Category: 2020, Semester 2

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After being stuck for a while on how to develop my writing so it could work with the visual format of my manifesto, I decided to take a different approach. I printed out some lined pages and begun to write down random notes using my concept and written work as a starting point. I then talked with Lucy about what worked well and what didn’t with conveying my idea. Below are a few iterations and some feedback of this approach.

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I tended to be to “on the nose” with some of the notes which destroyed the whole purpose of my manifesto and format. It was hard to find the balance between being too obvious and being too abstract. With this said, after a few iterations and development, I was able to select a few notes and doodles that articulated what I wanted to say (below).

Even though I had figured out the written content of my manifesto, I was still struggling for a short word that described all of it. I had identified an interest in the idea of irrelevance and insignificance as my manifesto is about opening your eyes, noticing and appreciating the things we often view as irrelevant or insignificant in our daily lives, and after further discussions with Lucy, decided the best word to use would be minor. Not only is it brief enough to fit on the page, but it also describes the idea of insignificance and irrelevance well. I also like it because the word has multiple meanings and definitions and doesn’t make much sense or have context until you read the whole manifesto document. It reiterates the idea spending time thinking rather than just scanning past.

I decided that to support my written and visual language and to make my purpose and ideas clearer with a final piece of writing to sumarise (below).

After this I organised the notes and doodles ordering and positioning on the pages to best communicate my ideas without being too obvious (below).

I have chosen to stick with the format of multiple lined pages because it best depicts my ideas and purpose. The pages will look inconspicuous; blend in with the background. I will have a series of notes and doodles that when read individually don’t make sense but when read together as a whole, will communicate the purpose of the manifesto. My aim is to encourage mental presence and a state of being and this format and style of writing will help in making the reader spend time thinking about what they are reading; being present.

With this said, I don’t know if the words conformity or being best articulate the purpose and content of my manifesto. After spending some time trying to find the right word for the title page, I decided to work on the written content of the manifesto and hoped that this would hep me find a word for the title.

Rather than overthinking my writing, I wrote just what came to mind. I decided that the best way to approach writing my manifesto would be to write about my topic/idea and then use this to create notes and doodles to put on the lined pages. Below are some of the written itterations I did.

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I quite liked the talking/conversation style of the last one on the far right. The purpose of my manifesto is to encourage the break of the subconscious flow and to be mentally present and by talking to the reader I can get this point across better. With this said, I wasn’t 100% sure about the way I had written it and I also had to figure out a way to manipulate it so it could be written as notes that were abstract enough to make the reader think about and interpret the manifesto, but also not too abstract that it makes it too difficult for the reader to understand.

After having difficulty in deciding a title and written aspect to my manifesto, I decided it would help clear my head and clarify my ideas if I were to identify an audience and a purpose for my manifesto. Below is some work I did to help focus my aim for the manifesto.

I then developed my lined page manifesto m=by changing the word to being (below).

Still feeling a bit stuck, I did some further exploration with some sketches of the manifesto layout and imagery (below).

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Sketch 1 explores the idea of seeing and being blind to the world around us. Sketch 2 and 3 explore the idea of things coming into focus and them not just being a blurred background noise when you take the time to stop and notice the small things around you. Sketches 4, 5 and 6 explore the idea of opening (eyes opening, mind opening) (the squiggly lines indicate text).

Even with these sketches, I still feel that the lined page with the title in the line worked best and best depicts my ideas. After considering the freedom of this manifesto, I explored the idea of multiple pages acting as one document (below).

Because my manifesto is now less about conformity and more about breaking the subconscious flow and encouraging a state of being and mental presence, this format would force people to stop and truly spend time reading, understanding and analysing the manifesto to understand its purpose which is my aim with this manifesto.

After some research earlier in the week, I began with some practice manifesto iterations. To begin, I regrouped my ideas and thoughts that I had explored in both parts one and two to help give me more of a direction to work towards. Below is an image of my map to regain my thoughts.

I then explored my key words, title ideas and layout and type ideas (below).

I was struggling visualise ideas this way so I begun sketching possible layout and visual ideas (below). Sometimes I find it works best of I just draw/write what comes to mind because it allows me to clear my head, reorganise my thoughts and visualise my ideas on a page.

