Cycles of amplification & reduction

 

‘Amplification is usually multimodal in various ways. When aspects of experience come into focused awareness, a desire to understand this more fully may lead to opening it up to wider and deeper explorations. Reduction often involves a process of clustering similar or connecting expressions, feelings, images, key elements which have emerged in inquiry for consideration and reflection. This can reduce the scope of inquiry to key topics’ [Miecat Inc., 2016, p. 7].

 

These cycles of amplification and reduction supported my scope of inquiry throughout all the procedures. This ‘framework’ or intention to zoom in or out supports both the discovery process and the consolidation process. Because it is fluid in nature, it is probably best described with an example. 

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Going back to the first day, where our attention was in the centre of the room, with our big shiny gifts of all sizes. We conducted a few cycles of amplification and reduction in relation to our gifts; generating keywords of resonance, using keywords of our experience to write a Haiku, performing a photographic description of our shoe in relation to various spaces in and around Miecat, a further description of our previous description [photograph] of the shoe and finally a letter to our shoe in response to that experience. This letter acted as an invitation to amplify the experience through the modality of writing or poetic response. Throughout this process we were invited to express or describe our experience using the flow of language to further amplify and thus, explore more deeply the scope of inquiry. It was here, that I came across a world of information that had not be known prior to this mode of inquiry. My letter is as follows;

 

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As it is made quite clear, it is in this invitation of amplification that a deep exploration is conducted, accessed through the modalities. From here, we were invited to choose a sentence of resonance as a form or reduction. Whilst I have mentioned this process in response to section of Description, I would like to discuss a different aspect of this process, the process from amplification to reduction. Just to reference the chosen sentence for context;

 

And in a sense, you unfortunately have represented a myriad of things that perplex me about broken connections - to this land, to our history, to ancestors, to self, to woman.

The process of collaging in response to my sentence of resonance shifted the dialogue that had previous surfaced in my earlier letter writing to another amplification. I now had this collage that surfaced an entirely new conversation, guided by the procedure of phenomenological questioning. In order to describe how this process of amplification [letter writting] to reduction [choosing a sentence] to amplification [collaging] I would like to articulate that the thoughts that made their way into the letter, where thoughts that I felt flow from my mind - they were already there waiting to be plucked and presented. However when I moved into collaging, I had descriptions that existed within the same territory, but had phrases/words/thoughts that surprised me as they rolled from my mouth. 

 

This best articulates how the cycles of amplification and reduction are inside and further support the framework of the procedures. In this way, the cycles of amplification and reduction operating within the procedures means that the process of inquiry is fluid and everchanging. This is particularly important for it organically creates multiple access points to varying thoughts, feelings, ideas that have a momentum and curious nature, allowing you to travel across your planes of thoughts rather than sink into a particular ‘story’ or ‘thought.’ It is quite a profound and empowering tool to shift across, sought,, notice, acknowledge, and watch your thoughts and ideas shift and change rather than consume you.