The focus of this module is to develop your approach to your design process & creation by engaging with your ideas on what you would like to explore.  These ideas or idea don't have to have an outcome. Instead, they should be treated as an enquiry into a chosen subject. The chosen subject from which I will develop ideas is primarily my choice.  
With that in mind, I decided that I would begin by researching the term interaction. By which I mean that I'm going to research the word and what relates to it, not actual interaction with an object.   This is somewhat similar to etymology, which is researching the history or origin of words. But I will be attempting to create or discover a relationship between words. To document what is said above, I will be creating a  map of words that are all connected in some way starting with interaction. Next, the words on the map will be sectioned together (by colour squares) to represent separate areas in which I can develop a form that represents the words within the section.  These forms would eventually consist of various mediums that could include models. diagrams, posters, cad designs etc.  The words on the map would not just be nouns like interaction (which is a noun). The words would be a mix of everything including places, movie titles, famous people, materials etc.
As you can see above there are 19 sections in total. Although it is actually only 18 since the red section is more like an introduction. Each section is not finalised but all have been broken down so that they don't contain too many words. The introduction/ red section is a compressed form of what interaction means in my opinion and what comes from it. 
Instead of having a long essay of how all these words are connected, starting with interaction and having a paragraph for each section. I thought it would be easier to handpick the words that are connected and show they are related by lines/dashes instead of having sentences explaining why they are connected. 
Interaction consists of objects affecting each other to create an emergence of action that is either physical or non-physical. Depending on what you believe in. Therefore the emergence creates a structure that is a collective of the opposing or connecting objects. The objects in the structure consist of matter & form. Matter & form according to the Greek philosopher Aristotle plays a significant part in how to conceive a being or ousia into existence. Therefore Hylomorphism theory. So being or ousia is not a physical thing but an essence or entity that we give substance to so that we can believe it exists.  Similar to religion. Although religion is part of hylomorphism so is matter & form as already said. The form is the outer self eg the image we conceive in our heads of this being/object or ousia. To do so we must give it substance which is the ingredients of matter. It should be noted that form is not appearance, it is the outside structure. For example, it's an outline of the person, not the image of the person. The image is created in our heads is made out of matter that is made from our perception. This perception is qualia which is the focus on the belief of the image rather than actually experiencing the image. Qualia is subjective consciousness that relies on your past experiences with colours, textures, shapes etc.

So to explain this in a simpler way I will use the following example. Imagine making a milkshake for the first time in your head. The ingredients are milk, bananas and ice cream. You have already tasted these ingredients before and you know how they look. Inside your head, you are mixing the ingredients and you start to imagine what it tastes like and how it looks. This is subjective consciousness perception. Conjured up by our sense organs. What is taking place is called qualia. Which is focusing on the belief of the experience than actually experiencing it. This perception in your head doesn't exist yet. Therefore it is a being that exists by itself in your head and not in reality. Since you have never tasted the milkshake before so it can't be referred to a real thing. Furthermore, this makes it an ousia an entity or essence that can be brought into existence by actually mixing the ingredients which is interaction. 
Interactions are made up of actions. The main two actions needed to create an emergence of change or how the milkshake emerges from the ingredients is putting them in the blender and turning the blender on. Once done, you will have a structure in the blender that is the combined matter & form of the ingredients. Form is the outside look of the structure. In which I mean does it look like a liquid, solid or gas. Inside the structure is matter which is the state of the form eg is it a thick or thin. Matter is made out of substance which would be the ingredients.
Although this is a rather simple explanation. I would like to make it be known that interaction is not easy to control like following a recipe. For instance, the emergent structures created can be unpredictable just like snowflakes. The symmetrical pattern on each snowflake when being formed is affected by their path downwards (how they float downwards through different temperatures or moistures).
Creating a being that exists in your head and bringing it into existence relates to Aristotle hylomorphism theory. Although this theory does have a lot to do with religion it does explain how matter and form has a significant part in how things are created. It also links to how ousia has relations to religious theology such as Christian theology in how the divine essence is portrayed in imagery. Yet there is another reason why I included it on the word map. This is because Aristotle also participated in cartography- the making of maps.  During Greek times their religious beliefs (an important part of their society) which are now considered mythological where shown on maps that documented the stars. This led me to finish the introduction at that point since I could now move on to mapping words that are related to the introduction that explains interaction.