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All of these sketches look at and challenge the idea of conformity through the manipulation and alteration of a standard document form. Something I gathered from my research was that the title was a main visual feature that can be a very important part in the manifesto so this is why the title is a focal point in all of my sketches.

Below are three of my sketches that I took and made properly on the computer.

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After discussions and feedback from peers and lecturers, I found that iteration 3 was most impactful. After talking to Lucy, I realised that conformity was only a part of what I have been and wanted to explore and to expand my mind to what I am aiming to achieve with my manifesto.

This week we were begun work on Part III, Manifestos. I wasn’t too sure about how I could write a manifesto but after gaining a better understanding of what a manifesto entails and looking at some examples, I became more confident and intrigued.

The first example I read was Riot Grrrl Manifesto by Kathleen Hanna.

I really liked the content and ideas portrayed in the manifesto and found that the visual and written language helped articulate these ideas well. The choice of font and imagery articulates a societal disruptive poster or flyer, meant for the mass of the public. The manifesto’s font and imagery is loud and bold in the page, creating a sense of yelling to highlight injustice; to start a riot.

The next manifesto I read was Liminal Reality Manifesto by Anna Bredow.

This one was almost written as a poem. The writing was poetic and brief with the use of repetition which helped in articulating the idea that of questioning what is reality and what isn’t. The title and layout is a main focal point in communicating these ideas also. The blank/negative space around the title speak louder than the words. The briefness, unfinished and partialness of the text and the title correlate with the idea of unknowing and disorientation between reality and fiction.

I also read Meta Manifesto by Annika Engelhardt.

This manifesto was written in an instructional manner. There are two sets of instructions (one for the author of a manifesto, the other for the reader of a manifesto) that are separated by orientation but linked through the casual hand drawn imagery on top of the writing. The combination of formal instructions and casual, almost editorial visual markings not only create a sense of communication between the author and the reader, but also the create a sense that the author is writing it to herself and the manifesto is the author’s thought process of a manifesto.

Another manifesto I also read this week was Pool of Ideas by Maria Eugenia Araujo.

I found the content and ideas discussed in the Pool of Ideas manifesto very fascinating and thought provoking. The manifesto is laid out into a set of definitions/explanation/rules/facts about the Pool of Ideas and is supported by a more in-depth explanation. The visual language of the title communicates how ideas come about, relate with one another and exist together through the the squiggly font of a range of sizes overlapping with each other. Each letter and word exist within the jumble of squiggles, it’s just about selecting where to look and what to ignore in order to make sense of it.

The last manifesto I read was The New Dogma of Video Blogging by Marianna Nikulshina.

Although very simple and brief, this manifesto communicates its idea well. The manifesto is a response to the increase in video blogging through a comedic set of rules/steps in order to become a video blogger. This not only communicates the subject of the manifesto, but it also articulates Nikushina’s opinion about the subject. The font of the title has a pixelated effect, relating to the digital aspect of video blogging.

After we had spent some time reading the manifestos ourselves, we worked in groups to discuss and analyse how the tone, layout and visual language of some of the manifestos communicate their point and purpose.

This week I finished and handed in my documentation. I set up my “designed artifact” in studio on Wednesday. See below for the final artifact.

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TYPED TEXT (300 Words shown above):
Mayoral Drive Traffic Light Crossing Outside AUT WG Building 
The aim and purpose of my intervention was to observe the conscious and subconscious behavior of people when faced with intangible boundaries. Through my original observations and documentations of the site, I found an interest in the way people subconsciously conformed socially and physically to the boundaries and unspoken rules that form the space. My interest was in how strangers gathered and moved together and although not a written guide, they all moved and were guided across the space as one entity. I decided to explore this by inserting my own intangible boundaries into the space and observe the pedestrians’ interaction with them. 

