processes in thinking and making

naga nandini
Jan 6, 2020
4 min read

Updated: Jan 7, 2020

What are the different cycles of thinking and making and how can they be explored?

Several kinds of thinking and making cycles will be explored through this project. Some of these are

THINK-MAKE-RETHINK or making with a plan or blueprint

THINK-MAKE-EXPAND or use making as a way to stretch thinking

MAKE-REFLECT/EXPRESS or use making as an artistic practice

MAKE-MAKE-MAKE-REFLECT or use making as therapy

MAKE-SHARE-MAKE or making as a collaborative activity

MAKE-USE or making as a functional activity

There of course may be more cycles of thinking and making which may emerge out of the experiments I propose.

Experiments

In making I’m deriving my ideas from Gandhi and his position that everyone should spin. Gandhi’s Nai Taleem[1] where craft is used as a core component of education, allows an integrated understanding of many subjects that combine economics, aesthetics, need, sustainability, materials, technologies, eco-systems and problem solving.

It may seem far-fetched that simply spinning everyday as Gandhi suggested, will change ones life and will impart a sound moral education. Humility of doing a simple task collectively can equate everyone. Technology can become arrogant, it allows us to overcome limitations of our own body without counting the cost. Craft is also technology albeit a much gentler one. In Gandhi’s words ‘It is impossible to exaggerate the harm we do to Indian Youth by filling their minds with the false notion that it is ungentlemanly to labour with one’s hands and feet for one’s livelihood or schooling. The harm done is moral and material, indeed much more moral than material.’[2]

The simplicity of making with the hands is a way of learning and understanding – and teaches us to get to the core of timelessness, removing all frills. It can teach us to discern, to sift and sort with the kind of sophistication that is hard to replicate by other means. This sophistication is obvious in most handcrafted objects – a fine bamboo basket made in Assam, a curved hand beaten knife in the kitchen or an intricate and superbly balanced sculpture in a temple.

Working with the hands teaches us morality or correctness not as a set of principles or rules but as spontaneous actions that encompass all areas of life. As we learn discernment and care through materials and choices, this embodied knowledge transfers to all aspects of life. Richard Sennett defines craftsmanship as an enduring, basic human impulse, the desire to do a job well for its own sake. He understands materialism as a deep sympathy for material and not just acquiring things as is commonly understood.[3] Craftsmanship is not only in the physical world but also in the intellectual and moral sphere.

To include making into our everyday life as a practice towards discernment, we need not aim towards master-craftsmanship, which would be another route to arrogance. We should in fact aim at humble, everyday making, as a deeply reflective activity as a way of connecting to our deeper selves.

There is an argument that we already make – we cook food, take care of children, garden and much more. But making in a reflective way that is outside the pull and push of the every day is something everyone does not do. The experiments I will try will help me to work out a framework to dissect the act of making and its connection to discernment.

For self

What is the relationship between thought, intellect and action? If intellect is a discerning agent while the thought is a deliberating agent; the two are different; thinking deliberates about different options, intellect discerns, clarifies, chooses the right action to perform and action in turn feeds thought and adds to options. Where does knowledge sit in this cycle? Making involves the body and intellect, the mind. Where does discernment lie? If discernment is a capability, can discernment using the senses improve discernment in the intellect?

Making without purpose: As a designer all things I do and make are for a clear purpose and I would like to explore making purposelessly to understand how it aids thinking. Using found materials, I will make over a period of time without any functional objective.

Making to learn something new: this could be electronics or the new fabrication techniques like 3D printing or laser cutting. The purpose of this would be to update my own understanding of emerging technologies to see how these could be applied in more timeless forms of making.

Making to practice: like spinning to develop mastery or welding. Doing something repeatedly over a period of time will allow the body to take over the mind. is very much involved in the practice of making, but as I gain some mastery, the intellect recedes and the body takes over. The experiment will involve observing myself and reflecting on what happens after some level of mastery is achieved.