Graph of www.iactaspoliticalaction.com

This may seem like a simple choice of logo. But the choice is important. The different colours and lines in the logo represent different elements of the web site and therefore of the thesis. The development of the logo is a combination of physics and art to produce an unusual representation of the web site and the thesis. One of the unusual elements is that it graphically shows the web of connections within the web site. You can see within the image that the different parts that make up the web site – which make up the thesis – are a little like fractals. Various parts are not the same but there are similarities. The image makes up the whole thesis but the thesis is made up of component parts which fit together in various ways. Although the components are the same throughout the web site they produce something different in various places. This is the living realisation of Bateson’s idea of patterns that connect (Bateson 2000). The pattern repeats itself throughout the logo and throughout the thesis, but the situations are different and the realisation is different. Within the logo and within the thesis the pattern is the constant – it is a novel creation. All of the parts of the thesis connect to make up the whole as all the parts of the image connect to make up the whole. Neither the thesis nor the image is an isolated happening; all the parts are linked to each other. The image is not static. Every person who contributes to the thesis by interacting with the web site enables the image to change. The thesis shows the types of patterns that are needed to connect. The multimedia thesis challenges the notion of how a thesis works and provides a completely different model of the thesis.