teachings / x — @ La Scuola Open Source
Bending the Grid: Performative Design as an Expressive Tool
Arianna Smaron — Graphic Designer / Ricercatrice @ La Scuola Open Source
Giacomo Boffo — Graphic Designer / Ricercatore @ La Scuola Open Source
Category: Workshop
Level of difficulty: easy
Topics:
- performance
- design
- visual system
- iconography
- procession
- transformation
Mode: Full immersion of 3 consecutive days
Dates:
21/06/20199:30 / 18:00
22/06/20199:30 / 18:00
23/06/20199:30 / 18:00
It will take place at: La Scuola Open Source
Total duration: 21 hours (break not included)
Free activity
Output: services, products
Recommended for
researchers, professionals
Min. number of partecipants to start: 15
Max. number of partecipants: 20
Held by:
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Arianna Smaron
Graphic Designer / Ricercatrice / La Scuola Open Source
Arianna Smaron is a designer and artist; she studied graphic design at Isia Urbino and obtained her Master in Visual Communication and Iconic Theory at the Basel School of Design HGK FHNW in Switzerland, and graduated in fall 2018 with a final project on visual metaphors making an audiovisual installation titled “In the process of liquefaction”. During her stay in Switzerland she collaborated and developed projects with the Fachhochschule für Gestaltung di Basel HGK FHNW (CH). Previously she had a work experience in Atli Hilmarsson’s graphic design studio in Reykjavik (IS). Her work has been displayed at the Aalto University of Helsinki (FI), at Dutch Design Week 2018 in Eindhoven (NL), at the Swis Embassy in Copenhagen (DK) as well as on the Eye-magazine blog and at Fahrenheit 39 in Ravenna (IT). Together with researcher and creative coder Yann Patrick Martins (CH) she co-founded digital studio Hypersecret.studio. She lives and works in Basel and collaborates as independent designer with studio Kiné of Trento (IT). She develops projects of research and visual experiments in the print and digital fields. She is currently research fellow at La Scuola Open Source in Bari (IT).
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Giacomo Boffo
Graphic Designer / Ricercatore / La Scuola Open Source
Giacomo has been working in the field of graphic design since 2012, and is currently research fellow at La Scuola Open Source in Bari (IT). His practice ranges from designing installations and experiences to projects in print and digital. He worked for Trapped in Suburbia in The Hague and for Folch in Barcelona, and his work has been displayed among others at Fahrenheit 39 in Ravenna (IT), and at Open Set and Het Nieuwe Instituut in Rotterdam (NL). He obtained recognition, among others, by What Design Can Do’s Refugee Challenge and International Poster Competition Francisco Mantecón. He studied graphic design and visual communication at Isia Urbino (IT) and AKV St.Joost Breda (NL), where he graduated in 2014 with a final project about the relationship between performance art and graphic design.
What is it about?
Performative and artistic components have always been present in graphic design practice; from the plays staged by Bauhaus’ total theater and the Black Mountain College to Guy de Cointet’s work, and more recently the experimentations by The Rodina and Moniker.
The exploration of this branch seems even more crucial for a field struggling to redefine itself in an age of speculative practice, automation and fierce competition. Design intended as performance can become an act of artistic-visual emancipation, allowing to redefine one’s expressive limits.
What will we work on?
In the city of Bari, religious and historical processions (the most known of which celebrates the patron San Nicola) are a collective performative act. Working on the procession as an expressive form can be a chance of rethinking design’s limits and possibilities. Through a number of graphic and performative means, the participants will be asked to design a procession to celebrate the ‘secular saints’ of Bari, real and fictive characters that contribute to define the city’s identity beyond the traditional/religious aspect.
The approach will be one of appropriation towards a traditional procession and its components (route, celebration, relics, flags) by performative design means.
Like the contributors of Performance Society (2017), we would like to “revisit [the] notions of performativity and myth-making in relation to contemporary society and current affairs, drawing new parallels between theatre, performance art and graphic design”. The workshop is intended for both students and professionals in the fields of design and visual and performative arts; participants should be interested in exploring performance as a tool to push the boundaries of traditional visual communication. The participation fee includes all materials that will be used during the activity.
Bibliography
• Rullerova, T., Action to Surface, The Netherlands, 2015
• Rancière, J., The Politics of the Aesthetics: the Distribution of the Sensible, London, 2000
• AIGA Eye on Design, Graphic Design as Performance Art, 2016
• Pater, R., The Politics of Design, Amsterdam, 2016
• Debord, G., Society of Spectacle, USA, 2000
• AAVV, Performance Society, England, 2017
• van der Velden, D. , Research & Destroy: Graphic Design as Investigation, The Netherlands, 2006
• Moniker and Paulus, E. , Conditional Design: A manifesto for artists and designers, The Netherlands, 2011
• AAVV, The Complete Plays – Guy De Cointet, Paris, 2011
• Bourriaud, N., Relational Aesthetics, Paris, 2010.
• Bratton, B.H., On Speculative Design, Dismagazine, 2016.
• Butler, Judith, Notes toward a performative theory of assembly, 2015.
• Smith, Jonathan, To take place, Chicago, University Chicago Press, 1987.
• Tate Museum, Performance Art The Black Mountain College, John Cage & Merce Cunningham, 2017.
How does it work?
Il programma delle attività prevede:
→ Day 1 (Friday 21)
9:30-11:00
↳ Presentation of tutors
↳ Presentation: performative design
↳ Presentation: the artistic/religious procession
11:00-12:30
↳ Definition of work groups
↳ Brainstorming and experiments
13:00-14:00
↳ Lunch break
14:00 - 15:30
↳ Brainstorming and experiments
15:30 -16:00
↳ Discussion
16:30 - 17:00
↳ Brief conclusion of the day and aperitivo
18:30
↳ Conference call with performance art and design experts
→ Day 2 (Saturday 22)
9:30 - 10:00
↳ Recap of the previous day
10:00 - 11:00
↳ Developing themes from previous day
11:00 - 12:30
↳ Definitions of executive projects
13:00-14:00
↳ Lunch break
14:00 - 15:30
↳ Presentation of executive projects
15:30 - 17:00
↳ Development of artefacts and procession planning
→ Day 3 (Sunday 23)
9:30 - 12:30
↳ Recap of the previous day
13:00-14:00
↳ Lunch break
14:00 - 17:00
↳ Wrapping up artefacts, general rehearsal
17:00 - 18:30
↳ Procession
18:30
↳ Conclusion, comments, aperitivo
↳ Courses will start once the minimum number of participants is achieved.
By clicking on SUBSCRIBE you’ll get access to a form to be filled in to complete your enrolment request:
If, within the deadline, the maximum number of participants is exceeded: we will select the partecipants, you’ll receive an email with all the informations about the selection and the activity start.
If, within the deadline, the minimum number of participants is reached: you’ll receive an email with the payment details (PayPal or bank transfer). Once you’ve charged it, you’ll receive a receipt confirmation and the details of your course.
This process is designed to assure everyone the utmost transparency and the economic sustainability of the courses.
