participatory design methodology:through using public’s objects and stories

Participatory design methodology:through using public’s objects and storiesLO MingShum

content

The Artful Dodger_to use 07_to make 25_to design 47

Participatory design methodology_preface 05

Through Using Public’s Objects And Stories_introduction & statement 61_elements 71_methods 77_result 99_notes 101_bibliography 103

Acknowledgements_105

Participatory design methodology_preface 05

Participatory Design Methodology is my research subject within my MA academic year. A series of experiments were done before I developed the method: Through Using Public’s Objects And Stories. The Artful Dodger is an outcome as well as a process. It helped me to clarify different issues, such as the way of engaging the public within a project. i.e. Should it be in the physical level or in the ideological level?

Before explaining the design method, I would like to start the book with a series of images of how The Artful Dodger engage with the public in the following three levels: to use, to make and to design.

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The Artful Dodger_to use 07

In this life, one thing counts In the bank, large amounts I’m afraid these don’t grow on trees, You’ve got to pick-a-pocket or two.

[...]

Why should we break our backs Stupidly paying tax? Better get some untaxed income Better to pick-a-pocket or two.

[...]

Robin Hood, what a crook!Gave away, what he took.Charity’s fine, subscribe to mine.Get out and pick-a-pocket or two.

[...]

Take a tip from Bill SikesHe can whip what he likes.I recall, he started smallHe had to pick-a-pocket or two.

[...]

Dear old gent passing bySomething nice takes his eyeEverything’s clear, attack the rearGet in and pick-a-pocket or two.

[...]

When I see someone rich, Both my thumbs start to itchOnly to find some peace of mindWe have to pick-a-pocket or two.

You’ve Got to Pick a Pocket or Two,Bart.L (1960)

to use 11

to use 13

to use 15

to use 17

to use 19

to use 21

to use 23

to use 25

The Artful Dodger_to make 25

How the chair look like before it became The Arful Dodger

During the making process of The Artful Dodger, the technician in the wood workshop had constantly provided me with their support in both physical and ideological levels. It has been this participation that affected the work outcome.

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to make 31

to make 33

For safety reasons, some of the machines in the workshop can be used by the technicians only.

John was helping on trimming the chair base.

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to make 35

to make 37

Phillip and Stef were working with me on the junction method and detial between the new base and the old chair.

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to make 39

Some of the making process were not possible to be finished by one persion.

40

to make 41

to make 43

Although I understand that physical and repetitive input from the public is not an ideal way for participatory project, I believe it is important to include all the different ways in the process as part of the studies.

Tina and Sirine were helping me to sand some of the seat panels.

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to make 47

still images captured from an interview footage20 February, 2012Feng Shao, Stamatina Liagki & Zoe Socratous

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The Artful Dodger_to design 47

This experiment started with collecting ideas from people through interviews. I have asked the participants the following questions:

• How have you ever mis-used a chair?• What function you really like rather than just sit on the chair?• What is the most extraordinary experience you had when you were using a chair?• Can you tell me a story about you and a piece of furniture?• Do you remember a film that there is a piece of furniture and which played a very

important role?

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to design

Throughout the interview with nine of my classmates, I have collected different stories. I tried to visualise them through sketches.Among all the stories, the following one interested me the most (extracted from an interview to Shao Feng on 20th February, 2012):

Question number four, can you tell me a story about you and a piece of furniture?

Okay, hmmm...do you know when you’re using a sofa at home, and sometimes you’re losing some stuff in the gaps, so when I was like...

It’s so disgusting when you clean the gap!

Nooo! This wasn’t disgusting.

You found a diamond ring?

I found money, a COIN!!! It was my second year of primary school, I was really young, and the first time I found a coin in the gap of the sofa, I was so excited!! I spent the whole afternoon trying to find more!

May be I should make a chair with multiple gaps to hide coins!

Me:

Shao Feng:

Me [interrupted]:

Shao Feng:

Me:

Shao Feng:

Me:

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Sketches inspired by Shao Feng’s experience.

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to design

Having influenced by different artist, such as Ai Weiwei, I decided to use an existing chair to develop the project.This broken chair used to belong to my flatmate. When he threw it away, I saved it back to my room and use it as a trash bag rack.

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Sketches based on Shao Feng’s experience and the found chair.

