John James Marshall thesis.pdf - OpenAIR @ RGU - Robert Gordon ...

The practitioners articulated ways in which the computer operates both as a
medium and as a tool. But a critical distinction was made - that the systems and
rules that control the tools are more of a medium than the ‘programmed-in’
suite of modelling tools available in any application. Some of the practitioners
identified that they were making use of software and hardware as a generative
means of increasing the opportunity for new modes of design practice, new
production paradigms, design vocabularies and methodologies. There was also
a call for new terms to describe the work that is being made and new critical
frameworks to evaluate and understand it by. Most of those that attended
thought the symposium provided valuable insight into the topic and that the
quality of speakers was good. The majority of those that responded to the
evaluation survey of the event indicated they would be interested in attending
similar symposiums.
5.5.2 Practitioner interviews
Six practitioners from across the 3D art and design making disciplines whose
work was included in the ‘PBB’ exhibition were interviewed. The main aim of
these interviews was to examine:
• their expectations of the exhibition
• their actual experience of the exhibition
• any impact the exhibition had on their thinking and their practice
The main aim of these interviews was to examine similarities and differences
between the practitioners’ experiences and to solicit their reflections on the
exhibition. These post-exhibition interviews offered an opportunity to capture
participant-practitioner’s qualitative opinions and allow for issues to be raised
that might not be immediately obvious otherwise. The researcher hoped to
determine if the participants thought the exhibition was representative of the
direction that art and design practitioners are taking towards computer-based
design and fabrication tools.
Analysis was made of the data gathered from these interviews to reveal issues
for individual practitioners and indications of patterns or themes relevant to the
theoretical framework of this study. Two thirds of the practitioners had applied
for the exhibition because they felt the multi-domain aspect of the exhibition
related to what they were working on at the time. Half of the practitioners saw
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