Reading Response #6 Essays - Philosophy, Visual Arts, Construction

Reading Response #6 In A Brave New World, Chuck Byrne and Martha Witte explore the concept of Deconstruction and apply the meaning of it to design. The term Deconstruction refers to the dissemble of something to decode its parts. In design, deconstruction breaks rules but in a meaningful way, where every choice has a reason. Because every decision has a reasoning behind it, this movement is a philosophical approach to design, where the questioning of every part results on a meaningful whole. Jacques Derrida initiated the study of Deconstruction by decoding language and analyzing each component that forms meaning. Ellen Lupton explains that "Deconstruction focuses not on the themes and imagery of its objects but rather on the linguistic and institutional systems that frame the production of texts."1 By primarily focusing on the structure rather than content, it is possible to uncover intentionality. When creating a complex composition in design, the designer asks the viewer to not read the poster, but to feel it. Deconstruction in design dismantled modernism by creating chaotic visuals that questioned conventions and forced the viewer to study the piece meticulously. One of the most innovative approaches in this postmodern movement is how type was displayed. Manipulation of readability broke the boundaries of basic literacy and pushed the viewer to understand typography instead of reading it. By literally breaking words and organizing its pieces in unusual ways, the desig ner forces the audience to pay attention in the details. The meaning then becomes subjective, given that each viewer will interpret the piece in a different way. Byrne and Witte discusses that "formulaic structures seem to be blurring in favor of a kind of empirical context for the page that serves to create a new relationship between form and content specific to an individual piece of work."2 Inviting the reader to a close reading of the art transforms the viewer in a member of the deconstruction movement, because they too, will have to dismantle each piece of the design to create a conclusion. Increasing appropriation of historical styles and use of known symbols was another approach of Deconstruction. Designers wanted to prove that originality did not depend on new content, so the use of existing imagery in new artwork was prevalent. "Suspicion that everything had already been said, drawn, photographed () stood in contrast to the modern enthusiasm for innovation."3 Appropriation was used a tool to enforce search for meaning, where the images used could bring associations to the viewer, making the "old" have influence on the "new." Historical images with certain connotations could be repeated, and the viewer would connect the older image to its replica, that is purposely created so it can translate certain connotations to the work. This approach allowed designers to be even more abstract in their compositions, because the use of appropriated image would point to the meaning faster. Postmodernist movements like Deconstruction allowed for artists to stray from conventions an d experiment without constraints. Meaning would be delivered like the modernist way, but with a complexity that asked the viewer to think before jumping to conclusions. Works Cited Byrne, Chuck, and Martha Witte. "A BRAVE NEW WORLD: UNDERSTANDING DECONSTRUCTION." Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design, 1994. Drucker, Johanna, and Emily McVarish."Graphic Design History: A Critical Guide," Boston: Pearson, 2009. Lupton, Ellen. "Deconstruction and Graphic Design." Ellen Lupton RSS. http://elupton.com/2009/10/deconstruction-and-graphic-design/.