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Join members of the Make and Think research group from The University of the West of England, Bristol, as they seek to question and define how tacit knowledge can be captured and disseminated. Dawn Mason, Tom Sowden and Matthew Partington will present a model of research developed to critically interrogate the potential of materials and collaborative practice.

The research strategy developed by Make and Think embraces play and failure and has thinking through materials and making at the heart of its activities. The production of the physical object is crucial to all group members, but the journey to the finished product is equally as important and is recognised by the group as a potential area for the development of new thinking. Make and Think offers a platform to expand, test and expose the monologues and dialogues of practice. The group has employed different models to examine this key aim ranging through individual, collaborative, speculative, concentrated, slow and fast paced approaches. This has provided a framework with which to capture the knowledge, realisations and arguments generated through engagement in making and thinking in a breadth of art and design practices. The talk will present the activities undertaken by the group so far.

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About Make and Think

Dawn Mason is Associate Head of Department at UWE and is also in the process of completing a PhD entitled Stitch and Think: Unpicking the Silence of Schoolgirl Samplers. She has a background in fashion and textile design and has taught across a broad range of programmes at UWE.

Tom Sowden is Programme Leader for the MA Design course at UWE and a researcher in the Centre for Fine Print Research. His practice is centred around artists’ books and areas of research interest include artists’ publishing and laser cutting as a craft tool.

Dr Matthew Partington is Programme Leader for the MA/MFA Curating course at UWE. He is a Visiting Fellow in Contemporary Crafts at the V&A.

Free for UWE staff and students with ID.  Tickets can be collected in person from Arnolfini Box Office from 11am on the day of the event.