Photos versus drawings

When I began blogging about my PhD process I used photographs and photo collages. The first photo was taken in the sauna at a local gym. It represented the haziness of the research journey. SInce then my cellphone and iPad have exposed me to alternative pathways through drawings that open up the theory to the meanings emerging from readings and other resources.

Taking a photo involves some thought and planning. The implementation is quick, happening in a moment of time. The pressure of my finger on a point of the camera captures the image to produce the artefact. The photo is an instant product that can remain static or be reconstituted  through digital processes and other means. There appears to be a certain level of distancing with little bodily involvement.

When considering photos and drawings, both processes of image-making are opening up my rhizo-thinking to others. The images emerge from affective responses and variations representing “self-organized enfoldings” (Springgay & Zaliwska 2015:137). Both methods are creative approaches that make agential cuts thereby opening up possibilities and excluding others (Barad 2007).

There is a degree of exposure about myself and my position in terms of space, time and matter. However drawings have enabled me to place myself more on the edge, in the “open process that is emergent, vital, and abstract” (Springgay & Zaliwska  2015:137). They support my nomadic wonderings where I explore  a multiplicity of fields and flows that facilitate new lines of flight, creative offshoots (Deleuze & Guattari 1987). The gesture of drawing spontaneously through an affective response involves kinesthetic movement over a period of time. It moves away from an organized, structured response. Each artefact is a surprise that results from art-in-the-making. The drawings emerge in an iterative configuring  through the assemblage of the iPad-finger-myself As i look back over the collection of images created in the blogs over the past year, there is a distinct move away from photographs towards drawings.  

In considering what this experience means for my data collection I recognize that taking photos in the context of my research is a non-negotiable factor. Issues of confidentiality and privacy mitigate against the use photography in birthing facilities. However in the classroom I have been able to take a few photos such as the one above. This sign was created by a group of Year 4 medical students for our classroom workshops. It formed part of their roleplay relating to the lack of information given to women in labour. It resembles the many signs held up to us by beggars seeking assistance between the traffic at busy intersections -- a reflection of our inequality. The photo that is combined with lines and patterns was created using Skitch on my iPad. It illustrates how both photos and drawings can be open-ended.

Barad, K. 2007. Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of

matter and meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Deleuze, G., & Guattari. F. 1987. A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia.

Trans. B. Massumi. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Springggay, S & Zaliwska, Z. 2015. Diagrams and Cuts: A Materialist Approach to Research-Creation. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies. 15:2:136-154.

Drawing intensities

“Matter is agentive, not a fixed essence or property of things. 

Mattering is differentiating, and which differences come to matter, 

matter in the iterative production of different differences” 

(Barad 2007:137).

When we examine our research interviews and go beyond the usual interpretations associated with the linguistic interactions and observations, valuable revelations emerge. By asking interviewees to draw their thoughts about the conversation, a wide range of responses becomes apparent.

These interesting insights are revealed through exploring the material arrangement and relationships in the material-discursive practices. The apparatus of paper-drawing implement- interviewee-interviewer involves intra-activity which becomes mutually generative. The different agential possibilities offer potential for different meanings to be revealed. Barad (2007:140) claims that “it is through specific intra-actions that phenomena come to matter”.

The image above (created using the You Doodle App then Paper App on my iPad) reflects and represents my recent interview with an experienced midwife connected to our students. It was a challenging interaction in which my facilitation skills were tested. The interview highlighted the variation of flows and intensities of the intra-actions that can occur in such an apparatus. She agreed to create a drawing yet struggled at the start and at times through the process. She apologized for “being useless”. However once she began, there were noteworthy peaks of energy, force and intensity as she shared her valuable insights both verbally and through art-in-the-making.

