rematerialisation process of being material again
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Printed in London - UK
Published in 2015 London College of Communication
major project report process of being material again ma graphic design Ozan Korkut 2015
rematerialisation
introduction
context from materialisation to rematerialisation a new kind of aesthetic message, mess age, massage and mass age
question
terms definition rematerialisation typographic installation layers
aim
audience
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references
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resolution definition progress outcome conclusion
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methodology flat world of typography rematerialised examples experiments
materialise
> dematerialise > rematerialise ...re-what?
Ligature Designed by Bart Overly in 1995, the form welds letters into a single form which has altarnate readings from different perspectives.
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. . . . . .
introduction Design inspiration for the research originated from observing letters in their flat environment. It all started with experimenting anamorphic surfaces to bring types more into our dimension. Context involved into materialisation, dematerialisation and finally into rematerialisation while exploring cross-medium potential of letters. Furthermore, despite typography was born in two-dimensional space, we are three-dimensional receivers of these signifiers. Why aren’t we exploiting typography’s potential in dimension to understand materiality?
This research is about the increasing appearance of digital technology’s visual language in our way of reading. Also, the core point of experimentation is the importance of medium in the physical world by blending with virtual world. Main argument of the research is questioning the difference between material subjects being material again.
is content same when something changes into digital?
is content same when something turns back into physical?
QUENTIN FIORE DIMENSIONAL
VISUAL
TYPOGRAPHY
INSTALLATION NEOLOGISM
DOUGLAS CONTEMPORARY
THE
PIXELATED PIXEL SORTING GRAIN VHS LOW DISTRUBTION DATAMOSHING SHAWN DATABENDING DISTORTION
GLITCH ART
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Warning: do not continue to read if you are not interested at least three words in the box
MARSHALL MCLUHAN GLOBAL VILLAGE MEDIUM MASS MEDIA INTERNET BIG DATA
ESSAY
DIGITAL ERA
COUPLAND GLOBALISATION WAY OF READING
NEW AESTHETIC
AESTHETIC 8-BIT JAMES BRIDLE RESOLUTION AESTHETIC PHYSICAL DIGITAL MATERIAL SMITH DEMATERIALISATION VIRTUAL
MATERIALISATION REMATERIALISATION
Rematerialisation is a complex context that can be related with many fields of study. The content has practice-based artworks related with the project and as well as the contextual supportive documents. Artefacts that will be discussed are; MattaClark’s Conical Intersect, Ahmed Faig’s glitch-alike traditional rugs and Giacomo Carmagnola’s digital collages on pixel sorting. All of these samples are questioning materiality context in different scales and perspectives.
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On the other hand, “Dematerialization of Screen Space” by Jessica Helfand, “The Age of Earthquakes”; an inspiring visual essay on digital era by Douglas Coupland, “The Thing is Alive” essay from “The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things” by the author Erik Davis and the inventor of the term “New Aesthetic” James Bridle are the text-based contents that helped to strengthen the subject. Mentioned articles are expanding the background of this research by underlining differences each from their own point of view.
from materialisation to rematerialisation Visual representations questioning materiality can exist in different mediums in space. They can be an ‘artistic hole’ that represent bourgeois art as in Gordon Matta-Clark’s Conical Intersect as a spatial example or they can be in product scale artworks as in Azerbaijani artist Ahmed Faig’s glitch-alike rugs. Moreover, The New Aesthetics term has a rich, practice-based content questioning the same concept. Having digital and real properties of objects is a blurred field with a deep context in visual communication. Conical Intersect; Matta-Clark’s contribution to the Paris Biennale of 1975, manifested his critique of urban gentrification in the form of a radical incision through two adjacent 17th century buildings designated for demolition near the much contested Centre Georges Pompidou, which was then under construction. With this landmark work of ‘anarchitecture’, Matta-Clark opened up these venerable residences to light and air, and began a dialogue about the nature of urban development and the public role of art. Matta-Clark’s physical expression of the psychological tensions determined how they manifest themselves within the iconographic language of the art object. His artwork provokes to think about dematerialisation
in urban space. The outcome of this research aims a similar goal by creating a typographic experience within three-dimensional space for arguing about the similar conflicts in digital era context.
