//Draft 1//
In the first week, I chose Microsoft word as the tool. As a popular word processing tool, I started thinking about how to subvert its traditional use – How to manipulate this tool to communicate information in a different way?
I started trying to make rules- no text. The constraints of the setting forced me to think and explore new ways of communicating information. So far, I have tried to design different versions utilizing the available features of Microsoft Word to express some of the things that happen in life. But in the process I found that due to the system of the tool itself, there was something about control and unpredictability – the tool would sometimes automatically make a decision that differs from my original idea. so I’m using it, and it also manipulates and interfere with me. Therefore, I was curious about how do designers interact with digital tools in order to communicate information without words?
//Draft 2//
I have been engaged in a systematic, repetitive iteration process. The experimental input began to focus on the small, trivial things in my daily life – such as the fall of my hair, the sound outside my window, my behavior throughout the day down to the minute, and so on. As stated in the article, “Even though a process has the appearance of objectivity, we realize the fact that it stems from subjective intentions.” (Maurer, Paulus, Puckey and Wouters, 2013) How do I configure the different information is what I am working on. Subjective intention affects formation. In this week’s iteration, some of them were recorded and mapping them faithfully, however, some of them were recorded to make a visual so that the shape of the information has symbolic resonance with the actual thing itself that’s being measured. “Constraints sharpen the perspective on the process and stimulate play within the limitations.” (Maurer, Paulus, Puckey and Wouters, 2013) I think that in the conditions I set, I needed to focus on manipulating the characters that are available in Microsoft Word and arrange the pages more explicitly and intentionally.
Reference:
Maurer, L., Paulus, E., Puckey, J. and Wouters, R. (2013) ‘Conditional Design Manifesto’, Conditional design workbook. Valiz, p.ii.
//Draft 3//
I decided to experiment with as many different configurations of information as possible in each iteration and express the different dimensions associated with them. So undoubtedly, the iterative process of the project was also relevant to the investigation.
So I reviewed Georges Perec’s Species of Spaces and Other Pieces (1974). In addition, Max told me a great reference project on analog data drawing project by Stefanie Posavec and Giorgia Lupi – Dear Data (2016) – which coincided with the focus of my work. On the one hand, there are a number of similarities between Dear Data (2016) and Georges Perec’s work. Their observations and contemplations on the things around or interior to space follow a rather meticulous and nuanced approach as if they keep a microscope on life. On the other hand, Species of Spaces and Other Pieces (1974) tend to be more concerned with showing the author’s thought process about things, while Dear Data (2016) offers a very creative and more human way to visualizing life events, as well as a richer exploration of the personal dimension of feelings to connect with ourselves and others at a deeper level, presenting a huge matrix of information.
These projects have given me a new perspective on things, which drives me to work hard to dig into as many details of each experimental topic as possible, to gather, collect, count, and categorize a large amount of information, to enrich the experimental variables. set up a coding system before mapping them within Microsoft Word, and try to convey the sensory aspect while visualizing.
“Use rules as constraints.” “Constraints sharpen the perspective on the process and stimulate play within the limitations.” (Maurer, Paulus, Puckey and Wouters, 2013) Designers should take on the role of rule-makers. I operate under strict restrictions in this project. When working with constraints, the variable I set becomes the underlying system and structure. Within this framework, as the volume and complexity of the information increase, how can the complex input information be output in a clearer way while maintaining the original information set? This is the focus of later research in this project. As Ines Cox says, “From creating to presenting, we are constantly confronted with fixed formats. These formats carry a certain choreographic force that determines how we create and see the content. In a cannibalistic effort, I do not want to destroy these frameworks and digital actions, but rather chase them, eat them, use them, digest them and reveal their nature.” The process of tracking down such minutiae, mining and discovering, and then exploiting the limitations drives insight into the information space.
References:
Lupi., G. and Posavec., S. (2016) Dear data. United Kingdom: Penguin Press.
Maurer, L., Paulus, E. Puckey, J. and Wouters, R., (2013) ‘Conditional Design Manifesto’, Conditional design workbook. Valiz, p.ii.
Perec, G. (1974) Species of Spaces and Other Pieces. London: Penguin Books. pp, 1-96.