Vital Values

VITAL VALUES

Vital values Designed & Written by Austin Bach 2020 Senior Thesis Process Book

Using processes and practices of contemporary industry, my thesis is an exploration of exhibition design. My focus is to design and create an environment that encourages interaction and houses communication in a playful manner: creating a space that has humanist qualities to combat the feeling of alienation within urban landscapes.

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Exploration 5

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Problem Solving 18

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Change of plans 59

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Exhibition 68

To whome this book is dedicated: My mom who has supported me throughout my journey and who has nurtured my love of art.

My daughter Novah who I draw inspiration from.

You fill me with laughter and keep me silly.

My friends who have motivated me, been a shoulder to lean on, and have given me many wonderful memories that I will cherish forever.

In memory of Ian Wilkes

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PART 1: EXPLORA

ATION A Messy Start My process starts with diligent research on the philosophy that underlies a given project. It is necessary for me to not only ask myself what I am producing but more importantly why must I produce it? This is the greatest influence on how I approach my work and it serves as a reminder for me if I get lost in a project. Once I narrow the focus of these questions, I write them down in a consolidated statement. Then I make a list of colors, feelings, and synonyms to serve as a general starting place for ideas to form. Along with this, I create another list of the possible actions that I can take to achieve my final goal.

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PART 1: EXPLORA The longest part of my process is the first round of initial ideas. During this process I like to stay off of the computer as much as I can. This is because I like to work through several ideas quickly and allow for my hand to make mistakes. Often, imperfection serves as a source of inspiration and can lead to a concept that is unexpected. It is a common practice for me to close my eyes and sketch, or use my non-dominant hand, or sketch holding the pen in my mouth. I am always curious to see the outcome of the undetermined. In order to develop a solid concept, it is vital that I thoroughly flesh out ideas and try an abundance of possibilities. These iterations range from sketches, to cut and pasted paper, and the occasional cardboard model.

The use of a wide range of mediums aids in the exploration of a visual system. Yet, I restrict myself from using material without meaning. The chosen material must serve as a vessel for the concept and it must be familiar to the audience. Paper, cardboard, fabric, and wood are all materials that are commonplace, comfortable to hold and have a warmth to them. When choosing a material it must feel familiar because its use within my work serves as an invitation. It is important that my work is approachable for an individual to explore and experience without reservation. This removes the feeling of the work being precious as I don’t want hesitation to come between an individual and my work. Even

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though the mediums are familiar, I explore unconventional applications of the materials I use. This is because I want to have some element that rewards an individual’s inquiry.

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After I have gone through the first phase of design, I get a fresh set of eyes to critique my work. Feedback is a valuable part of my practice. It ensures that I don’t jump into production too quickly and make hasty conclusions. Typically, I am highly critical of my own work and that has proven to be harmful in the midst of a project, as I sometimes end up scrapping or halting what might be a good idea that just needs more revision. When reviewing my own work I try to keep two central questions in mind How would someone respond to this? And how do I want them to respond? These questions serve as a guideline so that I am focused on solving the problems at hand rather than creating new ones by focusing on small visual tweaks.

The work that I create relies on user interaction.

Without an audience, my work cannot be complete.

Feeling is generally undervalued within society as the adoption of technology has disconnected us from a vital part of the human condition.

Experience gained through exposure is absolutely essential to our existence and to individual understanding. Feeling can quickly make bonds of kinship and community. Additionally, it can be profoundly inspiring and motivating. My work beckons human intervention because this is something that the world could use more of. This is why research, development, and the use of material is so important within my work.

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Images are part of a warm up exercise to jumpstart ideas for the upcoming thesis project. Starting with writing out one hundred words individually on small cards that might relate to materials or themes that might be a route of exploration. The cards are pinned on the wall grouped by common traits that compliment one another.

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PART EXPL

T 1: LORATION 9

PART 1: EXPLORA 10

Guiding Philosophy The feeling of dissociation is not a new concept within society and neither is it new to the art world. Since the birth of industry, dissociation has been diagnosed as a byproduct of industrial evolution. Throughout the years it hasn’t faded away but rather it has become so commonplace that we hardly recognize it anymore. Many philosophers, designers, and artists before me have experimented with ways of dealing with this phenomenon. Throughout my research I have traced the historical lineage of this effect.

