Synthesis as a Method for Elaboration

• Main Author: Johnson, Polly
• Format: Others
• Published: VCU Scholars Compass 1994
• Subjects: Art and Design
• Online Access: https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/etd/5534; https://scholarscompass.vcu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=6621&context=etd

Before I began this thesis, I examined my previous work and a consistent quality emerged. l tended to assemble (synthesize) things (entities) that were seemingly unlike (disparate). I q u e s t i o n e d my approach and its validity as a design methodology. I found, through investigation into the nature of my p r o c e s s and the process of other artists and designers that specific methods of synthesis could be defined. In this thesis I have outlined three synthesis methodologies. They are not the only methods that exist, but were the ones I focused on for my thesis project. After l defined these methods of synthesis and did visual and verbal explorations, the possibility of developing a process for generating visual and verbal content occurred to me. I was not sure what the effects of the process would be. It was not until after the thesis exhibition that I realized I had developed a process of elaboration. For the thesis exhibition I created two and three dimensional exercises based on v i s u a I + v e r b a I combinations These studies were then applied for the purposes of the exhibition.