My initial reason for the interview was to see whether the implementation of mutation within his work was done with the same intention as my idea of transmutation. I discovered that we both interpret and utilise mutation in our own ways. As mentioned in the interview, The Wanderer was written in the way that it was – not as a deliberate attempt to completely alter the story, it’s meaning and subsequent interpretation – but as a genuine belief he was re-writing the story. My interview with Rory lasted roughly an hour, in that time we discussed the themes surrounding my work such as mutation, the instability of language and the pushing of boundaries within design. Discussing mine and Rory’s work exposed our similarities in opinion and our differences in outlook, but above anything taught me more than I could have read about these areas of interest. Context
‘(Social) space is a (social) product [...] the space thus produced also serves as a tool of thought and of action; that in addition to being a means of production it is also a means of control, and hence of domination, of power.’ - Lefebvre, H. The Production of Space, (1974 Trans. 1991), Blackwell: Oxford, p. 26. Within the Controlled Exploration project, I attempted to create a space devoid of communication (Fig-11.). To ensure that each participant of my exploration has the ‘same’ level of influence upon their interpretation of the object of study, I attempted to control unwanted communication by dressing the space in black fabric and the participant in a black boiler suit. By cancelling out all exterior influence, the participant is solely focused on the object of study. However, a space devoid of influence and distraction is impossible, and also paradoxical. The very recognition something is devoid of communication means that something is being communicated. Everything always communicates as there is always something to be signified from a signifier.
‘A black room, MDF mat, a book – and this ludicrously over codes the only complex objects in the room, a camera digital SLR and a paperback called ‘Kapow’ –’ - 010, Controlled Exploration into Graphic Communication, 18th November 2013 The assessment space, in which each participant is subjected to a controlled environment, represents the paradoxical intention of transmutation. This controlled exploration space will never function as a communication void; it will always be a space that asserts the pretence of a vacuum, and attempts to control interpretation through its context.
4. Lupton, E. & Miller, D. (1999) Design, Writing, Research: writing on graphic design, p. 9.
This attempt to create a controlled interpretation is an attempt to establish a shared meaning. Through the use of the same context for every participant of my exploration, a common ground on which to share the same interpretation is created. However, this all depends on whether the signification is successfully signified equally for each participant. The Post-Structuralists would argue that ‘because signification is not fixed in material forms, designers and readers share in the spontaneous creation of meaning’ (4.); therefore, resulting in an inconsistency as each participant brings into the space their own interpretations of this ‘controlled’ environment.
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