A BREAKTHROUGH : Anne West Writing Workshop

I was recently given a writing assignment by Anne West, a professor at risd who helps the graduate graphic designers develop there thesis thinking through writing. She was able to help me find facets of my work through the process of writing which I probably would have never thought to look for. 

Our exercise was to find a text (a chapter, and essay, an article) which was crucial to our thesis thinking and applicable to our course of study. We were then charged with the task of re-appropriating the text to pull out ideas about our thesis and to try and come at our idea from another angle. Then a process of making a visual publication along with a process description, was to compliment this adaptation. Below is my process description.

Adaptation of Fit/Adaptation of Chance

I began with a chapter from “Notes on the Synthesis of Form” by Christopher Alexander. The chapter selected was a section of the book which speaks closely to the thoughts I am having about my thesis. “Goodness of Fit” is a chapter of the book which explains how form and context are vital and  relational concepts studied and practiced by designers. Multiple examples and scenarios are presented to better the understanding of “fitness."  

The first step of the process was to read the text over and over, to make sure I was understanding the concepts being explained in the chapter. I then typed the entire chapter (which allowed me to read it once more). I started to think about how this piece of writing relates to my ideas about form, content, context, systems and chance and started to pull the important passages which spoke closely to my thesis thinking. I then created a pared down version of the chapter to fit the needs of my work. 

After creating this new pieced together text from the Alexander chapter, I started to rewrite it. I added my own thoughts and ideas to the writings and it was almost as though Alexander and I were writing about my thesis ideas together. When I placed this new text in my publication I was sure to place my text in a different color, but kept both voices in the same typeface to show the connection between the two. When reading my voice and Alexander's voice together it started to reveal a new form of thinking for me. It started to reveal my method, or proposed method of working.

The next step was to make the text completely my own, so I removed all traces of the Alexander chapter (except "The ultimate object of design is form," because I felt it was so important to leave it) from my writing to see what I was left with. Surprisingly I was left with a cohesive explanation of what I want to study during the thesis process. The following is the second draft of this particular piece, and I call it REfitting...

The ultimate object of design is form.

There is a way to produce form in order to see the system and pattern working within. Different methods of designing can help to achieve this. One can approach design systematically and one may approach design through a chance operation. Form and context can be found through both of these methods. Merging these methods pushes the form and the context even further to create a greater opportunity to find the inner cohesiveness of the form.

One can discover “fitness” in many ways. Through the merging of methods (in this case chance operation and systematic organization), context is found. By developing a method of revealing the context, one can discover new parts to the whole, which one might have never known. Without the implementation of different methods, leading to the whole, some discovery could be lost and “fitness” may not be achieved. 

The wrongness of fit can also lead to the discovery of the right fit ... the harmonious discovery of the form and its inner organization or pattern can be found by working through the elements that do not fit. It is more interesting for the order to manifest itself from an unlikely source, possibly even chance. We can mold and shape the context or even create the context, in order to reveal the form. By doing this we can see if opposite forces reveal a more cohesive whole or a more cohesive form.

I was left with a description of a methodology, but my study wasn't complete. The goal of my thesis work is to see how chance operations and visual systematic thinking can be used together to create new forms. I want to see where the two meet in the middle, or if they meet in the middle. I want to see if they create new form, a more exciting form, a more cohesive form, an unexpected form, a better form. So I left it to chance...literally.

I started a new publication, working from a completely different side of the idea. I did this by changing the word "fit" in Alexander's essay to the word "chance." Wherever "fit" appeared "chance" was now in it's place. I began the process again. I followed the same set of rules as I did in the original exercise. I wanted to see if by changing one word, if the idea changed. I again pared down the chapter to specific excerpts which spoke closely to my thesis thoughts (some were in fact different, and some had been removed). I started the process of rewriting and re-appropriating, and finally was left with a piece which again spoke very closely to my process, and my proposal. I was also able to create a concrete poem from my implementations in the Alexander piece, which was a nice surprise. The following is the re-appropriated chance concrete poem Changing Chancing...

By using chance in such a way that new form is uncovered. 

Chance. 

Chance is implemented into 

Chance. 

Used by doing this, different ideas and concepts can be revealed. 

Chance might be the initial response to the design problem, but an inner system, in the form can be uncovered as well. 

Chance operating 

Use of chance 

chance 

chance 

It is a chance operation the person acts on to re-appropriate his ideas about the world, and is a way for him to see it in an otherwise unorthodox manner. 

This Helps him to see new form and create new context. 

chance 

chance 

chance 

chance

chance. 

By doing this we can see if opposite forces will reveal a more cohesive whole. But when the form is created through chance operation, a new context is born and our view of the organization changes.

