FormAkademisk

Editorial I. Perspectives on Design Literacy

Erik Bohemia, Úrsula Bravo, Liv Merete Nielsen — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

The Perspectives on Design Literacy special issue features selected peer reviewed articles discussing the Design Literacy concept in relation to a specific area of design education. Thus, the special issue provides the design research community with a useful reference point on which to further knowledge development related to Design Literacy and it update as a framework to examine for example what it means to be Design Literate. The Perspectives on Design Literacy special issue covers contributions exploring Design Literacy in diverse contexts including the educational level covering primary, secondary and Higher Education as well as different national educational context. The special issue provides a useful reminder that Design Literacy as with other types of literacies should gain a greater prominence withing the design research community to support development of general and professional education to prepare future citizens to navigate designed artificial world which is becoming increasing automated through the rapid deployment of the AI.

Editorial II. Design education in China

Yang Zhang, Lusheng Pan — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This editorial represents a brief overview of design education in China, and then it introduces Shandong University of Art & Design (SUAD). It contains three parts. The first section describes the development of design education in China and the current situation of College Entrance Examination for design students. The second section introduces SUAD from aspects of its location, the features of design teaching and learning, and design-related actives and achievements. The last part predicts the future of design education in China.

Editorial. Conference proceedings of the 2nd Biennial International Conference for the Craft Sciences—BICCS 2023

Gunnar Almevik, Géraldine Brun, Anneli Palmsköld, Katarina Saltzman — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The papers in this issue comprise the proceedings of the 2^nd Biennial International Conference for the Craft Sciences, held 20–22 September 2023 in Mariestad at the Craft Laboratory, affiliated with the Department of Conservation, University of Gothenburg, Sweden. Craft is an integral aspect of daily life and work, activated in all the knowledgeable processes of making and transforming ideas into artefacts and services. Craft is commonly anticipated as a form of production, but it may also be practiced as a social and political activity and as a way of knowing and being in the world. Craft is omnipresent and multi-folded. Consequently, craft research is diverse, conducted across and within different disciplines and academic contexts, and operates with distinct perspectives and approaches.

Students’ Public success and private breakdown?

Zhengping Liow — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Design literacy becomes more essential to creating a collaborative and inclusive society. Nonetheless, students were more anxious and exhibited lower performance when design studio tutors employed the conventional master-apprentice pedagogy. The cross-pollinative team learning (CTL) design studio pedagogy was operationalised in a year-long randomised controlled trial with first-year Generation-Z beginning design students to resolve the limitations in the existing pedagogy. The CTL students were significantly less anxious compared to master-apprentice students at the year end, although the impact of both pedagogies on anxiety was relatively modest. The hidden CTL curriculum and social support were also demonstrated to enable CTL students to outperform one-on-one master-apprentice learners academically. This study suggested that the power structures of design studios should be recalibrated to acquire CTL advantages, thereby leading to more effective learning outcomes.

Students’ Spatial and Visual Literacies

Yun Fan, Xiang Xia — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This research examines whether different disciplinary backgrounds influence the development of design students’ visual literacy. A compulsory first-year course in Chinese design degree programmes was selected for this research, as such a course is designed to develop students’ spatial literacy and visual expression during the discovery design process phase and to facilitate the development of students’ cognitive skills in defining and solving problems. An analysis of 16 students’ assignments from eight universities indicates that students’ disciplinary backgrounds play an important role in the development of their cognition performance related to visual literacy. The results indicate that the disciplinary subject background (i.e. arts or engineering) is an important factor affecting the development of students’ design literacy, specifically their spatial visual cognitive and problem-solving skills.

Boatbuilding and urban genesis

Jasna Sersic — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Traditional boatbuilding today is a fading craft, raising questions of not only how to preserve this craft and reconstruct and transmit the knowledge and skills related to it to future generations but also, considering new technologies and available materials, why its preservation and perpetuation are important. Answering these questions requires a valorisation framework for the traditional boatbuilding craft and its methods of construction, considering the fact that traditional boatbuilding is the essence of modern shipbuilding and inextricably linked to the development and transmission of knowledge in city making too. To help create this framework, this paper addresses two distinct ways of thinking involved in making boats: one tied to boats made from already existing models or designs and the other to boats created ex nihilo with the help of sesto and garbo tools. Through a historical and theoretical examination and by building on the empirical case study of traditional boatbuilding in wood in the Mediterranean, this paper explores the concept of constructing boats ex nihilo in the technical, socio-economic, and spatial sense, shedding the light on the creativity inherent in shipbuilding and its implications. This paper will contribute to understanding how knowledge transmission in traditional boatbuilding has progressed and the role this knowledge model can play in shipbuilding development, offering a valuable resource also for those interested in development and transmission of alternative models of knowledge production.

To safeguarding traditional basket making for the future

Helena Åberg, Sofia Månsson — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

ABSTRACT
Korgen lyfter [Raising Basket knowledge] is a Swedish national project started by handicraft consultants from three different regions in 2019. The project aims to promote basket making and knowledge by strengthening contemporary basket makers, make the diversity of domestic basket traditions visible and increase the interest of basket making. Through efforts in training, inventory work, seminars, lectures and networking, nationally and internationally, the project has made knowledge available and problematized the question of the fragile position of basket making. Among other things, the project has been involved in developing shorter courses in basket making and started a basket appeal related to the UNESCOs convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. Through a traveling exhibition, different events as well as high digital presence, the project has reached many people.

Interpreting archaeological boat material, the G1 boat of the Gokstad find

Svein Erik Øya, Lars Stålegård — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

We will discuss the limitation of cardboard as a material for reconstruction models, and whether an alternative material could be helpful to overcome these limitations. We have experimented with 3D-printed plastic and ways to reduce the longitudinal high edge stiffness, to get around what we think is the main weakness using cardboard. The goal has been to open the possibilities of interpretation. The end result of the tests has been used to build a 1:5 reconstruction model, for our interpretation of the 10m boat from the Gokstad find (G1) from late 800’s. We found that the use of 3D-printed plastic, with a designed internal weakness, gives us more longitudinal flexibility in the model. This flexibility opens up for interpretations that are less feasible when using cardboard.

From an Embodied Understanding to Ethical Considerations during Creative Practice

Priska Falin , Petra Falin, Maarit Mäkelä — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This paper discusses material-based creative processes in the context of higher education. The focus is on the ethical aspects related to material considerations during the iterative phases of personal projects. We explore how personal feelings and an embodied understanding of the material world influence decisions on how and why we engage with different materials during creative processes. Recent trends in material-based research aim to explore the relationships between humans and materials, examining them as equal members in research and thus challenging the top-down perception of materials as mere resources for human needs. However, this kind of approach to research and material-based creative practices requires ethical considerations that reach not only the human but also the non-human world. In this paper, we open this discussion by examining design students’ creative processes, which unfold an understanding of ethics in relation to non-humans. We build on data consisting of documentation, reflections and outcomes derived from the creative processes of four MA-level students and discuss a number of complementing ethical guidelines for art, culture and earth systems. The paper uses ‘ethically disturbing moments’ as an analytical tool for looking into students’ material choices in their creative processes. The four selected processes open up a personal connection to materials that results in ethical considerations during the creative practice and thus reveal the need for discussing material-focused ethics in the context of craft, design and art education. Personal aspects related to materials are discussed as embodied understanding and are seen to affect the ethics of engaging with materials.

Sensing the Rhythm

Sara Hulkkonen, Miia Lötjönen, Maarit Mäkelä — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Glassblowing is a craft in which both human and material movement are essential. However, what kind of movement is required in glassblowing, and why does that movement happen? This article presents a practice-led case study conducted in a glassblowing studio. During a glassblowing session, clear drinking glass blanks are blown in a wooden turn mould. The process of glassblowing is documented on video and analysed using the visual data. Additionally, diary notes and participant observation are used to understand and contextualise video data more profoundly. The analysis focuses on the movement of the two main actants of the process: the human movement of the glassblower and the non-human movement of the hot glass. Altogether, six categories were identified to represent the human and material activity. This article concludes that the movement under investigation is relational between the glassblower and the hot glass, and it happens as a consequence of the glassblowers’ situated embodied knowledge. Furthermore, we discovered that research in the processes of glassblowing offers a rich ground for practice-led research that adopts relational ontology and sociomateriality as its theoretical perspectives. The purpose of this study is to fortify the craft of glassblowing as a vital practice in the fields of art, design, and craft.

English

Catarina Sjöberg, Maria Löfgren — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Historical gardens and green cultural environments maintain and transmit parts of our biocultural heritage. The gardener's maintenance and cultivation work affects both the content and our experience of these environments. While modern management methods in many cases are necessary to fulfil requirements for the work environment and efficiency, we want to investigate the extent to which alternative/traditional working methods can contribute with other qualities and with solutions for more sustainable management. Garden and Landscape Crafts bachelor's programme students at the Department of Conservation are practicing a lost craft skill by participating in a comparative cultivation experiment to gain an understanding of historical methods and their relation to the present, as well as the future development and revitalisation of sustainable historical environments.

From Craft to industry

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

In this paper, we discuss the potential of using traditional knowledge of natural dyes for more sustainable development processes in textile design. Our aim is to help foster a green transition through responsible consumption and production. We investigate the potential for implementing natural dye processes from craft to industrial processes to replace synthetic dyes. We adopt a systematic approach to dyeing and printing with food waste, including walnut shells, avocado skins and onion skins, specifically exploring colourfastness. We have observed that craft methods tend to be ‘forgotten’ due to the zeal for industryalization and the standardizing of products to ensure quality requirements. From students and business partners, we experience requests for natural dyes; however, we are challenged to document colourfastness. Knowledge and documentation are of high importance when we intend to convince industry to learn from traditional crafts. Through a systematic investigation testing traditional recipes and variations in dyed textiles, we experience how textiles perform. Through iterations based on the results, we continue with further experiments and simultaneously discuss whether both the consumer and the industry have to look at quality requirements from a conventional perspective. We argue that current expectations regarding colours and standards must change. Facing radical changes to the way we live, produce and use products, it is important to critically examine our approach to conventional industrial production. In our research, we built knowledge generation on cultural heritage and traditional craft. We argue how this becomes a societal asset influencing users’ behaviour and creates awareness towards sustainable changes in the design and use of textiles.

Horsehair weaving for sievewrights

Marie Ekstedt Bjersing — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This paper aims to discuss methods for reviving a craft – horsehair weaving – inspired by the concept of a moving searchlight approach and a forensic perspective. Isolated artefacts, tools, tools with ongoing processes and photographs, together with preserved documentation, have been analysed. Ongoing documentation on social media and a webpage were used during this process. Social media aimed to get people interested in the subject, test thoughts and maintain a dialogue. The webpage aimed to gather documentation demonstrating the horsehair weaving process and how the sievewright was made. The public documentation also aimed to inspire and engage other crafters. The public display of the ongoing project has been a positive learning experience. Different methods of documentation have different advantages.

Crafts and the Origins of Geometry

Ricardo Nemirovsky, Stephanie Bunn, Francesca Silverton — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

In this paper, we explore the possible roles of craftwork at the origins of geometry. Since shapes are the characters of geometry, our focus is on crafting shapes. We review two approaches to the nature of making: hylomorphism and hylonoesis. Related to these, we distinguish between ‘shape’ and ‘shaping’. From studies on prehistoric pottery, we explore a conception of ‘shaping’ as thoroughly implicated by the manifold social, biological, and material life of a community. Then we explore the significance of ’shaping’, which animate shapes, immerse them in the vagaries of materiality, and fill them with secrets longing for their open realization; a realization that is at once — inseparably — material and imaginary. We make shapes as they shape our bodies, and then we become capable of imagining and gesturing them.

