My research into the cultural significance of circular forms brought me to Braille. The representation in print (a process which obfuscates its functionality) of this universal code, was my gateway towards my chosen output solution.
Originally I was influenced by the Joe Magee’s 2002, Daily Telegraph images. The use of Braille gave the images a double effect. The graphic form of Braille lettering in its printed form, provided a modernist, high tech, digital age aesthetic. The second layer of meaning required the viewer to identify the code and to then translate the hidden message. Braille is obviously a tactile language designed for the blind, newspaper readers couldn’t be expected to be familiar with its functionality. This is apparent in the time it took for the publication to discover the nature of the coded proclamations.
My original output concept involved the development of a new tactile language derived from roman letter forms. I hoped that this would provide a 3D vehicle that could be integrated into the imagery in order to subvert their visual connotation with a politically charged tactile rhetoric. I felt that this could present a unique point of entry into material that can otherwise appear clichéd. On reflection, I was perhaps guilty of considering the final outcome & trying to bend the ‘problem’ to fit my version of the answer.
The feedback I received at the time suggested that I should treat my output proposal as two separate concepts. It was recommended that I choose to concentrate on either tactile languages (codes) or the subversion of images with politically charged text.
Reflecting on this formative assessment, I resolved to research methods of viewer empowerment. To devise a purposeful ‘made’ project that would allow the user to construct their own meaning from a combination of ambiguous images and signifiers that have been removed from their original context.
I concentrated my secondary research into the fields of coded paradigms and the methodology of visual grammar. I found the theory of semiotics, particularly the David Crow publications, hugely rewarding. The concept of type as images, images as type and the functionality of anchor and relay, gave my output proposal a new impetus.
The biblical story of the Tower of Babel is a powerful metaphor for language, understanding and codes. According to the story, the descendants of Noah spoke a single language – a universal tongue. Going against God’s will, they decided to build a city with a huge tower as a monument of their achievement, to ‘make a name for themselves’. There are obvious parallels with the modern day erection of skyscrapers – monuments to capitalism. The globalization of money and consumerism is today's ‘common currency’ or universal tongue. The Bruegel painting and the image of the Shard have been spliced together in order to construct an ideational metafunction.
The Maritime flag signals have been chosen to translate the proclamations of man. The flag is a device for identity and announcement. The inhabitants of Babel wanted to draw attention to their achievements. Flags are also the basis of the custom built ‘Semaphore’ typeface.
The arrangement of the icons of corporate and political identity is symbolic of the omnipresence of capitalism. These identities are the prosaic wallpaper of everyday life, a type of banal cultural backdrop – similar to the sponsor boards behind any celebrity interviewee or talking head. Each of these symbols has its individual ‘brand values’ that strain the limits of readability, thus becoming ‘hypographemics’ – the ideal vehicle to communicate a ‘confusion of tongues’.
Other devices I have used include the ubiquitous barcode and QR code, which operate as a form of consumer ‘emblemata’. Elsewhere, I have included various iconic signs and pictographic images, as a reference to a universal public information functionality.
For the artifact to operate in an ‘open’ way – free for the viewer to navigate and disseminate their own understanding, I have devised a deliberately polarized layout. No single element takes centre stage. Instead they are distributed, almost as a triptych. Unidirectional transactional vectors link various elements.
Where possible I have avoided too much over-layering of information. Issues of legibility would have removed much of the theoretical intentionality. I am hopeful that the final result, rather like studying a beautiful car crash, presents a blizzard of possible interpretations.
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