Experiments in Creative Research
Rhode Island School of Design
May 2025 • Talk + Workshop
This event was made possible with support from the RISD Research SPUR Fund
Photography • Joe Llamzon
Social Media Video Footage • Akeyla Harper
In this interactive session, book artist & writer Ruchika Nambiar presented her research practice and how it blends seamlessly into her creative practice with a talk, two live demos, and an interdisciplinary ideation activity. Encouraging participation from both creative practitioners and academics, the session was designed for those who wish to break out of their disciplinary silos but don't know how to do interdisciplinary projects without compromising either creative/academic rigour.
TALK • Intro to Creative Research
In this talk, Ruchika introduced her form-fluid approach to research and how it blends seamlessly into her larger creative practice. The talk unpacked commonly perceived binaries around the artist vs. the academic: Where and how does creative research fail, what are its breaking points and how do we circumvent them? How do you actually put form-fluidity into practice? How do you take a communication-first approach and cross disciplinary boundaries to convey your research in the most impactful way?
LIVE DEMO • MemeBook: A Case Study
The audience witnessed a live demo of Ruchika’s latest research project Memes for the Soul (2024) that was produced as an interactive, multimedia artist book. Get a glimpse of the book in this film.
LIVE DEMO • Ruchika’s Live Sketchbook
The audience engaged in a creative brainstorming session with Ruchika as she took research ideas and questions from them and sketched out tangible forms it could take on the spot.
ACTIVITY • The Pitch & Switch
The audience engaged in a series of “rapid consults” with someone from another discipline. Sitting across from each other, they exchanged research/project ideas and brainstormed possible forms they could translate into. Every five minutes, they switch seats and got a new partner to consult with.
TAKEAWAY • The Creative Research Cheatsheet
Participants left the workshop with a handy guide breaking down some of the driving principles, pitfalls, multimedia ideation techniques and best practices to steer their research projects creatively.
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This event was made possible with support from the RISD Research SPUR Fund
Photography • Joe Llamzon
Social Media Video Footage • Akeyla Harper