Deconstructing Reality Conical Intersect created by Gordon Matta-Clark in 1975. The sculptural interventions on building through cuts and extractions on floors, walls and other structures, showing the possibilities of deconstructing reality by transforming our way of perceive our world.
窶連 simple cut or series of cuts acts as a powerful drawing device able to redefine
spatial situations and structural components.’
Gordon Matta-Clark
On the other hand, Faig’s glitched real life rugs argue physical meaning of digital glitches. His artworks are probing materiality concept by imitating digital errors. By distorting and stretching the rugs, Faig symbolically challenges the current cultural settings of the Middle East. This digital-like manipulation of a tradition is Ahmed’s way of challenging ethnic stereotypes and establishing new modern ideas of change. In his interview with textileartist.org, a web site based on textile art; Faig said that he is always inspired by observation of human habits that become traditions about his inspirations. And he adds that currently the process of the global reconstruction happening on the whole planet mostly inspires him. Studying traditions and remixing them can be probe dematerialisation.
Surreal Carpet Ahmed Faig’s Liquid
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Pixel Sorted Collage Giacomo Carmagnola’s Sortintosh
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Carmagnola states: “I see these images as an alternative to beauty. I find it extremely fascinating how the same image can change so much by keeping its original ‘skeleton’. Of course they’re also visually impactful. But before this, I find them simply beautiful.” about his collages that combines the old and the new to create symbolic modern images. Besides Carmagnola’s artistic approach on representing his ideas by using glitches, he has works about various content from religion to digital culture. His most relevant artwork called ‘Sortintosh’ is briefly an old computer with a screen melting out into the real world. He describes this specific artwork as: “The things that we see on the computer do not just stay inside the screen, like all things ‘come out’ and take part in our personality. Sometimes negatively, sometimes positively”. I found that this argument challenges the idea that Information Age’s effects on human behaviours could be bittersweet. It is arguable within a debatable axis and cannot be generalised into one result.
In Helfand’s essay named “Dematerialization of Screen Space” from Graphic Design Theory, she highlights the alteration of the observer relative to the screen space. Writer argues that computers are our connection to the world and this situation is creating new paradigms. She questions the new shifting boundaries created by new technologies, demand of new products and new economies. Intangibility of communication space and questioning materiality of the physical and virtual objects is the common aim between her article and this current research.
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is this your reflection on Internet?
a digital face for anyone
a new kind of Erik’s article in ‘The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things’ points out belongings of the objects to themselves. He started his writing by giving an example of ‘one of these things is not like the others’ clip from the TV programme Sesame Street. He probes the idea of how objects belong together in some way. According to him, organisation of knowledge has changed and in parallel, human reactions reformed in the modern era. It is less imaginative rather than being more abstract. It throws in the idea that object-oriented thinkers who are a result of material things in our world are increasingly involved in intangible matrixes. He also adds that, there is a demand for a ‘weird realism’ that blocks the ambition of modern human consciousness. A similarity is easily spotted between Bridle’s The New Aesthetic term and Erik’s argument on categorising similar objects by finding a pattern.
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aesthetic James Bridle’s The New Aesthetic started as a research project. It is more or less an image processing project for British media designers and it belongs to a small group of creative people right now. The term combines the art world’s edges towards a visual technology and tries to get into a metaphysical state. Term provokes to find a new, unorthodox way of perceiving the reality. The New Aesthetic is a native product of contemporary network culture. It’s from London, but it was born digital; on the Internet. It is a “theory object” and meanwhile also a “shareable concept.” It is a theory object, because I believe that it is a digital art movement that questions paradigms in modern life by visual representations. It is opensourced and can be contributed by anyone. That aspect makes this movement a collective society.
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The New Aesthetic is comprehensible. Large audiences can perceive it, because it is generation based. If you belong to the current era you can understand the message. At the same time, it is layered. It has many extensions like; interaction design, computational aesthetics, surveillance and military tech. Above all, it is contemporary. It is temporal and sticks on evidence-based content. Bruce Sterling explains in his essay on the New Aesthetic for Wired: “Its core is a catalogue of visible glitches in the here-and-now, for the here and for the now�. It requires close attention and being updated specially in contemporary and technical phenomena.