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to design

Tutor, Robin demonstrating the dropping coins moment from the jeans’ pocket

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to design

An experiment to investigate the ideal position or angle for dropping out the coins from the pocket.

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A sketch from Tutor: Robin

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The rocking feature was an important advice from Robin. I then further develop the idea with sketches and mock-ups.

to design 59

During the design process, I left the design decision open for discussion with the people surrounding me.

Through Using Public’s Objects And Stories_introduction & statement 61

Ref. Fig.1&2

Ref. Fig.3

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I have always been interested in the kind of works that involve

the public participation in the process of making or in the idea

generating stage such as Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds (2010)

[Ref. Fig.1&2] and Zuni Icosahedron’s Black Box Exercise

(1995-2005) [Ref. Fig.3]. The former as an installation, which

comprised 100 million porcelain sunflower seeds handcrafted

by 1,600 Chinese artisans. The latter as an art educational

program for cultural exchange event, where in each event

the participants were given a uniform black coloured box

for the making of their own work1. Juliet Bingham, curator of

Tate Modern commented on the Sunflower seeds (which I

believe it is applicable to the Black Box Exercise as well):

It is about the individual within the mass. [...] There is that sense of insignificance, we are just one of many many people, but also a sense that collectively you have a responsibility and have a voice. What happens when you gather the masses? What happens when you gather collectively? (Bingham to Dennis, 2011)

Although I don’t think the quantity of the participants is the

most important aspect within a project, it makes a difference

when a work requires a large amount of physical input or

when a work is about collective memories and stories. It is

more powerful, and easier to strike a chord within the public

itself. I believe the connection and association with the

audience are the fundamental values of participatory work

and this is the quality that cannot be fulfilled by a solo artist.

Beside the mentioned projects, there are numerous examples

in different fields that are based on collaborating with the

public, from architectural installation art to city planning, from

graphic designs to documentary films. Some of the projects

may engage with the public at the design or use level; some

may only work with the public at the making stage.

However, before developing a participatory project that

engages with the mass, I seek to build the method. Thus, within

the frame of the interior and spatial design MA, I intend to

explore and analyse this territory with the collaboration of

my classmates so as to develop my own participatory design

methodology that I am hoping to apply in the future. What I

am trying to accomplish is a method where participation is

manifested at all three levels: the idea (design/story); the

making (physical/material); and the use (interaction).

introduction & statement 65

_Application in different areas

Ref. Fig.4 Ref. Fig.5

Considering urban design and city planning as part of

the spatial design field, participatory methodology has

actually been wildly used in contemporary projects

such as the West Kowloon Cultural District - A Place For

Everyone [Ref. Fig.4] in Hong Kong and People Making

Places mentioned in Powell (2004) [Ref. Fig.5]. For

instance, People Making Places was an urban design

project, which the aim was to improve the towns in

Yorkshire. The intention of engaging the public was

rather straightforward. Since the place belonged to

people, it made sense for the government and the

developer to cooperate with the local community.

Indeed, the project’s title explained already the idea

– (let the) people making (their own) places. This

was a successful collaborative project, but, in terms

of participation, apart from the level of the use, it

remained on the idea developing level. Although

there had been held seminars for local professionals

and workshops for schoolchildren, the actual physical

engagement was not really possible or necessary in this

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kind of practical project. It rather needed

a rigid structure, planning and a suitable

mechanism to control and manage the

inputs and information from the public,

which is not the major concern or interest

in my project.

There is another example that was dealing

with product designs. The methods they

have been employing are more interesting

for me to investigate. The Shaving Experience

by Codesign (2005) [Ref. Fig.6&7] was

an experiment on participatory design

method. They mainly focused on the

period before the design stage. They also

introduced the term ‘contextmapping’,

which is a technique to ‘gain deeper insight

into the needs and dreams of prospective

users of new products’ (Lugt et al., 2005).

By comparing the previous examples, a

major difference appears between the two

projects with respect to the level of use.

The Shaving Experience intended to design

a shaver that could be suitable for a wide

range of users but based on the information

provided by a small group of participants.

One may argue how representative will

the final design be. Basing myself on this

statement, I think it is interesting enough

and worth developing the following initial

question: is that possible to make a work

based on inputs from my classmate whose

outcome can associate with the general

public?

introduction & statement

Ref. Fig.6

Ref. Fig.7

67

Nevertheless, those two projects have a similarity in terms of

their own nature. They tended to change the role of people from

users to consultants, and to collaborate with them for practical

or functional reasons, unlike the following examples that have a

sense of representation of the individuals, which I find more

interesting.