Exploring the Sustainability of Huizhou Bamboo Carving in the Perspective of Heritage Craft

Maggie Zhang, Cees de Bont — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Huizhou bamboo carving was produced in the Huizhou region of China and is one of the representative carvings of the Huizhou region. As an essential local intangible cultural heritage, the carving techniques, cultural connotations, and historical and artistic values of Huizhou bamboo carving have contributed to its own high craft research value. However, this local heritage craft is facing many problems, such as the difficulty of spreading skills, selling craft products, and separating products from market demand. Therefore, how help Huizhou bamboo carving to get out of these difficulties and develop sustainability is a problem that needs to be solved urgently. Based on the perspective of heritage craft, this study proposes ways of digital multi-dimensional transformation of Huizhou bamboo carving products, collaborative and cooperative training of bamboo carving skills, and market innovation of bamboo carving products. Thus, this paper proposed some practical approaches for the sustainability of Huizhou bamboo carving research.

Estonian and Norwegian Sheep Wool as a Textile Material

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

In Estonia, up to 90% of local wool is not adequately valued, while in Norway, due to the well-functioning wool-buying and -sorting system, a large part of local wool is used purposefully. However, both countries have room for improvement in terms of the better usage of local wool. This article provides an overview of the Estonian-Norwegian wool research conducted in from 2020 to 2023 and its main results. During the study, wool was collected from three Estonian and three Norwegian sheep breeds, semi-worsted yarn was made from it, and knitted and woven fabrics were produced. Wool, yarn, and fabrics were tested in numerous ways. The paper presents the main test results and suggests how wools with a wide range of qualities can be used in innovative ways to create textiles. The smart use of materials is based on the possibilities offered by medium-sized production and knowledge about local wool.

Hartland Hanga

Wuon-Gean Ho — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

From October 2021 to July 2022 the author, Wuon-Gean Ho, was invited to work with a printmaking collective called Pine Feroda. Based in the UK, Pine Feroda create impressive large-scale woodblock prints of nature. Using a practice-led approach, the author developed an entirely novel printmaking technique which she named Hartland Hanga. Making audio-visual recordings of the artists working together captured the transmission of tacit knowledge as it emerged in real time. Using elements of conversation analysis from ethnography revealed how this group spoke to each other. The artists used creative strategies such as new phrases, verbal metaphors and gestural analogies to communicate elements of tacit knowledge. It is postulated that humour and creative communication might help the transmission and embedding of tacit knowledge between artists.

Change and Transformation of Functions in Turkey’s Felt Objects

Berilsu Tarcan — Wed, 20 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This study analyses felt and the practice of felting from the geography of Turkey, as a way to explore felt’s function in material culture. Felting is a method of craft making that consists of compressing fibres (wool or other). Felt, (in Turkish “keçe”) can be defined as the outcome product of felting process. However, keçe represents more than just a cloth or a textile. It was an important part of daily life in the geography of Turkey, for instance among nomads who produced their daily necessities from felt. For the study, first, I introduce some felt products from Turkey. Afterwards, I share the processes and results of a field study, through observations and interviews conducted with feltmakers in Tire region in Turkey. Then I share an analysis and results from the product research and field study. Nowadays felt is found through another range of accessories and artistic works, such as decorational products, hair bands, slippers, vase, tumbler, hats. While felt was commonly used for important functions such as carrying, moving; today, other materials are used for these functions. Therefore, felt objects can be perceived and bought as accessories rather than necessities in modern culture. Nevertheless, felt is still used for the representation of identities. Although felt is considered to have lost its value, for the context of Turkey, I argue that the functions have shifted to new contexts. Through different functionalities such as being tools for self-expressions/communication, felt has a similar value in the current culture.

Cutting a box hedge with a sickle

Joakim Seiler — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has identified craft as an intangible cultural heritage in the Convention for the Safeguarding of the Intangible Cultural Heritage. The nature of this cultural heritage is that it must be practiced by living craftspeople to endure, and when it is performed by very few, it can be seen as endangered. This research, funded by the Carl-Göran Adelswärds Foundation, is a documentation of such a craft: cutting a box hedge with a sickle. At the same time, in this study, a master–apprentice situation was staged in order to safeguard this traditional craft and pass it on to new craftspeople. The core elements of this learning procedure are imitation and feedback. This specific craft is an ancient tradition with very few living practitioners. The garden in which this endangered craft is still practiced is Castello Ruspoli, created in 1611, when sickles where still used for cutting box hedge hedges. Thanks to the restoration and preservation by the current owners, it is one of the most well-preserved gardens from that time. One of the reasons this garden is so special is the way it is cared for by the gardener, Santino Garbuglia, using traditional craft methods that this film article will investigate and show. The author argues that some traditional gardening methods should be considered intangible cultural heritages and safeguarded as such.

Human–Material Dialogues Through the Use of Robotics

Flemming Tvede Hansen — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This research investigates and discusses an embodied craft learning situation in an educational context that aims to support students within architecture by applying human–material dialogues when using robotics. Initially, the students were introduced to traditional craftsmanship based on materials and tools in ceramics. Based on the gained experiential knowledge, the same tools and materials were applied and explored on a UR 5 robot. A sensor provided the students with the opportunity to interact with the material through the robot while it was operating. The learning situation showed the potential to teach the students about robotics based on human–material dialogues and embodiment through making. The sensor enabled the students to use their experiential knowledge to improvise and work intuitively and spontaneously while they were exploring patterning based on the tools attached to the robot and the responsive material.

Field Method for Characterization of Deciduous Wooden Shingles

Linda Lindblad, Karl-Magnus Melin — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

In the Nordic countries, a major part of the built heritage is constructed of wood and on churches it is still common for the roofing to consist of shingles. In the 20th century, there was a paradigm shift when the heritage authorities made new standards where, for example, the variety of species used throughout history was replaced by pine with sapwood. Today, it is evident that the broken traditions have resulted in roofings with shorter life spans (Göllas & Lindblad, 2021). Further, changes in forestry during the last century made old mature pines, appropriate for shingles, a scarcity. Until last year, it was common that wood for shingles was imported from Russia and northern Finland, which is questionable from more than one perspective. In a project by the Craft Laboratory, the aim is to reclaim traditional know-how through craft research. Old built-in shingle roofs are examined, old forestry and building literature is inventoried and tradition bearers are interviewed. Several of these sources put forward oak and aspen as species well suited for long-lasting shingle roofing. The focus of the exhibition is the development of a field method in which we present features to define wood species on the weathered surfaces of shingles using sight and touch characterization. A built-in roof with both aspen and oak shingles in Tönnersjö church in Halland will serve as an example.

Plant Pillars

Teresia Millberg — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

ABSTRACT

To sustain the idea of the design of a garden it is essential to look at the plant materials that they are constructed with. We as gardeners, do not use solid materials as our building blocks, we rely on malleable plant materials to build our design. The materials vary over the season, which makes them complex to define.

The impressions of a garden is experienced through the expressions of its aesthetics, and without solid documentation of the form, structure, colour schemes and more, it is difficult to form an understanding of the garden as a whole.

The essence of a design lies in the plant materials that the gardener crafts and arranges in a specific way to create an aesthetic expression. In my work I have developed a method for the craftsman (or –woman) where the intangible plant materials and the subtle/distinct effects of colour and form and their aesthetic values can be measured utilising the system of a plant catalogue.

How will we understand what makes a good and sustainable design if we don’t find methods to document and assess the aesthetics and the craftsmanship behind it?

Building a Tiny house from waste

Ksenija Komazec, Elsa Vaara, Géraldine Brun, Stig Larsson, Helena Tobiasson — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This paper contributes to the understanding of how critical reflection can be applied to sustainability. This was accomplished by tracing the progression of a tiny-house project over time and the associated activities, which involved sourcing secondhand and discarded materials. We are a group of researchers and practitioners who worked together to explore and challenge the established norms of sustainability in housing practices: who is building, what is being built, with what materials, and through which processes. The use of discarded materials as resources for building a tiny house came to be decisive in shaping a platform for inclusion and sustainable practices. While the most common practice of building involves buying the materials needed at a lumber yard, working with discarded and secondhand materials requires time and flexibility. Tools play a central role in adapting random waste to specific purposes, a process that also demands skills in handling tools creatively. Additionally, gathering, organizing, and cleaning are activities that should be given special attention when working with these types of materials. In this paper, we explain how we reinjected waste materials into the production chain and how our work contributes to sustainable development from environmental and social perspectives. The argument for sustainability in our research revolves around exploring processes that include more groups in society and alternative ways of organizing the resources available.

Mapping presentations of crafts in the Danish heritage industry

Josefine Bill — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

In this paper, I present the methodological and theoretical deliberations behind a mapping of how crafts are presented in the Danish cultural heritage industry. I trace the historical background of crafts in the Danish heritage industry and present definitions of key concepts such as ‘craft’ and ‘the Danish heritage industry’. I then develop a research design consisting of a questionnaire and ethnographic fieldwork. I consider how research questions about scope and variation can be operationalized in the questionnaire and how theoretical perspectives from critical heritage studies (Smith, 2006) and vital materialism (Bennett, 2010; 2012) can inform the questionnaire and fieldwork. Finally, some preliminary findings are presented along with some comments on the use of questionnaires in heritage research.

To slip out of the geometric straitjacket

Mirjam Korn — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The tunnel method is a technique employed in the design of wallpaper patterns to facilitate the hanging process while maintaining the integrity of the pattern. It can be utilised in both the reconstruction of historical patterns and the creation of new ones. I have explored the potential of this method since 2006, and in my latest project, I had the opportunity to document its application in Swedish wallpaper studios and endeavour to understand its historical background regarding cultural and printing conditions. By testing the effect of applying the method to wallpaper patterns, I explored its possibility of generating distinctive effects within the pattern when the wallpaper is installed. In this way, the user can actively participate in determining the degree of variation in the pattern during the installation process, either by embracing serendipity or by making deliberate choices. The purpose is to promote wallpaper patterns with greater variation and wallpapers made from sustainable materials. Although this investigation led to several different ways of utilising the tunnel method, there is still much to be explored in this field. By sharing my work, I aim to motivate more people to explore the potential of the tunnel method. Notably, the communication of its functionality to customers and its integration within the cultural context remain limited.

Twisting Clay

Tavs Jorgensen, Sonny Lee Lightfoot — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This paper details practice-based research exploring new creative possibilities involving the ceramic extrusion process. The paper begins by providing a short overview of the extrusion technique, its characteristics and some contextual coverage of the process. The paper then describes how both tacit knowledge and theoretical material understanding have been used to overcome technical challenges through iterative research cycles and how, ultimately, the aesthetic qualities of the extrusion process have been used to develop a body of creative work. A key theme of the research is how digital fabrication technologies can be used in toolmaking scenarios to deliver innovation with a process that has long been used in craft ceramics but has remained somewhat underutilised.

Negotiating Authenticity and Climate Change in Heritage Gardens

Emma Grönlund, Joakim Seiler — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

With this paper we explore and discuss the priorities of and possible goal conflicts between authenticity and climate change in heritage gardens. How can climate change mitigation, adaptation, resilience, and cultural heritage conservation be combined in heritage gardens? Our study was guided by the following research question: How do gardeners negotiate climate change and authenticity in heritage gardens? From Rachel Carson's Silent Spring in the 1960s through to the 2002 report Gardening in the Global Greenhouse and the recent Gardening in a Changing World in 2022 mankind's impact on the environment and the emerging climate change has been the focus of increasing attention. By investigating and interviewing multiple gardeners our objective was to pinpoint common challenges, as well as what can be learned from one another within the field of gardening and heritage conservation. The case study method was adopted for this study, involving three head gardeners in the United Kingdom. Interviews were conducted with Joseph Atkin at Aberglasney Gardens, Claire Greenslade at Hestercombe Gardens, and Steve Lannin at Iford Manor about their expertise and knowledge. The gardeners expressed concern regarding climate change and the challenges it poses. The interviewees shared their experience with drought, reduced use of pesticides and herbicides, and the peat legislation in relation to their role as head gardeners. We argue that authenticity and the traditional gardening practised before the advent of power tools, plastic, peat issues, and uninformed transportation can be part of the solution to loss of biodiversity and climate change. This paper identifies some of the obstacles encountered in relation to negotiating questions of authenticity and climate change in heritage gardens.

