Output details
34 - Art and Design: History, Practice and Theory
Cardiff Metropolitan University (joint submission with University of South Wales and University of Wales Trinity Saint David)
Translating experience
This article draws from case study research illustrating the ways in which physical experiences underpin creative processes in creative digital practice in the visual arts. It addresses issues concerning the lack of sensitivity of interfaces compared with conventional media when artists work with digital technology. The article contends that the artist’s engagement with the physical world is instrumental for the communication of emotional and subjective expression in the creative process. It presents findings that indicate the significance of hand use as a channel for translating experience and indicates the implications this has on the development of digital creativity support tools. This paper builds on research outlined in WIRAD_CM_CT02. It draws from a collaborative AHRC funded project with the London College of Fashion, University of the Arts London, involving a case study on the practice of fine artist Charlotte Hodes. The project was practice-led and documented the development of a new body artworks for an exhibition ‘Drawing Skirts’ held at the University Gallery and Baring Wing at Northumbria University, April-May 2008. The methodology used was qualitative and data was gathered using documentary video, research journals and logs, still photography and audio recorded interviews (some of which were used in the public exhibition). This article was invited for publication following a presentation at the Physicality 07 conference and was accepted for a special edition of the Interacting with Computers journal following peer review by the conference organisers. The journal is international and interdisciplinary and is concerned with human computer interaction, psychology and computer science. Its inclusion in this journal reveals the significance of the work beyond the field of art and design. Further papers from this research were presented at two international conferences and published in the Creativity and Cognition 09 conference proceedings, published by ACM and the Impact 6 conference proceedings.
