On a number of occasions this week I have been required to articulate my forthcoming project as succinctly as possible. This has proved challenging as I have a proclivity to construct a research framework that contains multiple possibilities and find it problematic when asked to “describe in a few words”. Two incidences where a coherent description for my proposed project was necessary was at a selection workshop for the opportunity to invigilate and produce work at the Venice Biennale and in a discussion with Professor Robert Pepperell.

A variety of factors that arose from these discussions have assisted in a potential route for further investigation, predominantly cultural theory. The Venice Biennale in 2015 has an overarching theme of All the World’s Futures which is ‘devoted to a fresh appraisal of the relationship of art and artists to the current state of things’ (Enwezor, 2014). I instinctively drew connections with this theme and my own inquiry into the actor-network theory by French scholars Bruno Latour and Michel Callon. The actor-network theory takes into account surrounding factors as part of an interconnecting framework and can be applied to the collective milieu of cultures found at the Biennale. The prospect of being present at the Venice Biennale has no doubt sparked further interest in the transmission of ideas between diverse social constructs.

To date I have accumulated a complex range of research that attempts to reveal how we as humans make sense of the world and in turn shape our surroundings. The type of research that has been collected lends itself to philosophical musings and I am finding it challenging when trying to direct it into a tangible realisation. It is for this reason that I decided to discuss cultural theory with Professor Robert Pepperell as a possible application for my research among other key topics such as humanity’s entanglement with technology and cognitive perception of the world. I believe that there is certainly a mounting interest in the social sciences for artists and designers who are fully aware of our global culture whereby communication ought to be more universal. In a recent article on ‘Design Week’ was a dialogue between various academics on graphic design in 50 years and I saw a similar observation of our global culture’s effect on graphic communication by Professor Teal Triggs (see Banks, 2014):

In 50 years I feel like the mixing of cultures – which is already happening to some extent – will lead to unexpected outcomes. The cocktail of references, languages and even humour will surely encourage designers to think differently.

Professor Teal Triggs | Royal College of Art

This subject will be expanded further in a number of posts on the Turner Prize and Artist Mundi.

BANKS, T. (2014) ‘What will visual communication look like in 50 years time?’ [Online] Available at: http://www.designweek.co.uk/voxpop/what-will-visual-communication-look-like-in-50-years-time/3039390.article (Accessed 02 December)

ENWEZOR , O. (2014) ‘56th International Art Exhibition - All the World’s Futures’ [Online] Available at: http://www.labiennale.org/en/art/news/22-10.html (Accessed 02 December)


Further Reading

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