The next step is to combine the Adaptation of Fit and the Adaptation of Chance, and see what the form becomes...in this case the form will be written, but it is an example of me trying to prove this methodology and way of working. 

Just to conclude...for right now. By taking the text and pulling specific excerpts which I responded to as crucial information relating to my thesis, I was able to re-appropriate the text to fit the needs of my thesis, which deals with method, adaptation of visual systems, chance operation, and how when the two are merged, new form and context can be discovered. Continuing to pare down the text and add my own point of view to the writing allowed me to further understand and solidify my ideas about chance, system, fit, form and content.

Processing the Next Steps

I talked with Tom W. today about things that were going on in my thesis study. I explained to him what I had been working on this week and so I began to talk about the processing language I was learning and applying in my work.

I started this weekend by learning some simple processing code and applying it to certain images I took at Goosewing Beach. 

I was drawn to a particular image of a door, which I shot with the gridded piece of my bookshelf. I separated the image into swatches (81) and then began the processing expression. A simple code would extract 40 swatches of color from the image, which I implemented in the script. The collection of swatches would be harvested at random (through the scripting language).

I then placed those lines of color swatches into a document, in order to see if the colors were expressing the spirit of the image. Could one tell where or what the image was? I also wanted to find a way to combine the color expressions/experiments with the image experiments. I achieved this initial melding by combining the swatch lines and the 81 square images from the original 9" x 9" gridded image of the door.

I used each module only  once and would place it only in its specific place in the grid... for example the number 36 swatch would only be placed in the 36th square of the 9x9 grid.

An accordion book expression was created with many 9x9 panels. The swatch lines of color were used in a more loose manner. They were used as connectors. Their placement was also based on numeric order, but they were more randomly chosen.

Stretching the lines of color across spreads would inform the placement and order of the image squares. The entire composition of the accordion book started to express a rhythm with color and image working together to inform/form composition.

After working in this way for quite a while I wanted to see what the composition would reveal if I removed the images and the color swatches, but left the outline of where they were. An interesting organizing structure emerged. The order took on an entirely new form.

Processing Processing

Today I tried learning processing language to try different scripts within my projects. I was able to start pulling color swatches from images I had collected from goosewing beach. Scripting is hard...but Marcos helped me through it.

I am hoping to be able to use the swatches of color in some sort of a video to express 

Saturday Afternoon Talk With Hammett

I spoke with Hammett (Thesis Studio Professor) this afternoon about some aspects of my Goosewing Beach experiments. He had some very interesting suggestions. We began by talking about what I had worked with for the past few weeks in regards to scale. I have been experimenting with moving back and forth in the images, taking parts from the gridded structure, extracting color and creating compositions based on those collections. 

Hammett and I discussed considering pacing and rhythm, and playing with form. A book or a video could start placing these things into a form which could express the movement of scale and the study of coming in and out of a single moment in an image. I do want to find a way to combine the image experiments with the color studies. I need to start considering how these elements work in a system, and discovering the system organizing the form (what ever that may end up being). The form will come from the analysis of the system. 

We also spoke about incorporation of words and phrases into these experiments. These implementations could provide for pacing and rhythm, and express a new level of system. A possible expression could be the use of color and word assignment to each color. We also talked about developing the system, and then removing it, or implementing chance (which is a major part of my study and interest). What happens when the system is removed? Does another system reveal itself?

The next step for me is finding some sort of processing language which can extract color from my images and swatches. I need to express these ideas through some sort of form to find the relationship of the parts. I think by beginning with a short keynote presentation will allow me to move forward and start the process. I might also consider working in book form and returning to my interest in the concrete book, and how we move through a book. Many, many things to think about.

Goosewing Makings

I began by sifting through my images. I found interesting vignettes hidden within in the gridded arrangements. Different stories where revealed in the scale changes I was observing in the squares.

I started by removing the grid, physically from the image which allowed me to to explore the nuances of each individual square. I began to experiment with spacing and grid structure, to see if the images were still reading as a complete whole.

Then there was an experiment which began with harvesting the image housed in the center square of all 187 images taken with the grid, on the day at the beach. I started to arrange them in different ways to see what could be revealed. Were the images still readable and of that place? I found the linear expression to be a successful interpretation and experiment. However I felt more could be done. I started to study the images in the z-axis.  A video expression was explored.

After this I decided to move even further into the imagery (in scale). I studied the colors in each image and pulled swatches of color from each and arranged them in a grid. I wanted to see if there was something to discover in the abstraction of the images. 

Now I feel I need to push the scale of the images even further, by finding a way to combine the two ideas. The ideas of the image and the ideas of the abstraction of color. How can the two be joined to discover patterns and form, or even structure. I hope to find structure through the discovery, find the hidden pattern, find the hidden story. 

