Research in Progress Presentations

I’ve been thinking some more about our recent research in progress presentations. One thing struck me as worthy of further thought: the notion of work as ‘proposition’. You’ll remember that Ranciere defined the term inclusively, combining the ideas of proposal, offering and invitation. As we look back at the ‘in progress’ presentation and forward to our ‘in progress’ exhibition, it might be productive to consider the ways in which our work might (or might not) want to propose, offer and invite. If you think about the work of Mickey and Ped, for example, their was a clear invitation to tactile interaction and play: to a very large extent the work was performed by the audience. Yet they also afforded quite different kinds of play (in Mickey’s case a rather cerebral playing with layers of representation, in Ped’s case  something more social and open ended). Other people’s work set up and structured more contemplative encounters in which the audience kept a certain distance from the work, Nooknik involved is an a different way, inviting us to move in relation to the work. The point here is not that one is right or wrong but to focus your attention on the ‘qualities of experience’ that you want your work to engender. What kind of encounter do you want to set up and how will you realise this in practice?