Hello. We're four students of Experimental Publishing (XPUB). We made this catalogue for you, we made it for ourselves. It's all the work we made from 2022 to 2024, during our Master's programme at the Piet Zwart Institute in Rotterdam. This book contains our theses and graduation projects. Following the projects, you will find the documentation of three Special Issues that were published during our first year of XPUB.
(could this be clearer?)
Hi.
In Do you ever dream about work?, Stephen Kerr talks with graphic designers about their work and how they feel about it. His thesis ? documents these discussions and puts them in context of the spiritual traditions of modernism.
We made this for you, we made it for ourselves. It contains the work we made in the two years we spent at the Experimental Publishing Master's at the Piet Zwart Institute. From then until today, June 2024, we published three Special Issues together. We wrote four theses and made four graduation projects. We grew our hair out and cut it and grew it again and dyed it. We cared and cried for each other, we made so much coffee and so many bootleg books. Finishing a Master's is a bit of a hmm and this book is a gentle archive, a memory of the work we have made together.
Talking Documents, made by Aglaia Petta, are performative bureaucratic text inspections that intend to create temporal public interventions through performative readings. The graduation project holds hands with the written text Performing the Bureaucratic Border(line)s which attempts to unleash intuitively a conversation concerning the entangled relation between material injurious borders and bureaucracy.
(transictions)To us being vulnerable means being exposed and brave, trusting others to handle our stories with care. By publicly sharing and processing our narratives, we take ownership of our experiences while contributing to a collective voice. Even while we incorporate stories from others, our names remain attached to this collective creation, highlighting the balance between communal sharing and individual responsibility.
Ada made a project called Backplaces. It's a web play exploring the relationship between bodies and intimacy, and how people share vulnerability online. The project consists of three backplaces— digital spaces for relief from societal discomfort—through three performances: Solar Sibling, Hermit Fantasy, and Good Pie. Each piece navigates shared loss, the desire for intimacy, and the merging of the physical and digital, offering a safe space for introspection and connection.
(transictions)An interface is a boundary that connects and separates, an interspace for faces. It can be an act, it can be a book, it is the object in between us and you and each other. It allows us to be vulnerable together, to share our stories with and through each other.
Wink, is a web platform made by Irmak Susan Erta?, a creative writing and reading toolkit that enables children to make their own stories or read the stories they want from the existing library. The text Fair Leads expands on the concepts of interactive fiction using knot theory practices.
Paragraph about common ground. performance, storytelling, words, memory feeling, loss, reflection, Intimacy, experience, narrative and memory, the public and the private. Memory (for example, and other themes), how it appears in the four projects. The written and spoken word as materials and actions that exist in society, technology, people. We care about this because (whatever goes here is important). The personal element in each project.
XPUB is the Master of Arts in Fine Art and Design: Experimental Publishing of the Piet Zwart Institute. XPUB focuses on the acts of making things public and creating publics in the age of post-digital networks.
XPUB’s interests in publishing are therefore twofold: first, publishing as the inquiry and participation into the technological frameworks, political context and cultural processes through which things are made public; and second, how these are, or can be, used to create publics.
Experimental Publishing is some experiences or feelings of being in xpub for two years.
do graphic designers do all day and why do they do it and what does
“graphic design” even mean?!????!!1!?</h1>
<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
third 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
the kids in the morning and I was thinking about you and I was in the
same place as a friend of mine and I was in the car park and we were in
the car park and we were in the car park and we were in the car park and
we were in the</p>
<p><imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="The result of a tool that connects musical instruments to a pen plotter, using an arduino module. I created this tool to cross the boundary of “graphic design” as a discipline separate from music." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
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 will draw." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="A performative autoethnographic research of graphic design practices, in this case answering emails using Google’s Gmail service. Leeszaal, Rotterdam West, November 7th 2023" />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="Collective performative dream re-enactment at Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam, Netherlands. February 5th 2024." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="Collective performative dream re-enactment at Art Meets Radical Openness, Linz, Austria. March 11th 2024." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="Keyboard of things designers have said." /> <img
src="imagename.png"
alt="keylogging research, recording the buttons a graphic designer presses while working" />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="do you ever dream about work? online research" /></p>
<p>An investigation into the practices and ideologies of graphic design
in 2023–24 though practice-led artistic research and ethnographic
methods. I held graphic design in my hands using ethnography, toolmaking
@ -2663,22 +2675,6 @@ way. Design can hide and reproduce inequalities in its output and also
dominate workers in its practices. This research starts primarily from
the bodies and actions of the practitioners so will primarily engage
with the effects on and by these bodies.</p>
<p><imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="The result of a tool that connects musical instruments to a pen plotter, using an arduino module. I created this tool to cross the boundary of “graphic design” as a discipline separate from music." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
