#PBDQ15 How can knowledge and speculative thinking be translated into/through material form?
Maria Gabriela Hernandez is an Assistant Professor from the University of Houston–Downtown. I met her over lunch at DRS2016, and she told me about one of her research projects involving the Women’s Association of Chira Island, Costa Rica, which is a rural ecotourism organization. Maria met and interacted with vulnerable populations during this research project. In some cases, literacy levels were quite low, which presented a unique challenge for packaging and presenting research findings to her participants. Traditional ways of presenting results were unlikely to have an impact. Given these constraints, Maria developed a business card-like format to convey her findings to the community. The communities she studied were largely Roman Catholic and, as such, it was common for them to distribute and exchange small cards with spiritual messages or prayers written on them. And although religious practice has declined, the card-giving tradition remains strong in these communities. Maria iterated on this idea—replacing the spiritual message with a succinct message based on her research findings. These messages could be quotes from her participants or single words identifying a broader theme in her findings. The message just had to be deemed relevant or meaningful to the community. The recipients of these cards could then keep them as a souvenir—a kind of empowering artifact of their participation. They could also use them in much the same way as prayer cards— distributing and exchanging them with other people in their community. The cards serve as a tangible record of their reflection and participation. I love that Maria found a way to articulate research outputs in a material form. But above all I admire that she did in a way that leverages a well-established practice in the community. As a researcher, I hope to be able to find such elegant and well-integrated ways to give back to my participants. I see it as an invitation to reflect about research outputs. In some cases, it may be appropriate to invent novel or disruptive ways of distributing findings to have impact on a community, but this is not always necessary. Some mechanisms might already be in place! We just need to look for them. PS: I would like to thank Jordan Beck who participated in the conversation and helped me write this text. Laureline Chiapello Université de Montréal Knowledge and speculative thinking can be translated into material form through the workshop process and experimentation. Continuing research and looking at research methods is critical using new materials, recycled materials and inventing materials in order to embody the new materiality of the future. Through the ideas of suspending judgment, letting the mind wander, curiosity, increased the chances of innovation without the fear of failure. Recording reflecting on research is important, to reflect on findings in determining if things worked or not and to which direction to take more research forward. Jules Findley Royal College of Art
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