A/R/Tography in pattern- making as creative exploration

A/R/Tography in

pattern-making as creative exploration

Chew Han Lim

/ Fashion

Han Lim began his career as a fashion designer with a major garment manufacturer for menswear and womenswear, and last held the position of Branch Manager prior to pursuing his teaching career with the Nanyang Academy of Fine Arts (NAFA) in 2004.

His expertise in Instructional Design and Technology helps him to continuously explore how technology can assist and enhance learning for students in art and design programmes, such as through the use of Virtual Learning Environment, web tools and mobile apps. This had led him to develop an e-learning module for the Fashion Department at NAFA. He believes that a full online course is possible with future technology developments as well as a paradigm shift in future generations.

Han Lim has participated in the Shanghai International Fashion Competition in 2000 and 2001, competing with world-renowned designers and emerging as one of the topten finalists in the competition. A/R/Tographic Stop Points

The stop point is a moment where we take pause, question, and reflect. It is a moment where we find an idea, provocation or prompt.

This research project aims to explore opportunities for teaching and learning creativity through a series of patternmaking activities using A/R/Tography as a research methodology. This research focuses on engaging with threshold concepts, stop moments and qualitative research focused on liminary processes. The liminary process from unknown to known facilitates students from basic pattern-making skills and thinking to more creative pattern-making skills and thinking through the class activities. The class activities included two stages of pattern-making processes. These pattern-making processes were intended to raise awareness of emotion, reflection at the end of each stage of the process and interaction between the student’s prior knowledge, resources, and the lecturer. The two stages of processes were completed in three weeks facilitated by the myself as their lecturer.

The subject is decentered The researcherbody is entangled and affected Research is a non-representational creation of difference

Stage one was studying an interesting pattern design and identify the key pattern making principles applied. Stage two was recreating a variety of designs using the process from stage one. In the facilitation processes, spontaneous interactions were identified between a student and notes that the lecturer had given, a student and prior knowledge, a student and the lecturer, the lecturer and notes, creative exploration and stage one study, and the lecturer and facilitation method. The interactions took place spontaneously where the lecturer as a facilitator was constantly negotiating the scaffolding of the class and students’ self-exploration. One opened-ended question was used at the end of each stage, with the purpose of acting as a stop moment for students to reflect and consider their emotions. Key words were identified from the reflections done by the students to highlight the objectives of risk taking and emotions involved in the exploration process for students as learner and the lecturer as an A/R/Tographer. It is hoped that this process of uncovering and embracing the element of risk and failure through reflections may be able to fuel creativity and accelerate the designing process. In conclusion, in this research it is viewed that the A/R/Tography research process can potentially support students and lecturers to reflect, identify and embrace failure, and in turn seek improvement with a disposition of endless learning through failure, confusion, and exploration.