Ecologically grounded multimodal design: The Palafito 1.0 study

We present results of a ten-month design study targeting the observation of creative artistic practice by a video-artist, a sculptor and a composer. The study yielded the multimedia installation Palafito/Palafita/Home-on-stilts 1.0, featuring 19:30 minutes of sonic material and video footage, and three 5x8x3-meter raw-wood sculptures. This paper focuses on the procedural dimensions of the asynchronous, ubiquitous group activities carried out by the three subjects through light-weight, off-the-shelf infrastructure. Data was extracted from a virtual forum and a file repository. The analysis of the creative exchange indicated cycles of activity alternating between reflection, exploratory action and product-oriented action. The participants were engaged in reflective activities 63% of the time, epistemic activities spanned 33% of the study and product-oriented activities accounted for only 4% of the creative design cycle. Dialogic activities did not follow a regular pattern, but a relationship between enactive and dialogic activities was observed. We discuss the implications of these results for embedded-embodied approaches