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colophon/index.md
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@ -33,8 +33,7 @@ Unless otherwise stated, all photography, illustrations and other types of visua
Writing in Etherpad. Version control in git. Design in Inkscape. Layout in paged.js. Printing in Adobe Acrobat. Writing in Etherpad. Version control in git. Design in Inkscape. Layout in paged.js. Printing in Adobe Acrobat.
### Licensing information ### Licensing information
This publication is free to distrubite or modify under the terms of the SIXX license as published by XPUB, either version one of the SIXX License or any later version. See the SIXX License for more details. This publication is free to distribute or modify under the terms of the SIXX license as published by XPUB, either version one of the SIXX License or any later version. See the SIXX License for more details. A copy of the license can be found on [vulnerable-interfaces.xpub.nl/license](vulnerable-interfaces.xpub.nl/license).
A copy of the license can be found on vulnerable-interfaces.xpub.nl/license
### Postal address ### Postal address
Master of Arts in Fine Art and Design: Experimental Publishing, Master of Arts in Fine Art and Design: Experimental Publishing,

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irmak/thesis.html
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@ -38,13 +38,20 @@ id="fair-leads-or-fair-winds-is-a-saying-sailors-and-knotters-use-to-greet-each-
leads or Fair winds is a saying sailors and knotters use to greet each leads or Fair winds is a saying sailors and knotters use to greet each
other. It comes from the working end of a string that will soon be other. It comes from the working end of a string that will soon be
forming a knot.</h3> forming a knot.</h3>
<p>I would like to clarify and introduce some terms for you in order to I would like to clarify and introduce some terms for you in order to
read this text in the desired way. For a while, we will stay in the read this text in the desired way. For a while, we will stay in the
bight of this journey as we move into forming loops, theories and ideas bight of this journey as we move into forming loops, theories and ideas
on how interactive picture books can be used to foster curiosity for on how interactive picture books can be used to foster curiosity for
reading and creativity for children. I am building a web platform called reading and creativity for children. I am building a web platform called
Wink that aims to contain a children’s story I wrote and am making into Wink that aims to contain a children’s story I wrote and am making into
an interactive experience, in relation to my research.</p> an interactive experience, in relation to my research.
<figure>
<img src="../irmak/unnamed.png"
alt="knot words from Leeszaal" />
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">
knot words from Leeszaal
</figcaption>
</figure>
<p>Through this bight of the thesis, I feel the necessity to clarify my <p>Through this bight of the thesis, I feel the necessity to clarify my
intention of using knots as a “thinking and writing object” throughout intention of using knots as a “thinking and writing object” throughout
my research journey. Although knots are physical objects and technically my research journey. Although knots are physical objects and technically
@ -58,7 +65,7 @@ strings to make things, why wouldn’t a research paper make use of this
wonderful art as an inspiration for writing and interactive reading?</p> wonderful art as an inspiration for writing and interactive reading?</p>
<h2 id="knots-as-objects-to-think-with">KNOTS AS OBJECTS TO THINK <h2 id="knots-as-objects-to-think-with">KNOTS AS OBJECTS TO THINK
WITH</h2> WITH</h2>
<p>There is a delicate complexity of thinking of and with knots, which There is a delicate complexity of thinking of and with knots, which
ignites layers of simultaneous connections to one’s specific experience; ignites layers of simultaneous connections to one’s specific experience;
where one person may associate the knots with struggles they face, where one person may associate the knots with struggles they face,
another may think of connecting or thriving times. In a workshop in another may think of connecting or thriving times. In a workshop in
@ -67,23 +74,27 @@ when they think of knots. There were some words in common like strong,
chaotic, confusing and anxious. On the other hand, there were variations chaotic, confusing and anxious. On the other hand, there were variations
of connection, binding, bridge and support. Keeping these answers in of connection, binding, bridge and support. Keeping these answers in
mind or by coming up with your words on knots and embodying them in the mind or by coming up with your words on knots and embodying them in the
practice of reading would make a diff erence in how you understand the practice of reading would make a difference in how you understand the
same text.</p> same text.