Field (1989-2003) [Ref. Fig.8-9] was a site-specific sculpture

installation work done by many participants by Antony Gormley.

He made it five times in different parts of the world. Field somehow

is the public version that developed from his previous work2. Field

physically engaged with the public and became ‘a form of collective

making [...] a controlled experiment in collaboration. It

engaged and celebrated the contingencies and inspirations of

individual and communal activity and creativity are fully expressed’

(Caiger-Smith, 2010, p.50). However, one may argue how creativity

can be possibly expressed within the rules set by Antony Gormley:

Each participant used the clay ‘to make the pieces hand-sized and

easy to hold - to make sure the eyes were deep and close - and

to try to get the proportions of the head to the body as it should

be (in general there was a tendency to make the heads larger).’

For the way of making the eyes, as first Gormley instructed the

participants to make it with their finger, but ‘then as days passed

a wetted, sharpened ice-lolly stick seemed preferable’ (Ibid, p.56).

Perhaps, the participants’ creativity was expressed through their

relative freedom within the loose rules. Thus, each figurine in

the Field was different, from the outside to inside. [Ref. Fig.10]

Ref. Fig.8

Ref. Fig.9

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_Freedom for expression

In the making level within the method, I believe that the involvement of the

participants should not be only on a physical level. I need the stories from

them or to provide them the necessary freedom of expression, because I

don’t believe in the kind of work that manipulates the public unless there is

a reasonable intention exists.

Comparing the Field with the Black Box Exercise and the Sunflower Seeds, the

all of them were focused on the making process, but only Black Box Exercise

engaged with the participants at the idea’s development level. It provided

the freedom for the participants’ creation, which make it a successful art

education program for cultural exchange. Although there was a theme for

each event, the participated students were still free enough to create their

own work within the box. It was the idea of the box (receptacle) that

have influenced me to start the initial experiment with my classmates (I

will clarify this concept further in the methods section). For the other two

projects, the outcomes were in a way preconfigured. As mentioned, the

fields were still providing certain extent of freedom for the participants, plus

the materiality factor (the colour of the clay from the earth) that made the

look of the outcome uncertain or inconsistent. While for the Sunflower Seeds

by Ai Weiwei, the process of making was more limited. However there was

a reason behind, which was stated by Antony Gormley, ‘The 1,600 workers

who produced the 100 million sunflower seeds could not be said to have

had their creativity extended (though no doubt they felt identification with

the work) or their right of freedom of expression particularly enhanced.’

Gormley then suggested that Ai was implying his political statement into the

process of making work, somehow he was fighting for the Chinese artisans’


Ref. Fig.10

freedom of expression by exposing ‘his ability to exploit their labour’ and

this act was ‘intrinsic to its meaning’ (Gormley, 2011, p.50). Barrett wrote on

Art Monthly and suggested another perspective:

Sunflower Seeds has helped to support traditional craft production in

numerous small-scale, village-led workshops. While the prospect of working

in a small group and repeating the same few actions day after day may seem

like the worst kind of alienated work to many privileged westerners. […]

Here, repetitive production is a meditative act rather than the alienated

labour of the Fordist factory (Barrett, 2011, p.24).

To conclude based on the preceding paragraph.

It is not easy to carry the participatory methodology thoroughly through

the three mentioned levels within the MA, especially on the level of

making. Each of the participants (my classmates) has a tight schedules, it

is important that the engagement I establish and require from them is not

time consuming. In terms of the project field, I am interested in both art and

design project references. Perhaps, there is a place between two areas, the

practical and non-practical function.

How to make a piece of design that associate itself with the general public

through participatory methodology, if the amount of participants is limited?

What kind of elements and methods will I need to employ?


Through Using Public’s Objects And Stories_elements 71

Fig.1

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I believe that if I use the suitable elements to develop a

participatory work, even with a small group of participants,

the work’s outcome will still be able to communicate with

the wider audience. Indeed, those elements are the public’s

objects and stories. Here though, I am not talking about them

in an individual sense; they are two elements linked together,

objects that carry the stories (history) and, stories

about objects (experience, memory).