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message, mess age, massage and mass age The Age of Earthquakes is a visual essay that can be read in an hour or so. Many pages have definitions of new words on digital era and globalisation, usually a combination of old words made into something dystopian. The book leaves you with the feeling of questioning the Information Age. It has many provocative questions that possibly will not ever be answered in a clear manner. The way of graphical representation of the content in the book is highly effected the research. Similar genres are started to expand knowledge about the visual essays. This kind of narrative language is highly improved meaning of the message and it proves that medium is also important as the message itself. Coupland’s questions and phrases on Information Age can be used directly or as an inspiration in order to create a background of new phrases in order to provoke the transition between digital and materiality. This textual content used as typographic element in previous stage of the research. Than textual content is changed into McLuhan’s famous and a little cliché “Medium is the Massage”. 32
The cult novel, The Medium Is the Massage, presents some of McLuhan’s most amazing insights and cognitive approaches on the everyday imagery of mass media and perceptions on life in the age of electronic information. Four decades later his observations are disturbingly clear and remarkably accurate. The Medium Is the Massage cannot be described as a book only written “by Marshall McLuhan”. The visual language was as important to the content as the text. Fiore’s editorial work has extremely important impact on the novel is as much as McLuhan. This is why they are titled together in the book and I assume this relationship is a must to prove book’s massage to readers. Above all, The Medium Is the Massage has another key point in the research apart from its visual language and role between McLuhan and Fiore. Someone transformed message into massage, and McLuhan wanted to keep it. According to Eric McLuhan, that switch was thrown not by design but by error. There was a typo in the title of the book and it was welcomed. According to him, when Marshall McLuhan saw the typo, he exclaimed:
“Leave it alone! It’s great and right on target! Now there are four possible readings for the last word of the title, all of them accurate: Message and Mess Age, Massage and, Mass Age.”
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question Question is always essential for the research and it is used as a guide during struggles in the progress. Question was firstly composed as “Can dematerialisation be explained by a typographic experience in threedimensional space by glitches?” with keywords as typography, materiality and glitches. Then it is shortened into “How rematerialisation is explained by a typographic installation using glitches?” with same keywords. Main reason of the change was to create more clear and accurate question to obtain a focused aim. After the experiments that were made for the subject, experience in three-dimensional space is defined as typographic installation. Moreover, rematerialisation is introduced additional to dematerialisation as a third step describing materiality is converted into material again. Adding rematerialisation step clarified understanding of the process in materiality. In the end, final question is: How rematerialisation is explained by a typographic installation through layers?
and the answer was brutally easy.
NONNO NONNO NO
ONNON ONNON ONNON NO it wasn’t. it was an unexpected journey. let’s start with definitions.
definition of terms 1. Rematerialisation /riːməˈtɪərɪəˌlaɪzeɪʃ(ə)n/ noun According to the Collins Dictionary, rematerialise means to appear in physical form again. This research argues that this explanation is not completely correct in terms of perceiving a message. Rematerialisation of a message also distorts its meaning because its medium is transformed. This relation between materialisation and medium is practised by a following resolution. In the end, a typographic installation is created to explain change in medium through being materiality.
materialise > dematerialise > rematerialise material > digital > material(ish) E Ink is an example to achieve more clear understanding of the progress of rematerialisation. E ink, also known as electrophoretic ink, is a specific type of electronic paper invented in 1997, based on research started at the MIT Media Lab. It is currently available in commercial scale with grayscale colour and mostly known in from of mobile devices, especially e-readers.
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E Ink can be assumed as rematerialisation of the ink. Differences between them are obvious and clear to understand. E Ink is somehow a digital version of its origin and it is not the improved version of the traditional relative. They are just different from each other; it is debatable that which one of them is better or worse. In ink to E Ink scenario, second step (dematerialisation) is the digitally created content. It is possible to think a real book, digital version of the same book on a screen and an imported version of the book into an e-reader. This example simply explains each step towards rematerialisation. Real book is the materialised phase, digital version of the book is the dematerialised level and E Inked version is rematerialised stage of the book. See further examples in contemporary art field in Rematerialised Examples in Methodology Section.
definition of terms 2. Typographic Installation /tī-pə-ˈgra-fik ɪnstəˈleɪʃ(ə)n/ noun Typography is the key point of the research and resolution. The potential of letters in three-dimensional environment clarifies message of the installation. It makes easier to receive the message about the materialisation by reader with an experience. At the beginning of the research, typographic reading experience was tried to be achieved by only using nondigital materials such as engraved acrylic and wooden structure pieces. These typographic products reflected glitch-alike reading in real life. Later on, way of reading was combined with digital screens. Combination of display screens helps to create process of rematerialisation particularly in digital step. This improvement on the project defines message’s borders between material and digital.
