The Body as a Source of Aesthetic Qualities for Design: Explorations and Techniques

Abstract

Our bodily dimension plays a fundamental role in the ongoing construction of meaning. Exploring the potential of this perspective, this paper describes the structure of a one-day workshop entitled: The body as a source of aesthetic qualities for design: Explorations and techniques. In this workshop, participants will engage with a series of somatic exercises to get in contact with their senses, aiming to reach their tacit, less explicit dimension. Aesthetic qualities emerging from the act of filtering out ideas through the body will be used as generative tools for creativity, as well as for interrogation of subjective experience. By using a series of wearable devices and artefacts from everyday life participants will explore the nuanced differences between sensing and felt-sensing, and how the use of somatic tools and stimuli from wearables can shape the way personal narratives are expressed.