Karl Marx was the first person to diagnose the ills of capitalist industry. Within his three volumes of Das Kapital published in 1894, Marx discovered what is known as the alienation insight. This text was written during, and published in the aftermath of, the industrial revolution. A time when workers were feeling dissociated from their labor efforts. Work can be the source of an individual’s greatest joy and inspiration. By producing a piece of work, an individual is reproducing qualities that they see within themselves like honesty, beauty, kindness, strength, silliness, etc. Labor provides an opportunity to externalise these qualities and put them out into the world. However, within the capitalist industry, manufacturers always seek to be more efficient to produce either, an abundance of a

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PART 1 EXPLO product, or a better quality good. While this benefits society to receive better products with increased availability, it alienates the worker that produces the product. In order for industry to be efficient, labor becomes specialized, meaning that the labor that an individual is tasked with becomes a small portion of the greater whole. Specialized work makes any one worker disconnected from seeing or feeling their contribution that they are making towards the needs of humanity. The other side effect of specialized work is that the laborer is not reproducing the qualities that they see inside themselves but rather they are reproducing under the vision of the employer who may not share the same values as the laborer. This is the effect of alienation that capitalist industry burdens upon the laborer.

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Simultaneously, in the 1880s the Arts and Crafts movement began to flourish. This was the beginning of an international movement that rejected capitalist industry. Before the industrial revolution, a craftsman would spend a lifetime training to perfect their skill. Which effectively replaced the skilled makers with mass production. The Arts and Crafts movement was the response to the social, moral, and artistic confusion of the industrial revolution. Artists, makers, and graphic designers went back to classic techniques and embraced them. It is a misconception that the artists of this movement abandoned industrial techniques entirely.

1: ORATION William Morris embraced the philosophy of Marx and was a major figure to the Arts and Crafts movement. He did not entirely abandon capital industry, in fact, he was partaking in it while simultaneously being a major contributor to the revival of traditional methods of production. Morris worked closely with the craftsmen and producers that worked under him ensuring that they shared

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values of honesty, joy, and beauty. Thus, the work that came out of the shop reflected these qualities.

Charles Ashbee, a craftsman and colleague of William Morris wrote:

We do not reject the machine, we welcome it.

But we would desire to see it mastered.

Avoiding the evolution of industry is impossible.

So, why should we try to ignore it? Rather, it should be a priority to develop methods that allow for artists, designers, and makers to adapt. We should look forward to a new technological era and learn how to cope with this change while preserving our sense of individuality. Preserving the qualities that artists inject into their labor is vital to confronting alienation and giving artists a sense of purpose.

Furthermore, perpetuating shared values ultimately leads to a utopian society.

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After making the model a problem arose with the structural integrity of the model. As weight was added to the cable the skeleton began to bend and the tension was lost in the cable.

PART PROBL SOLVIN

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PART 2: PROBLEM SOLVING 20

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PART 2: PROBLEM SOLVING Trial and error lazer cut plywood model exploring different joints to improve the structural integrity.

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With this model I continued exploration of form and improving structual stability.

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PART 2: PROBLEM SOLVING 25

PART 2 PROBL SOLVIN

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PART PROB SOLV

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PART 2: PROBLEM SOLVING

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M Inspiration The work that I produce as a designer has direct ties to the house I grew up in. When my family moved to the countryside of Vermont in 1999, my parents bought an old farmhouse to renovate. The majority of my life has been spent working on this house.

Throughout this time, I became familiar with materials that were used during the renovation as well as the underlying structure of the house.

I have noticed the thematic recurrences within my design work, the influence of this experience is more subconsciously present rather than being directly incorporated. It is because of my close encounter with these materials that I have become

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PART 2 PROBL SOLVIN

more aware of their existence within my surroundings. When I look at the walls, window heights, and depth of staircases, I notice that many people go about their day unaware of how these forms conduct their lives. They are completely unconscious of the profound relationship that they are involved in with their material environment.

of a building such as the framing, plumbing, and electrical, acts as a grid system that informs a finished interior. Everything that occurs within a space complies according to the substructure.

In graphic design, grids are an essential supporting structure used to highlight specific areas of content and provide navigation for the viewer. Before I transferred to MECA, I stayed rigid Within my own work I have found to the grid. My design work was that, like architecture, graphic unwavering to this structure design is connected to material and because of this, it lacked and space. The internal structure dimension and personality. My

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mindset, at the time, was that the exclusive purpose of graphic design was to integrate information into the world.

Currently, I am pushing myself to escape this mindset and discover ways of breaking out of the grid system. By drawing inspiration from Post Structuralist architects, for example, who seek to challenge conventions of building, I am moving to break the grid I usually work with. Graphic design and architecture are both concerned with how people

interact and live within environments. Beyond pure function, it’s important to have spaces that have humanist qualities so that we don’t feel estranged within the landscapes that we create. I am fascinated by the investigation of these humanist qualities and the way that design can create a connection. I am inspired by the thought that my work can unify people with their surroundings, provide ease to their daily life, and peak curiosity.