<figure> <figure>
<img src="../irmak/knot1.jpeg" <img src="../irmak/knot1.jpeg"
alt="knot words from Leeszaal" /> alt="knot words from Leeszaal" />
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">knot words from Leeszaal</figcaption> <figcaption aria-hidden="true">
knot words from Leeszaal
</figcaption>
</figure> </figure>
<br> <br>
<figure> <figure>
<img src="../irmak/knot2.jpeg" <img src="../irmak/knot2.jpeg"
alt="knot words from Leeszaal" /> alt="knot words from Leeszaal" />
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">knot words from Leeszaal</figcaption> <figcaption aria-hidden="true">
knot words from Leeszaal
</figcaption>
</figure> </figure>
<p>Seeing how these words, interpretations of a physical object were so <p>Seeing how these words, interpretations of a physical object were so
diff erent to each other was transcendental. In this thesis, I am different to each other was transcendental. In this thesis, I am excited
excited to share my understanding of knots with you. My three words for to share my understanding of knots with you. My three words for knots
knots are resistance, imagination and infinity. Keeping these in mind, I are resistance, imagination and infinity. Keeping these in mind, I
experimented with certain reading modes as you will see later on.</p> experimented with certain reading modes as you will see later on.</p>
<p>Knots are known to be used 15 to 17 thousand years ago for multiple <p>Knots are known to be used 15 to 17 thousand years ago for multiple
purposes. These purposes were often opposing each other. For example, it purposes. These purposes were often opposing each other. For example, it
@ -161,7 +172,7 @@ start reading from a certain section according to the type of reader you
are and read the loops one by one until the end, weaving through the are and read the loops one by one until the end, weaving through the
text. To determine the string or mode of reading, there are some simple text. To determine the string or mode of reading, there are some simple
questions to answer.</p> questions to answer.</p>
<p>The three modes of reading are combine, slide, build . After you <p>The three modes of reading are combine, slide, build. After you
discover the starting point with the yes or no map in the upcoming discover the starting point with the yes or no map in the upcoming
pages, you will continue the reading journey through the strings of diff pages, you will continue the reading journey through the strings of diff
erent colors that will get you through the text. This way, the linear erent colors that will get you through the text. This way, the linear
@ -187,20 +198,21 @@ ownexperiences/motivations. Hitches which are knots that are formed
around a solid object, such as a spar, post, or ring will be around a solid object, such as a spar, post, or ring will be
representing the evidence or data I have collected on the subject. We representing the evidence or data I have collected on the subject. We
move on now with the working end and make some loops!</p> move on now with the working end and make some loops!</p>
<p>This map will reveal your mode of reading. The order of reading will <h2 id="how-to-choose-your-string">HOW TO CHOOSE YOUR STRING</h2>
be indicated with a loop sign Please hold a string in your hand as you This map will reveal your mode of reading. The order of reading will be
read the text and make knots or loops as you weave through the reading indicated with a loop sign Please hold a string in your hand as you read
as an exercise for concrete thinking. See you at the standing end! and a the text and make knots or loops as you weave through the reading as an
exercise for concrete thinking. See you at the standing end! and a
number on top of the sign with a color. This is the numeric order you number on top of the sign with a color. This is the numeric order you
should follow to read the thesis, if you choose to read with a mode. should follow to read the thesis, if you choose to read with a mode.
Every reader starts from 1 and continues until 12, with a consecutive numeric Every reader starts from 1 and continues until 12, with a consecutive
order, according to their color/mode.</p> numeric order, according to their color/mode.
<figure> <figure>
<img src="../irmak/map.png" <img src="../irmak/map.png"
alt="knot words from Leeszaal" /> alt="knot words from Leeszaal" />
</figure> </figure>
<h2 id="working-end">Working End <sup><span class="margin-note"></h2>
<h2 id="working-end">Working End</h2><sup><span class="margin-note"></span> <h3 id="loop-1">Loop 1</h3>
<h3 id="why-am-i-doing-this">Why am I doing this?</h3> <h3 id="why-am-i-doing-this">Why am I doing this?</h3>
<p>My desire to write a children’s book about grief and memory ignited <p>My desire to write a children’s book about grief and memory ignited
when I was studying in college and doing an internship in a publishing when I was studying in college and doing an internship in a publishing
@ -790,56 +802,35 @@ important in my personal history as a prototype was a breakthrough. I
feel like my interest and desire to discover new ways of writing, feel like my interest and desire to discover new ways of writing,
reading and experiencing literature is ongoing and it was a beautiful reading and experiencing literature is ongoing and it was a beautiful
journey so far. I am looking forward to making more knots on this long journey so far. I am looking forward to making more knots on this long
and mysterious string at hand.</p> and mysterious string at hand. </span></sup> ## Bibliography Cope, B.
</span></sup> and Kalantzis, M. (2009) ‘“multiliteracies”: New Literacies, new
<div id= "bibliography"> learning’, Pedagogies: An International Journal, 4(3), pp. 164–195.
