Corporeal Response

Went to my schools BFA show after work the other day and was very impressed by the quality of the design portion this year(though, I still need to go check the Fine Arts half sometime). A ton better then last years show, and I can only hope my year's will only be even better. It also really got me thinking about my thesis idea again.

Originally, I had wanted to do it on using illusions in design, but looking back it really seems like it would only be a surfacy venture. Not that I'm not thinking of using it, just that the idea by itself didn't seem very fleshed out to me. I've also had a strange fascination, over the last year, with trying to animate without having to use a computer, through methods such as a kinetic sculpture of sorts. I guess, both of these ideas have kinda been floating around in my head for a while, but never really found a way to make them click together. Then I thought, "why not just combine them?"

At the core of both, they seem to be getting at the idea of the observer having to interact with the design within a physical space to get the message or function out of it. I don't have any qualms with traditional graphic design, but I sometimes feel that it gets stuck within its own medium, whether it's on a computer screen or a piece of paper. It never truly effects the observer. More often then not, it just becomes another piece of information muddled together with the rest of the average days worth of stimuli. Sure, they may comprehend and store that information, but it doesn't necessarily mean that they'll act upon it.

This is where my theory comes into play. If design was created so that it forces the user to physically interact with it, in ways that then effects the users environment and how he moves within it, that the design's message will resinate that much more clearly. In doing so, it gives the user an understanding and view point of its subject matter that can only be achieved through an interactive, personal experience.

So, pretty much that's all I've got so far(other then an idea for building a chair with kinetic robot legs). This will be that starting point on which I will build upon next year when I start my second to last semester.

All of a sudden, the end seems to be coming so fast! (I'm excited, you should be to)


p.s. If you were one of the special few who read my last post that I deleted, please ignore it. That's what happens when my heads not totally in order.