Deconstructing the Digital

Masterton, Drummond ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4860-9494 (2007) Deconstructing the Digital. In: New Craft Future Voices, 4 July 2007, University of Dundee, Dundee, UK.

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Abstract / Summary

This peer reviewed paper was selected for presentation at, and publication in, the proceedings of ‘New Craft-Future Voices’ international craft conference.

The paper draws on examples from a practice based research project to articulate how an in-depth study of parameters within the Computer Aided Design and Computer Aided Manufacturing phases of production can allow digital craft practioners new methods for achieving unique visual aesthetics.

The author argues that many of the current digitally designed and manufactured objects within the crafts exhibit more about the skill of the programmers behind the software than the users control or skill over the processes. The author calls for a greater engagement with digital tools at a more complex level in an attempt to develop more rigorous design methods and ultimately more unique pieces of digital practice.

The author describes through practical examples how new levels of control can be developed through an analysis and deconstruction of existing CAD and CAM software tools. The methods described offer other makers the potential for 'hacking' into code in order to expand the possibilities for control and creative engagement with digital tools and thereby offer more unique opportunities for developing visual vocabularies than using standard tools alone.

The paper concludes by building on the concepts of programmer Rocker(2006) who considers the computer as a universal machine and suggests how craft practitioners might start to consider coding as a tool for creative intervention. Taking examples from the field of architecture and from his personal experiences the author illustrates how coding extends the opportunities for craft practitioners to create unique tools for their own particular purposes. This presents a radical new position for craft which shifts the emphasis from being users of digital tools towards being developers.

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