<div id= "bibliography"> doi:10.1080/15544800903076044. <br> Dettore, E. (2002) “Children’s
<h3>Bibliography:</h3> emotional GrowthAdults’ role as emotional archaeologists,” Childhood
Cope, B. and Kalantzis, M. (2009) ‘“multiliteracies”: education, 78(5), pp. 278–281. doi: 10.1080/00094056.2002.10522741. <br>
New Literacies, new learning’, Pedagogies: An International Journal, Ingold, T. (2015) The life of lines.London, England: Routledge. <br>
4(3), pp. 164–195. doi:10.1080/15544800903076044. Lawrence, R. L. and Paige, D. S. (2016) “What our ancestors knew:
<br> Teaching and learning through storytelling: What our ancestors knew:
Dettore, E. (2002) “Children’s emotional GrowthAdults’ role as emotional archaeologists,” Teaching and learning through storytelling,” New directions for adult
Childhood education, 78(5), pp. 278–281. doi: and continuing education, 2016(149), pp. 63–72. doi:
10.1080/00094056.2002.10522741. 10.1002/ace.20177.<br />
<br> <br> Papert, S. and Papert, S. A. (2020) Mindstorms (revised): Children,
Ingold, T. (2015) The life of lines.London, England: Routledge. computers, and powerful ideas. London, England: Basic Books. <br> Ryan,
<br> M.-L. (2009) “From narrative games to playable stories: Toward a poetics
Lawrence, R. L. and Paige, D. S. (2016) “What our ancestors knew: Teaching and learning through storytelling: of interactive narrative,” StoryWorlds A Journal of Narrative Studies,
What our ancestors knew: Teaching and learning through storytelling,” 1(1), pp. 43–59. doi: 10.1353/stw.0.0003. <br> Smeets, D. and Bus, A.
New directions for adult and continuing education, 2016(149), pp. 63–72. (2013) “Picture Storybooks Go Digital: Pros and Cons,” in Quality
doi: 10.1002/ace.20177. Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core Standards. International
<br> Reading Association, pp. 176–189. <br> Strohecker, C. (ed.) (1978) Why
Papert, S. and Papert, S. A. (2020) Mindstorms knot? MIT. <br> The Effect of Multimodality in Increasing Motivation and
(revised): Children, computers, and powerful ideas. London, England: Collaboration among 4th CSE EFL Students (no date). <br> Turkle, S.
Basic Books. (ed.) (2014) Evocative objects: Things we think with. MIT Press. <br>
<br> Urton, M. M. &amp;. (2018) The khipu code: the knotty mystery of the
Ryan, M.-L. (2009) “From narrative games to playable Inkas’ 3D records, aeon. Available at: https://
stories: Toward a poetics of interactive narrative,” StoryWorlds A aeon.co/ideas/the-khipu-code-the-knotty-mystery-of-the-inkas-3d-records.
Journal of Narrative Studies, 1(1), pp. 43–59. doi: 10.1353/stw.0.0003. <br> Vega, N. (2022) Codes in Knots. Sensing Digital Memories, The Whole
<br> Life. Available at: https://wholelife.hkw.de/
Smeets, D. and Bus, A. (2013) “Picture Storybooks Go Digital: Pros and codes-in-knots-sensing-digital-memories/.</p>
Cons,” in Quality Reading Instruction in the Age of Common Core
Standards. International Reading Association, pp. 176–189.
<br>
Strohecker, C. (ed.) (1978) Why knot? MIT.
<br>
The Effect of Multimodality in Increasing Motivation and Collaboration among
4th CSE EFL Students (no date).
<br>
Turkle, S. (ed.) (2014) Evocative objects: Things we think with. MIT
Press.
<br>
Urton, M. M. &amp;. (2018) The khipu code: the knotty mystery of
the Inkas’ 3D records, aeon. Available at: https://
aeon.co/ideas/the-khipu-code-the-knotty-mystery-of-the-inkas-3d-records.
<br>
Vega, N. (2022) Codes in Knots.
Sensing Digital Memories, The Whole
Life. Available at: https://wholelife.hkw.de/
codes-in-knots-sensing-digital-memories/.
</p>
</div>
</div> </div>
</body> </body>
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</nav> </nav>
<div id="content"><h1 id="do-you-ever-dream-about-work">do you ever dream about work?</h1> <div id="content"><h1 id="do-you-ever-dream-about-work">do you ever dream about work?</h1>
<h2 id="stephen-kerr">Stephen Kerr</h2> <h2 id="stephen-kerr-2024">stephen kerr, 2024</h2>
<p>Practice-led artistic research into the 21st century phenomenon of <p>Reading an email in a dream and you can hear the voices of every word
the graphic designer. I held graphic design in my hands using you read. Or the one where you’re on a computer working, frantically
ethnography, toolmaking and performance as research methods. I examined typing, late, stressed, rushed. What about that dream where you had no
how designers spend their time in everyday life, this designer, me, as idea how to do your job, everyone is going to know you’re a fake. In
well as you, what are we doing? What are our worldviews, belief systems, this project I have made spaces for us to share our dreams about labour,
mythologies and ideologies?</p> and through that allow conversations about our work, our working
<p>Stephen Kerr is a designer, musician, bread-baker and occasional conditions, and the feelings we’re left with when we fall asleep each
tent-builder based in Rotterdam. He fidgets between making graphic night.</p>
design and performances, questioning and playing with methods and tools. <p>For the past year I have spoken with designers, artists and makers
Coming from a serious and realistic background in a big city on a big finding out how they spend their time in everyday life, what they
island (Dublin), he is interested in making people out of designers and believe and how they feel. In our dreams we feel the weird bits the
a wizard out of himself. Currently he is very very busy making most: hmm a bit uncomfortable, ooh that gave me a fright, aah so, so
technologies sillier, inefficienter, questionabler, questioneder and sad. Through performances, online tools and storytelling, I want to hold
collaborativer.</p> these dreams together, to unite our experiences. Online I have made <a
<p>https://stephenkerrdesign.com/</p> href="https://stephenkerrdesign.com/dream/" class="ext">tools to gather
stories</a> and <a href="https://stephenkerrdesign.com/typing/"
class="ext">tools to tell them</a>. I have facilitated <a