The Gardener’s Practical Knowledge

Paula Pihlgren — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

With this article, I want to raise questions about the gardener’s practical knowledge in order to create greater awareness in educational contexts and working life of the importance and application of what it means to be and work as a gardener. Practical knowledge takes time to develop and requires experience and conscious reflection. It also requires knowledge of the particular site you are working with, which in principle is always complex, as it involves everything from natural habitats to human expressions, such as history. To understand what practical knowledge is, I drew on situations from my working life and discuss these with references that highlight the importance of involving different forms of knowledge, phenomenology and hermeneutics. I used the concept of genius loci to formulate the meaning of places and posthumanist thoughts on the relationship between humans and nature. My conclusion is that experience, reflection and knowledge of a place are central to building sites, a task in which the gardener is highly involved. I conclude with a number of questions about how to work with these aspects of the profession in education and working life.

English

Kristi Jõeste — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Innovation is an intentionally introduced significant and positive change to an existent practice. In crafts, innovation is challenging because, by nature, crafts are based on traditions and collective knowledge; they involve practising something the way it has always been practiced. If anything changes, it is copied rapidly by other craftspeople. In this article, I explain innovation in traditional glove-knitting through the concept of transformation of the tradition, and I analyse the case using a method called technique-concept-utility-structure-material (TCUSM), which was introduced by Adhi Nugraha in 2010. According to this method, one must know the tradition thoroughly in order to make conscious and justifiable changes to it. One must compare and explain what is traditional and what is new in one’s products. I combine this method with an artistic autoethnographic approach. Within my personal practice, the most significant change to the original involves combining and borrowing aesthetic elements from other traditional textiles or developing my own combinations of patterns and colours. First, I give a short overview of the history of embroidered gloves in Estonia, then demonstrate, with the help of explanations and photographs, contemporary gloves, made by me.

A Multidisciplinary Approach to the Development of Thermal Clay Modules

Flemming Tvede Hansen , Isak Worre Foged, Vasiliki Fragkia — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This study focuses on the idea that industrial production methods, combined with a craft-based approach, enable the production of distinctive expressive thermal functionalities. We developed extruded modules based on a hands-on explorative craft approach in parallel with virtual simulations to explore how heat and cold are transported dynamically through building modules. This paper discusses the developed method and process used in a multidisciplinary approach that combines the quality of craft-based practice with architecture, engineering and programming, focusing on how craft practitioners experiment with material, technique and aesthetics in such a multidisciplinary approach. In this study, immediate concrete design proposals demonstrated a helpful way of establishing common ground for multidisciplinary collaboration. Concrete design proposals are pivotal in addressing the suggested design’s advantages and disadvantages and clarifying the differences and potentials between the specialisations in question. Based on the initial design proposals, it was clear how the craftsperson’s previous experiences within crafts practice quickly led to the identification of realisable solutions based on experimental setups and aesthetic solutions and, at the same time, was able to foresee possible complications.

Changes in Craft Education

Māra Urdziņa-Deruma — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

In Latvia, the aim, content, and name of the subject of craft education have changed several times. The most recent transformation to “craft education” has been made following the general education reform, which has been gradually implemented since 2020. This study aims to investigate how the purpose and content of craft learning in Latvian comprehensive schools have changed as a result of this reform in comparison to the previous period. A qualitative study was carried out by analysing normative documents and interviewing design and technology teachers (N = 9) with at least 10 years of experience. The document analysis shows that the goal of teaching craft education has shifted from using craft as an opportunity to improve the quality of the living environment through creative involvement in techniques to producing valuable objects for oneself and society through the design process. The most significant change in the content is that craft is taught through the design process. Moreover, every pupil learns all the techniques; previously, students chose textile or woodwork and metalwork techniques from grade 5. According to the interviews, the skills acquired in each technique are at a lower level compared to the previous period, as the number of hours allocated to each technique does not allow pupils to pay in-depth attention to the tasks. The products made by the students have also become more straightforward. Finally, more time is spent on idea generation, planning, and evaluation.

Material-economic aspects of wooden pole fence-buildings

Björn Svantesson — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This paper examines different aspects of wooden pole fence-buildings through two different perspectives. In the first part of the article, the material-economic conditions and the nature of the crafts involved in the building technique is examined through a sloyd-theoretical perspective. By comparing approaches and methods of the wooden pole fence building-technique with those of domestic sloyd rather than architecture, an attempt is made at understanding the techniques epistemological nature. The versatile nature of the building technique is emphasized, and its regenerative qualities highlighted. The second part takes a closer look at the craft procedures involved in the making of a wooden pole fence-building through a processual reconstruction of a small barn based on a filmed documentation of the building process from the 1930s. Through practical experiments, attempts are made to understand and recreate the craft procedures documented in the film. Questions about the selection of wood for the barn and how material conditions affect the craft procedures are discussed. A filmed documentation of three of the procedures of the reconstruction gives an insight into the process.

Nålbinding connections

Ingela Andersson Lindberg — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Nålbinding is the collective name for several thousands of stitches formed using yarn and a needle to create a fabric. A nålbound fabric consists of a stitch or a row of loops that is connected to or sewn in the previous row. Only a handful of connections have been documented and described. This paper analyses around 150 swatches made by the author with the purpose of exploring how many types of connections there are and the how different connections change the texture of the fabric using the same basic nålbound stitch. As the number of possibilities identified was greater than expected, this paper also describes a notation system that will make it possible to analyse and compare the different connections. The notation is designed from a crafter’s point of view, describing how the connections are made. This will make it possible both to better describe existing connections and to create new nålbound stitches and textures.

Post-COVID craft education

Cecilia Heffer — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This paper presents a hybrid model of teaching and learning that proposes new possibilities for exchanging tangible and intangible cross-cultural knowledge in textile craft education. The paper aims to demonstrate how online platforms can be used creatively to disseminate traditional craft knowledge and skills in new ways. The discussion centres on a unique virtual global studio between fashion and textile undergraduate students at the University of Technology Sydney and on an artisanal woodblock print studio, Tharangini, based in Bengaluru (Bangalore), India. The hybrid workshop was an adaptation of the studio in response to travel restrictions caused by the pandemic. The author argues that while the internet cannot replace the immersive cultural experience of studying in another country, digital platforms have a place alongside teaching to offer otherwise impossible opportunities. This paper explores a methodology for disseminating craft knowledge and skills across cultures through a combination of online and in-house practicum. Classes were structured around weekly Zoom sessions with Director Padmini Govind, where sustainable approaches to print production were disseminated through a suite of commissioned films and hand-carved woodblocks to explore on campus. The results show how this unique adaptation allowed students to interact with the artisan craft of woodblock printing in rich and varied ways, and it proposes that this novel hybrid model can be creatively adapted to future craft education in the 2020s.

Skill, craft, and poiesis-intensive innovation

Cristina Grasseni — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

What is craft practice? The purpose of this paper is to contrast the categorization of craft practice with that of skill and innovation. I argue for the relevance of innovative skilled practice to future-making. Both skill and craft play an important part in collective engagements with futuring. With an ethnographic methodology, typical of anthropological fieldwork, I have explored skill in dairy farming, cheese making, and currently food gardening. In all these three realms, the results of ethnographic observation are that ideational processes immediately connect to intimate acquaintance with materials and ecosystems (including flora and fauna, soil, climate, landscape and humans). My conclusion is that craft practice and its outcomes imply a highly localized cosmology of evaluation. I show how comparative ethnography allows the mapping of these relations between people and places, and their more-than-local connections.

Exploring Open-Source 3D Printing as a Transformative Design Tool

Katrina McLaughlin — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

My practice explores how to transfer my design knowledge of embroidery and print into 3D printing technologies and software. My Doctoral practice-based research explores the rationale behind using open-source, low-cost 3D printing technologies and software, which enabled me to change, remix and use the 3D printer as a flexible design tool like a sewing machine. The research aims to investigate the digitalisation of traditional textile craft techniques to produce a new taxonomy of design applications. I have produced a collection of 3D-printed embellished textiles demonstrating my practice-based research's ongoing outcomes. By engaging with online communities and Open-Source Technologies, I have developed the skills to apply my specialist knowledge to this alternative technology to translate and interpret traditional textile and manipulation techniques. The exhibition will showcase these outcomes and demonstrate the opportunities within the fashion, textiles and costume industries. The post-production processes engage with my specialist background knowledge of print and dye techniques.

Preserving the past to serve the future

Anneli Palmsköld, Karin Gustavsson, Johanna Rosenqvist — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Lilli Zickerman (1858–1949) was an entrepreneur who took part in organising the Swedish handicraft associations in the late 19th century. She was also a pioneer in the archives and active in the feminine sphere of textile handicraft. From 1914–1931 she conducted a huge inventory called Swedish Folk Textile Art that consists of more than 24,000 photographs and descriptions of vernacular textiles and manuscripts for a planned series of books and films. By mapping textile handicrafts, she aimed to preserve traditional textile craft techniques to inspire their continued production. Her intention was to create an archive for the inspiration and education of future textile artists. The inventory has had effects that are still apparent today; this paper illuminates the ways in which Zickerman’s ideas about textile handicrafts have contributed to the continuation of Swedish cultural heritage and how it has become an authorised heritage discourse that continues to guide the scholars and practitioners involved in the history of textiles and their production. Here, we will present the first article within an ongoing project on Swedish Folk Textile Art and how it was conducted. We will contextualise the ideas and knowledge that it contains by focusing on Zickerman’s intention to preserve the past to serve the future. From a critical craft perspective, we will discuss geographical mapping as a method for investigating the inventtory; the inclusion and exclusion of geographical areas, textile techniques, materials and people; the ideas and the knowledge that are expressed in the inventory; and the networks that it created. By doing so, we aim to highlight the connections between people, between people and materials, and between history and the current day.

Negotiation of Forces in Performative Weaving

Rosanna Vibe — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

I am a textile artist that builds performative weaving constructions emphasizing the tensions in the reciprocal dialogue that occurs between body, tools and materials. This strategy has emerged from an intention to approach an embodied and immersive relationship with a weaving practice. How does a body adapt to a craft, and how does the craft change in response? All making, especially weaving, can be considered a modality of growth, and the body and any work produced in a craft relationship become a symbiotic, adaptive being. The textile is a life-sustaining extension and evolution of the human body. Our mutual dependence is the ground out of which I develop my projects. My research has settled into a generative weaving installation, designed to encourage the blurring of boundaries between body, loom and dyebath, fibers and pigments (the body becomes the tool, the material is the body, the material is the tool). The installation itself is woven as it is activated, made up of an unbroken silk band. The weaver is integrated through a modified backstrap loom, ancient technology that relies on muscular resistance for tension. To this end, the woven band loops around the waist, and around the weaving heddles, connecting the feet to them. The dyepot anchors the system to the room and to the body. If an element is out of balance, it will collapse. One can continually graft new threads onto this band, so in theory it could go on growing indefinitely. This ecosystem is perfectly calibrated to fit the weaver's body and circumstance, an enhanced, collaborative being, like a stone-age cyborg.

