104
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License
Bringing Action into View: Provocation and Ambiguity in Touch and Talk Sessions
This paper presents a research approach to investigate the body styles, embodied engagements and physical activity that designers bring to their creative work. The approach utilizes a set of designed objects in the context of the study termed “provocative artefacts”. These are under-determined three dimensional artefacts designed to elicit designerly ways of acting and moving in participatory research situations called Touch and talk sessions. This approach is grounded in shared knowledge of both the researcher and participants within the research sessions. The paper raises questions to be addressed by this approach in relation to a designer’s embodied ways of knowing: What is the body style designers utilise when they engage in the interpretive work of design? And secondly, what is the significance of this body style to the iterative, projective and interpretive work of designing? The broader aim of the study is to extend understanding of design action as embodied ways of knowing that are distinctive to the creative work of design. By placing emphasis on what designers do, that is the physical interactions with designed objects and how they interact with other designers in naturalistic research situations, the research brings into focus the inseparability of bodily comportment, practical activity and emergent understanding within the iterative projection of design possibilities.