href="https://worm.org/production/opening-experimental-publishing-graduation-show-2024/"
class="ext">group dream re-enactments</a> (<a
href="https://art-meets.radical-openness.org/2024/program/turning-off-the-internet-slot-1/"
class="ext">a few times</a>), using felt dolls to share our night time
theatre.</p>
<p><em>stephen kerr is a graphic designer or a musician or a very weird
and long dream.</em></p>
<button>
<a href="stephenkerrdesign.com" class="ext">stephenkerrdesign.com</a>
</button>
<button>
<a
href="https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/User:Ssstephen/Final_presentation"
class="ext">Wiki: more about the project</a>
</button>
<button>
<a href="https://stephenkerrdesign.com/theeeeesis/" class="ext">⊞ (the
research thesis)</a>
</button>
<hr /> <hr />
<blockquote>
<p>Secondly, during my studies at XPUB, I plan to combine different
strands of my practices (design, music, programming, theatre). Being a
designer is an important part of my identity, and I am keen to make work
true to who I am.</p>
</blockquote>
<p>Excerpt from xpub application letter, March 15th 2022.</p>
<hr />
<p>I cut my thumb so every time I type i can feel it in my nerve
endings. Not true, it’s my left thumb so I don’t type with it. Not true,
I feel it anyway. Why are most of the function keys on the left of the
keyboard. What’s so functional about pressing buttons. Stephen Kerr is a
designer and musician based in. Have you ever loved an instrument? The
Ctrl key broke like four times since I moved here. I have one more
replacement because I bought a bunch of them but at some point I gave up
and use an external keyboard. I dunno I’m more confused than ever. It
was something to do with dreams and working. It’s the middle of the
night I’m writing this on my phone. If I had a dream this is when I
would be writing it. The memory is fuzzy: either I don’t remember or it
didn’t make sense in the first place. It was something to do with
fuzziness and memory no wait. Phones don’t have keyboards in real life
this doesn’t make sense. I’m trying to type but I don’t think I can get
it on the way to the office for the weekend and I think it was a good
idea to do it and I was thinking about you and I was thinking of you and
I was thinking about you and I was in the same place as a friend of mine
and I was in the studio and we were in the studio and we were in the
studio and we were in the studio and we were in the</p>
<figure> <figure>
<img src="../stephen/its-ok.jpg" <img src="../stephen/keyboard24.jpeg"
alt="Custom keyboard mapping for efficient design practice." /> alt="Keyboard of things designers have said. Our feelings about work." />
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">Custom keyboard mapping for efficient <figcaption aria-hidden="true">Keyboard of things designers have said.
design practice.</figcaption> Our feelings about work.</figcaption>
</figure> </figure>
<figure> <figure>
<img src="../stephen/keylogger.jpeg" <img src="../stephen/keyboard25.jpeg"
alt="Keylogging research. I recorded the buttons a graphic designer (me) presses while working, as an autoethnographic research method into what exactly it is that designers do. To celebrate this labour, I then used a pen plotter to make a series of posters. Three minutes of the designers keypresses took about eight hours to plot. October 24th 2023." /> alt="The messages on the keys were gathered using experimental interview methods and questions." />
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">Keylogging research. I recorded the <figcaption aria-hidden="true">The messages on the keys were gathered
buttons a graphic designer (me) presses while working, as an using experimental interview methods and questions.</figcaption>
autoethnographic research method into what exactly it is that designers
do. To celebrate this labour, I then used a pen plotter to make a series
of posters. Three minutes of the designers keypresses took about eight
hours to plot. October 24th 2023.</figcaption>
</figure> </figure>
<figure> <figure>
<img src="../stephen/email.jpg" <img src="../stephen/keyboard26.jpeg"
alt="Email answering performance using Google’s Gmail service. To reveal the work of the designer clearly, I performed the designer’s task of answering email in front of an audience. Due to the performance happening at 7pm, out of office hours, there was extensive use of the Scheduled Email feature. Some stories emerged about our precarity including overdue rent and invalid payment information for Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions. Leeszaal, Rotterdam, November 7th 2023." /> alt="Except “it’s ok”: my brother said that to me on the phone one day." />
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">Email answering performance using <figcaption aria-hidden="true">Except “it’s ok”: my brother said that to
Google’s Gmail service. To reveal the work of the designer clearly, I me on the phone one day.</figcaption>
performed the designer’s task of answering email in front of an
audience. Due to the performance happening at 7pm, out of office hours,
there was extensive use of the Scheduled Email feature. Some stories
emerged about our precarity including overdue rent and invalid payment
information for Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions. Leeszaal, Rotterdam,
November 7th 2023.</figcaption>
</figure> </figure>
<figure> <figure>
<img src="../stephen/laziness.jpg" <iframe src="https://stephenkerrdesign.com/dream" title="dream">
alt="A performative tool that measures the laziness of the designer as they work and graphs it on a pen plotter. The less the designer uses the mouse, the longer a line the pen plotter draws, it creates a record of the tiny moments between the work." /> </iframe>
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">A performative tool that measures the <figcaption>
laziness of the designer as they work and graphs it on a pen plotter. Web page to share and read labour dreams. Scroll down for more.