Taking the Sunflower Seeds again as an example. Beside the

mentioned points about the making of the crafted seeds, there

were layers of stories related to the actual eatable seeds, which

had a strong connection with the people in China. ‘During the

Cultural Revolution, [Chairman] Mao was presented as the

sun and the people as sunflowers turning towards him, so

there is a revolutionary ideology somehow implicit in the use

of that object [the seeds].’ Sunflower seeds were (still are)

very prevalent in China, ‘people would eat them at commune

meetings […] everyone would have big mounds of sunflower

seeds in front of them at every event they went to […]

they [the seeds] have that resonance of human compassion.’

(Bingham to Dennis, 2011) Although I don’t think that the use

of sunflowers seeds can make any direct connection with the

western audience, it was the most suitable medium to tell the

mentioned stories in this case.

Ref. Fig.11

Ref. Fig.12

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elements

By the same token, the objects (materials) in the Field were used with their

meaning and stories. For instance, the Field III (1990) [Ref. Fig.11-12] was made

in a small village in a place near Mexico City. There are large numbers of brick

makers in that area, including one extended family with sixty members called

Taxcla who works with Antony Gormley. They were familiar with the clay in

terms of brick making. Thus, the material has a strong association with their life.

Gormley said that they ‘liberated’ the earth ‘from being the uniform brick’ to the

figures in the Field (Caiger-Smith, 2010, p.58).

In short, each object has its function, but associations can be sometimes collective,

sometimes different to everyone. The notion between the relationship of the

objects and stories led me to the following two sets of questions:

• What kind of story I want to tell through the experiments with my

classmates? What objects (medium) should I use to tell those stories?

• What objects should I design with the participatory design

methodology? What stories are in there?

Below are the two main subjects I worked with my classmate:

The story about how people (my classmate) used to liveDuring the initial experimental stage, I made a collage [Fig.1] to express my

unpleasant feeling about the living condition in Hong Kong. Through the collage,

I intended to tell the story about how I used to live, or what kind of space

and environment I was dealing with. There is a tension between the living

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elements

environment and the individuals, which I want to show through

the experiment with my classmates. Since 40 of them are from 19

different countries, the cultural backgrounds are quite different. Also,

each of them has their own personal experience about the place

they used to live, which makes the classroom become a library rich

of stories about places.

The furniture’s storiesTables and chairs have always been strongly connected with the

public, they are the most common commodities that would appear

in everyone’s life, from household, commercial to public environment.

Especially chair, most of the people at least own one. It is the objects

full of stories and histories, so it is always the perfect thing to design

and suitable medium for art to tell stories. It is the ‘Vessels that

could carry feeling, convey experience’ (a statement borrowed from

Antony Gormley about his body cast). I am interested in investigate

the stories and history behind chairs, in terms of how people or

the owner used to use it. The work 100 Chairs in 100 Days [Ref.

Fig.13-14] by Martino Gamper shared the same thought. It can be

categorised as participatory work if the unintentional input can be

consider as a kind of participation. He worked on discarded chairs

from London streets and at his friends’ homes for the recreation.

Martino Gamper wrote on his website about the intention behind

his work:

I hope my chairs illustrate and celebrate the geographical, historical and human resonance of design: what can they tell us about their place of origin or their previous sociological context and even their previous owners? (Gamper, 2007)

In combining that with the previous subjects I arrived to formulate

an interesting question: How my classmates used to use their chair

become an interesting notion to investigate in the experiment.

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Through Using Public’s Objects And Stories_methods 77

This section is about how I started engaging with my classmates

and what methods I employed in terms of idea, making and use.

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At the initial stage, I was aiming to design

a “platform” for the public (my classmates)

to express or demonstrate their ideas.

It is necessary to have rules to guide

them and control the outcome. It is like a

framework. For instance, Black Box Exercise,

the first layers of rules were the use of the

30x30x30cm box. It is a physical limitation.

The second layer was the theme, a topic

for the creation and expression. [Ref. Fig.15]

The box is a receptacle, which physically

carries objects that represent stories.

There was also a sense of equality, where

everyone was working with the same rules

and environment. Another example was One

and Other (2009) [Ref. Fig.16] by Antony

Gormley, where he used the 4th plinth in

Trafalgar Square as an actual platform for the

public expression. Each participant had one

hour on top of the plinth being able to do

almost everything within the space.

