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

This research aimed to demonstrate a significant shift in the thinking of
practitioners that make use of computer-based tools towards a hybrid model of
art and design practice. The idea of a practice defined by the use of technology
was an important distinction made through this study. Participants in the
exhibition and symposium stated the nature of their practice is defined by the
use of these technologies. Nevertheless few practitioners supported the
proposition of an emerging, hybrid discipline. However, practitioners were
confident in supporting the notion that computer-based design and fabrication
tools were instrumental in creating expanded opportunities for them. These are
valuable insights that contribute to a general theoretical understanding of and
an indicative snapshot of the field of enquiry at the present time.
5.6 Development of analytical models
To draw distinctions between projects across disciplinary boundaries the
researcher has been working on proposed models of the relationships between:
• the integration of computer-based technologies and the objects produced
by practitioners using them
• various types of cross-disciplinary or hybrid art and design practice
It was intended these will allow the researcher to present the findings of the
study and develop the critical language, criteria and framework of analysis
within a wider context. More work is necessary to make these models generally
applicable. We must consider how viable it is to extract criteria from an analysis
of existing objects produced under different circumstances and for various
purposes both commercial and non-commercial. It can be argued the defined
criteria are not unambiguous. The current work only addresses this from a
pluralist perspective. Further collaborative work is necessary from within each
disciplinary perspective to generate a more universally applicable system of
categorisation. The models presented in this study are offered up to be adapted
and built upon.
5.6.1 Technology adoption models
As previously stated by Harrod (2002) and Lynn (Lynn and Rashid, 2003) the
introduction of new technologies can disrupt and therefore change the way
practitioners perform tasks. What was needed was a particular model of the
typical patterns that practitioners go through when integrating these
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