Tangible Autoethnography: A Maker-Centered, Aesthetic Approach

Merging the processes of autoethnographic writing and mixed-media collage making offers a contemplative research engagement with an aesthetic dimension. Drawing insights from an ongoing collaboration with Carolyn Ellis and Arthur P. Bochner, this presentation will showcase examples, techniques, epiphanies, discoveries, and lessons from a new autoethnographic practice, in which writing (crafting text) and art making (crafting an aesthetic object) are conjoined in a symbiotic, interconnected practice. The structured, liturgical process of writing and artmaking allows researchers to switch between expressive mediums and use the insights, ideas, and epistemic discoveries to drive the process of research. This practice embraces slow epistemology where knowledge production (wise scholarship) is intimately linked with contemplation and mindfulness. Tangible autoethnography calls for the creation of evocative narratives with corresponding aesthetic objects, proposing the art-studio as a valuable site for qualitative research. Tangible autoethnography also extends the boundaries of re-presenting qualitative research and seeks new forms (film, videocast, animation, etc.) and locations (galleries, museums, public spaces, etc.) for showcasing and engaging with research