Exploring the ‘penumbra of the non-verbal’: The relationship between writing and making in a practice-based Ph.D.

The penumbra (or shadow) of the non-verbal is a phrase taken from Sarat Maharaj’s article ‘Know-how and no-how’ in which Maharaj describes a kind of making that does not solely rely on the verbal but on what he calls the ‘sticky’, somatic and material qualities of the artwork. He argues that these qualities exist independently of the discursive side of the process. This article explores the complicated dynamic between the material, ‘sticky’ aspects of making and the various texts that were written alongside the making in my own Ph.D. How can the practical and written components work to support rather than usurp each other? I will argue that the relationship between theory (as written) and theory (as practice) forms concertina-like push-and-pull tensions that each inform the other. Using Pierre Bourdieu’s concept of ‘habitus’ the material, or ‘sticky’, qualities of artworks may be seen to link to our bodily and haptic understanding of the world. This discussion has implications for anyone undertaking practice-based research who wishes to gain a deeper understanding of the theory-practice dynamic within it.