In my first two experiences, I tried to design a

receptacle for my classmates. The receptacle,

on one hand should enable to engage with

their idea and physical involvement. On the

other, it shouldn’t require lots of time. Thus,

I came up with the idea of making and using

drawings.

As mentioned in the previous section, “how

people used to live” is one of my directions.

In the first experiment, I provided my mates

with an a4 paper (as a receptacle) and asked

the following question: Can you draw a space

with these materials, which can represent

where you used to live and where you are

from? Using this method, it didn’t ask for

much time from my classmates, since they

could draw as much as they want. [Fig.2-8]

However, I believed that it was important to

have a certain extent of consistency in each

of the outcomes.

_Rules

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Korea, SeoulChina, Huizhou

15+ different places including Qutar and UK Japan, Tokyo

Korea, Seoul Iran, Tehran

Japan, Tokyo

Fig.2-8

methods 81

Ref. Fig.17

82

Therefore, I introduced more rules in the following experiment. With

reference to Gormley’s Allotment (1995-2008) [Ref. Fig.17], 15 rules3 were

set by Gormley to collect the measurement data from the participants,

and then transformed to concrete rectangular body cases. In one of the

projects in Malmö Konsthall, Sweden, 300 sculptures were made based on

the information given by the 300 hundred local people. With this method,

a strong association between the work’s outcome and the participants was

built up even though there were no self-expression activities taking place.

As a result, the rules summarized below directed my mates during the

second experiment: Square Paper.

• Using the bottom two guidelines, create a (isometric) square or

rectangle

• Using the third vertical guideline create the height

• If I say this is your room, please draw the door or entrance, what is the

material of the door?

• Draw something next to the door

• Draw one or more than one window

• Draw a table

• Draw one or couple of chair

• Draw an object on top of the table

• Draw a bed

• Draw a bookshelf

• Is there a stair or ladder? Draw it if yes

• Is there a rug? Draw it if yes

• Is there any painting or display? Draw it if yes

• Draw something outside the window

• Draw yourself in somewhere

methods 83

Fig.9-14 (six of the examples)

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Beside those rules, I also provided some materials:

a sheet of 297mm square paper in 140gsm with 3

integrated guidelines, a few colour drawing pen. The

outcomes from 22 classmates [Fig.9-14] are quite

different yet more consistent than the previous

test. Some kind of aesthetics quality had also

developed. Moreover, this experiment had a sense

of psychological test, since how they drew might

actually reflect their personality or subconscious

mind. However, this subject is out of my concern, I

would leave it open to judgement of the audiences.

Apart from the drawing done by my mates, I looked

for images of the places where they are from, and

then displayed them together with their drawing

within a critique (yet considering them as displayed

in an exhibition). [Fig.15-16] In a way, it is true to say

that ‘the makers were the only audience the work

needed’ (Caiger-Smith, 2010, p.50). The participants

can see how different they drew between one

another and to question: Is that because we are

from different places, different cultural background?

Or is that because we have different personal

experiences?

I believe that the Square Paper is a successful

experiment, because I have engaged with my

classmates in all three levels of participation.

However, I preferred to develop a method that

can produce three-dimensional rather than two-

dimensional outcomes.

_Interviews

Interviews were the major way for me to gather

the information from my mates, no matter whether

at the idea or making levels. It is an action finalized

to find responses. As a matter of fact in the first two

experiments I requested my classmates to draw,

dealing with the physical involvement and the idea

generating level. In the following examples, I tried to

focus only on getting their ideological inputs. First,

through this method I can control more the making

process by myself. Second, it revealed to be a less

time-consuming method for my classmates. Within

the same context on cities and how they used to

live, I asked four of my classmates the following

question:

Please describe the place you used to live with 20

sentences.

methods 85

Basing on my mates’ feedback, I made four collages, three were two-dimensional

[Fig.17-19] and one was three-dimensional: Imaginary cities. [Fig.20] Although I

understand that the novel Invisible Cities4 (1974) do not directly relate to my subject,

it inspired me to explore the interesting notion between memory/experience and

imagination with my classmates. This experiment was the point where my classmates’

memories and my imagination meet.

