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What was important about this approach to the design of these works was that the
research was embedded in the process of making. 67 This was not mere theory generating
illustrations of itself but an integrated process. Physical changes to the designs surfaced
from the designs themselves or from data that was being used to understand and
interpret its conceptual framework (see Fig. 6:2).
Fig. 6:2 Images of three different draped designs. (Images photographed March-September 2007 in
Studio WM 205) In the first image (left) we see draping and fitting experiments for the artwork
entrapment. It was at the stage that the darts were manipulated, allowing the final design to be made
from a single, seamless piece of cloth. This is a challenging design feature to achieve.
The second image shows a fitted mock for the artwork belonging. Here approaches for the rounded
shape of the train are being trailed. We also see evidence of experiments related to the design of the
back neck of the garment.
The third image is an initial draping of the design for spirituality. In this experiment I was trying to find
ways
of hiding and later revealing the ‘interior’ nature of the garment.
67 Scrivener (2000) terms projects like Reflections on lal batti ‘creative production’. He indicates that in this
form of research, the artefact may be more important than any ‘knowledge’ reified in it. The knowledge he
suggests “is a by-product of the process rather than its primary objective” (p. 3). More importantly, he also suggests
that creative production theses may have as their core concern a ‘contribution to human experience’ (ibid.).
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