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definition of terms 3. Layers /lÄ -É™r, ˈler/ noun Transparency and overlaying layers are key features in the research since the beginning of the progress. The way of manipulating the perception through screen-sized layers is aimed to create effect of glitch alike feeling at the beginning. Later on, it is combined with digital screens to use as a reflector display. Layers are planned to represent different stages of materiality in the process through rematerialisation. Medium is critical for the message; layers are essential for the medium.
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Internet allows you to dream while you’re still awake
A quote from D. Coupland used in experiments
aim This project is about the increasing appearance of digital technology’s visual language, medium’s impact in the physical world of the reader, and blending of virtual and physical meaning of objects. Research is highly connected with The New Aesthetics Movement that concerns itself with “an eruption of the digital into the physical.” In his interview called Materialising the Digital Era with Aesthetica Magazine; Coupland states that “Our world, our societies and our collective cognition has been changing at an astonishing rate since the birth of the internet, but many people are still viewing 2015 through archaic lenses, so they’re maybe unable to get a clearer picture of what’s happening”. His argument on being innovative on the way of seeing is the starting point of the research. After studying Coupland’s works, an exploration is defined to discover content of materiality deeply within information age. Briefly, Information Age is a technological era in human history that is characterized by the shift from traditional industry to a global system based on information computerization.
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Explaining the concept of rematerialisation with a typographic experience to increase understanding on the contemporary subject is the main aim of the research. For this purpose, there is an intention to collaborate glitches and distorted imagery into the physical world, in order to create a perspective that blurs the line between “the real” and “the digital”.
A tweet (2014) from official Twitter account (2010 - ... ) of the author (1936 - 1980) referenced in his book named Gutenberg Galaxy (1962)
audience This project aims to reach different groups of interest. The project’s audiences are graphic designers and artists, regarding the field of studies expressed; typography, materialisation, digital era and new aesthetic. This is because the output deals with specific areas of interest that is directly related with the mentioned fields. However, considering the receivers of the installation, the audience can also include the broad community interested in digital technologies to express ideas. Moreover, this project could reach all those people who are interested in the experimentation of typography, or those people interested in new ways of seeing.
Douglas Coupland ‘everywhere is anywhere is anything is everything’ exhibition
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“You no longer have to be everywhere in order to do everything. The same information is available at the same time in every part of the world. The world is now like a continuing sounding tribal drum where everybody gets the message every time.
A princess gets married in England, boom, boom, boom, go the drums.� 1966
Marshall McLuhan
2006
Jack Dorsey
flat world of typography This research aims to speculate the potential of spatial environment about typography. Innovation on letters and words is a key feature. Researcher tries to approach letterforms from a different point of view to define new meanings in materiality context. Experiments are made to narrow down the fields of study which are mainly based on typography and followed by spatial design and semiotics. Miller (1996) considers that exploring effects of the third dimension on letters offers designers to think of new potentials on letterforms as having spatial and tangible features. Receivers are willing to participate in a challenge between textual and visual connection through typography in a new matter. Therefore, designers have the chance to deal with the contemporary examples of environmental and structural effects on letters, rather than staying in their flat comfort zone. Miller’s Dimensional Typography argues on adding a spatial and temporal concern to the traditionally ‘flat’ and static field of the letter. His research investigates sculptural and three-dimensional forms of individual letters.
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These properties bring new opportunities to increase the visual and editorial impact on typeface. Book also contains a case study that includes inspirational projects. Although, study only includes letters as individual forms and they are not investigated as in groups to create words. This study used typography for research into design as working model. Many explorations are made to expand potential of typography including visual experimentation. Exploration of typography is examined by different angles during the design process. Process started with traditional methods to develop an innovative graphic methods but it turned into cutting edge principles in the latter stages. Screen-based communication with receiver have important role in the resolution. Combination of digital screen and traditional paper creates a link between media. This relation helps to structure a connection between real and virtual. Also, separating digital screens for different usages, as in motion and still, creates opportunity to think about importance of medium as well as message.