The less the designer uses the mouse, the longer a line the pen plotter </figcaption>
draws, it creates a record of the tiny moments between the
work.</figcaption>
</figure> </figure>
<figure> <figure>
<img src="../stephen/peecee.jpg" <iframe src="https://stephenkerrdesign.com/typing/" title="typing">
alt="Re-enacting dreams about work at Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Participants use felt dolls to tell stories of our dreams on the small and squishy stage. We’re trying to balance design labour with other labour like making food for our loved ones, we can’t stop brushing our teeth, brushing, brushing, brushing. February 5th 2024." /> </iframe>
<figcaption>
Interactive dream telling. Click then type your story.
</figcaption>
</figure>
<figure>
<img src="../stephen/peecee.jpg" class="desaturate"
alt="Re-enacting dreams about work at Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam." />
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">Re-enacting dreams about work at Piet <figcaption aria-hidden="true">Re-enacting dreams about work at Piet
Zwart Institute, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Participants use felt dolls to Zwart Institute, Rotterdam.</figcaption>
tell stories of our dreams on the small and squishy stage. We’re trying
to balance design labour with other labour like making food for our
loved ones, we can’t stop brushing our teeth, brushing, brushing,
brushing. February 5th 2024.</figcaption>
</figure> </figure>
<figure> <figure>
<img src="../stephen/amro.jpeg" <img src="../stephen/amro.jpeg" class="desaturate"
alt="Collective dream re-enactment at Art Meets Radical Openness, Linz, Austria. Inside a tent, a group of people perform eachother’s dreams about work and discuss and analyse them together. We feel like impostors, we don’t know how to work these machines, we’re going to crash. March 11th 2024." /> alt="Collective dream re-enactment at Art Meets Radical Openness, Linz." />
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">Collective dream re-enactment at Art <figcaption aria-hidden="true">Collective dream re-enactment at Art
Meets Radical Openness, Linz, Austria. Inside a tent, a group of people Meets Radical Openness, Linz.</figcaption>
perform eachother’s dreams about work and discuss and analyse them
together. We feel like impostors, we don’t know how to work these
machines, we’re going to crash. March 11th 2024.</figcaption>
</figure> </figure>
<figure> <figure>
<img src="../stephen/dizzy.jpeg" alt="Where do dreams come from?" /> <img src="../stephen/dizzy.jpeg" alt="Where do dreams come from?" />
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">Where do dreams come from?</figcaption> <figcaption aria-hidden="true">Where do dreams come from?</figcaption>
</figure> </figure>
<figure> <h3 id="licensing-information">Licensing information</h3>
<img src="../stephen/form.png" <p>This work is free to distribute or modify under the terms of the SIXX
alt="do you ever dream about work? Online research and publication where we shared our dreams, worries, rants, designs. The answers to the question are published together as a collection of voices." /> license as published by XPUB, either version one of the SIXX License or
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">do you ever dream about work? Online any later version. See the SIXX License for more details. A copy of the
research and publication where we shared our dreams, worries, rants, license can be found on <a href="vulnerable-interfaces.xpub.nl/license"
designs. The answers to the question are published together as a class="ext">vulnerable-interfaces.xpub.nl/license</a>.</p>
collection of voices.</figcaption> <!-- ![Custom keyboard mapping for efficient design practice.](../stephen/its-ok.jpg) -->
</figure> <!-- ![Keylogging research. I recorded the buttons a graphic designer (me) presses while working, as an autoethnographic research method into what exactly it is that designers do. To celebrate this labour, I then used a pen plotter to make a series of posters. Three minutes of the designers keypresses took about eight hours to plot. October 24th 2023.](../stephen/keylogger.jpeg) -->
<figure> <!-- ![Email answering performance using Google's Gmail service. To reveal the work of the designer clearly, I performed the designer's task of answering email in front of an audience. Due to the performance happening at 7pm, out of office hours, there was extensive use of the Scheduled Email feature. Some stories emerged about our precarity including overdue rent and invalid payment information for Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions. Leeszaal, Rotterdam, November 7th 2023.](../stephen/email.jpg) -->
<img src="../stephen/wood-keyboard.jpeg" <!-- ![A performative tool that measures the laziness of the designer as they work and graphs it on a pen plotter. The less the designer uses the mouse, the longer a line the pen plotter draws, it creates a record of the tiny moments between the work.](../stephen/laziness.jpg) -->