After the experiments about stories and cities, I began focusing on furniture. Hence,

I developed one experiment about table-making and three about chair-making. They

all engage with the participants through the medium of interviews, but in a slightly

different way.

1. The Ideal Table [Fig.21]

This experiment was developed from the Imaginary cities, I wondered if it was

possible to combine ideas and descriptions from different participants into one

single object, and through the object to tell different stories. So I interviewed 18

people, and asked them to describe their ideal table. What I got was a great variety

of the materials, forms and functions; some of the answers were related to the

cultural background and others were based on function. It is a real challenge for

me to put their ideas together. I tried to work between contradictory ideas. For

instance, almost everyone desired to have a wood finished table and only one of

them said she preferred a glass table, connecting her idea to her practice of putting

a source of light underneath the surface when tracing drawings. Those contrasting

ideas became one of the major design elements. [Fig.22]

Fig.15-16

Fig.17-19

Fig.20

Fig.21

methods 89

Fig.22

90

2. How have you ever mis-used a chair?5 [Fig.23]

It is an on-going experiment I did through the Internet, trying to get ideas outside the classroom. Artwork

like Smilesfilm (2010) by Yoko Ono who also makes use of the web, the idea is to gather everyone smiling

face from every single human being in the world. [Ref. Fig.18]

Besides, this experiment was also related to Richard Wenworth’s Making do and getting by. (1993) [Ref.

Fig.19] He captured the moment when people mis-used the objects in the daily life. It was about how

people adapt themselves in spaces or how they can manipulate over objects. The pictures of the every day

events became much more poetic when displayed collectively. Audience can associate easily with it, since

we all behave in a similar way with objects.

3. Interviews to 9 of my classmatesBeing inspired by Richard Wenworth, I decided to ask the following questions:

1. How have you ever mis-used a chair?

2. What function you really like rather than just sit on the chair?

3. What is the most extraordinary experience you had when you were using a chair?

4. Can you tell me a story about you and a piece of furniture?

5. Do you remember a film that there is a piece of furniture and which played a very important role?

Unlike The Ideal table, it was not necessary to combine the answers to develop an object. As a consequence

to the effectiveness of the questions the answers were so fascinating, whether personal, unique, or common,

that they showed the strong connection with the public. For instance, one of Feng Shao’s stories, a mate

of mine, was about her experience with a sofa. When she was really young, when found a coin in the gap

of the sofa that made her so excited and spend the rest of the day trying to find more of them. I was

resonated with this story once she told me, and I believe this story has a potential to be associated with

most of the people. For this reason, I decided to further develop this narrative.

methods 91

Fig.23


methods 93

4. One hour model making workshop [Fig.24]

‘You grab a piece of earth and mould it into a shape, just like an extension

of your body’ Gormley (2003 cited in Caiger-Smith, 2010, p.56).

Having said that my classmates had their own tight schedule, I consider

myself lucky enough at having the five of them participating to this. I do

believe that in physical engagement is important. The rules were time

and materials involved. A bar of clay and metal strips were the material I

provided them with, and then I asked to make a chair with a story within

one hour. Moulding and twisting the material with their own hand were

an expressive method of design. Charles Eames, once said ‘design is an

expression of purpose’.

Fig.24

_Collage

Besides the collages I did in the earlier experiment about cities,

I consider the ideal table as a kind of collage work (in a very

controlled way). I also used collage as a way to combine ideas

from different small experiments to found objects. What I mean

by that is I tried to link up an idea with an existing objects to

form a new meaning, so as to associate it with more people.

[Fig.25] For examples, the 1001 Qing dynasty chairs [Ref. Fig.20]

used in the Ai Weiwei’s Fairytale (2007) gave an extra layer of

meaning. There was a monumental quality in it about the present

and the past. In other words, he was combing stories of people

with chairs, with history.

With this method, it also means that, it is not necessary to

engage with the same group of people in the three levels of

participation. For instance, I can get ideas from group A, making

an object with group B and let it be used by A, B and C.

Ref. Fig.20

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The personal stories & ideas

Found Chair

The Artful Dodger

How have you ever mis-use a chair?

One hour model Making Workshop

The Ideal Table

Fig.25 (a diagram to explain the linkage between the interviews, found chairs and project outcome)

methods 97

The Artful Dodger6 is one of the major outcomes. It is a chair, whose core idea

was from the mentioned story about finding coin while the making started

with a piece of found chair. The title itself is also an important element to

make associations with the public, suggested by Dr Ken Wilder, the tutor

of my project (the next section is about the role of my tutors within the

participatory experiment).