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 will draw." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="A performative autoethnographic research of graphic design practices, in this case answering emails using Google’s Gmail service. Leeszaal, Rotterdam West, November 7th 2023" />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="Collective performative dream re-enactment at Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam, Netherlands. February 5th 2024." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="Collective performative dream re-enactment at Art Meets Radical Openness, Linz, Austria. March 11th 2024." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="Keyboard of things designers have said." /> <img
src="imagename.png"
alt="keylogging research, recording the buttons a graphic designer presses while working" />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="do you ever dream about work? online research" /></p>
do graphic designers do all day and why do they do it and what does
“graphic design” even mean?!????!!1!?</h1>
<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
third 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
the kids in the morning and I was thinking about you and I was in the
same place as a friend of mine and I was in the car park and we were in
the car park and we were in the car park and we were in the car park and
we were in the</p>
<p><imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="The result of a tool that connects musical instruments to a pen plotter, using an arduino module. I created this tool to cross the boundary of “graphic design” as a discipline separate from music." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
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 will draw." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="A performative autoethnographic research of graphic design practices, in this case answering emails using Google’s Gmail service. Leeszaal, Rotterdam West, November 7th 2023" />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="Collective performative dream re-enactment at Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam, Netherlands. February 5th 2024." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="Collective performative dream re-enactment at Art Meets Radical Openness, Linz, Austria. March 11th 2024." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="Keyboard of things designers have said." /> <img
src="imagename.png"
alt="keylogging research, recording the buttons a graphic designer presses while working" />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="do you ever dream about work? online research" /></p>
<p>An investigation into the practices and ideologies of graphic design
in 2023–24 though practice-led artistic research and ethnographic
methods. I held graphic design in my hands using ethnography, toolmaking
@ -105,22 +141,6 @@ way. Design can hide and reproduce inequalities in its output and also
dominate workers in its practices. This research starts primarily from
the bodies and actions of the practitioners so will primarily engage
with the effects on and by these bodies.</p>
<p><imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="The result of a tool that connects musical instruments to a pen plotter, using an arduino module. I created this tool to cross the boundary of “graphic design” as a discipline separate from music." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
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 will draw." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="A performative autoethnographic research of graphic design practices, in this case answering emails using Google’s Gmail service. Leeszaal, Rotterdam West, November 7th 2023" />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="Collective performative dream re-enactment at Piet Zwart Institute, Rotterdam, Netherlands. February 5th 2024." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="Collective performative dream re-enactment at Art Meets Radical Openness, Linz, Austria. March 11th 2024." />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="Keyboard of things designers have said." /> <img
src="imagename.png"
alt="keylogging research, recording the buttons a graphic designer presses while working" />
<imgsrc="imagename.png"
alt="do you ever dream about work? online research" /></p>
# What do graphic designers do all day and why do they do it and what does "graphic design" even mean?!????!!1!?
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 third 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 the kids in the morning and I was thinking about you and I was in the same place as a friend of mine and I was in the car park and we were in the car park and we were in the car park and we were in the car park and we were in the
An investigation into the practices and ideologies of graphic design in 2023–24 though practice-led artistic research and ethnographic methods. I held graphic design in my hands using ethnography, toolmaking and performance as research methods. I examined how a designer spends 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?
*What do graphic designers do all day and why do they do it and what does "graphic design" even mean?!????!!1!?* is an assessment of what the term "graphic design" means to its practitioners today. Through experimental ethnographic research methods and the development of reflexive tools, the project highlights and questions the boundaries that exist around this apparent category. The research focuses on my own practices as well as other people and groups that identify with "graphic designer" as a label. The research was both conducted by and shared with interested parties in the form of the tools themselves, as well as a series of performances. There is no strict distinction between the research and its publication. The tools were released in an iterative cycle throughout the process of the project, and the research is conducted through the performative use and development of these tools.
@ -20,12 +33,3 @@ This research is carried out in three intersecting methods: experimental ethnogr
I made this to explore why designers make design, based on Clifford Geertz's ideas of why humans make culture: "to affirm it, defend it, celebrate it, justify it and just plain bask in it" (Geertz, 1973). This exploration will also involve less constructive actions like participating, dissociating, questioning, protesting, destroying and disregarding. There is a disconnect between the narratives about "graphic design" and the effects it is known to have on its audiences, practitioners, and society in more general terms. I am attempting to "loosen the object" of graphic design (Berlant, 2022), to make the definition less defined and maybe more useful or easier to engage with. This shit could be better. Its urgent for the people being exploited by it, to break the inequalities it serves to maintain, to expose what it hides, to improve things that are definitely working but not in a good way. Design can hide and reproduce inequalities in its output and also dominate workers in its practices. This research starts primarily from the bodies and actions of the practitioners so will primarily engage with the effects on and by these bodies.
Stephen Kerr
6 months ago