Reconstructing the use of plumb level from a 19th century clinker boat tradition

Fredrik Leijonhufvud — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Traditionally, vernacular Nordic clinker boats are built without plans or templates. The local boat traditions all have a system of design that was handed over from master to apprentice. In some local traditions, a simple plumb level was used to guide the boatbuilder. The plumb level was placed on the planks of the hull during the build to give them the right angles of inclination in certain parts of the hull. Knowledge of how to use this plumb level is still considered part of living, unbroken traditions in some areas. In some local traditions, however, there are no longer any living tradition bearers that have the knowledge of how this tool was used in the local context. In this contribution, I will discuss how this lost knowledge can be reconstructed using old artefacts as a source material. I am investigating the tradition of building vernacular, clinker-built boats called ‘öka’ for sailing and rowing. This specific boat building tradition was located in the 19th century Stockholm archipelago. The artefacts in this case are preserved boats built in the old tradition and preserved plumb levels from closely related traditions. A central question in this context is to locate the exact positions in the boat that were measured by the plumb level. Working with reverse engineering, the measuring can be performed on preserved boats, but the right places for measuring still must be located to reconstruct the knowledge of how and where to use the tool. Some preserved plumb levels have markings that can be used in this investigation to match the locations and angles in the preserved boats. In this contribution, I will also discuss the possibility of applying the traditional measuring methods used by the old boatbuilders in today´s surveys and reconstructions, not translating the craft object into a digital 3D model or a lines plan.

Using a 360° Camera to Record Natural Dyeing Craft Practice

Beth Pagett — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

In recent years, 360° video cameras have become increasingly accessible and are now being used as valuable research tools across a range of disciplines. Their wide and flexible field of vision can provide immersive and/or alternative perspectives compared to standard video. This paper will present emerging findings from using a 360° video camera to capture natural dye craft practice from an auto-ethnographic perspective and as an observer of other dyers’ practice during fieldwork visits. The 360° video data forms part of my doctoral study, in which I explore the embodied interactions between people, plants and materials that connect practitioners to their surroundings, linking them to other species and ecologies. The varied nature of the actions and processes that form the craft practice (e.g. foraging, tending, harvesting, mordanting, dyeing), and the different places and spaces in which these actions occur, presented a practical and observational challenge when trying to record the practice in a video format. Using a 360° camera proved to be a flexible, data-rich and engaging method for recording the craft. The ability to ‘move’ around and explore different perspectives from within the video after it was recorded was especially valuable, allowing a shift in the focus of the recording and presenting the opportunity to actively centre or decentre plants, people and materials. In this paper, I will reflect on my experiences recording and working with 360° video data and discuss some of the limitations and possible benefits of using this equipment in a craft research setting.

Gold and green forests

Anna-Karin Arvidsson — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Sweden's fauna and flora are constantly changing. Humans have not only deliberately promoted and introduced new species in horticulture, agriculture and forestry, they have also acted as a vector for the introduction of alien species through, for example, transportation and food. When these species spread rapidly and affect biodiversity, they are deemed ‘invasive alien species’. This artistic research project explores and articulates how humans, as part of a system where nature and culture meet, affect complex functioning ecosystems through the movement of species. The starting point is the iconic elm tree and how its cultural and natural ecosystems have been wiped out in large parts of Europe by the invasive fungus Ophistoma novo ulmi. With the extinction of the elm come ecological and cultural losses. Those losses are examined and interpreted in this work, in a dialogue with nature and with people. At the same time, another species is explored, the Canadian goldenrod, which, unlike the elm, is expanding rapidly. With these explorations, life stories about the elm will be created not only for our collective memory, but also for speculation about what happens when a new and invasive alien species, such as the Canadian goldenrod, spreads. The form of my narrative is based in materials, crafts and objects. It is primarily the objects and the process that are the carriers of the stories. As a ceramicist, I use clay as a sketching material, binder and a tool for documentation. These species, the elm and the goldenrod, constitute the materiality that are part of the exploration and creation.

As the yellow rattle ripens’

Sofia Cele — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This paper focuses on the doing of gardens and explores how amateur gardeners relate to gardening craft in their everyday garden practices. Based on qualitative empirical work, this paper discusses how different craft methods and caring practices are employed as memory work and as a means to connect to, and create, the garden as a socio-ecological place. Based on the gardeners’ narratives, the garden is discussed as a web of self and a place where the meeting between the gardener and the more-than-human are central incentives to gardening. Gardening is an active place-making that goes beyond modifying the materiality of place. Rather, garden craft is narrated as reflecting the gardeners’ underlying relationship to and understanding of plants, soil and animals. It is the means through which gardeners connect in an embodied way to ‘the nature’ of the garden. Garden craft is proposed as an art that is passed on between generations. Gardening craft can be improved by an increased understanding of the temporality of the garden and by developing a sensitivity towards the complex socio-ecological relationships that shape a place. It is concluded that garden craft is understood as central not only to how the garden is constructed as a place but also to how the gardener relates to the garden as affecting, and being affected by, the current environmental crisis.

MOSAIC

Ruxandra Lupu, Bardin Christophe — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Craft teaching and learning are evolving today at an unprecedent pace, driving the need for skills that increasingly fuse tradition with innovation. However, mapping craft skills is complex, due to both the multiplicity of factors determining skill development and the uncertainty surrounding future developments. In this paper, we present the methodological approach designed for the MOSAIC project,

an ambitious Erasmus+ that addresses the need for skills in arts and crafts through research, creation of innovative craft training, and the establishment of a craft observatory. Firmly grounded within the field of craft science research, the methodology is rooted in the theory of practice and deploys a participatory
process to further explore crafts skill needs. However, to the purpose of this article, we focus on a particular methodological aspect, that is, how we use cultural mapping to explore the complex craft skill
ecosystem and analyse the rich data sets collected through a mixed set of instruments. Cultural mapping involves the systematic collection, documentation, and analysis of information about cultural assets – here: craft skills – within specific geographic areas or communities. In MOSAIC, we use cultural mapping
as an approach to establishing an analytical continuum between top-down (e.g. legislation) and bottom-up (e.g. industry) approaches to the analysis of skill needs in MOSAIC partner countries. This approach is
a good example of a context-appropriate research strategy that reaches beyond the borders of disciplines. As such, it fosters a holistic approach to craft science research that speaks to craft researchers, educators, and policymakers.

A ‘reverse’ academic drift?

Stina Westerlund — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The prerequisites for formal training in Swedish educational Crafts have changed over time under the influence of two long-lasting societal processes: academisation and digitalisation. In different, yet interconnected ways, these processes of change are challenging the materiality, the making and the action-based knowledge that characterise educational Crafts. The paper presents how primary school teachers’ view the influence of academisation and digitalisation in their work and explores the consequences that change processes hold for the teaching practice in Crafts. The study is based on
qualitative interviews with Craft teachers whose graduation year was between 1983 and 2021. Theoretically, Craft is considered to be a living ecology in an educational system. In the analysis, academic drift
on various levels is combined with media-ecology concepts to clarify the diffusion of academisation and digitalisation in both time and space. The findings show academic drift leading to increased text-based knowledge production on several levels, yet also an unexpected weakening of action-based knowledge in Crafts. Balancing student and staff drift is further shown to result in the avoidance of written text in favour of digital visual, oral and bodily mediations in the production of knowledge. The study’s overall results question an ongoing ‘reverse’ academic drift and what is at stake in the Crafts ecology’s efforts to achieve balance.

Social interaction on craft fairs

Judith Nyfeler, Patrik Aspers — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Although digitalisation has had an impact on the business of fairs, especially during the years of the pandemic, the Covid-19 crisis has clearly shown that social interaction is vital for small businesses, such as craft enterprises. The physical co-presence of craft objects, makers and users as well as the immediateness of personal contact play a major role at craft fairs. Fairs revolve around trade, which is furthered by the many cultural and social aspects that constitute them. We argue that social interaction in marketplaces goes beyond economic transactions and show that face-to-face interactions are essential for building trust and social order. We identify different types of social interaction at craft fairs, all of which are collaborative ‒ fostering a sense of community, developing products and increasing their visibility ‒ in addition to being an economic transaction. This study is based on ethnographic research on craft fairs and craft producers in the field of furniture and garment making. We conclude by arguing that the findings on craft fairs can also be generalised to other cases.

When Wood Cladding Degenerates

Géraldine Brun — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

For several decades, the mechanisms of deterioration of wood exposed outdoors have been scrutinized to ameliorate the performance of this versatile material when used for purposes such as house cladding. The performance of cladding seems to depend highly on the durability of wood, in turn connected to water uptake, which can vary greatly. How long a cladding can function is particularly complicated to define because of its paradoxical role as a sacrificial and aesthetic layer. However, thanks to reparations and maintenance, many traditional claddings are still preserved. They have been produced and maintained with local resources and show that low-processed wood can be durable in outdoor conditions. The contrast with modern approaches, such as wood modification or importation of durable species, raises the question: what durability of wood is concretely required for cladding purposes? The exhibition shows characteristics of wood weathered for up to hundreds of years, facilitating an understanding of the impact damage can have on the performance of cladding. The samples, issued from traditional French and Scandinavian facades, illustrate how exposure level influences degradation, confirming the role of rot and revealing the ones of erosion and abrasion in the degeneration of wood cladding. Both Alder and Pine seem to have the potential to perform naturally well as cladding for longer than it takes for the trees to regenerate. Traditions might teach us how to use local wood in a durable way if we consider biodegradation as an opportunity to build without creating waste, rather than as a threat.

Digital imaging to unveil traditional craft methods

Teresia Strömgren — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

To understand the creation and the function of a Flemish oil on panel, non-invasive technical investigations including UV, IRR, X-ray and µ-XRF have been used as a method to unveil its specific material features. The undated and unsigned panel has been attributed to The Master of the Female Half-Lengths possibly active during the early 16^th Century, due to its stereotype motif, materials and dimensions. The analysis reveals that the panel has several damages due to natural and forced interventions. The painting process shows various inconsistencies, interpreted with the aid of literary sources as a product of a workshop adapted to producing art as a response to the great demand of Flemish panels from the blooming Early Dutch art market.

Sommelier craft

Henrik Scander — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This performance study focuses on sommeliers, delving into what constitutes their work and the process of achieving this title. Sommeliers are wine specialists tasked with the responsibility of ensuring that beverages are served properly in combination with food. Similar to other craft persons, the sommelier’s craft is connected to their knowledge of the products, primarily wine and other beverages, and the products’ relation to different foods. The art of tasting is an acquired knowledge, an embodied craft, a central professional competence to determine the quality of beverages. Other elements of sommelier knowledge are communication with guests, a social craft, and how to move in relation to the room, a spatial craft, both of which are based on the influence of different contexts. This study highlights the complexity of aesthetic judgements that sommeliers make through their embodied, social and spatial craft practices while decanting wine and serving it to a guest. It uses a video-reflexive ethnography to emphasise the aesthetics of the sommelier craft. The decanting is carried out in line with the guidelines of the International Sommelier Association. Simultaneously, some judgements in the performance must be articulated verbally to emphasise the complexity of the different crafts in relation to the importance of understanding the complexity in adopting the service to the situation. Social, embodied and spatial craft practices, in relation to the sommelier, show how aesthetic judgements are developed into a willingness to understand people and satisfy guests. This is achieved by 'cognitive planning’, which entails working diligently and preparing to enhance the efficiency of the craft, and by ‘situational adjustments’ that occur in real time to improve and optimise the guest's experience.

From not yet knowing to achieving directionality

Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This paper investigates the active role of materials in shaping ideation processes during interdisciplinary studio-based collaborations. Using ethnographic data collected from a graduate-level course conducted across multiple studio settings, we analysed how materiality facilitates interactions between students and studio instructors meeting for the first time when creative ideas are not yet fully formed and knowledge of unfamiliar materials is not yet embodied. The findings elucidate how certain materials are central to (1) demonstrating, (2) understanding, (3) sharing, (4) explaining, (5) generating and (6) challenging aspects related to ideation processes within such interactions. We conclude this work by emphasising the need for further research that focuses on material mediation in the context of student–instructor relationships.

