Adaptive Practice: A Methodology for Emergent Design
Nick Berray
I grew up and still default to understanding reality as a collection of static objects and spaces that exist, have clear boundaries, that can be separated and studied independently. And time and space are subject to these notions of objectivity and logic.
Through introduction to the ideas of Buddhism, Taoism, process philosophy, agential realism, Quantum mechanics - and through reflection on my personal embodied experience - I do not find this objective conception of the universe compelling. Even if it feels - in some ways - intuitive.
Through living life and making work, I have come to believe that the universe is much more like an ocean, in which everything is in constant flux, highly relative, interconnected, and in non-stop renegotiation. There are no hard boundaries and it is easier to define things by their patterns of movement and interaction. Thinking of Quantum physics, perhaps it is most correct to say that everything is happening all at once, with different levels of probability. And our personal experience of reality is just the average, most probable version that emerges at any instantaneous moment, and it is actually sensitive to our perception. Things are constantly unfolding, process cannot really be separated from outcome and subject cannot really be separated from context. These are rules we make up that govern our perception but do not completely govern or explain the actual events themselves. It’s simply a way of looking at things. And by changing the way we’d like to look at things or understand them, we change our perceived reality completely.
This thesis and my creative process are a way of working in accordance with this understanding of reality as interconnected and emergent. I believe that now is the time to develop new aesthetics and ways of making in accordance with this vision of the universe. Breakthroughs in Quantum physics and the more decentralized and fluxus nature of modern technology (internet, AI, web 3) are creating a need for us to re-examine and re-negotiate how we understand and make in the universe. Some of the aforementioned spiritual and philosophical frameworks provide a ground on which to build.
See What Emerges
This is a series of cards I made to explain each of my projects. I find that all of my projects can be summed up by the format "I want to explore (medium) + (idea) + (container) and see what emerges"
Yield Poster
This is a poster I made for a speculative brand I designed called Yield.
Yield Poster 02
This is another poster I made. I use risograph to create iterations. These are 2 posters of 20.
Risograph Flag
I was exploring pattern making and curious about how to play with the meaning of symbols.
Risograph Flag 02
This is a second variation I made with risograph as well. These are two of 50 variations.
Rorschach Flag
I made this as an abstract expressionist take on the American flag.
Rorschach Flag 02
This is a second flag. These are two variations of 10.
Empty Bodies
I made this as an exploration of the tension between absence and presence. It is made with muslin and dye and paint. This is one variation of three.
Collage
I made a series of collages with found paper. I wanted to push the boundaries of legibility so that the composition was familiar but not quite possible to place.