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PART 2: PROBLEM SOLVING 40

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Values of Contemporary Culture The influence for my thesis came from the deliberation about my place in the work industry and the standards that I must uphold as a designer when facing life after college. If I am going to contribute to a capitalist industrial system, I need to justify that what I am contributing is for the betterment of society; an argument for virtue that is both subjective and universal.

Each individual has a unique set of values and lives to promote their understanding of which “betterment� might be classified as. Yet, the influence of contemporary culture reshapes society’s behavior and creates newly developed principles. These surface values exist from the imprints of current times; making us more intolerant than we would like to believe.

A problem that both the art world and industry share is their pandering to the dogma of contemporary culture. This has led to the existence of an ethereal competition of who can comply with the dogma to the highest degree. Yet, upholding these surface values becomes impossible to follow directly because the dogma is not only subjective

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PAR PRO SOL but contemporary culture is ever changing. As new industry and content is exponentially created, this shift of culture only becomes increasingly steadfast. In addition, this means that contesting the notion becomes insurmountable.

This endless chasing of culture has created a generation that is confused about their place in the world. Feelings of inferiority, low self-esteem, powerlessness, depressive tendencies, and self hatred are extremely prevalent in the contemporary world. When the collective of our society is ever growing with an influx of people that are adopting these labels, instead of justifying them, perhaps the moral code of our society needs adjustment.

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The world needs to facilitate an engagement of social practice unlike that of others. Unifying people through a collective exploration of establishing a set of unwavering principles aimed to be universal. A social collaboration in exchanging values that individuals uphold and consider to be essential to existence. This action introduces a space for bewildered individuals to learn through the act of participation and leave with a foundation of values that is concrete. People need consistency to dictate their standards of behavior. An act of momentarily stripping back the imprints of contemporary culture. Reinventing a strength of Modernity through a Postmodern approach. Cooperatively fabricating a life path that is sustainable and fulfilling.

RT 2: ROBLEM LVING Within the environment of my thesis I am creating a space of whimsy targeted towards basic senses in order to establish a value of a joyful nature. An environment to momentarily pause our personal stigmas and biases and unite people through

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a common ground. With any social practice acknowledging that it is an uncomfortable process to let your guard down is important. It becomes increasingly difficult to open up when one’s values have been adopted and reinforced through the conditioning of contemporary culture. But just like any uncomfortable situation, you start with a joke to get people to loosen up and smile. Within the environment of my thesis I am introducing unorthodox ways of making sound and using a pallet of bright colors to make it easier to take down personal barriers. These introduce a youthful experience to engage in. Relating back to a time when one’s values were unimpeded. This is an environment that lends as a space to heal. Then when moving forwards, individuals will utilize this experience to dictate future behavior.

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Brea News

eaking s Breaking News Coronavirus Global Pandemic

March 12, 2020

March 15, 2020 Maine Governor Janet Mills declared a state of emergency in the state with 7 cases confirmed.

March 19, 2020

Graph is sourced from the Wikipedia USA COVID-19 Timeline online database. Numerical data is sourced from online reports from state officials.

Active Cases REcoveries Deaths

March 26, 2020

Isolation I wanted to include these emails because the response from Ian Anderson, Laura Freid, the MECA faculty, and our professors had a profound impact on me at the moment. It was hard coming to terms with isolation, prematurely saying goodbye to my peers, and being cut off from friends and family. It’s the community atmosphere at MECA that I will miss the most.

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PART 3: CHANGE OF PLAN Frustration My thesis hinged on personal interaction and the creation of the final exhibition. Both of these were ruined by Coronavirus. My thesis was about bringing people together; an action which was now being advised against. Additionally, creating an atmosphere through touching material would propagate the spread of the virus. I was devastated.

The heart and soul of my work had been removed but I couldn’t let months of work be wasted and it was too late to start over. I had to pull myself together and adapt.

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A concept of a five gallon bucket mounted to a skeleton that allowed the user to rock back and fourth. This would provide a hands free experience for the user and would permit them to shake the contents inside.

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PART 3: CHANGE OF PLAN

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The cicles outlined on the floor are to mitigate contact and insure people follow the six feet social distance protocols.

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PART 4: EXHIBIT

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An extra special thanks to my mom for helping hold up the backdrop.

TION

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T 4: IBITION 81

Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Bachelor of Fine Arts, Maine College of Art, Portland Maine, May 11, 2020 Major in Graphic Design.

Copyright Š 2020 Maine College of Art All rights reserved to the respective author. T his book or any portion thereof may not be reproduced or used in any manner whatsoever without the express written permission of the publisher except for the use of brief quotations in a book review.

Designed by Austin Bach Designed using Adobe InDesign CC 2019.

Typefaces used: Utopia Standard, Hamilton Wood Type Foundry American, Comrade

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When you’re at the end of your rope, tie a knot and hold on. —Theodore Roosevelt

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