Goosewing Beach

A trip to the shore, with my thesis studio began with a camera, and a wire grid of 9"x9".

I drove to the beach and met with my studio. The day was sunny and the sky was clear blue, with only a few dusty clouds. I hopped along a small creek and began a walk. I tossed my metal grid into the air and followed its flight. I took a picture. All of the little stories in the image became noticeable. I picked up the grid and tossed it again. A new composition was revealed. I chased the metal grid down the shore line. My jeans were rolled up and the surf touched my toes. The grid would sometimes disappear in the water, but I would recover it down by the edge of the breaking surf.

I repeated this game of chance for almost two hours, not really knowing what I had collected along the way. Finding natural surprises within the metal frame was an excitement. I was telling the story of that day through a metal frame. It was a day of collecting.

With my collection in hand, I climbed into my car. With a fresh sunburn on my cheeks and tired eyes I made the trip back to Providence.

Open Re/Search

I am currently enrolled in an open research course with my thesis advisor, Tom Ockerse. I am hoping to use this opportunity to expand on my thesis thinking and work in my thesis studio. The following is an excerpt from my Open Re/Search Proposal, which outline my problem statement, and expanded description.

Problem Statement: I would like to explore the creation of forms through the study of patterning and collection. Implementing chance operations and using graphic design systems as organizing structures will also be a major component of this exploration. A study of a collection of parts and their relationship to one another will allow for the development of a form. Letting the process dictate the form is the ultimate goal.

Expanded Description: While trying to put into words the course of study I would like to approach, I found it difficult to fully articulate my ideas. I began to answer six questions...What, Why, Who, Where, When and How this study should/what, this study should accomplish.

What: The body of work and the components of the study are the object. The “body” will communicate the method and reveal a pattern process. A pattern discovery.

Why: The communication is a dialogue of sorts. A discussion about method in the realm of the study of graphic design systems and the implementation of chance operation, into those systems.

Who: The communication of these processes will be to reveal, inform and unveil ideas through the creation and collection.

Where: This takes place during a year of free study. “Getting out of the way” of the ideas and the work will be a key factor in discovery. The “where” will come from the study and collection.

When: There will be moments throughout the process that reveal themselves. The study will live as long as there is contribution.

How: By experimentation, by exploration and by completion of weekly/bi weekly studies. The form will reveal itself through the progression of experimentation.

Giving the study a specific form or program will not necessarily be beneficial. The form will come from the collected study. 

Through a series of smaller studies and experiments I am hoping to discover a pattern. Not necessarily a pattern in the sense of a physical pattern, but a pattern in the sense of creation and progression of form. I hope to use chance operations in the collection of the source material and create smaller expressions which will explain or express in order to reveal form.

I hope to find the ideas and relationships which will define the work, and find pattern through discovery. I hope to create a collection which expresses a greater idea, not just one particular program.

Initial Thesis Concept and Thinking Overview

According to Christopher Alexander, humans recognize and implement systems in order to understand the greater forces at work. They do this to gain a better understanding of the whole. We as humans, also think of systems as a “kit of parts.” The “parts” of these “kits” are guided and organized by certain rules and these rules are the system.

There are forces that can disrupt a system and cause a reaction which can, in some cases yield a serendipitous outcome. These forces are called chance operations. Chance operations may disrupt, but they provide a new way of looking at the system. They increase our understanding of the intricacies of the system. As John Cage once said, “Chance operations are no mysterious sources of the ‘right answers.’ They are a means of locating a single one among a multiplicity of answers.”

In the context of this project, the systems at use, will be that of visual systems and visual systems thinking. And although combining systems thinking and chance operational practice is a course of study which has been paved and well travelled, I feel it has reached a point of change. I have found a current trend in “just applying a chance operation,” to be prevalent in the field of design. I am wondering if there is a way to better define chance operation and its implementation in the practice and procedure of design.

The project(s) produced during this open re/search process would ideally become components of my body of thesis work. I want to discover new ways of thinking about graphic design systems and how chance operations can be implemented as a method of growth through design. I began this fascination with systems in graphic design during the first year of my graphic studies. I want to find a way to gain better understanding of systems, through the implementation of chance.

The Start

Welcome to OH My Thesis... The Blog. I am just about to get started and I can't believe I was even able to get this blog going. The following/future posts will let you know a little bit about what I am thinking about, and what I want to think about in regards to my thesis study. Graphic design is the vehicle for expressing my ideas, and by having this blog I hope to be able to organize my thoughts and ideas in a much more cohesive way. So I'll keep you all posted.