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I don't have access to what thoughts look like. I can only represent thinking with the imagery I do have access to. The feeling I'm trying to describe is of things moving, being pushed and shifted, more how thoughts and feelings, move and interact within and between us, rather than what they look like as objects.
The practice I picture is more about pushing, shifting, moving things than it is
Working with what we have. The magic of my sculpture games was using whatever materials were available and seeing how people imbue them with meaning as they animate them. Everyday material things have a richness and openess of meaning and use that abstract representations of thinking don't have. Every material thing in the space was in play, which with the right mixture of materials and personalities brought out and manifested the tensions in the field in a really concrete visual way. There weren’t any pre-defined rules or goals that pitted people against each other, but people developed ideas about how they wanted the space to look. So the materials were pushed, pulled, moved and arranged this way then that, animated by different peoples intentions.
It's the opposite of the abstract logic of constructivist, cognitivist diagrams. It worked when the objects in the space were as many and varied, in type, form, material, scale and in the kinds of associations people could project onto them and invest in them. This allowed a common but contested ground for different intentions to push up against each other, capturing some of the inherent tensions in the situation.
Not seeing seeing or representing the thoughts and feelings directly, only the traces of their affects. Trying to describe energies, emotions, tensions and intentions by animating the media, materials and imagery we find in the spaces we inhabit.
Could this be applied to digital media as well?
Twee prototype allowed the viewer to move, scale and send energies through a field of images sounds and words, mixing photos with drawings placed in spaces.
I don't need to create new imagery for mental representations - I can use existing images, allow participants and viewers to find meaning and make connections with them.
Could I ask people to bring materials, objects, images and media from their lives, as well as the materials in the space..
Having a mixture of materials in a space - Social media feeds - Group chats - Family photos and video - Archive tv films - Youtube