The story behind an exhibited rag rug

Lena Håkanson — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

In my paper, I describe my insights as manager of the textile workshop at the Department of Design at Linnaeus University, as well as how we teach material-based work. Part of my work as a workshop manager is to conduct a major clean-up at the end of every year. Last year, when I was standing in front of a pile of waste textiles, I began to reflect on how this pile of textile had been transformed from well-working material into waste. In a previous project with the research group Praktikforum, together with my colleagues, I explored what kinds of waste we produced when we made material-based artistic work. Thus, it was no surprise that practice-based work produced waste. The surprise was what I could understand from it. Looking closer into the waste, I obtained a deeper understanding of what had happened in the workshop during the year; how the students had used the material, what they had learned and what sometimes went wrong became obvious. I gained a deeper understanding of how we use, understand and teach/learn about materials and how we can develop the workshop by learning from the waste. At the same time, I learned the technique of ‘inbraiding’. For me, this was a new craft technique, in which waste textiles can be used when making rugs. I saw the opportunity to use the waste and upcycle it. By exhibiting the rug, I want to discuss the possibility of working more sustainably with crafts.

The becoming of boats

Tori Falck — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Reconstruction is an essential tool for gaining knowledge of shipwrecks in maritime archaeology. This paper examines some theoretical and practical consequences of viewing vessels not as finished objects but as things that are continuously being made during their lifetime. This is done by proposing perspectives on things that uphold their biography as an essential characteristic. To illustrate this, the 16th-century shipwreck Bispevika 16 (Oslo harbour) will be an example of a vessel showing minor and significant technical changes throughout its life. Its most manifest change is the addition of an outer layer of carvel planks on the lapstrake-built hull. This makes this vessel one of a growing number of archaeologically known converted lapstrake-built vessels in Northern Europe.

Valuation Mechanisms of Fine European Tapestries in the International Auction Market

Anne-Sophie Radermecker — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Using textile arts (fine European tapestries) as a case study, we demonstrate the potential of hedonic regression to better understand buyers’ willingness to pay for these works at auction. Once highly valued, this medium offers unique characteristics that differ in part from paintings and affect buyers’ purchasing behaviors differently. Based on a dataset of 602 wall-hangings sold at Christie’s and Sotheby’s over the last decade, our empirical findings suggest that local place branding, aesthetics (antiqueness, ornamental effects), and material quality are crucial price determinants of textile arts.

Capturing and Cultivating Print & Book

Angie Butler, Sofie Boons — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The type of intensive training previously needed for crafts in the printing trade is now redundant, but as craft practices are added biannually to Heritage Craft’s UK Red List of Endangered Crafts, there is a pressing need to preserve skills whilst also creating and developing new methodologies for practice in the UK to ensure these crafts survive as part of a thriving cultural heritage.The Dissecting Crafts project was centred around supporting book craft practitioners (typesetters and manufacturers, a letterpress printer and a book binder) to gain insight and extend their practice. Using qualitative research methods, an embodied knowledge methodology was developed as a system of self-evaluation. A freely available online tool kit was developed from project findings to enable other practitioners at all skill levels access to the programme. Sharing the research stages sensitively with case study practitioners evidenced their connectedness with their tools and with what they make, through a process of validation that was not anticipated in the project. Unintrusive methods of documenting in-progress activities, the practitioner-researchers’ recordings of the craft participants’ experiential dialogue proved valuable for them to be able to harness and transfer their knowledge. The methodology and tool kit were extended to other maker practices with feedback types ranging from practice development, reflection skills, and articulation to validation.

Re-hackling flax before spinning

Marie Ekstedt Bjersing — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Flax is a traditional plant used to make textiles. Flax, like all natural fibres, is a material with variations. Knowledge of a crafting process can be obtained by studying artefacts and all available documentation and by being present in a craft tradition and society of spinning. A craftsperson will make many small decisions during their work. How do we gain knowledge about handling materials, and how do we preserve the intangible skills relevant to a craft? This performance article aims to make visible specific knowledge of material, tools and working methods for re-hackling flax. The text and performance illustrate the perspective of a reflecting craftsperson. By asking questions about the work process, critical decisions regarding crafts will be highlighted. This approach will help preserve and transmit craft skills within flax processing.

Embodied learning made visible through line drawing

Elisabet Jagell — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Visual material in the form of video, still images or drawings can show parts of embodied learning that text cannot. Research ethics requirements pose a challenge in terms of making younger students’ multimodal learning visible, as the informants need to be anonymized, and this raises the challenge of how important information, such as gaze and facial expressions, can be shown. The ethical requirements exist to protect underage students, and to contribute with a scientific basis for teaching, practical and feasible methods are needed in which the students’ communication can be illustrated while ensuring their protection. This paper explores how empirical data from studies involving younger students can be presented so that learning can be visualized while respecting ethical guidelines. The reasoning regarding the methods presented in the paper can also be useful overall for the anonymization of visual ethnography studies, in which the interest is to present empirical data from video recordings so that embodied learning can be made visible.

Stitching Together (in) Anthropology Class

Lydia Maria Arantes — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

As an anthropologist teaching at a German-speaking Cultural Anthropology and European Ethnology Department (pertaining to a Humanities Faculty), it always struck me how much we know about the role embodiment plays in and for culture and how little we make use of this in teaching. For this reason, I decided to expand established Higher Education pedagogy by putting craft (as a) practice at the centre of my newly developed course entitled DIY in Times of Crisis and Beyond. As a result, my students and I developed our thinking through and while practising embroidery in class, weaving in the mandatory readings and narrations of (pandemic) crafting experiences along the way. Borrowing from the low-threshold approach to stitching in community-based creativity projects, our shared and mostly novice stitching facilitated the articulation of thoughts-in-progress, thus creating a space in which dominant views regarding social (craft) norms, quantifiable productivity as well as academic logocentrism could be temporarily suspended, giving way to embodied wisdom.

Advanced student motivation in craft teacher education

Anna Kouhia, Tellervo Härkki — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This study investigates student craft teachers’ motivational issues within the course frameworks covering yarn crafts. The data consist of materials gathered from two bachelor-level university courses, which both utilized flipped learning as their pedagogy framework for learning and teaching crafts. Advanced-level student craft teachers participating in the courses (N=15+4) set their own learning objectives to reflect the general course targets defined by the course curriculum. The objectives, self-assessments, course work and course-end surveys were acquired as research data and analysed by thematical qualitative analysis, to obtain knowledge of extrinsic and intrinsic motivations. In line with Self-Determination Theory used as a theoretical framework of the study, the results suggest that possibilities to finetune course objectives to meet students' personal skills and resources were considered crucial for study motivation. Craft learning embraced realization of one’s effort, inner potential and values, resulting in student satisfaction about receiving personalized attention and instructions for their own study projects. Hence, the results enhance a more detailed understanding of student diversity and related motivational issues that can promote the equity of education.

Leder. FormAkademisk 15 år

Janne Beate Reitan — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

FormAkademisk – forskningstidsskrift for design og designdidaktikk – har nå publisert artikler i 15 år! Redaksjonen startet opp arbeidet i januar 2008 og publiserte det første nummeret i oktober samme år. Fordi FormAkademisk publiserer artikler fra forskning innen et bredt felt, både design, slik som industridesign, visuell kommunikasjon, interaksjonsdesign, tjenestedesign, arkitektur, landskapsarkitektur og urbanisme, og designdidaktikk på alle utdanningsnivå fra barnehage til doktorgrad, har vi behov for en stor redaksjon

Queering Craft in Santa Clara del Cobre

Michele Feder-Nadoff — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

As an artist-anthropologist who studies “making” through apprenticeship, I have discovered that craft production in the Mexican copper-smithing community of Santa Clara del Cobre is a practice of care, a kind of love. This inversion of careful and caring labor, required to create the well-made copper piece, also encompasses qualities and skills that queer societal stereotypes of binary gender-lines. Artisans generate bodies of knowledge through representative and reproductive performance, i.e. productive labor anchored in the forge through care, perspicacity and attention. Like all nurturing activities given freely, artisanal reproductivity cannot be adequately measured as wage labor. This is not to say that this generous work should be unpaid. But rather to suggest that what is desired of craft is precisely this non-enumerative quotient of care. My research is based upon an apprenticeship to Maestro Jesús Pérez Ornelas, an independent coppersmith artisan, successful enough to be free to follow his vision and imagination, to create things with care. Maestro Jesús would say: “If I counted all the blows of my hammer, I would go crazy! And besides, no client would be able to afford to buy my work!” It is this boundless giftedness that makes up the imaginary of craft, its tropes and aura: its generosity. Like women’s “reproductive” work of family, the work of the artisan is also “reproductive.” Both demand a “maternal” nurturance, unquantifiable attention and care. This quotient of care is pure gift without reciprocity. This non-enumerative labor… a kind of love.

Broadening the Scope of Craft Teaching

Sirpa Kokko, Niina Väänänen — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The focus of Finnish craft teacher education is on educating craft teachers in formal basic education. In this study, the aim was to research craft student teachers’ experiences of teaching practices that were arranged in out-of-school contexts. The data comprised craft student teachers’ (n = 18) written reflections included in their course portfolios. Their teaching practice took place in adult education centres, basic education in arts, older peoples' care homes, youth work centres, centres for people with disabilities, social work centres, museums, craft cafés and clubs and a vocational training institution. The written reflections concerned the students’ expectations at the beginning and those at the end of the teaching practice and were analysed according to the principles of qualitative data analysis. The students found both similarities and differences in craft pedagogy in different contexts. The out-of-school teaching practice broadened their future career perspectives and equipped them with new pedagogical skills.

Learning through the eyes of another

barak pelman, Shirly Bar-Amotz, Christa Asterhan, Janan Saba — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Over the past decade, rapid technological advancements and budget constraints have increased the demand for online education (Martin et al., 2020). Furthermore, the COVID-19 pandemic has vastly accelerated this trend, compelling almost all education providers to migrate their courses to online learning platforms (Theelen & Van Breukelen, 2022). In view of other profound crises that affect mobility, such as climate change, political instabilities and future pandemics, it is safe to assume that online learning will remain in demand, even in a post-pandemic world ) (Bayne et al., 2020). In this context, while educational research has made significant progress in establishing design principles that ensure effective online teaching and learning, the main focus of this scholarly work is on the acquisition of declarative knowledge and cognitive skills. Moreover, since very little is known about the online teaching and distance learning of psychomotor skills (Kouhia et al., 2021; Lehtiniemi et al., 2023), this paper and exhibition explore how eye-tracking technology (ETT) creates unique opportunities to improve craft education in hybrid and distant learning settings.

What I learned by doing craft when I got terminal cancer

Marte Sørebø Gulliksen — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

In this paper I use theory on craft and psychophysical wellbeing to extract insights on the value and meaning I found in woodcarving after being diagnosed with terminal brain cancer. I continued to carve wood throughout the entire diagnosis and treatment period. I was already an experienced woodcarver and had done extensive research on my own making processes. Both the making and research provided meaning and value for me in my ordeal. I discuss three lessons I learned: 1) Deliberate controlling of attention on the here and now worked as a coping mechanism, giving meaning and value to my situation; 2) Grounding myself in physical touch with a close connection to the material contributed to maintaining my positive identity as both maker and researcher, and acted as another coping resource; and 3) As I made the objects, I re-made myself. My intention to save and finish these artifacts, and the joy I experienced as I finished them, gave meaning and purpose to my situation. These lessons support previous findings on craft and wellbeing, contribute insider insights on the use of wood in art making during cancer treatment, and they could potentially inspire others facing dire straits to use crafting to cope.

Collaborative Making

Charlotte Mary Goldthorpe — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The purpose of this paper is to understand how collaborative making is used as not only a means of production, but an exercise in storytelling. Through dialogue between craftspeople, skills are developed, shared, and maintained. Craft practice is communicated, and memories are preserved. This paper explores how, through a case study of producing an artefact from start to finish, collaborative making leads to creating more than just an object, but also a connection between all involved. ‘Watch’ is part of a wider doctoral study in which nine artefacts were made from collected stories of lost love and then through encounters with several craftspeople. The paper considers the relationships between craftspeople and how we work together to develop hybrid skills by utilising traditional practice to create new ways of crafting.