This encounter was dynamic, moving in different ways over the time spent with and on the drawing. At the start there was hesitation with uncertainty. Her desire was to express her thoughts in an abstract way. Where to start and where to go caused her to seemingly freeze. She shared her weakness in artistic expertise, wishing that her daughter could be there to assist her. I encouraged her, explaining that artistic talent was not necessary and acknowledging the difficulties. I checked to understand if the blockage to action could be released by changing the paper orientation or size of the sheet, and whether coloured markers or pastels would be more comfortable for her. Eventually it was the colour grey that released the block, shifting inaction to an emerging and iterative revelation of her thoughts and ideas that became visible in/on/with paper-pastels.

I felt like a croupier at a roulette table, spinning a ball round a wheel, waiting to see where it landed. I emptied out the box of pastels onto the table. Perhaps the movement and array of colours could entice some action. It was the grey pastel that landed and gave me the next move. When my interviewee began speaking about the grey area that our students move into as they are becoming doctors, I passed her the grey pastel and the drawing began. She then moved into the next space on the paper, choosing blue as the colour of hope while explaining the bifurcation of ways in which students’ experiences influence their obstetrics learning.

This encounter was particularly meaningful to me. It illustrated the variation of intensity that was driving this healthcare provider/educator and influencing her power to engage with and through the paper. Deleuze and Guattari’s (1987) concept of body co-ordinates related to longitude and latitude helps explain the forces that shape and influence art-in-the making leading to the drawing on paper. On the one hand the longitude is described as “the set of relations of speed and slowness, of motion and rest, between particles that compose [the body] ... between unformed elements” (Deleuze 1988:127). On the other hand the latitude is “the set of intensive affects of a body, what the body can do and what it can undergo in joining assemblages” (Bonta & Protevi 2004:104). Both the longitude and latitude make up the co-ordinates that inform the body’s cartography (Deleuze & Guattari 1987).

McCormack (2012:136) points out that the “intersection of latitude and longitude is interstitial or inbetween existence”. It is part of our becoming through the in/determinancy of matter. There is no certainty in advance about what we can and cannot do. Haecceity, meaning the ‘thisness of things”, is a Deleuzian term that explains our “becomings in action” through the uniqueness of each individual (Sauvagnargues 2013:43).

After the interview both myself and the midwife were changed by this drawing experience. Through different roles and intra-actions we reached the point of recognizing the similar threats that both students and midwives endure in a threatening environment.

“the material and the discursive are mutually implicated 
in the dynamics of intra-activity”

(Barad 2007:184).

Barad, K. 2007. Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Bonta, M. & Protevi, J. 2004. Deleuze and Geophilosophy: A Guide and Glossary (Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.  

Deleuze, G. & Guattari. F. 1987. A thousand plateaus: Capitalism and schizophrenia. Trans. B. Massumi. Minneapolis, MN: University of Minnesota Press.

Deleuze, G. 1988. Spinoza: Practical Philosophy. City Lights Books. San Francisco.

MacCormack, P. 2012. Posthuman Ethics Embodiment and Cultural Theory. Ashgate Publishing Limited, Surrey.

Sauvagnargues, A. 2013. Deleuze and Art. Bloomsbury, London.

Giving and receiving gratitude

“Gratitude is both a response to moral behavior and a motivator of moral behavior” (McCullough et al 2001:250).

Last week a student walked up to me near campus and with a beaming expression keenly told me how much she had appreciated our discussions in the recent focus group. She mentioned sharing her learning and experience with others. She feels more connected with different aspects of her learning. A video recording of our conversation could have captured this special moment where I felt drawn in by the student’s warmth and gratitude.  

I question why, as health educators we tend to give more space and time for criticism than appreciation? The health system is governed by regulatory practices focused on accountability to indicate measures of quality. Similarly, the education system is driven by assessment processes to maintain requisite standards. It becomes apparent that expressions of care and kindness are often missing, perhaps oppressed by power and regulation within the hierarchy of medicine. There seems scope for more time to be spent on gratitude, an emotion that is incorporated in the growing movement of positive psychology and mindfulness.

