Sensory ethnography: Project 1 Final Submission

Well this took a long time, but at least its done. My final submission for CCDN 231 Project 1: Senseory Ethnography is as follows:

P.S. Its better to look at the images than just read the text (I spent alot of time on them!)

With this assignment I Documented the ethnography of putting on a jacket with five different participants, the intention of this was to research the different ways that they “unbunched” the jacket on their back and also the different areas on the jacket they touched while the whole process was happening.

In order to record this information I got each participant to put the jacket on with their hands covered in chalk so that their hand-prints would show up on the comparatively dark material of the jacket. This process was also filmed from start to finish and then the areas of the jacket that were coated in chalk were then photographed, the results are as follows:

Participant 1:
David Kirschberg

Participant 1 grabbed the jacket from the collars right side with his left hand which allowed him to put his right arm through the right sleeve. This then gave him more freedom to control the jacket with his right hand once it was through the sleeve –he is right handed- allowing him to adjust it while his left hand through the left sleeve. He then used the momentum of the jacket travelling up his left arm to assist him in unbunching the back by rolling his shoulders and tugging the bottom of the jacket back down. This left very little of the overall jacket touched by chalk as a lot of the movement was done by his shoulders. Commendations should be given to Participant 1.

Participant 2:
Gideon Soares

Participant 2 was less confident with the jacket than Participant 1, he first grabbed it with his right hand by the collar and then swapped hands in order to insert his right arm into the right sleeve, he is also right handed. However Participant 2 did this differently, he lifted his right arm up and used gravity coupled with his left hand on the right half of the chest of the jacket to pull it through. He then reached back with his left arm and pulled the left half of the jacket forward as he had not pulled the right half all the way to his shoulder. He then employed a similar “rolling” technique to Participant 1, however this also was not as effective as the shoulders were still slightly bunched up which had to be manually repaired by the subjects left hand. This was followed by much more fluffing about trying to get the chest to sit right. This resulted in a very high chalk coating on the jacket after the subject  had finished, however Participant 2 did do something unexpected that the previous had not; he popped the collar. Participant 2 understood that style must still be taken into consideration.

Participant 3
Jaemyn Toa

Participant 3 approached the jacket cautiously, first picking it up with two hands. However once he seemed sure that it was harmless he dived into it, inserting his right and then left arms increadibly fast. However this created a problem in that Participant 3 had not employed (or even attempted to employ as in the case of Participant 2) any kind of “roll” or subsequent technique to alight the back and collar of the jacket accurately. This meant that Participant 3s initial vigour was followed by a lot of tugging at the chest and collar to make it sit properly. In the end though, Participant 3 did seem to be proud of his accomplishment as he looked down at himself proudly and then also the camera for approval. While far from a perfect performance the jacket was sitting well. Approval was given.

Participant 4
NIlesh Lala

Participant 4 was the participant that seemed most at home with a jacket; his overall demeanour towards it was welcoming and he wasted no time covering himself with it. Unfortunately this relationship did not seem to be mutual as the jacket turned out to be a few sizes too big for him. However this did not hinder him and his right arm was soon in the jacket. This should be noted as Participant 4 was the only left handed subject but did not lead the insertion with his left hand. His technique for arm insertion was similar to Participant 2 in that he lifted his right arm up and used gravity coupled with his left hand pulling on the chest to pull the sleeve right up his arm. He then let the left shoulder continue around his back until it was resting in its rightful place first, before inserting his left arm into its sleeve. This allowed him to avoid the whole bunched-up-fabric-at-the-back issue that had been such a sticking point for the other Participants. After some minor adjustments Participant 4 was standing with an overall clean Jacket. It should be noted that his collar was also popped.

Participant 5
Ricky Situ

Participant 5s behaviour should be noted as it was the quickest form of jacket application. He employed a swinging technique that started with him inserting his right hand into its sleeve and pulling the collar around the back of his body with his left before his hand was even through to the cuff of its sleeve. This meant that there was very little bunching up of the back of the jacket and he had his left arm in swiftly with minimal adjusting. All that was required was a simple tug at the collar and bottom hem of the jacket and it was sitting perfectly with a collar that was pre-popped by the momentum of the swing.