The introduction and the concluding section (red/black) are connected creating an end of the word map since the relationship between words could go on forever. Also, I won't be completing each section in order I will be selecting them at random to prevent the task from becoming repetitive. Considering there are 18 sections, it is not likely that I will be able to complete every single one. Therefore I wont aim to complete every single one and make a mess of it. Instead I will move onto a different section once I believe that the section I'm working on is done. 
click on colour section buttons below to see each part of this module
It is recommended that you review the colour sections above before continuing below
Conclusion
Books used for sources of information and inspiration

I'll admit I didn't read all these books back to back. Instead, I was only looking for snippets of information that would help create the connecting words in the word map. The majority of the books were used after the introduction was created (the red section).  Yet some of the information or inspiration gathered from the selection wasn't used in the word map, for example, the Joan Miro book. Originally while I was looking into the de Stijl art movement (Salmon pink section) I considered comparing that to another art form that used similar colours. While doing so I came across the surrealism artist Joan Miro. Therefore by comparing the two art forms my initial thought was to create something but in two variations. This didn't happen since if I were to include Joan Miro or even the surrealism movement into a section then it may be too much to work from. Some other examples would be the linocut and William Blake books.  For the Royal blue section, I had explored creating a hoax piece of work that focused on the supposed existence of an asteroid belt that contained vulcanoids.  The hoax piece would be a print of one of these vulcanoids. Since there is a term linked to vulcanoids called vulcanization, which involves burning rubber.  So my idea was originally to carve the vulcanoid shape into the rubber (similar to lino cutting) and then burn it and then print with it. Yet the rubber wasn't suited to this so I went down another path which can be seen in the Royal blue section.  the reason for the William Blake book was because the blue section contains a character called buffalo bill which is from a movie called the silence of the lambs. The movie is an adaption of a book of the same name. The book is part of a series wherein another book called red dragon refers to the Willem Blake paintings of the great red dragon. If I were to include William Blake and red dragon into the section then it would be too large to work from therefore more time consuming thus leaving less time for other sections.
I manage to complete 10 sections in total including the introduction. Considering the restrictions due to the pandemic I think that overall 10 sections are a decent outcome. I would have liked to explore the sections more if I had access to actual space and tools but that being said what I have managed to complete is extensive. Therefore what I set out to do when I started the explorative praxis, I've been able to achieve.
Below is the remaining sections in which I have not done. However, I had considered which sections I could have possibly done after the yellow section, which are burgundy and mint green.   Although I picked the sections at random I did consider which ones were more practical in terms of producing work without being restricted due to circumstances. What I mean by this is that I haven't ignored the other sections but actually have been thinking about each one or at least a good few as the project went on.  By doing so I was constantly planning more than one design at any given time throughout the project. 
For the Burgandy section, the plan was to create miniature scale models of tables. The shape of the tables would gain influence from the book phantom architecture. The book focuses on structures that were never built due to various reasons including politics, funding or the client wanted a safer option rather than drawing criticism.  Yet these structures when first considered were meant to be architectural masterpieces that were functional or even fancy to look at.  Tables are places where we come together, share, create, work therefore a significant part of our daily lives. Due to how architectural structures promote similar vibes I decided that I would make these scaled tables to represent the buildings from the book.  Some of the structures in the book are temples or holy places from various religions such as Christianity or greek. That being said because tables hold items up from the ground I decided to include the greek god atlas into the section. After all, the myth behind the god is that he holds the sky up from hitting the ground. The god was condemned by Zeus to forever hold the sky, therefore partially symbolising strength. If I were to compare this to Christianity or even catholicism then Zeus would be equivalent to God and atlas would be a lower being such as an angel ( this is done by terms of patriarchy).  After some research, the angel that could be compared to atlas in my opinion would be Gabriel since the name in Hebrew means God is my strength.  The angel Gabriel can also be referred to as the angel Jibreel in Islam who has the title Ruh Al-Qudus or Ruh.  In the 1500s there was a manuscript created in Iran that displayed the angel Rul holding the celestial spheres ( orbits of the planets). The image displayed is similar to the idea of atlas holding the sky up. Below is tow images comparing them both.
