NYUADFG
A field guide for the Arts Center within the New York University Abu Dhabi campus when considered as a system.
TOOLS
Adobe Illustrator
Systems thinking
YEAR
2019
Concept
The purpose of the first assignment in the Temporary Expert course was to create a field guide for one of the systems at play in New York University Abu Dhabi. The project combined research, systems thinking, semiotics, graphic design, and user experience, among others. The field guide had to be designed such that it emphasized the system it represented and the research that had been conducted about it (content), as well as ease of use and understanding to enhance user participation (style) during a "field excursion".
I chose to make my field guide about the university's Art Center, as the building is infamous for being labyrinthine and confusing, while the departments and programs it houses are famous for the many projects they carry out. As I wrote for the assignment:
The Arts Center is a place where most things seem to make little sense. And yet, having spent a considerable portion of my time as an undergraduate within its walls, I am well aware of the complexities and intricacies of the Arts Center as a system, one that encompasses numerous players and a myriad of interactions among them. I’m curious: just how much happens behind the scenes that I have no knowledge of, or even more surprising, how many interactions occur right in front of me without my acknowledgement?
What does it take to make the Arts Center work as a system… and why is that effort important?
Research
My research to define the Arts Center as a system began with an interview to David Darts, the Associate Dean of Arts & Program Head of Art and Art History at the time. My initial conversation with him led to the development of a mapped system, considering the Arts Center's occupants, spaces, behind-the-scenes players, etc. The images below show the process of creating this map.
I defined the final version of the mapped system as follows:
I realized that I wanted my system to be narrowed down to shared resource spaces that are specialized for the creation and/or exhibition of arts projects, within the Arts Center. By this I mean spaces that have unique elements or characteristics that allow particular creative endeavors to take place in them (for instance, the Black Box has characteristics like layout and lights that facilitate performances; the Interactive Media Lab has a laser cutter, soldering stations, 3D printers, etc. that facilitate IM projects), but that are shared among the different “inhabitants” of the Arts Center, permanent or temporary (for example, the Music Practice Rooms are used by Music students but also by other members of NYUAD that want to practice playing the instruments they house; the Design Studio is used by the Vis Arts program but also by the IM program, etc.).
I left the people directly involved with creating the projects made in the Arts Center (I left out those who affect them indirectly, like producers) in the map because they are what ties the different spaces/places together; their movement across these is what makes them shared centers of creation and exhibition.
Another aspect of the project that required research had to do with the significance of the field guide: why is exploring the Arts Center relevant in the first place?
I decided to focus on the question of the importance of the arts and of arts education. I chose this lens based on my own experience as an Engineering student who then transferred to Visual Arts, in a way making me a target of the general perception that an arts education is inferior to and/or less necessary than a science or business-based one.
This part of my research was mainly carried out through library databases and published articles. My conclusion:
Cases show different obstacles faced by arts education: difficulties finding employment due to the scarcity of jobs, apprehension towards arts activities in elementary education (potentially contributing to a wider cycle of apprehension towards arts education?), and the view that the arts are a luxury and not a necessity in education.
Why does this pose an issue?
The 2006 article “Critical Thinking Dispositions as an Outcome of Art Education” (from the Studies in Art Education journal) argues that “a consensus of findings in research literature on education and critical thinking indicates that an inquiry-based curriculum positively influences gains in critical thinking. Research shows, as well, that learning in the arts is largely inquiry-based,” given that arts students practice “reflective thinking and aesthetic inquiry when they create artwork” and discuss their work with others. This is just one argument in support of arts education among many.
I revisited this topic with David Darts in a second interview, and our talk helped me realize that looking into theories of play could provide my project with an interesting angle: if artists are playful, does this quality make them valuable to society?
Following the information on play found in “Theories of Play”, from The Oxford Handbook of the Development of Play, I argued that:
If artists can be playful, more so than professionals in other disciplines, then artists can convey to society important knowledge about the present, needed to thrive in the future. This is not always an easy/enjoyable task (meaning that artmaking is not as simple as some might perceive it is; it comes with its own difficulties, frustrations, and risks), but it has a utility. Art can help us interpret our context and our environment (through the use of analogies, for instance), and understand which are the best ways to navigate them. It can help us develop different skills (such as critical thinking!). Art as play is a method for problem-solving that allows us to consider alternative, more efficient solutions.
Field Guide
Having defined my system, and the subjects/issues my field guide would address while exploring it (the value of play in the arts and, by extension, the value of arts education), I was ready to begin considering its design. The field guide had to convey its connection to the Arts Center as a space, and I also wanted it to embody a form of play (a game of sorts), to reflect this aspect of the arts through the experience of using it.
The different versions of the field guide went through user testing and were critiqued by my professor and classmates during our lessons.
First version
The initial idea was to present the Arts Center as a playground, and the field guide was to be directed to "children" who came to play. The interaction was centered around two maps (representing the first and second floors of the Arts Center) and small pamphlets with locations "to play" which had to be found around the building, with the aid of the maps.
Second version
The second version further connected the field guide to the Arts Center space through its colors (the use of bright blue and red was inspired by the facades of the Red and Blue Theaters at the entrance of the Arts Center).
In trying to use “play” as my framework, I decided that the field guide would not be driven by maps. Instead, it would be driven by directions to get around. These directions would lead the user through the building via a number of places within it, so each entry of the field guide corresponds to one of these spaces. Each entry has the name of the space, directions to it, a description, an icon (they were all taken from The Noun Project and credited at the end of the field guide), and indications of whether or not the user can enter the space.
Each entry has text in italics at the top, followed by a small, simple painting. The text in italics corresponds to a narrative that runs through all the entries, explaining the theory of play and the relationship between art and play. I painted the images on the entries; they’re supposed to represent what’s written in italics and be connected to the place that the entry is about (for instance, the image for Performance Venue has theater curtains and alludes to the theater icon of the two masks; the image for Design Studio uses the traditional colors of a blueprint).
This version of the field guide incorporated a game, and the introduction and the instructions were crucial in explaining how the game works. When the game/walk around the Arts Center ends, the user encounters a final set of instructions: they are asked to open the box behind the booklet section of the field guide, which has a puzzle outline on the back; inside the box are puzzle pieces that the user puts together over the aforementioned guideline. The puzzle shows the layout of the two Arts Center floors, with icons (those in the entries) marking where the places in the field guide are. The idea is that, by playing (following the field guide) the user has learned about the Arts Center, and the map is not an instrument that’s needed to acquire knowledge but rather evidence that the knowledge has already been acquired.
Final version
For the final version of the field guide, I discarded the puzzle idea. In thinking about alternatives for it, it was recommended that it could be enough to tell the user (in the final page of the booklet) that the field guide, partly, served the purpose that a map would’ve.
Below are all the pages (and the exterior/interior sections) that conform the field guide. I kept the format of my first draft for the cover, which I did adapt in a way for the second version, but went back to its original form for this one. The booklet inside maintains the format of the second draft.
