Reflection: Great Opportunity to Continue the Community Engagement Toolkit! As I stated in the previous chapter, artists usually do not take on
spend on this toolkit varies from person to person. The key is to
the task of formally documenting their research, thought or cre-
provide them as a resource, and don’t keep up the expectation
ation processes. Likewise, the artists were reluctant to share their
that artists should follow along the steps.
past processes as they felt it was too intimate. This made it difficult for me to test the toolkit with the artists through an interview
In conclusion, some artists are not so open to try the toolkit for
or a workshop. Below shows the opportunities that I seized from
their research because they were concerned that the structure
the test and feedback:
would bind their creativity. But others recognized the potential of the toolkit after I explained how to use the tools. In general,
1. It was hard for the artists to imagine whether the tools were too
from most of the feedback collection, I found that there is a great
specific or general without specific context. For instance, some
opportunity to continue developing the Community Engagement
artists expressed that they had several different community-based
Toolkit.
art projects in the past, but each project was very complex and context-specific. I could see that either in a contextual interview or a group workshop, there was limited time to share individuals’ detailed process. 2. Through the prototype process, I found that designing tools can be particularly hard when the required instructions are complex. The Future Backwards tool, for instance, has several intricate steps and even experienced designers can feel some difficulty facilitating the workshop. Hence, I envision a series of video instructions to help explain what the tools are and how to use them. Also, a simple appendix including an extended template of tools will be incorporated, helping to expound on the tools. 3. From conversations with a multi-disciplinary designer and artist who has been involved in Social Practice, Meredith Warner, she suggested that more basic guidelines about what to expect for the artists will be also valuable. For instance, telling emerging Social Practice artists that they do not need to struggle for a compromise with the whole community, because it’s not possible that everyone will like the work. 4. The overview of the Community Engagement Toolkit can be a useful digital menu on its own for artists to navigate through the process. However, how much time and effort everyone is going to