“The constant search for new forms results in designers experimenting with the limits of typographic recognition and legibility. Individual letters may initially appear as purely abstract forms. However, when they are assembled together with other characters, familiar shapes begin to emerge.� David Jury, New Typographic Design. Laurance King Publising, 2007
Repetica
A dimensional typography project developed during early phase of the research
rematerialised examples There are many examples for rematerialisation in contemporary art. These examples meet at a common point where they can be only achieved by a new kind of way of seeing which is completely created by new technologies. Dead Pixel in Google Earth is a tech-interfaced land art created by Helmut Smits between 2008 and 2010. It is basically an 82x82 cm burned square on grass. Sign can be interpretable when receiver knows what are Google Earth and a dead pixel. When you check location that artist worked for its land art, the burned area fits to a pixel of your screen. Thus, you can see a dead pixel on your display. Installation creates a link between our world and digital screen space by using the pixel concept. 60
German Artist Jens Hesse creates oil paintings inspired by photo and video distortions and effects. She uses glitches in a new kind of aesthetic way to express her ideas in traditional painting. Normally glitches are randomly created visual errors but Hesse designs these distortions to create abstract artworks. She creates distorted images that are representational preview of reality and creating unexpected abstract moments via failures in technology.
Retro ’80s graphics are sentimental hunger for modern adults who grew up in front of 1980s game-console machines. It isn’t really hard to create sculpture from 8-bit, which can question the boundary between the digital and the physical. However 8-bit sculptures are a backward looking and provoking visually. Shawn Smith creates unusual sculptures from tiny wood cubes that are tactile and three-dimensional. His sculptures cross between the digital and the real world. He is focused on how we experience nature through technology. Therefore a lot of his artworks are representations of animals that are completed by wooden cubes treated as individual pixels to form one complete image. Smith calls his pieces ‘re-things’ and he is inspired from images he finds online about his natural content. “My work investigates the slippery intersection between the digital world and reality. Specifically, I am interested in how we experience nature through technology. When we see images of nature on TV or on a computer screen, we feel that we are seeing nature but we are really only seeing patterns of pixelated light.” – Shawn Smith
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Making process of Shawn Smith’s Pronking Impala (2014)
His building process is simple and highly effective and can be observed in video from “Pixels, Predators and Prey” at Artisphere 2015 in his website. He starts with a full sheet of material like plywood or MDF and cuts them into strips of various lengths. Then, he dyes each strip of wood individually by hand with dyes mixed from ink and acrylic paint. He mixes each colour by hand to create a wide palette of colours in order to give the sculpture more depth and visual appeal before assembling the sculpture. He argues that early humans created tools and these tools changed them, in ways like how and what they ate. Later on, this also affected to their body structure and daily behaviours. He highlights the relation between digital tools and how it makes us involved with the nature in the same way. He wants people to ask themselves their relationship with and / or against the digital because it is in our lives for decades and it is inevitable. Main reason of making his sculpture is to provoke ideas about how our perception about nature changed via digital technologies in our live. 64
experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments
experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments experiments Typographic elements are tested in various viewpoints from early stages of the research. At the very beginning, research started with the letterforms and brought them into three-dimensional space. Later on, research focused on words rather than letters. During first experiments with words, lack of content created less effective results. Project continued to the next stage with content filled with Coupland’s invented words about digital era. These fictional words were combined with visual glitches. Therefore, typographic products were created. These products were the first major results of the research. Main intent of the products is projecting the glitch-like feeling onto the real world and to provoke to think about the medium itself. Afterward, these products were combined with a digital screen to increase the impact of medium to explain the concept of materiality. During digitalisation of the medium, message changed into Marshall McLuhan’s famous phrase; “Medium is the Massage”. Beforehand, context was just “Medium is the Message”. Afterwards, it has changed into “Medium is the Message / Mess Age / Mass Age / Massage” by transaction between words via glitch video.
