Hot Rod Biology

Dave:
Will the monstrous dissapear? Or perhaps I'll end up with something that isn't monstrous at all? I become so used to it I don't even recognise 'what' it is?

Cameron:
Picking up on my sudden concern for 'narcissism'... what I 'fear' is going on ... a proposal: the monstrous is a metaphor not for 'design', but for 'research OF design'... and research OF design THROUGH design . . .
[Coming from industry, disillusioned, back into academia (this is quite common) ó romance... a part of doing this is to undertake 'research': undertaking something that doesn't 'fit' with my practice, or the way I work (or have worked). Being forced to take on methods that are arcane and beaurocratic BUT it's about trapping the knowledge that comes from going into that extraordinary world.]
. . . and that what I should be revealing is that Design Research is monstrous, but that the monstrous is productive... interms of reinvigorating creative direction, and in giving you some knowledge about 'what' it is that you're doing and 'how' you do it . . .
Try out "Practice based research is a Vampire", "... is a Zombie", "... is an Alien", "... is a Blob" etc (suggestion regarding conference papers/ and crossing over into the rewriting of the manifesto)... that it's a nasty bolted together thing. As research it's a productive thing to give to other practitioners. Test monstrosity as Design Research.
Suggests that I go and talk (formally) to practioners who have reached "crisis" point, or who are entering research... critical of my not collaborating with others, but says not to worry [want to talk about National Grid project here]... but to realise that my situation is not unique.

Dave:
POints out that there probably isn't a big gap between my practice as a designer and as a teacher
... 3/4 of what's here is indecision, stumbling, and doubt ó but people can relate to that. It's through this process that you avoid making what you expect.

Laurene:
I never talked about my blog... but that it's become an important 'part' of my research... writing, but also very much 'making'.
My reaction to Modernism... do I expect my own students to make perfect finished work? Not practicing what I preach...

Seth:
Saw a really strong sense of Narrative... the way I integrate my material, combining of video and text etc... my feeling like I need an 'outcome' or an artefact, but that what's interesting about my presentation is the 'process'. . . or me trying to understand that process. Despite my saying that I don't 'have' anything Seth thought my maps that used the photos of my body were quite beautiful objects in themselves . . . and that they seemed a good way to try an pull all this stuff together.
... that Frankenstein's monster 'consumes' him, and that the monster doesn't really 'work'... connects with my own experience... or narrative.
... mentions Tufte's "Envisioning Information" (title?)... the romantic/modernist thing?
... a theatre group in Sydney called 'Monstrous Bodies' [check them out ñ performance]... mentions that I state that I hate performance art but that my stuff is totally performative.
... Design Research as a narrative process?

Cameron:
What I'm saying is "Monsters and Maps", but that Narrative is a fantastic insight... and that I do it so well that he's missed it before. That THIS is my design work... created the ability to tell funny and insightful stories in a multimedia domain that are revealing of practice and research. ó and so I should put a lot more 'store' into these presentations, that there is 'something' HERE.

Seth:
a connection with self reflective documentary practice ... where you integrate your personal journey into the process
... that it's also interesting that I'm at a 'Fine Arts' school as a Designer, and that I've taken on aspects of that environment

Dave:
The multiple endings of 'Waynes World', the Scooby Doo ending etc... in terms of narrative, looking at modes of 'telling' [link to 'genre']...
... at the end of his Masters, thought he had nothing and was freaking out... a dairy full of unfinished thoughts, felt lost... needed to step out of that, to step away [maybe installing yourself into a narrative is a way of doing this, of 'seeing' your practice?]

Cameron:
That these are not read as narcissistic, but are insightful and enjoyable presentations . . .

Laurene:
That these are the 'work'?

Cameron:
Not narcissistic because it's not me... it's a charicature... but that there's enough f me to create a kind of empathy. My presentations are like a Woody Allen film! Woody Allen always insists that it's never 'him'. The fact that I do that about Design Research makes it a fantastic advocate for Design Research ñ shows 'others' that it's horrific and painful, but also kind of fun and revealing, and that you become this character that isn't actually you . . .