For centuries the art of making shoes by hand has been called Bespoke Shoemaking, much the same as tailors made bespoke suits, these are made to order or custom fitting. Over the last 500 years the art of making shoes has changed dramatically. The craftsman of the late 20th and 21st centuries is increasingly referred to as the designer/maker. In identifying myself as a designer/maker and that my work reflects craftsmanship it should also be appreciated that like many of my contemporaries my experience of product and process is far more diverse than my preferred field of practice would suggest. / This research deals with the mechanisms that inform a craftsman's process of knowing some thing, that is, his intuition, or more commonly, working with the 'gut-feeling'. The focus targets two main fields, they are intuition and creativity. The survival of the intuitive skills of the bespoke shoe designer/maker is central to the research. / Through the process of researching and demystifying the constructs of intuitions and creativity it becomes possible to acknowledge the complex range of physiological and psychological associations involved in processing creative thought. Intuitions, being dependant on actions require observations during studio practice to gain realistic insights. Reflection in action involves placing one's own practice under the microscope, providing a hands-on intimacy into the application of intuitions and creativity. / The thesis delivers an academic overview of intuitions and creativity supported by studio projects reinforcing the use and applications of both. The first project model, John Howard's Shoes for Reconciliation, provides an example of reflective creative problem solving in that the solutions to their making are mentally plotted and recorded prior to beginning the bench-work. This record is then compared with the document tabled during the making process. The comparisons indicate how the mind and imagination can be trained with the aid of strong conceptual skills to be highly efficient creative problem solving tools. / The second example is Storm Pruff, a project initiated for the research purpose. From the initial concept sketch right through to the finished work these shoes present problems not previously encountered and demand novel solutions. The project is recorded using time-lapse video to demonstrate how these solutions are resolved in real time. This example of creative problem solving using intuitions firmly connects the research to the practical application and supports the benefits of training one's mind in the design concepts outlined in the thesis. / The goal of the didactic exhibition complementing this thesis attempts to integrate intuition and creativity into the day-to-day lives of exhibition patrons, from both an historical and contemporary perspective. Visitors to the exhibition are invited to participate in the reflective experience. / Thesis (MDes(Art))--University of South Australia, 2003.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ADTP/267708 |
| Creators | O'Mallon, Simon. |
| Source Sets | Australiasian Digital Theses Program |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Rights | copyright under review |
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