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As mentioned before, different methods were tested during the experiments. Research has improved itself between dimensions, from three-dimensional visuals to spatial products. These products evolved into an installation that has a time-based narrative. In the end the installation was created by a simple structure of clear layers that are used to reflect the content from the digital screen. Transparency in the motion created an opportunity to combine different media such as printed text, digital text and moving text all together. These overlay texts are connection points of the message in the medium. Their aim is to complete a sentence when combined. Besides giving the actual message, their other purpose is to clarify the connection between signifiers. For detailed visuals of highlighted experiments during the research, see Visual Summary.
Latter stage of the installation with wooden triangle structures, these structures are changed into rectangle shaped acrylics.
definition Starting point of the reading experience is explaining the process of materialisation. Briefly, the process is explained by representation of the three stages from physical to digital and back into physical world again. Main argument of the research is that after this process, the physical quality of the subject is not as same as it was in the beginning. Therefore, Tool is created to represent the transformation between materiality concepts. The Tool is a medium to create a typographic experience through an illusion technique called Pepper’s ghost. Tool is important as the message itself. Its message is type-based content that was based on Marshall McLuhan’s The Medium Is The Massage novel. Textual content combined by an illusion, to create an unusual way of reading by mixing print and digital media.
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what is the Tool
reflective surface
reflection
viewer
object
explanation diagram
pepper’s ghost
progress The idea of the tool started from holography, practice of making holograms. Usually, a hologram is a photographic recording of a light field and it is used to display a threedimensional image of the subject, which is seen without the aid of any additional glasses or optics. The hologram itself is usually incomprehensible when viewed under direct ambient light. It represents visual depth and perspective that change realistically with any change in the relative position of the observer. Then, holography idea involved into Pepper’s ghost, an illusion technique used in theatres, amusement parks, museums, television and concerts. It is named after John Henry Pepper, a scientist who popularized the effect in a famed demonstration in 1862. It has been normally used in a stage or in a bigger scale. For the research, the technique is used in a smaller scale in the Tool. Basically; a plate of glass or acrylic is placed at an angle that reflects the view of the subject towards the audience. Commonly, the reflective plate is rotated around its vertical axis at 45 degrees. Making the glass as invisible as possible is a key point.
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how the Tool is made Initially, idea was applied to several reflective surfaces. Seeing through layers was tested by sample text to get a feedback about legibility. On following studies, different layers were added to test reading experience between moving and still images. Therefore, textual content was improved and examined in horizontal and vertical layouts. Letters in different surfaces were experienced in addition to the previous prototype. At this stage, general design of the Tool was figured out but there were still lots of details that needed a solution. In the mature stage of the Tool, main focus was on the legibility of the message. Sample text was changed into The Medium Is The Message. Horizontal line with letters in separated screens was tested. For a better reading, horizontal line was changed into vertical five lines. A coloured abstract video of a sunset was used to increase the contrast between background and text. The reflective element changed from acetate paper to acrylic surfaces and paper-made supporting structure was switched with wooden pieces.
from
to
from
to
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Latter phase was composed of focusing on textual content. The Medium Is The Message was improved by e / a switch such as in the title of McLuhan’s book. The Message part is expanded into Message, Mess Age, Massage and Mass Age. Shift between words supported by VHS glitches in digital screen. After this test, moving images were combined with typography. Screen sizes differentiated from each other in order to create a gradual balance in the composition when merging them. In the end, distortion applied on each line to acquire a homogeneous gradient from first line to last. It started from non-distorted print and faded into slightly distorted print and then into digitally distorted type, and into completely distorted unstable type in the end. Additionally, wooden structure was replaced by black acrylic surfaces to maximise reflective results in the installation as a last touch.
