I have continued to tease out some elements I identified during REV and have attempted to evolve them in the context of my undertakings in COP.
While the primary subject matter of my visual explorations during REV related to Synaesthesia as a subject (the outcomes of which can be seen on my blog – http://stephsmythmasters.blogspot.com) it became more and more evident that the act of researching itself was forming a huge part of the creative output. The creation of my book 'SynaeScape' revolved largely around the process of researching and the sense of overwhelm in ordering and processing of that research visually. Additionally, areas I encountered as part of the creative practice - for example visual mapping and data visualisation (as referred to in my Voice Threads) – started to come to the fore.
COP has provided me with the opportunity to explore these areas further and I have also attempted to visually capture the design process of my students and my own efforts as their lecturer in instilling an appreciation of the value and influence of quality subject and visual research as part of their own creative design practice. There is a transformation that occurs when research moves from being a passive act of observation and discovery to its application as an active agent of change. There is an element of complexity to this, and I have attempted to capture that visually here in taking the opportunity to explore visual mapping in my own work.
Below is the piece finished in the course of COP.
It visually describes the design process in the studio culture of my 3rd year students.
In it I have tried to encompasss my COP focus points of research, studio culture and complexity.
