BFA Senior Thesis
BFA Senior Thesis
Concept & Ideation
This project is a thorough investigation into some of the ways in which typography exists in the assemblage of everyday objects and how it impacts the lives of everyday people. By placing various everyday objects—love letters, family crests, tattoos, childhood toys—whose formal makeup contains a strong typographic presence, in a gallery setting, the audience is encouraged to inspect the typographic properties of the items whose presence would otherwise go unnoticed. The exhibition curates an assemblage of objects and presents them in a manner that reveals the ways in which their typographic properties provide latent cultural functions, such as establishing group affiliation, being the vehicle for the expression of personal values, or as a visual marker in the timeline of human chronology. Initial sketches for exhibition space shows efforts to synthesizes these concepts visually.
Modeling
After conception of the research topic and initial sketching and planning, the overall visual language of the exhibition was beginning to take form. This was decided after a close inspection of early art and ethnographic museums of the Victorian era. As the colonizers of 19th century Europe would bring back cultural oddities for Europeans to inspect, seemingly mundane objects would become the subject of scrutiny once placed into the museum space. In this regard, the visual language of this exhibition is heavily inspired by the dynamics of early art and ethnographic museums. Both practical and computer-generated scale models were rendered to get a sense of how to accomplish such a look in a contemporary gallery setting.
Exhibition
The final exhibition capitalizes on the ethnographic nature of my research inquiry by appropriating the Wunderkammer approach. The intent was to produce a collection of objects that have been curated with a critical eye as to produce a narrative of culture, objecthood and typography. The frames are a tongue-in-cheek reference to the literal gallery space and serve as a visual signifier. They complement the monotony of everyday objecthood by celebrating the enclosed item and begging user for closer inspection. The objects are placed on the wall in relation to 4 quadrants that loosely define four major cultural functions of typography : Life– showcasing domesticity, everyday visual culture, connecting to memories; Clan– showcasing the ways in which typography helps is relate to one another; Voice– showcasing how typography is a powerful agent for protest and social commentary; Tech– highlighting the technological and chronological clues embedded into typography.