In Obstetrics many students have commented on the joy they felt as recipients of gratitude. For instance even after a traumatic delivery when the student was left with a feeling of helplessness, there was a sense of worth when thanked by the new mother. A small act of kindness has a large impact. I continue to question why this is notable rather than naturally forthcoming.

While reading students' reflective commentaries over the past 4 years, it has struck me how much they value gestures of gratitude. These have been demonstrated in different ways such as a baby named after the student or simply a thank you for being present at a vital time. In recognizing the value of gratitude, our department now sends out complimentary notes to individual nurses in the birthing facilities who students identify as being special educators and role models.

Zournazi (2002) relates gratitude to ethical and political responsibilities suggesting that “it is through our everyday experiences and choices that gratitude manifests in its subtle as well as substantive forms” (2013:287). In a similar vein, Braidotti (2013) writes about affirmative ethics and Barad (2007) about the need to interrogate our intra-actions in a positive manner looking in on the finer details and connections rather than critique.

Recent studies using stories of kindness and compassion from personal narratives related to the Holocaust have indicated the neurological changes that are triggered through acts of gratitude (Fox et al 2015). Shariatmadari (2015), editor of The Guardian, refers to this study in his column where he questions the under-valuing of gratitude, suggesting that it could be the most important social emotion and ought to get more attention. Wood, Froh and Geraghty (2010) point out how under-researched gratitude is, yet it could become “a key element for sparking positive changes in individuals, families, and organizations” (Bono et al 2003:272).

Using Baradian concepts, perhaps gratitude can be described as an appreciation of the entanglement of our intra-actions when our in/separate roles coalesce; an apparent apartness that is made visible by the coming-together through choice rather than obligation (Barad 2007). In Obstetrics, the act of birthing can become a moment of superposition creating a lasting memory which impacts on the being and becoming mother/doctor. If we delve deeper into the relationships ”to feel what lurks in the interstices” (Stengers in Zournazi 2002:145) there can be a sense of hope and appreciation of the value gained from the togetherness of mother, infant, helper and the materialities in the intra-actions that transpire.

McCullough et al. (2001:250) put forward three reasons for giving more attention to gratitude.

1. It is used less than other positive emotions
2. It is experienced and expressed in a large variety of ways both in local and global contexts due to cultural differences
3. It relates to “a good outcome as a result of the actions of another person” (2001:250)

In developing a socially just pedagogy, it seems that gratitude can become an important component to create a culture of appreciation that can complement hope for change.

The image above was drawn on the iPad using Adobe Ideas App. It highlights how we can breathe gratitude through our actions and intra-actions.

Barad, K. 2007. Meeting the universe halfway: Quantum physics and the entanglement of matter and meaning. Durham, NC: Duke University Press.

Bono, G., Emmons, R. A. & McCullough, M. E. 2004. Gratitude in Practice and the Practice of Gratitude. In (Eds.) P. A. Linley & S. Joseph. Positive Psychology in Practice. John WIley & Sons, New Jersey. 464-481.

Fox, G.R., Kaplan, J., Damasio, H. & Damasio A. 2015. Neural correlates of gratitude. Frontiers in Psychology. Retrieved  http://journal.frontiersin.org/article/10.3389/fpsyg.2015.01491/full

McCullough, M. E., Kilpatrick, S. D., Emmons, R. A. & Larson, B. 2001. Is Gratitude a Moral Affect? Psychological Bulletin. 127:2:249-266.

Shariatmadari, D. 2015. Could gratitude be the most important emotion of all? The Guardian. 30th October.

Wood, A. M., Froh, J. J. & Geraghty, A. W. A. 2010. Gratitude and well-being: A review and theoretical integration. Clinical Psychology Review. doi:10.1016/j.cpr.2010.03.005.

Zournazi, M. 2003. Hope: New philosophies for change. New York. Routledge.

Zournazi, M. 2013. Critical Hopes – gratitude and the magic of encounter. In (Eds). V. Bozalek, R. Carolissen, B. Liebowitz & M. Boler. Discerning Critical Hope. Routledge.