The Digitalization of Studio Practices and Its Impact on the Development of Design Literacy of First-Year Architecture Students

Derya Yorgancioglu, Esin Kömez Dağlıoğlu — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Digital skills are emphasized in the ongoing process of digital transformation in higher education. In this article, digital literacy is discussed within the broader perspective of design literacy and the acceleration of the digitalization process of first-year design education at the time of the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic in spring 2020 is highlighted. The article interrogates the role of digital skills in the development of design literacy of first-year architecture students through a multiple case analysis of ARCH 101 design studio practices executed in the Bachelor of Architecture programmes at the Özyeğin University, Department of Architecture and the Middle East Technical University, Department of Architecture. The digitalization processes of ARCH 101 studios increased rapidly when the COVID-19 pandemic started and resulted in the integration of digital tools into basic design education in ways that transformed (1) the communication modalities and the representation and research strategies used by students, and (2) the understanding and methodologies of the design process when used as generative design tools.

Hjertelig takk, Liv!

Janne Beate Reitan — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Første gang vi møttes var da du intervjua meg om hovedfagsoppgaven min om selbustrikking i 1992, du som redaktør for tidsskriftet Forming i skolen, det som nå heter Form. Da var jeg nytilsatt på SLFO, mens du allerede hadde jobba der i 8 år. Det første vi samarbeidet om var Reform 94 i videregående skole, jeg som etterutdanningsleder på VEIF og du som faglig ansvarlig for etter- og videreutdannings-kurs for lærere i videregående skole. Statens lærerkurs, som den gangen var ansvarlig for kursing av lærere i Norge, hadde fått 1 million kroner og vi fikk hele potten, fordi det bare var vi som allerede hadde planene klare for etter- og videreutdanninger. Mange som ikke tidligere hadde kompetanse til å undervise i Tegning, form og farge i videregående skole, fikk det over natta i forbindelse med omstrukturering av skolestrukturen. Men de måtte få en halvårsenhet, 30 studiepoeng, i Tegning, form og farge for å kunne undervise i faget. Det gjaldt blant annet frisører, fordi Tegning, form og farge ble grunnkurs også for det faget. For at dette studietilbudet skulle bli landsdekkende, opprettet vi 15 lokale studiesteder rundt i hele landet. Lærerne på disse kursene var i stor grad tidligere PPU-studenter av deg. I tillegg satte vi i gang fjernundervisning med direktesendte TV-forelesninger med noen av de ledende fagpersonene på den tida. Dette var i samarbeid med Arild Boman på Universitetet i Oslo, og sendingene gikk på TV-Norge, som ikke hadde sendinger sjøl på dagtid på den tida. Så kursdeltakerne på alle kursstedene kunne se sendingene, men det kunne også alle andre som tilfeldigvis slo på TV-Norge. Så vi fikk stedig kommentarer fra andre folk som hadde sett oss på TV.

Liv Merete Nielsen 70 år

Inger Marie Søyland — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Liv Merete Nielsen 70 år

Kjære Liv

Tore Andre Ringvold — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Du har vært en foregangskvinne og gjort vei i vellinga. Du har vært uvurderlig i å synliggjøre faget og snakke tydelig om hvilken rolle vi som fag har og kan ha i samfunnet. Din kunnskap og interesse for hvordan designkompetanse er noe som angår oss alle var med å vekke mitt fagdidaktiske hjerte og hjerne. Kombinert med bakgrunnen og kunnskapen jeg hadde som designer, ble møtet med dette i PPU studier mye av grunnen til at jeg fikk en økende interesse for mer kunnskap om feltet. Du har en svært positiv energi, som og kommer til syne med ditt glimt i øyet og lure smil.

Dear Liv

Naz A.G.Z. Börekçi — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

…for me you are a bright, wise, and compassionate woman and an exemplary academic, providing an embracing environment for her colleagues. I was most fortunate to be introduced to you first in 2018 for the preparations of the Learn X Design 2019 Ankara conference. That initial shy communication conducted via emails, turned into regular online meetings when I joined the DRS EdSIG convening group in late 2019, and then into intense engagements as we started working collectively for the Learn X Design 2021 Jinan conference. Many were involved with their hard work and valuable contribution, but your involvement in particular, has been a motivation for me in the process. We spent many productive hours in online meetings, organizing the event, and building the background to realise it. I love the tapestry that you have behind you on screen in the background, and I love that it is you who have made it. I love you telling us that you will go skiing after the meeting. I can actually imagine you in your suit, grasping your gear, and starting to ski immediately as you step out of the cabin. That is how skilled and talented I find you. Many times, I have felt a reciprocal understanding between the two of us, which has always been reassuring and encouraging. I have learned a lot from you.

Thank you for being a friend!

Kjære Liv Merete

Merete Hassel — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Jeg har hatt gleden av å samarbeide med deg gjennom ca. 10 år, helt siden jeg ble ansatt på Nasjonalt senter for kunst og kultur i opplæringen ved Nord universitet i Bodø i 2012. Jeg skjønte raskt at du var en sentral fagperson i UH-sektoren i forhold til fagområdet kunst og håndverk. Selv kommer jeg fra et helt annet fagfelt, nemlig biblioteksektor og sosialantropologi, og jeg har senere beveget meg inn i tilpasset opplæring og det spesialpedagogiske feltet. Ved senteret fikk jeg blant annet oppgaver knyttet til forskningsformidling. Nysgjerrigheten for å hele tiden utvide vår kompetanse og lære nye ting er vel noe vi har felles.

Hilsen til Liv Merete Nielsen på 70-årsdagen

Liv Klagegg Dahlin — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Professor Emerita Liv Merete Nielsen har i en årrekke vært svært sentral i arbeidet ved Institutt for estetiske fag.

Dette strekker seg fra satellittsendinger i forhold til Reform 94 og arbeidet som høgskolelektor på 90-tallet via en periode som doktorgradskandidat og førsteamanuensis, til slutt som professor ved instituttet. Hun har trukket i tråder, løftet studenter og kollegaer, bygget forskningsgrupper, nettverk og frontet viktige saker for instituttet og faget. I tillegg har hun påtatt seg store oppgaver knyttet til utvikling av læreplaner, stadig med et blikk for strategi og vekst for fagområdet design, kunst og håndverk.

Vi takker henne for bidraget og vi gratulerer henne så mye med 70-årsdagen.

Med Fagdidaktikk som omdreiningspunkt

Ingvild Digranes, Laila B. Fauske — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Liv Merete Nielsen disputerte i år 2000, med avhandlingen Drawing and spatial representations. Det var trangt i salen, i de gamle lokalene til AHO, ved St. Olavs plass. Disputasen var historisk. Da doktorgradsprogrammet ved Arkitektur- og designhøgskolen i Oslo (AHO) i 1995 la til rette for å inkludere designdidaktikere, fikk også denne profesjonsgrenen innen ‘the making professions’ mulighet til å forske i eget fagfelt. Liv Merete var den første som disputerte, med eksplisitt fagdidaktisk tematikk. Vi visste det ikke da – men dette var den første disputasen i en rekke av flere, med designdidaktisk forankring. For flere av tilhørerne ble denne begivenheten en inspirasjon for videre forskningskarriere, men også for undervisning i fagdidaktikk, på BA-, MA- og etter hvert også Ph.d.-nivå.

Greetings from Chile

Úrsula Bravo — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

I met Liv Merete Nielsen at the DRS Limerick 2018 conference. I was studying Chilean teachers' use of design methods to solve pedagogical problems supported by a British Council fund. Peter Lloyd and Derek Jones brought the experience and vision of The Open University's Design Thinking course. They had Nigel Cross as an unavoidable theoretical reference. I also knew Maureen Carroll and Shelley Goldman's work at Stanford University to promote STEM disciplines in vulnerable schools in Palo Alto. Maureen and Shelley built on the IDEO-d.School universe and had Tim Brown and David Kelly as key references.

Hilsen til Liv Merete Nielsen fra Notoddenmiljøet

Kari Carlsen, Marte Sørebø Gulliksen — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Liv Merete Nielsen har hatt en nøkkelfunksjon innenfor utviklingen av forskning på områdene forming, formgiving, design, kunst og håndverk i Norge. Arbeidet ved hennes faste institusjon, OsloMet, er velkjent. Men hennes arbeid ved Universitetet i Sørøst-Norge (USN), tidligere Høgskolen i Telemark (HiT), er kanskje mindre kjent.

En veileder og inspirator

Else Margrethe Lefdal, Ingvill Gjerdrum Maus — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Å være stipendiat med Liv Merete som veileder har vært utrolig lærerikt og interessant. Liv åpner dører og knytter kontakter, hun inspirerer, motiverer og dytter ph.d.- kandidatene sine inn i nasjonale og internasjonale nettverk der de kan samarbeide, diskutere, utvikle, presentere, publisere, arrangere og vokse faglig. Dette styrker ikke bare den enkelte stipendiats muligheter til å lykkes som forsker, men også nettverket som skal utvikle og kvalitetssikre forskning og fagkunnskap i kunst-, design-, og håndverksdidaktikk framover. Og med dette styrkes kunnskapen som formidles innenfor hele fagfeltet – fra barnehage til ph.d.

Dyktig nettverksbygger, motiverende veileder og klok aktivist

Harald Eivind Moe — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Første gang jeg hadde et faglig møte med Liv Merete Nilsen er så langt tilbake som i 1999 da jeg var med på å utvikle The Design of Everyday Life, et undervisningsopplegg på oppdrag for UNESCO i regi av Norsk Form. Det overordnede målet var å bevisstgjøre barn og ungdom om hvordan hverdagen designes for oss, slik at de erverver en kompetanse i å vurdere produktene de tilbys i markedet og omgir seg med. Liv Merete var da fagpolitisk aktiv i det som i dag er organisasjonen Kunst og design i skolen, hvor jeg etter hvert ble valgt inn i styret. Her har hun i mange år vært en viktig drivkraft både som styremedlem, styreleder, og i redaksjonen til tidsskriftet FORM. Etter å ha trukket seg ut av styret har hun videreføre det fagpolitiske arbeidet for organisasjonen − også gjennom den faste spalten LMN har ordet i FORM.

En hilsen

Maria Waagbø, Janne Lepperød , Christine Løkvik — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Liv Merete Nielsen har banet vei for en allmenn forståelse for det store arbeidet kvinner tradisjonelt har jobbet med, og som de har fremmet i skolen med den tanke om at hode, hjerte og hender arbeider sammen – alltid! Liv Merete har arbeidet for at våre arbeidsvilkår i skolen skal bedres, og for en lønnsmessig rettferdighet. I tillegg har hun forstått samtiden ved å ha kunnskap om det historiske bakteppet, samt orientert seg mot fremtiden.

Hilsen

Astrid Skjerven — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

I den lange tiden jeg har kjent Liv Merete, er det arbeidet med konferansen DRS//cumulus Oslo 2013, med å etablere en PhD-grad og den selvoppnevnte gruppen GrøntMet som jeg husker best. Du er alltid målrettet, men samtidig lyttende og innstilt på å få til løsninger.

Takk for din stå-på-vilje i vanskelige situasjoner og ditt uoppslitelige humør!

Greetings to Liv Merete Nielsen

Arild Berg — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Liv Merete Nielsen has meant a lot to me in my development as a researcher and person. She has shown how she can be a personal and friendly person just being herself, while at the same time entering large international research arenas with the greatest naturalness. She has shown in an exemplary way how to build a new research field within the design profession in Norway where you combine professional expertise at an international level with interpersonal relationships. She has impressed me in taking an appropriate number of initiatives, but not too many, which she has then followed up with systematic, gentle and friendly, iron will. There has never been an unkind word, but through pleasant and enthusiastic appeals, everlasting, she has engaged, gathered, and uplifted an entire professional environment. This has happened across institutions, across departments and across national borders.