alt="Keyboard of things designers have said. Our feelings about work." /> <!-- ![do you ever dream about work? Online research and publication where we shared our dreams, worries, rants, designs. The answers to the question are published together as a collection of voices.](../stephen/form.png) -->
<figcaption aria-hidden="true">Keyboard of things designers have said. <!-- ![Keyboard of things designers have said. Our feelings about work.](../stephen/wood-keyboard.jpeg) -->
Our feelings about work.</figcaption> <!-- I cut my thumb so every time I type i can feel it in my nerve endings. Not true, it's my left thumb so I don't type with it. Not true, I feel it anyway. Why are most of the function keys on the left of the keyboard. What's so functional about pressing buttons. Stephen Kerr is a designer and musician based in. Have you ever loved an instrument? The Ctrl key broke like four times since I moved here. I have one more replacement because I bought a bunch of them but at some point I gave up and use an external keyboard. I dunno I'm more confused than ever. It was something to do with dreams and working. It's the middle of the night I'm writing this on my phone. If I had a dream this is when I would be writing it. The memory is fuzzy: either I don't remember or it didn't make sense in the first place. It was something to do with fuzziness and memory no wait. Phones don't have keyboards in real life this doesn't make sense. I'm trying to type but I don't think I can get it on the way to the office for the weekend and I think it was a good idea to do it and I was thinking about you and I was thinking of you and I was thinking about you and I was in the same place as a friend of mine and I was in the studio and we were in the studio and we were in the studio and we were in the studio and we were in the -->
</figure>
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stephen/index.md
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--- ---
title: What do graphic designers do all day and why do they do it and what does "graphic design" even mean?!????!!1!? title: do you ever dream about work?
author: Stephen author: Stephen
--- ---
# do you ever dream about work? # do you ever dream about work?
## Stephen Kerr ## stephen kerr, 2024
Practice-led artistic research into the 21st century phenomenon of the graphic designer. I held graphic design in my hands using ethnography, toolmaking and performance as research methods. I examined how designers spend their time in everyday life, this designer, me, as well as you, what are we doing? What are our worldviews, belief systems, mythologies and ideologies? Reading an email in a dream and you can hear the voices of every word you read. Or the one where you're on a computer working, frantically typing, late, stressed, rushed. What about that dream where you had no idea how to do your job, everyone is going to know you're a fake. In this project I have made spaces for us to share our dreams about labour, and through that allow conversations about our work, our working conditions, and the feelings we're left with when we fall asleep each night.
https://stephenkerrdesign.com/dream/ For the past year I have spoken with designers, artists and makers finding out how they spend their time in everyday life, what they believe and how they feel. In our dreams we feel the weird bits the most: hmm a bit uncomfortable, ooh that gave me a fright, aah so, so sad. Through performances, online tools and storytelling, I want to hold these dreams together, to unite our experiences. Online I have made [tools to gather stories](https://stephenkerrdesign.com/dream/){.ext} and [tools to tell them](https://stephenkerrdesign.com/typing/){.ext}. I have facilitated [group dream re-enactments](https://worm.org/production/opening-experimental-publishing-graduation-show-2024/){.ext} ([a few times](https://art-meets.radical-openness.org/2024/program/turning-off-the-internet-slot-1/){.ext}), using felt dolls to share our night time theatre.
https://stephenkerrdesign.com/typing/ *stephen kerr is a graphic designer or a musician or a very weird and long dream.*
<button>[stephenkerrdesign.com](stephenkerrdesign.com){.ext}</button>
Stephen Kerr is a designer, musician, bread-baker and occasional tent-builder based in Rotterdam. He fidgets between making graphic design and performances, questioning and playing with methods and tools. Coming from a serious and realistic background in a big city on a big island (Dublin), he is interested in making people out of designers and a wizard out of himself. Currently he is very very busy making technologies sillier, inefficienter, questionabler, questioneder and collaborativer. <button>[Wiki: more about the project](https://pzwiki.wdka.nl/mediadesign/User:Ssstephen/Final_presentation){.ext}</button>
stephenkerrdesign.com <button>[⊞ (the research thesis)](https://stephenkerrdesign.com/theeeeesis/){.ext}</button>
--- ---
> Secondly, during my studies at XPUB, I plan to combine different strands of my practices (design, music, programming, theatre). Being a designer is an important part of my identity, and I am keen to make work true to who I am.