outcome The Tool is an installation to expand a concept. It presents an experience to understand the impact of materialisation between types of medium and how it distorts the message. Message of the Tool is to provoke a new way of seeing, finding patterns in digital and real world. It links these opposite worlds together by using progress of rematerialisation. During the exploration of the Tool, same level of interest was paid to medium and message. It is a necessity to keep their importance at a balance for the best result. This equality is referencing its source of inspiration in a metaphorical way. As a medium, the Tool is a bridge from reality to virtuality. It contains distinct stages of a medium, which complete as a sign when merged. It starts from physical, then changes into digital and finalises with the combination of both. It is the process of being material again. As a message, the Tool has a narrative series of short phases about the medium. Textual content starts from Marshall McLuhan’s message and evolves into rematerialisation in media. It provokes the receiver to question the medium in terms of materiality. 86
why the Tool exists
engraved plate
reflective surface
viewer reflection
digital screen
explanation diagram
the tool
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conclusion As a concept, rematerialisation is not an easy subject to understand but it is a part of our daily life. Since it is so frequent in our life, it easily fails to be noticed. But when receiver perceives the patterns belonging to a subject, it is simple to keep similarities identified in various fields. This research applies the subject into medium. Main argument of the research is that, matter is changed when it becomes digital and rematerialises into physical world again. Both phases are physical and belong to our world but there are differences between the first and the last stages of the matter. This argument is explained at Terms of Definitions Section in detail and examples in creative field are given in Rematerialised Examples Section. As a result, a typographic installation is created for a narrative experience on relation between the medium and the message while questioning virtuality and reality. Explaining an abstract concept by a typographic experience was a challenge, but the results are satisfying. Thus, it has a potential to expand into more deeply context.
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For further study, installation can be expanded in the way of its interaction with the receiver. The idea of integrating user feedback simultaneously with the typographic experience can be a next step for the progress. A Twitter bot (or similar medium that is easily reachable by any participant) that transmits participant’s definition on medium can be presented in the installation. It is obvious that receivers can see other phrases on the medium while experiencing McLuhan’s message. This interactivity works both ways; message of the medium belongs to the mass by reaching participants definition and in reverse; participants use the medium to reflect their message to the mass. This expansion of the Tool maximises its potential in message as well as being medium. Improved installation can be presented in a gallery space, simultaneously streaming itself online to expand its audience.
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references Contextual Secondary Sources Augaitis, D. (2014) ‘Douglas Coupland: Everywhere is Anywhere is Anything is Everything’. London, UK: Black Dog Publishing Coupland, D. (2015) ‘The Age of Earthquakes’. London, UK: Penguin Bridle, J. (2011) ‘The New Aesthetic: Waving at the Machines’, booktwo.org. Available at: http://booktwo.org/notebook/waving-atmachines/ (Accessed: 22 October 2015) Davis, E. (2013) ‘The Universal Addressability of Dumb Things: Mark Leckey Curates’. London, UK: Hayward Publishing Helfand, J. (2001)’ Dematerialization of Screen Space in Armstrong, H. Graphic Design Theory’. New York: Princeton Architectural Press, pp. 119 – 123 McLuhan, M. (1967) ‘ The Medium Is The Massage: An Inventory of Effects’. London, UK: Penguin Books Micheals, A. (2012) ‘The Electric Information Age Book McLuhan/ Agel/Fiore and the Experimental Paperback’. New York, USA: Princeton Architectural Press Miller, J.A. (1996) ‘Dimensional Typography’. New York, USA: Princeton Architectural Press Moradi, I. (2009) ‘Glitch: Designing Imperfection’. New York, USA: Mark Batty Publisher Muir, P. (2014) ‘Gordon Matta-Clark’s Conical Intersect’. Surrey, UK: Ashgate Publishing Limited Sterling, B. (2012) ‘An Essay On The New Aesthetic’, Wired. Available at: http://www.wired.com/2012/04/an-essay-on-the-newaesthetic/ (Accessed: 22 October 2015)
Practice-Based Secondary Sources Sortintosh, photo manipulation, Giacomo Carmagnola (2015) Available at: http://giacomocarmagnola.tumblr.com (Accessed: 6 October 2015) Surreal Carpets, glitched real-life rugs, Faig Ahmed (2014) Available at: http://www.faigahmed.com/ (Accessed: 12 October 2015) Dead Pixel in Google Earth, land art, Helmut Smits (2008 – 2010) Available at: http://helmutsmits.nl/work/dead-pixel-in-googleearth-2 (Accessed: 18 October 2015) Hotelscene02, oil paint on canvas, Jens Hesse (2011) Available at: http://www.jenshesse.com/work%20dat%2003.html (Accessed: 18 October 2015) Pronking Impala, mixed media – bass wood, balsa, ink and acrylic paint, Shawn Smith (2014) Available at: http://shawnsmithart.com/ rethings/rethings.html (Accessed: 20 October 2015)
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