Workshops and tutorialsThe physical help, ideas, and support within the development of the project

coming from workshops and tutorials should also be considered as a part

of the participation. During the making process of The Artful Dodger, the

technician in the wood workshop constantly provided me with their support

in both levels. It has been this participation that affected the work outcome.

Tutorials have been like the framework within my own framework, a strong

support was so influential to each of my experiments.

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methods 99

The result of my project is the making of the process rather than the final product, because

I aim to investigate and develop my own participatory methodology that can possibly be

used in future. Therefore, the documentary of the process is very important. From how

to get ideas to how people actually interact with the physical outcome, I have recorded

it in different way: filming, photographing and doing sound recording. This information will

go in to a website7 as my own record and also to share with people interested in the

participatory design method

Through Using Public’s Objects And Stories_result 99

101

1.

‘Each of the participating students to own a black box of his own, sized

30 x 30 x 30 cm; and then to create something inside the box for their

expressions. Throughout this process, the students would learn about

the black box, its materials, its physics and its limitations. As for the stage

where hundreds of black boxes are gathered together for the exhibition,

every individual student would come to realise the relationship between

himself and the other participants, and the system around them.’ (Zuni

Icosahedron, 2006)

2.

Based on his mediation study and the belief in make bodies into ‘vessels

that could carry feeling, convey experience’ he had used his own body to

made the ‘very first body-case sculpture, Mould’ and a series of related

personal work in the 1980s (Caiger-Smith, 2010, p.21-22).

3.

The 15 rules set by Antony Gormley in Allotment:

In front

The total height from the top of the head to the ground.

From the shoulder to the ground.

From the shoulder to the top of the head.

The width of the head.

The height of the top of the ear from the top of the head.

The length of the ear.

The height of the mouth from the division of the lips.

The width of the mouth.

From side to side at the widest.

The height of the anus from the floor.

In profile

From the back to the front at the deepest (i.e. from the buttocks to the

toes).

The lateral distance from the tip of the toes to the back of the head.

From the tip of the nose to the back of the head.

The distance from the back of the head to the back of the ear.

The distance from the side of the head to the side of the body.

(Gormley, 1995)

4.

It was a book about the Venetian Marco Polo describing his imaginary

cities.

5.

This is a collaborative research method. Using the Internet (i.e. Facebook,

Flickr & email), I can get different stories from people around the world

easily. The collected images are not only for my own research purpose.

They should also form a creative gallery to share the different ways of

using a chair. Then the participants become the audiences.

6.

The Artful Dodger Originally was a character from the Charles Dickens

novel Oliver Twist, he was a pickpocket.

7.

www.lomingshum.com

Through Using Public’s Objects And Stories_notes 101

103

Ai, W. (2010) Interview with the presenter Alan Yentob, London, 16 November.

Barrett, D. (2011) Ai Weiwei: Sunflower Seeds. Art Monthly, vol. 343, pp. 24-25.

Baudrillard, J. (1996) System of objects. London: Verso.

Baxandall, M. (1985) Patterns of intention : on the historical explanation of pictures. London: Yale University Press.

Caiger-Smith, M (2010) AG : Antony Gormley. London: Tate.

Bingham, N. ed. (2004) Fantasy architecture : 1500-2036. London: Hayward Gallery.

Blamley, D. ed. (2002) Here, there, elsewhere: dialogues on location and mobility. London: Open Editions.

Caiger-Smith, M. (2010) AG : Antony Gormley London: Tate.

Coggins, D. (2007), Ai Weiwei’s Humane Conceptualism, Art In America, 95, 8, pp. 118-125, Academic Search Elite, EBSCOhost, viewed 14 April 2012.

Dennis, p (2011) Ai Weiwei transparent communicator: Interview Tate’s Juliet Bingham. [internet]. Available from:<http://ar tradarjournal.com/2011/02/23/early-signs-of-sunflowers-interview-tate’s-juliet-bingham-–-part-ii/> [Accessed 25 May 2012].

