A3 format publication discussing deconstruction theory. Text written by me:
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Introduction
From the 1960s onwards there has been a development in which graphic designers and non-designers started ignoring the rules of what seems to be ‘good practice’ among other practitioners in the design field. In the post modern period rule based thinking and universal working methods are considered as restrictive and
have therefore been challenged and critically assessed by not only writers and politicians but also designers. The working method that is practised instead could be described as ‘anything goes’; which implies that deviations, errors, sloppiness and chaos are variables and essential preconditions for growth, the creative process and are a general characteristic of mankind. The tendency not to use rule based thinking and having a critical view on society and the way information finds its way to the people has also been described as deconstructionist. Design conventions in the deconstructionist movement are subjected through deliberate interference, destabilisation and rejection.
In this publication the ideas of deconstruction will be further described, although the intention is not to supply an overview or an in-depth analysis. The text will supply the backdrop of the images shown, hopefully in a way that can work together with the idea of deconstruction. Railway tracks, electric cables and horizons become common after a while, in a way we tend to stop looking and they go by unnoticed. The photographs are taken by me in and around railway stations (mainly in London), and are cut up, sliced down and can contain multiple layers. In line with the argument of deconstruction, I would like to show how the structure from the railway environment can offer a new light upon what we are looking at and consider part of everyday life.
Under erasure
The Frenchman Jacques Derrida firstly coined the term deconstructionism in his book ‘On Grammatology’, which was published in 1967. The main or essential focus of deconstruction is to show that Western thinking in oppositions such as mind/body, form/meaning, nature/culture and speech/writing, are not natural and inevitable but are socially and culturally constructed. The goal of deconstructionism is not to destroy these concepts, but to change their meaning so that they function in a different manner. One of the basic ideas of deconstructionism is that linguistic meaning is indeterminate, and that there is no existing method of analysing that can claim to fully understand the text, meaning and messages. Interpretation is therefore closer to game playing than to analysis, according to deconstructionism. In postmodern design the tactic of under erasure (sous rature in French), a strategy which stands for hiding or transforming essential information in a text or image, is one of the ways to alert the reader what it is they are looking at.So when looking at a magazine or poster, the viewer should ask himself what is the common logic working on the background of the displayed design. This way of thinking can offer more information about the (cultural and/or social) structure at work. Deconstructionism is all about disrupting, dislocating and reframing information to critically engage their readers. Chuck Byrne and Martha Witte based their definition of deconstructionism on breaking down the meaning in several parts that individually tell something about the whole. So the idea is not to break something just for the act itself, but to consider the building blocks underlying the visual representation at eyesight. Each layer or component of a message can be seen as a playful game in which the viewer is invited to unravel. By doing so, it becomes clear how the complexity in meaning comes to the surface. Audiences are given more ‘authority’ to judge a message because the deconstructionist design is deliberately set up to look messy, wrong and to critically assess rules and the need of order.
On the surface, deconstruction seems to be about form and about disassembling visual language. On a deeper level, it really is about the way the relationship between written and visual language can say something about the dynamic, intentions and rules of communication. Meaning is not universal, but is constructed and reproduced by people who are able to do so. Since the possibilities to send out messages, that help to create meaning, are not evenly distributed, the ones in power have more possibility to get information across. By doing so they help to ‘construct’ meaning dependent on cultural and social values. The role of deconstructionist designers is to be critically aware of this situation, and to find ways to break down or redefine information distribution. Deconstructionism does not have a clearly defined edge and is not considered as a fully blown movement, in the sense that its founders and supporters held meetings, organised exhibitions and wrote a manifesto. The lack of official parameters that represent a ‘decent’ movement might be inherent to the way of working deconstructionist designers aim at. Deconstruction itself is a movement that sceptically reviews earlier conventions and battles certainties or dominant discourse. It invites to reader to critically reassess what is in front of their eyes, why it is there and what it could say about society. Although this seems to be an almost impossible task in everyday life, it is an interesting way of looking at objects that appear to be normal, but only appear so because we are used to it and it works for us. This is the main reason why I have chosen to include images that are chopped up, multilayered and ‘broken’: to provide a new visual scene in which different parts of the railways and stations around us are combined, and to invite the reader to look again next time.