Excerpt from xpub application letter, March 15th 2022. ![Keyboard of things designers have said. Our feelings about work.](../stephen/keyboard24.jpeg)
--- ![The messages on the keys were gathered using experimental interview methods and questions.](../stephen/keyboard25.jpeg)
![Except "it's ok": my brother said that to me on the phone one day.](../stephen/keyboard26.jpeg)
I cut my thumb so every time I type i can feel it in my nerve endings. Not true, it's my left thumb so I don't type with it. Not true, I feel it anyway. Why are most of the function keys on the left of the keyboard. What's so functional about pressing buttons. Stephen Kerr is a designer and musician based in. Have you ever loved an instrument? The Ctrl key broke like four times since I moved here. I have one more replacement because I bought a bunch of them but at some point I gave up and use an external keyboard. I dunno I'm more confused than ever. It was something to do with dreams and working. It's the middle of the night I'm writing this on my phone. If I had a dream this is when I would be writing it. The memory is fuzzy: either I don't remember or it didn't make sense in the first place. It was something to do with fuzziness and memory no wait. Phones don't have keyboards in real life this doesn't make sense. I'm trying to type but I don't think I can get it on the way to the office for the weekend and I think it was a good idea to do it and I was thinking about you and I was thinking of you and I was thinking about you and I was in the same place as a friend of mine and I was in the studio and we were in the studio and we were in the studio and we were in the studio and we were in the <figure>
<iframe src="https://stephenkerrdesign.com/dream" title="dream"></iframe>
<figcaption>Web page to share and read labour dreams. Scroll down for more.</figcaption>
</figure>
![Custom keyboard mapping for efficient design practice.](../stephen/its-ok.jpg) <figure>
<iframe src="https://stephenkerrdesign.com/typing/" title="typing"></iframe>
<figcaption>Interactive dream telling. Click then type your story.</figcaption>
</figure>
![Keylogging research. I recorded the buttons a graphic designer (me) presses while working, as an autoethnographic research method into what exactly it is that designers do. To celebrate this labour, I then used a pen plotter to make a series of posters. Three minutes of the designers keypresses took about eight hours to plot. October 24th 2023.](../stephen/keylogger.jpeg) ![Re-enacting dreams about work at Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam. ](../stephen/peecee.jpg){.desaturate}
![Email answering performance using Google's Gmail service. To reveal the work of the designer clearly, I performed the designer's task of answering email in front of an audience. Due to the performance happening at 7pm, out of office hours, there was extensive use of the Scheduled Email feature. Some stories emerged about our precarity including overdue rent and invalid payment information for Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions. Leeszaal, Rotterdam, November 7th 2023.](../stephen/email.jpg) ![Collective dream re-enactment at Art Meets Radical Openness, Linz. ](../stephen/amro.jpeg){.desaturate}
![A performative tool that measures the laziness of the designer as they work and graphs it on a pen plotter. The less the designer uses the mouse, the longer a line the pen plotter draws, it creates a record of the tiny moments between the work.](../stephen/laziness.jpg) ![Where do dreams come from?](../stephen/dizzy.jpeg)
![Re-enacting dreams about work at Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam, Netherlands. Participants use felt dolls to tell stories of our dreams on the small and squishy stage. We're trying to balance design labour with other labour like making food for our loved ones, we can't stop brushing our teeth, brushing, brushing, brushing. February 5th 2024. ](../stephen/peecee.jpg) ### Licensing information
This work is free to distribute or modify under the terms of the SIXX license as published by XPUB, either version one of the SIXX License or any later version. See the SIXX License for more details. A copy of the license can be found on [vulnerable-interfaces.xpub.nl/license](vulnerable-interfaces.xpub.nl/license){.ext}.
