Julia Heurling

Abstract

This artistic research proceeds from the idea that visual thinking is thinking about images through images. It explores how ideas are instigated, developed, and articulated exclusively through visual elements from a practice-based perspective. The use of repetition as a method of thinking is rooted in my previous practice as a pattern designer. I consider this a cognitive process based on the assumption that repetition is a tool for abstraction, as it changes one’s perspective from the particular to the general. Abstraction, in this context, becomes a method for processing information (i.e. to think visually).My artistic practice is engaged in combining photography and repetition as a technique to critically reflect on visual experience. Taking photographs in this work is a method for analysis in the sense that it deconstructs an observation into separate constituents, reflecting on both what is observed and the observation itself. The following compositional procedure through typology, sequence and pattern configurations presents a way to synthesise photographic material in search of a narrative and representation beyond the content of separate images.This thesis outlines a methodology for visual thinking which explores repetition through three capacities. As a strategy, it is suggested to be a cognitive tool for structure, criticality, and contemplation. As a method, it is described through stages of observation, taking photographs, and compositional work. As a mechanism, typology, sequence, and pattern compositions are compared and analysed to study the functions and effects of visual thinking across different repetitive structures. The methodology is demonstrated through visual ‘thinking models’, which combine graphic elements and words to describe thinking as a subjective, diverse and complex process which operates in-between ideas. The ‘thinking models’ manifest this navigation through visualisations as layers, spectrum, and cluster.Consequently, all three of these approaches – artistic practice (practising visual thinking), writing about the practice (writing about visual thinking), and visualising aspects of the practice (visual thinking about visual thinking) –contain elements of structural exploration. This constitutes a foundation for knowledge production – as knowledge about thinking – within and through this research. This thesis is interdisciplinary, drawing from and contributing to the fields of visual art, graphic design, and photography.

Keywords

Repetition, Photography, Visual Arts, Pattern, Sequence, Typology, Methodology

Document Type

Thesis

Publication Date

2025

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