"
Written in London - May 2011
"
Introduction
From the 1960s onwards there has been a development in which graphic designers and non-designers started ignoring the rules of what seems to be ‘good practice’ among other practitioners in the design field. In the post modern period rule based thinking and universal working methods are considered as restrictive and
have therefore been challenged and critically assessed by not only writers and politicians but also designers. The working method that is practised instead could be described as ‘anything goes’; which implies that deviations, errors, sloppiness and chaos are variables and essential preconditions for growth, the creative process and are a general characteristic of mankind. The tendency not to use rule based thinking and having a critical view on society and the way information finds its way to the people has also been described as deconstructionist. Design conventions in the deconstructionist movement are subjected through deliberate interference, destabilisation and rejection.
In this publication the ideas of deconstruction will be further described, although the intention is not to supply an overview or an in-depth analysis. The text will supply the backdrop of the images shown, hopefully in a way that can work together with the idea of deconstruction. Railway tracks, electric cables and horizons become common after a while, in a way we tend to stop looking and they go by unnoticed. The photographs are taken by me in and around railway stations (mainly in London), and are cut up, sliced down and can contain multiple layers. In line with the argument of deconstruction, I would like to show how the structure from the railway environment can offer a new light upon what we are looking at and consider part of everyday life.
Under erasure
The Frenchman Jacques Derrida firstly coined the term deconstructionism in his book ‘On Grammatology’, which was published in 1967. The main or essential focus of deconstruction is to show that Western thinking in oppositions such as mind/body, form/meaning, nature/culture and speech/writing, are not natural and inevitable but are socially and culturally constructed. The goal of deconstructionism is not to destroy these concepts, but to change their meaning so that they function in a different manner. One of the basic ideas of deconstructionism is that linguistic meaning is indeterminate, and that there is no existing method of analysing that can claim to fully understand the text, meaning and messages. Interpretation is therefore closer to game playing than to analysis, according to deconstructionism. In postmodern design the tactic of under erasure (sous rature in French), a strategy which stands for hiding or transforming essential information in a text or image, is one of the ways to alert the reader what it is they are looking at.So when looking at a magazine or poster, the viewer should ask himself what is the common logic working on the background of the displayed design. This way of thinking can offer more information about the (cultural and/or social) structure at work. Deconstructionism is all about disrupting, dislocating and reframing information to critically engage their readers. Chuck Byrne and Martha Witte based their definition of deconstructionism on breaking down the meaning in several parts that individually tell something about the whole. So the idea is not to break something just for the act itself, but to consider the building blocks underlying the visual representation at eyesight. Each layer or component of a message can be seen as a playful game in which the viewer is invited to unravel. By doing so, it becomes clear how the complexity in meaning comes to the surface. Audiences are given more ‘authority’ to judge a message because the deconstructionist design is deliberately set up to look messy, wrong and to critically assess rules and the need of order.
On the surface, deconstruction seems to be about form and about disassembling visual language. On a deeper level, it really is about the way the relationship between written and visual language can say something about the dynamic, intentions and rules of communication. Meaning is not universal, but is constructed and reproduced by people who are able to do so. Since the possibilities to send out messages, that help to create meaning, are not evenly distributed, the ones in power have more possibility to get information across. By doing so they help to ‘construct’ meaning dependent on cultural and social values. The role of deconstructionist designers is to be critically aware of this situation, and to find ways to break down or redefine information distribution. Deconstructionism does not have a clearly defined edge and is not considered as a fully blown movement, in the sense that its founders and supporters held meetings, organised exhibitions and wrote a manifesto. The lack of official parameters that represent a ‘decent’ movement might be inherent to the way of working deconstructionist designers aim at. Deconstruction itself is a movement that sceptically reviews earlier conventions and battles certainties or dominant discourse. It invites to reader to critically reassess what is in front of their eyes, why it is there and what it could say about society. Although this seems to be an almost impossible task in everyday life, it is an interesting way of looking at objects that appear to be normal, but only appear so because we are used to it and it works for us. This is the main reason why I have chosen to include images that are chopped up, multilayered and ‘broken’: to provide a new visual scene in which different parts of the railways and stations around us are combined, and to invite the reader to look again next time.
"
Written in London - May 2011
