Doing by Inventing the Way of Doing: Formativeness as the Linkage of Meaning and Matter

To start practice theorizing anew: The contribution of the concepts ofagencementand formativeness

“…In practice studies, however, it is not usual to describe how the object of a practice assumes a form, how in so doing it materializes a sense, and therefore how practical creativity is embedded in knowing in practice (Gherardi and Perrotta, 2013; 2014). In order to see how materiality is embedded in an ongoing project and to investigate the process whereby doing and knowing unite into a form, I shall turn for inspiration to organizational aesthetics (Strati, 1999) and particularly to Pareyson’s aesthetics.…”

“…A practice-based research study exemplifying the fruitfulness of the concept of formativeness is Gherardi and Perrotta (2013; 2014) in which the creative practices of a group of craftswomen were interpreted following their practical knowing/doing. To frame their accomplishment of a product, the following aspects of the formative process were described: sensible knowing, co-formation of ideas and materiality, experimenting with playfulness, translating and hybridizing materials, realization, and repetition.…”

“…To give an idea of the concept of formativeness, I report a short extract from the story recounted by Sara, an art restorer: Now I’ve got other urgent things to attend to, I’ve done a small piece, but I’m not satisfied with it yet … You see that the quality is different, because retouching is a gut thing, it’s emotion, you must feel it here [points to her abdomen], if you have an off day there’s nothing you can do … (Gherardi and Perrotta, 2013: 238)…”

Modernizing the flow of blood: Biomedical technicians, working knowledge and the transformation of Swedish blood centre practices

“…To solve this problem, she cut out a shield from an empty plastic container and attached it to the blood bag with the help of a rubber band. This was a rather telling example of 'bricolage', seen as making do, using the resources at hand and combining them for new purposes (Gherardi and Perrotta, 2013). In Anne Johanssons's words:…”

“…Akrich (1998) distinguishes four such user modifications: shifting the usage of an object without changing it, adapting it to new circumstances without changing its primary functions, extending its functionality by adding one or several elements, and diverting it to serve new purposes not included in its original design. The notion of bricolage is useful to understand this dynamic, tinkering aspect of worker interaction with the material world: as making do by using the resources at hand and combining them for new purposes (Gherardi and Perrotta, 2013).…”