ABSTRACT
Taxonomy as heuristic device The objective of the experiments was to produce variety, and the three-stage method described in the previous chapter has resulted in the selection of over 200 distinctive patterns, selected from approximately 1200 animations. As noted in the design of the experiment, these outcomes are accepted as being incomplete. The variables used to generate the animations were instances along a continuum of possibility, and there is obviously a multitude of permutations. It is proposed, however, that the tactic of methodical indexing of variables and subsequent intuitive experimentation provide a useful snapshot of kinetic range. The challenge addressed in this chapter is the systematic analysis of this range in terms of difference by degree and kind. This requires an ordering mechanism, a taxonomy of some kind, which provides a basis for comparison. Given the emphasis of this research, a ‘classical’ form of taxonomy will be provisionally adopted. The term as used by Michel Foucault represents an approach which privileges external appearance over function.
