3.3.2.3. Artistic methodology
The research and development approach of ‘~worn~’ was an interplay between electronic art , design and technology approaches, where the ball bounced between improvisation, hacking or re-appropriating technology, and problem solving. The general methodology is a processpatch of imagined and practical approaches. Processpatching in this respect shouldn't interpreted as a vague concept, applied to circumvent statements about methods, but rather a way of working rooted in art movements built on concrete, non-random conjunctions. In this case, the aesthetics of conjunction (which can also be found in montage or collage) is not necessarily reflected in the output; for instance in sound files, but is embedded in the underlying hardware and software design that is tagged together in order to establish (or to come as close as possible) to the concepts of the students’ dreams or the desires.
The hacking or re-appropriation approach was chosen as it provides space for all involved disciplines to meet on a potentially neutral ground, or what in participatory design might be called a Third space. One possibly unexpected example is where the hobbyist electronics kits that were provided opened up technology for the students on a basic level. Normally, professional technologists are removed from such simple consumer electronics / tools and found them refreshingly fun to work on. In this case, a Third space was created by using a boundary object; something to collaborate on which neither party can claim an inability to work on, yet which neither can claim to totally ‘own’.
