Making

Making, building, creating, tinkering, and inventing are among those practices that I most value, because they are a useful aid to my thinking by externalizing some of that thought through design, planning, and haptic creating, and thereby bring other modes of thought to bear on complex problems.

Working with computing hardware and software, creating an original model with LEGO, or building something unique with wood and metal are equally important to me. I share my enthusiasm for these modes of making and invite others–colleagues, students, and visitors here–to join in the fun of creating, re-purposing, and repairing things.

I encourage others to follow their own interests when it comes to making. Making is what you make of it. It can be art, technology, or likely, a blending of both.

And, I think reflective practice should be an integral part of the making process. It could be a log book, an engineer’s notebook, drafts, a blog post, a video post, or something else. It’s important to think and articulate the how and why behind making for yourself at least, but hopefully for the benefit of others, too.

I reflect on many of my maker projects here on DynamicSubspace.net, and I connect the things that I’m making to some of the important aspects of my professional work–composition and writing, cognition and critical thinking, and haptics and interacting in the world.