Brief: Writing up Research ideas and Electronic Research Portfolio Project for Unit 1 & 2

BA (Hons) Textile Design – Spring Term Theory 2011
Writing up Research ideas and Electronic Research Portfolio Project for Unit 1 & 2

The Theory Unit 4 is all about encouraging you to engage with contemporary, historic, cultural, theoretical and environmental contexts (see following notes). You will use your Blog (unit 1) and the Object/image analysis presentation (unit2) to work towards ideas for unit 4.

The written project we want you to do will be based on your research material and the notion of ‘reading’ objects/images or exploring a design concept, and then building up an understanding of its social and cultural context.

In the writing we want you to show (evidence) the results of this research process.

· The writing will consist of 2000 words (not more than 2200) supported by an electronic research portfolio (your blog) that has been built up during the research process and stage one.

You can assume your reader has a knowledge of the type of cultural product that you choose.

Project background and how to set out your research in essay form

Rather than give you an essay question to answer we want you to make a choice, to make a decision on a research process that begins with investigating some designed thing or design concept that relates to your personal interest in textile design. So:

· Choose something that excites and interests you NOW!

· Choose something that helps you become an even better informed textile designer!

· The ‘something’ can be a design concept, as much as a designed ‘object’ or ‘image’!

Then, show (evidence) in the writing up of the research process:

· The artistic, or technical context, and the social and cultural contexts within which your chosen something was produced.

(continued)
For example:

Years ago, I visited the Pitt Rivers collection, part of The University Museum Oxford, walking around this amazing collection I remember “finding” an ‘Eskimo Anorak’ made of strips of seal intestine. It was beautiful, white, transparent, strips all sewn together in this amazing texture, obviously waterproof. What kind of way of life produced this object? Finding out more about North American indigenous cultural groups was helped by seeing a fantastic exhibition (and catalogue) called ‘Sacred Circles’ at the Hayward Gallery. Subsequently I had the honour of being introduced by a mutual friend to the famous structural anthropologist Claude Levi-Strauss who had come to London especially to see this exhibition. Wow!

Pick something you find fascinating to start your research exploration, a design by a designer you admire, something in a design collection, but see if you can make this research work for you as a textile design student.

Some notes for your reference on CONTEXT

The contemporary
If you choose something that is contemporary, it will have some relationship to an historical context, even if it is a deliberate act of rejection of an aspect of the past or present.

The historical
If you choose something that is historical, how we view and understand its context is contemporary.

The cultural
Whatever you choose it is going to originate in a cultural context, even if the historical or ‘lifestyle’ cultural context has been largely stripped away, as in a museum or gallery display. This is where research and reading can be so informative, giving you a way of ‘locating’ the chosen ‘object’ informed by background material that is not necessarily connected to the object when you encounter it.

Of course there are different cultural contexts, and contexts where cultural contexts cohabit, as in our cosmopolitan, post-modern cultural environment. Difference can be celebrated, or suppressed!

The theoretical
The word theory comes from the Greek word theoria, which basically means ‘speculation as opposed to practice’. As design students you know that speculation and practice are not always opposed, because speculation can encourage research into practice, and vice versa, but ‘theory’ and the theoretical is all about the discussions and debates about what seems to be the best explanation based on all the available evidence, which in our case will relate to design and designing. If evidence contradicts a theory then we have to “go back to the (theory) drawing board” and re-work it, or drop it altogether!

If you can show in your essay you are aware of the theoretical discussions and debates that are relevant to your chosen subject by citing references to them then you are definitely in the ‘theory’ business.

The environmental
A concern with the environmental context of textile design is one of the very particular strengths of your course. You will be learning about contemporary issues related to the environment and will be encouraged to consider how this might affect your textile practice. But don’t wait for the lectures before researching.




Write a 200 word statement about what your initial thoughts are on what you want to research and reasons why. Submit it to the textiles discussion board forum (on Blackboard) and your blog for Stage One electronic portfolio by 1st February. Offer feedback/suggestions to your peers in the following weeks before presentations start.

Philip Courtenay – Academic Support

Start Researching from NOW