Definition of a Field Study

A field study collects data from observation that takes place in the field rather than the classroom, laboratory or zoo. Exploring Tim Ingold’s text Clearing the Ground, in Being Alive further definition suggests the activity of gathering data could range from the role of a passive observer to a full, active participant. The passive observer will not interfere or change the setting, choosing to observe at a distance but may not have such a high degree of insight and personal experience. The active participant will experience the study with greater intimacy but is likely to alter the setting, thus the resulting data will have adjusted to accommodate the observer. It seems that both methods have advantages and disadvantages within observational studies and it has became the objective of this work to inquire and to notice the differences. (For more information on methods of observation see blog post 15 Feb 2024, REFLECTION: Leaving the Field Clear).

A Study of a Field Becomes a Field Study

A Field Study began in January 2022. Initially the role was concerned solely with notions of the passive observer. Using a camera to record a field from a specific perspective, positioned from the edge with little or no interference, the study of one field became a field study. The intention was to document the field daily from one position with a captured image, and to support the information gathered with the date, time, and weather recorded at the moment of documentation. In a detached manner, the data formed the work by its nature of accumulation. As A Field Study progressed, days of no documentation emerged in the form of absence due to set instructions and boundaries for which data could be gathered. Blank pages infiltrated the order and became an essential component in the work. Every day between January and June 2022 is represented and records a glimpse into the behaviour and relationship of the observer to the space.

In the process of exploring the mundane activity of everyday documentation as the passive observer, the empty pages created a space for a shift towards the role of active participant. The data recorded between January and June 2022 depicted the field shifting slowly through the seasons and followed the natural rhythm of time and nature.

The blank days, perceived as absence, alternatively, created the opportunity to depict gesture as presence. It provided the space to experience the field and to gather a deeper understanding of the study through participation. Drawing from an internet based aerial reference of the field, marks became a symbol of presence that moved within extracted outlines, cultivating familiarity and occupancy. The work began to give rise to concepts that the field had another story to tell which could only emerge as the role of active participant unfolded. Beneath it’s surface, both methods of observation revealed a story of a field, real and imagined.

Blank pages created the opportunity to become an active participation in The Field Study