Experiments in experiential typography
One Day Poem Pavilion, by Jiyeon Song
Life gets interesting when different worlds start to collide. The increased focus in the media on creativity of artists and musicians to offer hope and an idea of rebirth to a struggling financial system is one obvious example. I’ve previously blogged on the merging of art and design practice but my real fascination at the moment is looking at more extreme worlds merging, get an engineering mind with an artist for example...
On this post, you are looking at the thesis work of graduate Masters student Jiyeon Song; he positions himself as Media Designer / Artist, his practice being focused on the exploration of ‘Experiential Typography’. Anyone involved in design will recognise the phenomena of the typography ‘geek’ who can name any typeface from 100 paces whilst being blindfolded, most people who find this site will know at least one person like that. I would be very surprised if Jiyeon would classify his work in the context within typography. The fact he works with hardboard sheets and yet calls himself a Media Designer is fascinating... that’s a new hardware approach perhaps.
‘Media’ as a classification is nowadays assumed to relate to the digital world, at the very least. And with that comes the idea of instant change, rapid update ability, fast control of information. Imagine a billboard which reveals its message over time in opposition to instant messaging (Stefan Sagmeister and others have explored this idea in various ways). There is a cultural confusion — in the positive sense of redefining how we classify the world or read information — where artifact blends with experience, where design message blends with art object. Experience of the art object carries with it the assumption that time is taken to absorb meaning, and that meaning is taken away with the viewer. That sense of reflection, consideration, mulling over is a fascinating challenge to a world which has been about speeding up. Maybe we’re recognising the value in moving forward ‘effectively’ is more rewarding simply moving forward ‘fast’.
It is interesting to contrast the speed at which we need to move towards sustainability with the need to slow down and consider the consequences of our actions that will help make it a reality. Lets have more designers considering slow communication and encouraging consideration. If your computer loads this image more quickly than the work itself appears then consider what we’re loosing in the tremendous value to be accrued from just waiting.
As the poem is slowly revealed, the meaning can resonate with its patient audience.
Read more about the project on: www.OneDayPoem.com
And read more about Jiyeon Song at: www.artcenter.edu
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