To explore and observe the subconscious and conscious actions, conformity and behavior of the public, I applied a chalk circle to the pavement at the edge of the crossing. My aim was to see if people would subconsciously and naturally conform to the circle as they waited for the flow of traffic to stop or whether they would notice it and be curious. Although this was what I was prepared to observe, my intervention had a very different impact on the pedestrians. I found that although my circle acted as a boundary, it had the opposite effect of what I had planned; people were standing around the edge of the circle, but not in it. This designed experiential artefact displays the predicted and actual outcomes of movement, positioning and actions in relation to the consistent and rooted physicality of the intervention. This artefact also explores the idea of conformity and subconscious/conscious decision making through its display, application to space and textural qualities.  

While observing my intervention, I noticed some external factors that impacted and altered the results and outcomes of the movement, actions and behaviors of the pedestrians. I conducted my intervention and observations on Monday 14^th September between 12:20pm and 1:00pm and although this is one of the peak times for foot traffic in the city, the fact that it was AUT mid-semester break and Auckland were at COVID-19 Level 2.5, there were very few people around the area. I also noticed how the lack of vehicular traffic meant larger groups of people weren’t gathering and waiting at the side of the road. This impacted how people positioned themselves at the crossing and how they acted and behaved. With the impact of a variety of factors, the purpose and results of my intervention were very different from what I had expected. 

The reason why I decided to use masking tape as a means to attach my work to the wall was because I wanted to reiterate the idea of temporarily and applying my work to the surface rather than it becoming part of the surface. I had originally planned to create a rough edge to make it seem more temporal but decided on creating a frame to reiterate the context of a gallery space.

I am very happy with the final outcome of my documentation. Although it may at first appear simple and little work, I have carefully made each decision to articulate my concepts and ideas.

After conducting my intervention/experiment I planned how to layout and display my documentation. I had originally thought about approaching it in the manner of a timeline but after conducting the intervention, I learnt that the outcome was less about what happened along a timeline and more about how different the results were from what I had predicted and planned for. Because the outcome was so drastically opposite to what I had expected, this became my focal point of this investigation of the intervention through documentation. I was fascinated with how different the theory and practice were from each other even with the physicality of the space and intervention being the same. I decided that this was the most important aspect of my intervention to document.

I decided I wanted to continue to use my abstract visual style from Part I to show a correlation between the ideas present in my work now and those I explored through my previous documentation. Focusing on the concept of difference between theory and practice, I drew some visual concept ideas (below).

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I decided on Plan 4 as a guide for my documentation. It explains the difference in movement and behavior of the pedestrians in theory and practice around my intervention in simplistic and abstract visual terms through thoughtful linework.

I have decided that having one large visual document keeps within my idea of simplicity and creates more focus on the main idea, the result of my intervention/experiment. I want this document to be attached to the walls of studio and act as an artwork in a gallery space. This will be accompanied by a chalk circle on the floor in front of it. This idea will reiterate the ideas of conformity in my work (whether people will position themselves within the circle to read my work) and also experiment as this designed artifact questions the human behavior in relation to it. 

I have decided to revisit some visual language from my proposal in my documentation. I want to use black card as this will not only make my visual choices on the document stand out, but will also allow the document itself to stand out against the white wall, drawing attention to its shape and therefore in traditional terms of a gallery, its context. I have also decided to continue the use of textural aspects for the circles. I considered using chalk or, a concrete rubbing similar of that to my proposal but decided on using small stones to create a more tactile surface. This decision was also based on the fact that it created further depth in my designed artifact context of a gallery space. Creating such a tactile surface creates intrigue in the texture and feel. Traditionally in a gallery space, touching the art is not allowed. This textured surface which encourages touch will challenge peoples’ conformity to the rules. This, again like the chalk circle, is an experiment/intervention in its self. My designed artifact is the space in which I will create and it itself is an intervention/experiment on human movement, reaction and behavior.

Before working on my visual document, I wanted to experiment and try some things before I committed to the final piece. The bellow image shows three different type of glues I tried when attaching the stones to the page and their results. I used small stones from a path in my garden because I wanted to create a more subtle texture than that if I had attached larger stones. I applied modelling glue, craft glue and general-purpose glues to a painted piece of card and sprinkled on some stones before pushing them into the glue. After waiting for the glue to dry, I picked up the page and shook it to allow any excess stones to fall off. From here I used white paint to dry brush over the stones to assess the effect it created. Although I liked the effect, I would later come to find that the plain stone would create enough textural impact for this piece. I decided that the craft glue work the best because it allowed me to apply a thick layer, it dried clear, held the stones the best, and had good flexibility as the paper moved and bent.

