Julia Woodmore - Portfolio > Thesis > Word Association

Thinking Outside of the Box

Word Association

I have put this short chapter into my study to highlight the importance of the position it held during the research stages in my project. It clarifies results that were not altogether unexpected but that are nethertheless vital to this topic in the issues that it raises.

I decided to conduct this experiment in an attempt to gain a wider perspective of how Public artists relate to materials that they might use and in turn what materials they associate with a variety of words i.e. cultural, historical, sensory etc. I wanted to gain a broader understanding of the variety of associations that we make with materials, objects or even words, where they might come from and the range of influences that can affect this.

Below is a table showing a cross section of my findings from my participants. The full results can be found in the appendix.

Sandstone	Crumbly	Bath (city)	Isle of Wight	Floors	Liverpool
MDF	'Changing Rooms'	Lawrence Lewlyn Bowen	Dust	Shelves	Cheap
Glass	Drink	Cleaner	Wine	Vases	Window
Wool	Sheep	Small booties	Sweater	My mum	Sheep
Sand	Blast	The beach	Storm	Sun	Texture

It is interesting to see the extent of reactions that are expressed just from associations with cardboard ? a material which has a relatively unchanged application in the everyday.

So it is not surprising to see a wider range of responses to a material that has had a more complex development with many more applications. Whilst these issues do not primarily concern cardboard they are very important in the understanding of the topic as a whole.

I found that people's reactions were cross cut by both similarities and striking differences. This range of answers whilst not a complete surprise raises some important points about our associations. These are:

The USE of material association e.g. Plastic with chairs.
The PLACE of material association e.g. Sand and beaches or sandstone and Bath.
The BASIC FORM of material association e.g. Fur with animals.
The PERSONAL of material association e.g. PVC as kinky
The QUALITY of material associations e.g. Velvet to soft.
The MEDIA influence of material associations e.g. MDF and 'Changing Rooms' ? a television programme.
The TRANSFORMATIVE nature of material associations e.g. Sand to glass.

Each of these points can be seen to different extents in my own understandings and in the theory. These ideas, based on my personal analysis provide a strong illustration of the multi-faceted nature of association as well as providing a useful structure for reading case studies and my conclusion.

Theory < Word Association > James Carl

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