x

OBJECT/SUBJECT

Publication design, Editorial, Research

There are many ways in which we position ourselves as subjects and objects; the relationship between the two is dynamic and constantly changing. How do we as Graphic Designers exist in this exchange? For my graphic design degree project I set out on a design and research project to answer this question. The project is structured around seven art books and a main reference book which holds the sources and inspiration for the accompanying publications.

Advised by Elizabeth Goodspeed

[Book 0] Reference Book

More on Are.na

A reader and translator for the other books, born from the realization that this project had become primarily a research endeavor. It serves as a bridge between all the other books, storing the bulk of my time and research from this semester.

Answering the Question
DO WE HAVE AGENCY
AS DESIGNERS?

With Reasearch Conducted by
Examining graphs, art
and Self Documentation

[Book 1] Erased Diagrams
More on Are.na

This book takes diagrams, a compressed mode of vision, and erases their language, asking what remains when meaning is stripped from a system built to consolidate information. What's left is pushed toward pure aesthetic form, a kind of visual language of moving energies.

[Book 2] Self Objecthood

A program randomly photographs me every 5–20 minutes through my computer camera, capturing both my screen activity and my image so that subject and object are recorded simultaneously. Comparing these stills highlights the duality between my role as subject and as object.

[Book 3] Perspective Book

Drawing on Mulvey's sense of Renaissance spatial perspective, this book flattens and warps images to dismantle it. In doing so, it undermines the techniques traditionally used to authoritatively portray men, reducing them to something closer to objects.

[Book 4] Face Book

A collection of every photo of myself from my camera roll, desktop, and downloads, this book materializes a constructed version of myself through the camera's lens. It documents the entirety of my time at RISD.

[Book 5] Research Book

This pamphlet explores performance, subject-hood, and object-hood in graphic design through the visual relationship between audience, artist, and artwork. It asks what happens when the body replaces the artwork, disrupting that triadic relationship.

Laura Coombs Interview