From here, I moved onto the linework of the visual document. I decided to use acrylic paint as it not only allowed me to create crisp lines against the black card but it also reiterates the idea of applying a medium to a surface. My intervention was created by applying chalk to the concrete surface of the pavement creating a temporary alteration to a surface through application. The chalk sat on top of the concrete rather than it being the concrete. By applying paint to the black card, I create this similar effect. As the linework shows the movement of pedestrians, I wanted to articulate this through color choice. Relating to the context of my social space, I decided to use a green to indicate the path of movement and red to indicate the position of stationary moments. I created a colour palette to get an idea of how light/dark/vibrant to make the colors and see how they sit together.

With all of this I created the visual document on an A2 piece of black card (below).

On Monday 14th September 2020 at 12:20pm I set up my intervention at the Mayoral Drive traffic light crossing outside AUT WG building. With the help of a friend, I measured and drew a a circle at the edge of the crossing with chalk. I had originally planned to use white chalk but then decided to use yellow. This was because the white lines on the road indicate boundaries in a way that is telling the pedestrian to not cross over it and stay within the confinements of the drawn out space. If I were to draw the circle with white chalk it would imply a similar set of rules: don’t cross over the line, therefore stopping people from entering the circle. The reason I chose yellow was because it is the same colour as the tactile tiles at the edge of the crossing next to the pole. Although this is positioned for the vision-impaired, the tiles still indicate a sense of gathering and indication of the space, encouraging people to stand on them. Making the circle yellow was to help encourage the subconscious to stand within the circle.

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I had also originally planned to make the circle the same width as the crossing itself but after consideration, I realised that this could quite possibly impact my observations. I decided that if the circle was too big I wouldn’t be able to tell if people were drawn to the circle or if they were just standing there because it was the default area to stand when waiting to cross. By making the circle smaller, it would allow me to notice peoples reactions and movements in relation to the intervention and help me differentiate between those subconsciously guided into the circle and those not. This is why I made the circle 1.5m in diameter and positioned it central to the crossing.

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At this point, I still haven’t decided how I want to layout and display my designed artifact but I begin observing and writing down my observations in chronological order.

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I began my observations sitting next to the steps up to WG but then a light drizzle began so decided to move into WG and watch from a window on level 3. This allowed a better view of the pedestrians and their movements and also meant I was fully removed from the space, not causing distraction or curiosity. In essence, this intervention is more of an experiment on pedestrian behavior and movement in relation to the applied boundaries. The intervention is the result of previously observed behavior and movement in the site.

As I observed, I noticed how different the reaction was to what I had expected. Based on my observations and documentation in Part 1, I designed my intervention to see how people would subconsciously conform, expecting the circle to initiate a sense of gathering. Although the circle did act like a boundary line, its effect was inverted. Rather than people naturally gravitating towards the inside of the circle, people gravitated to the edge of the circle, standing on its boundaries rather than within.

Some other points I noticed were that people crossing from the opposite side of the street didn’t notice the circle as they approach it as well as the impact the pole and tactile yellow tiles play in the subconscious selection of where to stand and wait. I also begun to notice the external and environmental factors that impacted this “experiment”. Even though I conducted this intervention on a weekday during lunch, there was still a lack of foot traffic as a result of AUT mid-semester break and Auckland being at Covid-19 Level 2.5. This along with the lack of vehicular traffic meant that it was very difficult to get a larger group of people stopping and waiting at the crossing. Many people crossed when there were no vehicles around. These factors that I couldn’t control did impact and play a part in the results and observations I received. I found it quite fascinating how my intervention had the opposite impact I had predicted it to have.

I finished my observations at about 1pm. I returned the following day and figured my intervention existed for about 24hrs before it was washed away by a light downfall of rain. This idea of temporary application to a surface helped lead the direction of my designed artifact.