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Fig. 9.3 The process of
action and reaction in
bricolage programming
for bricoleurs, it is more like a conversation than a monologue. (Turkle and Papert 1990 ,
p. 136)
This concept of bricolage accords with Klee's account, and is also strongly re-
lated to that of the reflective practice (Schon 1984 ). This distinguishes the normal
conception of knowledge, as gained through study of theory, from that which is
learnt, applied and reflected upon while “in the work”. Reflective practice has strong
influences in professional training, particularly in the educational and medical fields.
This suggests that the present discussion could have relevance beyond our focus on
the arts.
Although Turkle and Papert address gender issues in computer education, this
quote should not be misread as dividing all programmers into two types; while
associating bricolage with feminine and planning with male traits (although note
Blackwell 2006a ), they are careful to state that these are extremes of a behavioural
continuum. Indeed, programming style is clearly task specific: for example a project
requiring a large team needs more planning than a short script written by the end
user.
Bricolage programming seems particularly applicable to artistic activity, such
as writing software to generate music, video animation or still images. Imagine a
visual artist, programming their work using Processing. They may begin with an
urge to draw superimposed curved lines, become interested in a tree-like structure
they perceive in the output of their first implementation, and change their program to
explore this new theme further. The addition of the algorithmic step would appear
to affect their creative process as a whole, and we seek to understand how in the
following.
9.2.1 Creative Process of Bricolage
Figure 9.3 characterises bricolage programming as a creative feedback loop encom-
passing the written algorithm, its interpretation, and the programmer's perception
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