And where it really led me was Rebecca Solnit’s short essay on working with Klett et al.; as always, Solnit says it better than almost anyone else, and certainly me. “…the perception that nothing is happening usually means that the observer is moving faster than the observed;… One could think of the mind as akin to photographic paper. It takes time. It takes a long exposure, generally, for something to make an impression, which suggests that we who are so busy go around blank, unimpressed (great)
04.28.12
/16:22
Continuing my exploration of how we display graphic design objects…
Here showing off my two latest purchases:
“Garage No2.” GREAT content. I mean, even on the cover you read: “A very modern tale – Harry the hare is expecting”
Can you tell I’m super excited about owning it?
“Designing for social change” No surprise in me buying that one I suppose.
What do you think of my council estate neighborhood in the background?
“If anything around here is not moving it only mean that we locked it” - Ian Hetherington’s website description on Google
When I searched for the artist Ian Hetherington, this statement is written on the first Google search, alongside his website address. I THINK it has to do about the website design itself, but just think it was such a nice description of what many designers and artists do with materials and ideas. We capture them, freeze them, and present them as new ideas, perhaps mainly artists do, as representations. When I think about it, that quote would suit a gallery space.
Steel gong instrument: “The making” and “the product of the making”
[Flash 10 is required to watch video]
IN-BETWEEN exhibition installation
“With every unwanted sound, produced by a human invention, comes the question; what kind of society do we want?” After Garret Keizer
(please excuse the quality of the video, it was shot on my blackberry! and the text was added quickly on Imovie! ha)
curated by fellow student Tim Holloway, between the studios of Graphic Design at Central Saint Martins;
“Steel etching/gong plate”
Etching print, steel gong which the print is made of hung on a clothing rail from the fashion studios, drill to hit it with, sound-piece within the lockers…
Obvious solution to communicate the issue of mechanical noise in our society, no?
I recently did a brief with Ken Hollings called “Tiny orchestra”;
“Design an instrument out of found/everyday objects and demonstrate how to play it/how it works”
My approach was to make an instrument which not only have a physical meaning as in being an instrument which you play on and make sounds,
but incorporate words with the action of playing it…
I’ve been reading Garret Keizer’s book The Unwanted Sounds of Everything We Want (probably the best title ever) and got really inspired by a chapter in which he spoke about how political noise is, and how as a social issue it is often neglected…
To make a long process short, I decided to put a quote on a steel plate, covered with a special wax, drill holes, mount it as a gong and play it in a performance with everyday objects (for the big performance I used keys and a drill). I then made a more intricate etch into the plate with the marks made on the wax and etched it as a poster…
and…
Here’s a few pictures of the process and the final outcome…
“testing the technique….”
The quote already there with the help of photo etching but then the marks from the performance gets etched in with the help of acid..thank you acid…
inked up plate…
into the press…
fresh out of the etching press!
More pictures from performance and installation in the exhibition “In between” at CSM coming soon!
I’m currently finishing off the design for my “R E L A T I V E - L U N A R - B R I G H T N E S S - C A L E N D A R” and found that reading the gradient horisontally made it easier for the eye to pick up the subtle change in brightness, rather than top to bottom.
Although it might seem obvious since that is how we read a page for example, left to right, it was at first not so obvious since we often start designing posters in a portrait format. I think I have come up with the solution now though… vertical lines in the gradient which then in turn is placed horizontally. The scale of the poster will be close to A0 which still gives it the experience of being able to stand infront of it and physically move sideways while reading/inspecting it…
So, I found this image on a graphic design blog today (this one). I’m both guilty of what this guy is commenting on AND agreeing with him. (I assume it is a guy judging by the haircut and that the person is standing wide-legged, but I could be wrong)
I started this year with the attitude: “If you’re going to comment on/critique something in your design try to come with a solution as well” so here we go:
The Look no hands!-way
Not quite sure how this would work, you might need a glass window?
The I’ll hold it by the bottom corners instead-way
Not good for displaying actual artwork ON the poster, but if you want to show it’s texture/the fact that its made out of white paper then why not.
The Lie flat down on a glass table and take a picture from underneath-way
Will give you an odd flat looking body but a very perfectly flat & even poster.
The One corner-way
If your artwork is a circle this could still work…
The Pencil in my pocket-way
You are a designer right?
The Inappropriately scaled pencil yet “If only I had this pencil in my pocket…”-way
Yes not everyone walks around with a D&AD award in their pocket, nor are people familiar with its scale, but thought it would be a good idea if you are taking the picture to show other designers. You should probably hide the logo though.