![Collective dream re-enactment at Art Meets Radical Openness, Linz, Austria. Inside a tent, a group of people perform eachother's dreams about work and discuss and analyse them together. We feel like impostors, we don't know how to work these machines, we're going to crash. March 11th 2024. ](../stephen/amro.jpeg) <!-- ![Custom keyboard mapping for efficient design practice.](../stephen/its-ok.jpg) -->
![Where do dreams come from?](../stephen/dizzy.jpeg) <!-- ![Keylogging research. I recorded the buttons a graphic designer (me) presses while working, as an autoethnographic research method into what exactly it is that designers do. To celebrate this labour, I then used a pen plotter to make a series of posters. Three minutes of the designers keypresses took about eight hours to plot. October 24th 2023.](../stephen/keylogger.jpeg) -->
<!-- ![Email answering performance using Google's Gmail service. To reveal the work of the designer clearly, I performed the designer's task of answering email in front of an audience. Due to the performance happening at 7pm, out of office hours, there was extensive use of the Scheduled Email feature. Some stories emerged about our precarity including overdue rent and invalid payment information for Adobe Creative Cloud subscriptions. Leeszaal, Rotterdam, November 7th 2023.](../stephen/email.jpg) -->
<!-- ![A performative tool that measures the laziness of the designer as they work and graphs it on a pen plotter. The less the designer uses the mouse, the longer a line the pen plotter draws, it creates a record of the tiny moments between the work.](../stephen/laziness.jpg) -->
<!-- ![do you ever dream about work? Online research and publication where we shared our dreams, worries, rants, designs. The answers to the question are published together as a collection of voices.](../stephen/form.png) -->
<!-- ![Keyboard of things designers have said. Our feelings about work.](../stephen/wood-keyboard.jpeg) -->
![do you ever dream about work? Online research and publication where we shared our dreams, worries, rants, designs. The answers to the question are published together as a collection of voices.](../stephen/form.png)
![Keyboard of things designers have said. Our feelings about work.](../stephen/wood-keyboard.jpeg) <!-- I cut my thumb so every time I type i can feel it in my nerve endings. Not true, it's my left thumb so I don't type with it. Not true, I feel it anyway. Why are most of the function keys on the left of the keyboard. What's so functional about pressing buttons. Stephen Kerr is a designer and musician based in. Have you ever loved an instrument? The Ctrl key broke like four times since I moved here. I have one more replacement because I bought a bunch of them but at some point I gave up and use an external keyboard. I dunno I'm more confused than ever. It was something to do with dreams and working. It's the middle of the night I'm writing this on my phone. If I had a dream this is when I would be writing it. The memory is fuzzy: either I don't remember or it didn't make sense in the first place. It was something to do with fuzziness and memory no wait. Phones don't have keyboards in real life this doesn't make sense. I'm trying to type but I don't think I can get it on the way to the office for the weekend and I think it was a good idea to do it and I was thinking about you and I was thinking of you and I was thinking about you and I was in the same place as a friend of mine and I was in the studio and we were in the studio and we were in the studio and we were in the studio and we were in the -->
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style.css
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font-style: italic; font-style: italic;
} }
a { a {
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text-decoration: none; text-decoration: none;
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blockquote{ blockquote{
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background-size: 150% 150%;
/* background: linear-gradient(320deg, #2bce3e, #ce512b, #5e2bce, #cace2b); */
background-size: 200% 200%;
-webkit-background-clip: text; -webkit-background-clip: text;
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-webkit-animation: gradientanimator 3s ease infinite; -webkit-animation: gradientanimator 30s ease infinite;
-moz-animation: gradientanimator 3s ease infinite; -moz-animation: gradientanimator 30s ease infinite;
animation: gradientanimator 3s ease infinite; animation: gradientanimator 30s ease infinite;
} }
@-webkit-keyframes gradientanimator { @-webkit-keyframes gradientanimator {
@ -56,7 +54,18 @@ body {
padding: 4rem; padding: 4rem;
box-sizing: border-box; box-sizing: border-box;
} }
button{
border: 1px solid var(--spot-color-1);
font-family: 'Platypi';
font-style: italic;
font-weight: 300;
background:none;
padding: 0.5rem 1rem;
border-radius: 0.5rem;
}
button:hover{
animation: wiggle 0.6s infinite;
}
.content-list { .content-list {
font-size: 41px; font-size: 41px;
max-width: 40rem; max-width: 40rem;
@ -64,6 +73,7 @@ body {
margin-right: 0; margin-right: 0;
line-height: 3.5rem; line-height: 3.5rem;
a{color: inherit}
img { img {
width: 2rem; width: 2rem;
@ -107,6 +117,9 @@ body {
transform: scale(0.7, 1.2); transform: scale(0.7, 1.2);
} }
} }
.desaturate{
filter: grayscale(90%) contrast(1.2) brightness(1.1);
}
.gummies{ .gummies{
display: flex; display: flex;
margin: 2rem 0; margin: 2rem 0;
@ -128,19 +141,33 @@ h1 {
font-style: italic; font-style: italic;
margin: 0 0 0.5rem; margin: 0 0 0.5rem;
} }
iframe{
width: 100%;
height: 20rem;
border-radius: 0.5rem;
filter: grayscale(70%);
overflow-x: hidden;
border: none;
}
img{ img{
max-width: 100%; max-width: 100%;
border-radius: 0.5rem;
} }
figcaption{ figcaption{
font-size: 0.85rem; font-size: 0.85rem;
margin-top: 0.5rem; margin: 0.5rem 0 0 0.5rem;
} }
figure{ figure{
width: 100%; width: 100%;
margin: 0 0 2rem; margin: 0 0 2rem;
} }
hr{
border: none;
margin: 4rem;
}
nav{ nav{
position: fixed; position: fixed;
a{color: inherit;}
h1{font-style: normal;} h1{font-style: normal;}
} }
@ -165,6 +192,10 @@ nav{
width: 11rem; width: 11rem;
} }
} }
::selection{
background: var(--spot-color-1);
color: #fff;
}
@media only screen and (max-width: 768px){ @media only screen and (max-width: 768px){
body { body {
line-height: 1.3; line-height: 1.3;

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