Leder. Festskrift for Liv Merete Nielsen

Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Professor emerita Liv Merete Nielsens fyller 70 år i mars 2023. Nielsen har vært en betydelig støtte for enkeltpersoners karrierevei, og fungert som feltbygger over mange år. Hun har flyttet på faglige grenser, og markert Kunst og håndverksfagets samfunnsrelevans. I denne temautgaven av FormAkademisk er det mange som uttrykker takknemlighet for at Nielsen har vist vei og delt generøst av sin klokskap og faglige innsikt.

Visual styles, hidden discourses

Úrsula Bravo, Guillermo Marini — Fri, 29 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

This article reports the findings of a study aimed at exploring the visual discourses at a Chilean education university. First, building on the classic ‘hidden curriculum’ and ‘school art style’ literature, it justifies the need to discuss how higher education institutions model the ways through which teachers-to-be comprehend and use visual resources. Second, the article presents the results of a critical visual methodology performed in the oldest education university in Chile. Through a visual discourse analysis of the experience of walking around the campus, it elaborates on the university’s visual styles comprising the themes, technologies and locations of artefacts. Third, it discusses the relationships between courtyard and hallway images loaded with critical motivations and classroom images portraying stereotyped and anachronistic views of childhood. The article concludes by urging to incorporate quality visual pedagogy orientations in teacher education.

Education for sustainable clothing consumerism?

Hanna Hofverberg, Johnny Franzén, Ninitha Maivorsdotter — Sun, 31 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

This paper sheds light on how aesthetic judgments govern actions in education for design literacy and sustainability behaviours. Educational material is examined by asking: (1) What meanings regarding becoming a sustainable consumer are made available to students in the educational material? (2) How are these narratives communicated to change students’ behaviours? The material in question consists of 17 design projects intended to be used in the Swedish school subject, Educational Sloyd. Using a practical epistemological analysis, two ways of becoming a sustainable consumer are identified: to have fun and to feel clever. The paper also shows how social marketing is used as a strategy in communicating how to change student behaviours. In the discussion, we turn to design literacy research to discuss the results from an educational perspective.

Leder. Et nettverk av samskapt viten

Mari-Ann Letnes , Ingvard Bråten , Liv Merete Nielsen , Bente Helen Skjelbred — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

I 2013 tok Nasjonalt senter for kunst og kultur i opplæringen (KKS) initiativ til å samle lærerutdannere i formgiving, kunst og håndverk i et eget nettverk for å styrke samhold og utvikle fagfeltet. Første samling var på Gardermoen, og siden da har Nettverk for formgiving, kunst og håndverk i UH-sektoren (KHUH) hatt årlige konferanser der lærerutdannere har presentert egne utviklingsprosjekt og egen forskning. Disse presentasjonene har ført til gode og utviklende diskusjoner på tvers av landets utdanningsinstitusjoner. Deltakerne har vært selve ryggraden i det praksisfellesskap som har utviklet seg i de 10 årene som har gått. Som deltagere utvikler vi oss i et forsknings- og praksisfelt. Vi møtes som kollegaer, undervisere, veiledere, artikkelforfattere, fagfeller og redaktører i et fagfelt hvor ulike forståelser og innsikter brytes frem i et nettverk av samskapt viten. Med dette jubileumsnummeret ønsker vi å styrke koblingen mellom KHUH-nettverket og utviklingen av det akademiske fagfeltet.

Nettbrett i kunst og håndverk

Anne Elmies-Vestergren — Tue, 07 Nov 2023 00:00:00 +0100

I artikkelen undersøker jeg hvordan samtidskunstnerne Petra Cortright og Cory Arcangel bruker digitale medier i sine kunstneriske praksiser, og hvordan denne praksisen kan inspirere og utfordre kunst- og håndverksundervisning med nettbrett i en førsteklasse. Prosjektet er en del av min doktorgradsavhandling og dreier seg om fire workshoper rundt utforskende og skapende måter å bruke nettbrettet på som ble prøvd ut våren 2021. Didaktisk knytter prosjektet seg til et sanselig didaktisk design. I sanselig didaktisk design utfordres tanken om at kunnskap er noe som allerede eksisterer og som elevene kan tilegne seg hvis læreren er god til å formidle. Istedenfor sees kunnskap og læring som noe som konstant skapes mellom menneskelige og ikke-menneskelige aktører. Artikkelens metodologiske forankring hentes fra a/r/tografi, hvor forskeren ikke observerer utenfra, men er med på å drive forskningen videre gjennom en veksling mellom å utøve, forske og undervise/lære. I artikkelens analyse viser jeg hvordan møter med nettbrettet, med bakgrunn i samtidskunsten, kan være kroppslige, skapende og relasjonelle.

The research group Embodied Making and Learning at the University of South-Eastern Norway

Marte S. Gulliksen — Thu, 09 Feb 2023 00:00:00 +0100

There is no one history of the research group Embodied Making and Learning (EMAL). EMAL is an interdisciplinary research group that addresses the phenomenon of embodied making and learning. We work together to achieve three main aims: to enhance quality in our research, to further community and cooperation between researchers, and to contribute to developing our field nationally and internationally.

Uformell tegning og formell tegneundervisning sett i lys av teori om lek

Nina Scott Frisch — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Artikkelen har som mål å belyse tilnærminger til tegning som synliggjør professor Liv Merete Nielsens bidrag til visuell kompetanse i opplæringen ved å belyse barns tegneprosesser ut ifra et sosiokulturelt perspektiv. Margareta Öhman sosiokulturelle lek-teoretiske bidrag beskriver lekens kjennetegn ut ifra følgende kriterier: Stammen av leken er spontan og frivillig, morsom, krever aktivt engasjement, har ikke tydelige mål, styres av indre motivasjon og gir en følelse av kontroll. Flere av disse karakteristikkene kan kjennes igjen i barnehagebarns og skolebarns uformelle, det vil si selvinitierte og selvstyrte, tegneprosesser i lek med verktøy som blyanter, tusjer, pensler og maling. Problemstillingen er derfor: Hvordan kan uformell tegning forstås som lek og hvordan kan denne forståelsen være med på å støtte barn og elever i visuelt kontrollerte tegneprosesser i formell tegneundervisning? Kasusstudie benyttes som metodologisk tilnærming for å utforske to kasus av uformelle tegneprosesser, en fra barnehage og en fra skole. I uformell tegning er det å mestre de samme visuelle uttrykkene ofte en del av leken. Å sammen beherske et univers i leken og å mestre de samme visuelle formuttrykkene ved modellering er en del av funnet. Modellering og mimesis blir en inngang til å kunne knytte trekk ved uformelle tegneprosesser, det Öhman kaller inspirasjon til imitasjon, til den formelle tegneundervisningsarenaen i skole og barnehage. Dette kan være en mulig motivasjon for å lære å tegne, og dermed fremme det professor Liv Nielsen kaller visual literacy, det vil si visuell kompetanse til å skape og forstå bilder og tegninger.

Et kunnskapsfag med samfunnsrelevans

Eva Lutnæs, Karen Brænne, Bibbi Omtveit — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Liv Merete Nielsen har jobbet iherdig og lidenskapelig for å bygge et sterkt forskningsfelt og en utdanning med høyt faglig trykk innen design, kunst og håndverk fra barnehage til doktorgradsnivå. I denne artikkelen analyserer vi 64 ‘LMN har ordet’, professor Nielsens faste spalte i det fagdidaktiske tidsskriftet FORM i perioden 2010–2022. Gjennom en retorisk analyse identifiseres kampsaker og ambisjoner på grunnskolefagets vegne. Nielsens oppgjør med det isolerte, individsentrerte og kunnskapssvekka formingsfaget kommer tydelig frem i hennes tekster, og blir både et fagpolitisk og akademisk prosjekt. Arven fra Sverige er et fundament i Nielsens arbeid for å utvikle skolefaget Kunst og håndverk til et kunnskapsfag med samfunnsrelevans. Gjennom tre topoi, 1) Visuell kompetanse for medvirkning, 2) Skape og kreve bærekraftige løsninger og 3) Håndverkskompetanse som grunnlag for yrkesfaglig utdanning og hverdagsliv, synliggjøres nyanser og vinklinger som Nielsen aktiverer når hun forklarer grunnskolefagets bidrag til samfunnet.

Pedagogisk slöjd i post-pandemitid

Mia Porko-Hudd, Juha Hartvik — Thu, 23 Mar 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Slöjd inom grundläggande utbildning kännetecknas av att elever, lärare och slöjdmaterial är i interaktion. Lärandet sker i ändamålsenliga, välutrustade lärmiljöer med utrymme för kreativitet och individuella lösningar. På grund av Covid-19 pandemin, kom undervisningen i Finland tidvis helt att övergå till olika distanstillämpningar. Förutsättningarna för meningsfull distansundervisning varierade starkt. I en tidigare studie fördjupade vi oss i hur lärare i slöjd hanterade distansperioderna (Porko-Hudd & Hartvik, 2021). I denna artikel gör vi en reanalys av den tidigare studiens resultat och antar ett framåtblickande perspektiv. Analysen resulterar i fem komplementpar med vars hjälp vi öppnar upp för en diskussion om hur undervisningen och lärandet i slöjdämnet kan utvecklas med grund i tiden före och under pandemin. Vårt bidrag till diskussionen sammanfattas med en utvecklad modell för slöjdkontexten och slöjdverksamheten.

Kunstens muligheter i spesialpedagogisk arbeid

Mette Gårdvik — Mon, 03 Oct 2022 00:00:00 +0200

Antologien Kunstens muligheter i spesialpedagogisk arbeid er et høyaktuelt og viktig bidrag til arbeidet med å løfte mulighetsrommet som kunst og kulturfagene bidrar med for barn og unge med spesielle behov. Forfatterne, med representanter fra ulike kunstformer, spesialpedagoger og faglærere innen kunstfag gir leserne innblikk i verdifulle erfaringer og kompetanser og gir inspirasjon for videre kunstnerisk arbeid rettet mot målgruppen. De kreative prosessene og «settingene» kan vanskelig kopieres fra prosjekt til prosjekt men antologiens forskningsbaserte artikler fra praksisfeltet bør være på litteraturlisten for en rekke utdanninger. Alle barn og unge bør få muligheten til å sanse, uttrykke følelser og oppleve mestring og læring gjennom deltakelser i kunst og kulturfaglige prosjekt.

Remember the Future

Spyros Bofylatos, Taxiarxis Balaskas — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The starting point of this study is the prehistoric “teganoschemo” archaeological find of the Syros-Keros civilization in the Aegean Sea. These artifacts have been causing debates among archaeologists as their raison d'être is still contested. The aim of this study is to bring a prehistoric ontological model of design and craft to contemporary design practices. In order to explore such alternative ontologies, we turn to the past and address themes of death and life embodied in these prehistoric artifacts. As we leave Modernity behind and transition towards Sustainment, a new ontology for Design is necessary. By understanding the ontological framework of prehistoric designers, we aim to create propositional artifacts that exemplify what design can be. The propositional artifacts created act as different phases in a research-through design process that aims to investigate how design operates within an alternative system of values.

Interactive textiles

Jaana Kärnä-Behm, Emmi Harjuniemi — Thu, 21 Sep 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The fusion of computing with textile materials has enhanced the interactive capabilities of textiles. Applying these electronic aspects of textile design is an evolving discipline. This study introduces a case study of teaching textile design in higher education with an interactive focus on art and design. We analysed projects and contents that appeared to be significant in the students’ processes as well as findings from the point of view of art and design pedagogy. Working on design education in multidisciplinary teams together with accessible technology was found rewarding. Knowing the basics of textile design is essential, but when developing e-textiles, interdisciplinary teachers are recommended. Moreover, creating positive experiences, circumstances and possibilities to continue the design process in the future is also important.

