Method of investigating written response

This project “Method of investigating” has allowed me to renew and deepen my perspective as a designer by thoroughly observing a place and experimenting with different methods of expression. Observing the pattern of conkers on the pavement helped me to develop visuals inspired by the way the conkers were falling. What I learnt through this project was how to broaden my perspective through the process of in-depth observation and how to widen the range of visual qualities.

As a process of observation, Perec’s (2008) Species of spaces and other pieces helped me to observe the place. He simply observes the space and arranges the words he has written down. This way of expression reminded me of Heathcote’s (2022) 128 things about the city. One thing I found interesting is that there is no personal feeling or interpretation carried out in this text. On the contrary, it made me realise that people always see things through some kind of filter when accepting visual information. For example, when you see a car going very fast, you might add your own interpretation that the driver must have something urgent to do. In this project, I was conscious of capturing the space without my own preconceptions as much as possible. However, observation without interpretation is more difficult than I had imagined. Another perspective that I got was that people are constantly discarding and selecting information that comes into our field of vision. For example, I had never been aware of things falling on the pavement, even if they came into view, but after careful observation, I noticed an unfamiliar pattern on the pavement in front of the station. What had fallen there was a conker, which had a unique structure with a soft but thorny outer shell. Furthermore, when people walked on the conker shells, the shells would get crushed, creating a strange pattern. Perec’s (2008) view helped me to perceive this often overlooked natural event.

With regard to Form, The Gleaners and I (Varda 2000) is relevant to my project. She develops the idea from Millet’s famous painting The Gleaners to capture the current state of “the Gleaners” in France on film. The method of observation has much in common with Perec (2008). The film itself does not express a strong message, but the layers of detailed observations reflect social issues and questions and leads the audience to think. The final outcome which I made was a stop-motion short clip which doesn’t include any explanations but suggests that conkers are becoming extinct by showing the conkers decrease in number on the screen. Unfortunately, due to my lack of video making skills, some people understood what I tried to show but others might have not, but this challenge has broadened my range of expression.

In conclusion, Perec’s (2008) gave me a perspective from which I could discover new things through observation and Varda(2000) made me learn the importance of showing in the expression of layering observation.

Reference List

Heathcote, E. (no date) 128 things about the city — R / D, R / D. Available at: https://www.readingdesign.org/128-things-about-the-city (Accessed: October 20, 2022).

Perec, G. (2008) Species of spaces and other pieces. London, England: Penguin Classics.

Varda, A. (2000) The Gleaners and I.