Writing and Research*

…The MFA thesis program in Design and Technology is developed through an iterative process of proto-typing and user-centered design research. A great degree of interdisciplinary dexterity is also required, as students each propose and pursue a unique project to combine series of domains determined by their individually divergent backgrounds, directions and interests.  Thesis projects ideally ‘hang together’ on the formative tension between written hypotheses and practical validation through field testing. …In this exercise students are directed to ‘practice their discourse,’ to discuss topics related to their fields—silently—on paper only. Inspired also by this work by Manfred Mohr exhibited at New York’s bitforms gallery in autumn 2011, the exercise is an adapted mash-up of the Surrealist exquisite corpse and a parlour game of musical chairs. Instructed to remain in place only until the completion of a ‘thread’ or idea, students are invited to communicate their readiness to swap chairs and write on another’s comments only via subtle gestures and eye contact.

sb 01 2012

* Full Text is available in the Journal for Writing in Creative Practice

Tags: art, Butler, contemporary, design, drawing, exhibition, experimental, international, media, Parsons, Sarah, technology, The New School, writing