Investigating the Mechanism of the Effect of Nature-based Architectural Components on Residential Satisfaction

Mohammadhossein Azizibabani, Mohammadreza Bemanian, Mansour Yeganeh — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

The development of multi-unit urban housing, especially in the metropolises of Iran, does not take into account the effects of cultural factors on the perceived quality of housing architecture. Since the community is diverse in metropolises, especially on a sub-culture scale, it is impossible to provide housing development strategies and practical actions concerning the factors related to this scale of culture. The compatibility of lifestyle at the national or structural level with housing can be considered a general strategy to solve this problem. Based on the position of nature in the foundations of the Islamic lifestyle, it is possible to accommodate humans’ significant needs through inspiration from nature. This paper intends to investigate the mechanism of the effect of nature-based architectural components (NBAC) on residential satisfaction (RS) from the Islamic lifestyle perspective to apply the findings in architectural planning and programming processes. The results demonstrate that as adherence to the Islamic lifestyle increases, residential preferences related to the formal and semantic dimensions of NBAC also increase. Qualitative deficiencies in these components cause a decrease in perceived quality and, consequently, RS. Therefore, high residential preferences regarding semantic and formal components lead to the intensification of deficiencies in qualitative perception. In such conditions, a large part of the RS is due to residents’ adaptive behaviors. Therefore, measuring RS based on accommodating residential needs cannot be considered an objective criterion to determine housing architecture quality to test the fit of housing development patterns with residential needs. This proves the necessity for the measurement of the perceived quality of housing architecture based on the main influential factors involved, which are NBAC.

Universell utforming av spesialrom

Else Margrethe Lefdal, Jannicke T. B. Bech, Gunn Synnøve Dalstein — Tue, 19 Dec 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Krav til universell utforming av skoler er regulert av ulike lovverk. Ingen elever skal utestenges fra obligatorisk undervisning på bakgrunn av nedsatt funksjonsevne. Det kan likevel tas forbehold om rimelighet ut fra den enkeltes behov, og løsningene skal ikke være byrdefulle for virksomheten. Krav om universell utforming eller tilrettelegging gjelder hovedløsningen i de fysiske forholdene. Gjennom en kartleggingsstudie har vi undersøkt om verksteder for Kunst og håndverk er universelt utformet. Utvalget er praksisskoler tilknyttet Institutt for estetiske fag ved OsloMet – storbyuniversitetet. Studien viser flere felles utfordringer og et forbedringspotensial innen områdene orientering, tilgang og opphold knyttet til universell utforming av kunst- og håndverksrom. I artikkelen stilles det spørsmål om forbehold i lovverket er av betydning for at elever får den opplæringen de har krav på i Kunst og håndverk.

Nettverk for formgiving, kunst og håndverk i universitets- og høgskolesektoren (KHUH)

Liv Merete Nielsen, Janne Beate Reitan, Ragnhild Merete Hassel — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

I 2013 tok Nasjonalt senter for kunst og kultur i opplæringen (KKS), i samarbeid med lærerutdannere i fagfeltet, initiativ til opprettelsen av det som i dag er Nettverk for formgiving, kunst og håndverk i universitets- og høgskolesektoren (KHUH). Siden opprettelsen har dette nettverket prioritert arbeid med årlige nettverkskonferanser for å styrke forskning og samarbeid innen fagfeltet. I denne artikkelen er Nettverkskonferansene i perioden 2014–2022 studert i lys av Lave og Wenger sin teori om ‘communities of practice’ – praksisfellesskap, der faglig og organisatorisk legitim perifer deltakelse inngår i en helhet. Empirien gir oss grunnlag til å hevde at aktiviteten i praksisfellesskapet KHUH har vokst i denne perioden, ved at flere har fått adgang til slik deltakelse. Hele 288 presentasjoner, i form av paper, praksisfortellinger eller poster har blitt presentert, 20 personer har bidratt i arbeidsutvalg (AU) og 11 i vitenskapelige komiteer (VK). KKS har mye av æren for nettverkets framgang og kontinuitet. Satsningen på KHUH – framfor et felles estetisk nettverk – har vist seg å være en vellykket strategi.

Bokanmeldelse. Digitale medier og materialitet

Lovise Søyland — Fri, 24 Jun 2022 00:00:00 +0200

Jon Hoems bok er høyst aktuell, og et etterlengtet og viktig bidrag som åpner opp nye forståelser, perspektiver og muligheter knyttet til digitale medier og materialitet. Hoem løfter fram ulike eksisterende syn og forståelseshorisonter som vi kan bruke til å nærme oss materialitet. Det er ikke bare de fysiske omgivelsene og materialene vi har rundt oss som har en materialitet som kan sanses og erfares. Hoem stiller viktige spørsmål som: Hva skjer når grunnleggende betingelser for hvordan vi sanser endres, og hvordan sanser vi det immaterielle? Samspillet mellom materialer, digitale teknologier og mennesker – og hvilke skapende handlingsmuligheter som ligger i dette koblingsfeltet, er noe av det mest sentrale ved boka. Hoem går i bredden både på hvordan vi kan forstå digital materialitet som uttrykk og som ulike representasjonsformer.

Nyanlända elever i slöjdklassrummets lärmiljö

Emma Gyllerfelt — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Artikeln belyser och beskriver den lärmiljö som nyanlända elever möter i slöjdklassrum i svensk grundskolekontext. Det empiriska materialet har samlats in genom videodokumentation på två skolor med nyanlända elever, i år 8–9 i slöjdundervisning. Resultatet visar att nyanlända elever möter en rik lärmiljö i slöjdklassrum som bidrar till social interaktion, delaktighet och multimodal kommunikation och interaktion i undervisning. Vidare visas hur interiör och möblering i slöjdklassrum möjliggör samarbete mellan elever och att slöjdklassrummets lärmiljö erbjuder resurser som kan användas som läromedel i undervisningen.

Perseptuelle illusjoner i norske kommunevåpen

Reidulf G. Watten — Fri, 09 Jun 2023 00:00:00 +0200

Alle 356 kommuner i Norge har eget kommunevåpen, et visuelt kjennetegn for utøvelse av kommunal myndighet og som regel basert på heraldisk design. Kommunevåpen måtte tidligere godkjennes av Kongen i statsråd, men etter 1. januar 2018 kan alle kommuner godkjenne disse selv. Utformingen kan gjøre våpnene sårbare for perseptuelle illusjoner, og disse illusjonene kan påvirke fortolkningen av våpnene. Det er tre hovedkategorier illusjoner som er særlig aktuelle på dette området: Ansikts-illusjoner, form-illusjoner og Herrmann-gitre. Alle landets kommunevåpen er undersøkt med psykofysisk metodikk, og det ble registrert 47 våpen med illusjoner (13.2%). Det var flest ansikts-illusjoner, noen færre form-illusjoner og få Herrmann-gitre. Artikkelen påpeker nytten av perseptuell kompetanse både for kommuner, fylkeskommuner og formgivere. Framtidige kommunevåpen bør utformes slik at man unngår ulike former for perseptuelle illusjoner.

Shibori her og nå

Samira Jamouchi — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

I denne teksten tar jeg utgangspunkt i et skoleprosjekt med den eldgamle japansk innfargingsteknikken shibori. Prosjektet er motivert av en kritikk av den antropocen perioden vi lever i. Spørsmålet som drøftes er i hvilken grad et slikt kunstprosjekt med naturmaterialer kan bidra til økt bevissthet om menneskeskapte miljøproblemer. Jeg betrakter ikke verden utenfra eller som noe i stagnasjon, men snarere som en verden i bevegelse og anser dens tilblivelse som vårt ansvar. Naturmaterialer anses ikke bare som ressurser underordnet menneskes behov, men de inngår i et sårbart samspill mellom de som bebor verden. Vi mennesker har ansvar for hvordan verden utvikler seg, og en slik bevissthet kan etableres hos kommende generasjoner.

Living in the Landscape 2021

Mette Gårdvik, Karin Stoll, Wenche Sørmo, Gary Hoffman, Anne Mette Bjørnvik Rosø — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Målet med det arktiske samarbeidsprosjektet ‘Living in the landscape’ (LiLa) er å samle studenter og forskere fra ulike fagområder for å utvikle estetiske læreprosesser gjennom kultur-sensitiv og bærekraftig forskning på sosiokulturelle landskap i den europeisk-arktiske regionen. Covid 19 medførte at prosjektet i stedet for et fysisk møte i et felles landskap ble endret til en Online Spring School. Deltakerne produserte kunstneriske uttrykk som ble presentert i en online utstilling, i tillegg til visuelle essay. Med utgangspunkt i forfatternes fem essay med fokus på lokale tradisjoner med ull, starr og dun vil vi vise hvordan en felles forståelse for landskapets mangefasetterte betydning kunne utvikle seg i et online fellesskap på tvers av fagområder og kulturelle forskjeller. Våre norske bidrag eksemplifiserer hvordan det er mulig å formidle kunnskap om tradisjoner, kultur og identitet i et digitalt kulturfellesskap.

Teachers’ pedagogical tact in craft-art learning situations

Milla Ojala, Seija Karppinen, Erja Syrjäläinen, Sirpa Kokko — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 00:00:00 +0100

The goal of this research is to explore how teachers’ pedagogical tact occurs in craft-art learning situations, in the context of Finnish Basic Education in the Arts, by using the grounded theory (GT) method. The theoretical concepts—the term pathic, pedagogical tact and self-determination theory (SDT) and the key concepts autonomy, competence and relatedness—have been chosen based on how they supported the data analysis. The data consisted of five stimulated recall interviews with teachers. The GT analysis revealed that teachers’ pedagogical tact manifested itself in pathic perceiving, acting and interacting. The teachers supported students’ autonomy, relatedness and competence in craft-art learning by creating an open atmosphere and caring relationships with the students to support their sense of ownership and personal resources. The results provide conceptual understanding of craft-art pedagogy.

Leire og keramikk i norske læreplaner

Åse Kvalbein, Erik G. Småland — Mon, 23 Jan 2023 00:00:00 +0100

Framstilling av keramikk er blant de eldste menneskelige ferdighetene, og kulturmaterialene leire og keramikk har vært med i norske læreplaner i om lag hundre år. Men i løpet av denne tiden har fokus i læreplanene skiftet. Derfor har denne studien som mål å belyse i hvilken grad, på hvilken måte og i hvilken faglig kontekst ordene leire og keramikk har vært brukt i de norske læreplanene fra perioden 1922 til 2020. Det inkluderte datamaterialet er norske læreplaner som i denne perioden forholder seg til leire som materiale for lek, leire som håndverkstradisjonog leire som materiale for kunstneriske uttrykk. Læreplanene er undersøkt gjennom en tekstanalyse med utgangspunkt i Goodlad og Gundem sine læreplanteorier. Resultatene viser at det har vært betydelige svingninger i referansene til leire i læreplanene, og i hva leire relateres til. Bortsett fra at leire alltid nevnes i forbindelse med småskolen, er det ingen rød tråd gjennom planene som viser et konsekvent forhold til de tre tradisjonene for bruk av leire som undersøkes i denne studien; materiale for lek; materiale i håndverk eller som kunstnerisk materiale. Bruken fremstår som inkonsekvent og tilfeldig. Studien viser også at leire fra starten av perioden har hatt en annen inngang i fagutviklingen enn tegning, tekstil og tre. I første halvdel av den undersøkte tidsperioden har leire en posisjon i tverrfaglig arbeid med fri modellering og materiallek som arbeidsmetode. I de ulike planene kan vi ellers se en veksling mellom leire som utgangspunkt for lek, leire som materiale knyttet til håndverkstradisjoner eller leire som medium for kunstneriske uttrykk.