Dickie, G. (2006) Intentions: Conversations and Art. The British Journal of Aesthetics, Vol. 46 (1) pp.70-81, <http://ejournals.ebsco.com/direct.asp?ArticleID=44B790AE60E0E87C3C1D> [Accessed 5 March 2012].

Fibicher, B., Obrist, H. & Smith, k. (2009)Ai Weiwei. London: Phaidon.

Gamper, M. (2007) The Process of Making One Hundred Chairs. [internet]. Available from:<http://martinogamper.com/project/a-100-chairs-in-a-100-days/> [Accessed 4 June 2012].

Glancey, J. (2009) A 4th plinth for architecture?, Building Design [Internet]. June 2009 p. 20. Available from:<http://BT2HA9XT3Y.useaccesscontrol.com/go?url=/docview/274509831?accountid=10342> [Accessed 29 March 2011].

Gormley, A (1995) ALLOTMENT, 1995 - 2008 [Internet]. Available from:<http://www.an tonygormley. com/scu lp tu re / i tem-v iew/id/242#p0> [Accessed 5 November 2011]. Gormley, A (2011) Louder than words. Resurgence. issue 268, pp.48-53.

Italo, C. (1997) Invisible cities. London: Vintage.

Klanten, R. ed. (2009) Once upon a chair : design beyond the icon. Berlin: Gestalten.

Livingston, P (2005) Art and intention : a philosophical study Oxford: Clarendon Press.

Lugt, R., Sanders, E., Stappers, P. & Visser, F. (2005) Codesign, Contextmapping: experiences from practice [internet]. June 2005, vol. 1, no.2, pp.119-149. Available from: <http://www.tandf.co.uk/journals> [Accessed 15 February 2012].

Mitrašinović, M & Traganou, J (2009) Travel, space, architecture. Farnham: Ashgate.

Powell, L 2011, ‘Antony Gormley’, New Internationalist, 448, p. 62, Academic Search Elite, EBSCOhost, viewed 29 March 2012.

Powell, R. (2004) People making places : imagination in the public realm. Wakefield: Public Arts.Putnam, J (2001) Art and artifact : the museum as medium. London: Thames & Hudson.

Rosen, M (2012) Migrations: Journeys Into British Art. London: Tate Britain.

Tolstoy, L (1971) What is art. London: Paul B Minet.

VETROCQ, M (2009) 'WHO'S ON FOURTH?', Art In America, Vol.97 (9) p.12.

Warner, M. (1993) Richard Wentworth. London: Thames and Hudson, in association with the Serpentine Gallery.

Zuni Icosahedron (2006) BBE [Internet]. Available from:<http://www.zuni.org.hk/zuni06/ar t_edu_bbe_e.html> [Accessed 3 November 2011].

Through Using Public’s Objects And Stories_bibliography 103

105

AcknowledgementsIt is a project that cannot be finished on my own, I am extremely grateful to all the participants (no matter in idea, make or use level) in different experiments: (Sorted alphabetically)

Alina ValeevaAntoana Kostadinova PetkovaCamille VierinCristina GandolfoDr Ken WilderEleni SophocleusEleni-Dimitra DouzeniFeng ShaoHeymi AnIrene ArtemiIsabelle OhmIsabelle Tasseff-ElenkoffItohan BarlowJacqueline YeungJennifer May EvansJing XueJohn O’sullivanJoonhwan LimJuelin HeKeun Hye LeeLaura Jane BlenkinsopLianzhong FuMarjan SalimianMen Sun LimMiheeka Bajaj

Min-JungyeomMinkyung KangMiwa IzawaMo JiaNapat JesadapatrakulNatalia Heredia RodriguezOlga KtenaPeter MaloneyPeter SticklandPhillip RutterRobin JenkinsRoland Joseph HelouShibboleth ShechterSirine Chaker Sirintra AursirisubSoo Ji ShinStamatina LiagkiStef WillisTomo YamaneVicky PhilippouWeng MannWenhao YangYi-Wei ChenYi-Zhen Lai-TremewanZoe Socratous

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Participatory design methodology:through using public’s objects and stories

© 2012 LO MingShumAll rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form by any electronic or mechanical means (including photocopying, recording, or information storage and retrieval) without permission in writing from the publisher.

Master of ArtsInterior and Spatial Design

University of the Arts LondonChelsea College of Art and Design

2011-2012

www.lomingshum.com

participatory design methodology:through using public’s objects and stories

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