A magic 8 ball is used when seeking advice or when you want some form of fortune-telling by receiving yes or no answers.  The 8 ball is more of a modern way of fortune-telling whereas divination is an older way of doing so. Divination is where the fortune teller (instead of an object like the magic 8 ball) receive wisdom from whatever they believe in using a ritual or sacrifice.  The 8 ball is similar to how an omen in how it acts as a catalyst that signifies a good or bad event depending on what you ask it.  A witch or witches are people who supposedly take part in supernatural stuff such as divinations as well as use omens as a sign of significance importance. A black cat is probably one of the best-known omens (if you believe in all that) and this is proven by how it used in a lot of media and advertising. For example Hocus pocus a film about witches includes a black cat and Sabrina the witch has a black cat in it as well. But although the black cat can be considered an omen it can also be considered a familiar. A familiar is an animal or something in a form of an animal that helps the witch or magic by acting as a guard or an ally. In the film hocus pocus, the witches have to use black candles to manifest their magic so basically, the divination they are doing would work.  Sabrina the teenage witch is a character that comes from Archie comics. Considering how a comic is some form of literature and how literature is full of stories, real or not I wanted to explore this aspect a little bit more.  But I realised that if I were to look into literature and what it means etc then the section would be too full.  So I decided to evaluate the section once again and an idea popped into my head.  When someone creates a story and are willing to share it in some form of text (literature), I imagine they would want to protect it. With this in mind, I decided that I would use this section to come up with a paperweight. The paperweight would act like a familiar protecting its owners' work. The work would be ideas manifested from the owner's imagination and is now on paper.  The paperweight would guard it as well as keep it where it should be in the owner's space.  The appearance of the paperweight would gain influence from a colour scheme from Archie comics and creatures that are considered familiars in witchcraft lore.  However, it would need to include an aspect that would notify the owner that their work has been looked at by unwelcome eyes.
A phantom is a fragment of the person imagination that haunts them believing the phantom to be real such as a ghost.  So you could argue that angels are similar to a phantom or phantoms.  In the bible, there is a passage where an angel appears (like a phantom) before Daniel in the third year of Cyprus dressed in linen. the angel name was never relieved yet speculation concludes that it was possibly Gabriel.
The colour palette is from colourlovers.com where any person can create a palette from various sources. The one shown above is from a collection of different Archie comics. The middle image is just an example of a paperweight and the last is a sketch of familiars.
Without a doubt, if I were to take everything of this project into account, then I would say it is odd. The reason being is that the process of using words as symbols which are then joined to construct a form that represents the section they are in is difficult to imagine at first.  I believe this because when usually starting a task or project you are given a brief or make one yourself in which use as a guide for the work. For the explorative research and praxis, I did the opposite in my opinion. The way I approached the project was to start with the word interaction and that was it. I didn't set my self any restraints until I had completed the word map. In actual fact, the only restraint was to not feel pressured into completing each section. Therefore without being restricted I was able to create a body of work that can be considered odd but odd is too vague. Odd is different from what is usual or expected.  The explorative praxis does give a brief yet this isn't used as a guide that you must follow. Instead, it explains how you are free to choose what you can do. Therefore what is expected from the student can't be considered odd since it hasn't been stated differently from what is expected.  Hence I would describe my body of work as peculiar by the way I went about it.  conceptual in terms of how the words become symbols which become a joined idea and the idea becomes a form that reflects my way of thinking.  Thoughtful, given that a lot of research went into finding the connections between the words.
After evaluating all the work I decided I wouldn't take any of the created forms any further. This is because since they were only conceptual I don't see the need to change the completed form they are already in. What I would like to redo again but with more control and order is the approach of starting with a word, creating a word map and then creating forms from the sectioned words.  This way of researching and creating in my opinion is unique by how that you are not sure where it will go.  Yet this approach would need more refinement. For example instead of sectioning the words once the map is completed and then making the forms. It would be more efficient to create an introduction and then section it first off. Next would be to start finding the connection between the words and section them before finding over connections. once the words have been sectioned then create a form instead of creating another section of words. 
So basically in this project, I did the following:
.Picked a word I'm interested in
.research the word and create an introduction
.once the introduction is done create a word map of connecting words
.section the words together by using different colour squares
.choose random sections to create forms from
Whereas if I were to do this approach again I would:
.pick a subject and pick a word from it
.research the word and create an introduction
.once the introduction is sectioned research connecting words
.when an amount of any size of the connection between words has been made section it before finding other connecting words.
.before finding connecting words create a form the sectioned words first.
By not creating an entire word map straight away means that I don't need to feel the need to complete all of the sections. Instead by taking it a step at a time makes it easier by not having the pressure of not finishing sections.

Another reason why I'm keen on experimenting with this approach again is that due to covid and the restrictions I wasn't able to have much access to workshop space. Therefore a lot of this work is mainly digital/CAD instead of actual models which require tools, material and space I didn't have at home. To be honest this did have an impact on how I went about doing work for each section.  Although I give it the best I could and what I came out with (the work from each section) is not that bad. I usually try to avoid cad since I prefer working with my hands but by evaluating my work I could say there is a vast improvement in my cad use. another aspect which I indulged more into than before was 3d printing which was challenging at times due to problems such as the print bed not being level, replacing or declogging the extruder, finding a suitable adhesive to on top of the print bed and etc.  
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