By the same token, but in the\u00a0opposite direction, this increasingly image-centric\u00a0culture makes it increasingly easy to generate visual material that can be used to\u00a0represent data and disseminate results. Big\u00a0data visualisations present abstracted and often aesthetic representations of more information than you could previously only just imagine\u00a0–\u00a0a bit like everybody suddenly being able to shout (or draw) an\u00a0unpronounceable tetragrammaton. Tools developed by ubiquitous behemoths\u00a0like Google allow everybody to have a go. Here’s one I made\u00a0earlier<\/a>.<\/p>\n On the one hand the analysis of artefacts looks\u00a0like art history where a painting is treated as an object for study, possibly in relation to other paintings or to the circumstances by which it was produced. On the other hand,\u00a0in generating their own visual materials, the\u00a0academic takes on the role of curator or creator and becomes the artist. Art theory merges\u00a0into studio practice.<\/p>\n It’s a well established\u00a0concept in design studies\u00a0that the production of the visual artefact, sketching in particular, is an intrinsic and valuable part of the design process. The architect for example sketches\u00a0the current state of their design and reflects on this as they\u00a0move towards the\u00a0next phase of\u00a0resolution. They\u00a0might\u00a0do\u00a0this\u00a0with\u00a0 their client perhaps as a way of including them in the design process or as a demonstration of\u00a0their professional prowess with a flourish from a Rotring pen.<\/p>\n How does this scale up to academia? How does the production of the visual fit into the research process and the dissemination of results. Is it a product or a process? And if it’s both how do they interact?\u00a0And who is the client? Is it other academics? Funding bodies? Or the general public? No doubt\u00a0it’s all of the above but again how do they interact? And\u00a0most pressingly\u00a0perhaps, in this visual-centric world, do we need to be conscious of the brand of pen that we\u00a0pull out of our pocket in order to impress them?<\/p>\n In\u00a0contrast,\u00a0and by way of contextualising the above, it is the Open University post-graduate student poster competition this week and I left my designer pens\u00a0at home:<\/p>\n
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