Developing the Art of Observation
Observation:
Observation, and reflective thought, can rightly be thought to be the medium through which humans have increasingly widened the gap between themselves and other species. The skill of observation is used by an infant to slowly develop connections with the world around it, and over several years, it can augment this understanding based on experience and memories. This skill, however, slowly becomes innate to the being, and becomes a part of a person’s everyday life, hiding in plain sight. To develop this skill further, conventional science education gives the framework of scientific experimentation, where we record how a system responds to a pre-determined set of stimuli. This method ensures that there is minimum intervention from the observer, and that the observer stands at a distance and gazes at the events that unfold, which are then recorded. This rigid framework can lead to reinforcing certain expected results from the experiment. The distant gaze of an observer also seems to give an elevated importance to the observer, much like a human observing a colony of ants inside a jar.
In contrast to that, we can develop a system for themselves in which we actively immerse ourselves with the subject [2] being observed. We can participate with the subject, affect their decisions and actions, and become aware of our role (or lack thereof) in the events that unfold. In this way, we can let go of prejudices and judgements, and engage with the subject in the context it exists in. A more natural engagement like this can lead to different, deeper insights on the subject. [1]
My current practice of curious observation tries to explore the story behind everyday objects, as I believe every object that we engage with has a story to tell us. Developing that further based on the ideas I encountered, new connections can be found when we engage instead of just observing. More deliberate, slower, and less scientific engagement can help with empathizing in a deeper sense with the system, as well as help us view it in a positive light. Engaging with the materials of a context can be a practice like when a psychotherapist engages with a subject through dialogs and conversations. Therefore, the practice of observation be a conversation between the observer and the context, which has a bidirectional flow of information, and with a more pronounced connection between the observer and the context.
Slow Walking:
In a fast-moving world, the deliberate slowness of a walk can bring out meaning in seemingly the most mundane of environments and situations. The slowness of a walk can be a way to notice things that are usually rendered invisible. Immersing oneself in the context is a way to use all our senses to take in the context, as opposed to just using vision.
Slow walks can be used to facilitate observation and can become a practice with which to engage with the world. This need not be limited to observations on a macro level on a physical space but can be extended to any number of situations we engage with. For example, slowly walking through (wandering) and wondering through a data set.
Context is volatile and temporal, and it is observed that significant changes occur in the context as time passes. Even then, slow walking gives us the time to immerse and engage in the context, on that slice of time. We found that expanding observation on a temporal scale while being immersed in the context can lead to new and interesting insights.
I have come to understand the culture of slow movement [3] better during my engagement in the studio. Slow movement culture is by its definition about a contrast with the efficiency based fast moving life that is prevalent right now. This culture has been adopted by a variety of activities, including science and technology. What is interesting here is that although science and technology are areas where deep understanding would take time, competitiveness has led us to ignore that and move fast. Developments are expected at the pace of the market and, because of that sometimes we have only a surface level understanding of the consequences of these improvements. In the fast-moving context, processes are repeatable, and scale is large, but long-term effects of these actions are often ignored, whereas in a slow activity, actions and consequences are carefully evaluated.
Recording through photographs:
Photographs can be used as a medium of reflective understanding of research. When looking back at photographs documented on the field, interesting insights can be observed which were not visible at the time of documenting. Documentation in the field and a reflective analysis of it are two complementary practices, given that data on the field can be time sensitive, and recording all that we can is the priority. Although once that is done, insights can be drawn on these recordings in a more detailed manner, and other sources such as literature can be used to augment these insights.
Looking at a set of photographs from the field can also bring up patterns and add a layer of temporality to the data. Movement, which is usually more easily captured with video documentation, can be seen in a different light when interpreted from a set of photographs.
Photography, however, does come with its limitations. It is temporally fixed, and only offers a slice in time of the context. Frames of a photograph are also limited in size and perspective, in the sense that they offer a selective, one sided view of a context. It is also limited by environmental factors such as weather and light and is not a repeatable medium as such. Photographing people and communities also has the risk of conflict in case the subjects are sensitive to being documented. Although, this risk also creates the opportunity of dialog and interaction, which adds another layer of data to the documentation.
Using literature as a reference for practice:
We also used literature as a basis to create a foundation to understand the context of our work. The practice of engaging with literature and the environment side by side pushed us to have different yet related interpretations of the same text. The way things were described in these texts and documents have a profound impact on how systems are perceived, for example the way maps have come to be represented has influenced how we understand territories and boundaries. [4]
Even though our interpretations varied, we were able to use literature to identify new ways to engage with our documentations from the field, and to find new ways to reflect on our work.
Conclusion and Framework
Based on the above analysis and observations, a framework can be developed for observation and documentation. This framework is not limited to “walking” as a practice to immerse in context but can be extended to other activities as well, although here “walking” is used as an example:
We started with taking a slow walk through our identified context to discover the terrain and subjects we can engage with. This was followed by a round of reading, which helped us gather methods and processes. After this we used the practice of walking to discover our preferred method of documentation and engagement with the contexts we identified. Once that was done, we continued engaging with the context to gather as much media as possible. Documenting and interpreting media is a two-step process, where the first level of identification and interpretation is done while recording, and the second, reflective step is done afterwards, when we engage with the recorded media in the absence of the context itself. The reflective analysis of the media gives us clues on how to further engage with the context, and to find patterns and connections in the documented data. [5] Some of these connections and patterns are then selected to be used for further documentation. This process of walk-document-reflect can be repeated several times to further develop understanding of the context.
Interestingly, in this process, we did not start with a pre-determined result in mind, but rather let the context speak to us, and guide us into finding a goal, that we could then work on. Going in with no prejudices and predetermined, expected results opened us up to a variety of possibilities, whereas otherwise we would be looking at the context through the narrow lens of our expectations.
References
[1] The Atlantic. “Walking.” Accessed February 27, 2021. https://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1862/06/walking/304674/
[2] Wikipedia. “Subject (philosophy).” Accessed February 27, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Subject_(philosophy)
[3] Wikipedia. “Slow movement (culture).” Accessed February 27, 2021. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Slow_movement_(culture)
[4] J.B. Harley. “Maps, knowledge and power.”
[5] Sarah Pink. “Drawing with Our Feet (and Trampling the Maps): Walking with Video as a Graphic Anthropology.” In Anthropological Studies of Creativity and Perception, Edited by Tim Ingold, 143–156. Ashgate Publishing Limited, 2011.
