Junior Studio
October 1, 2007
This is a collection of my thoughts about what I am currently working on in studio.
Multiple icons are necessary for sane interaction with a GUI. Without many different icons to indicate interaction, modern computing would be next to impossible. Mouse icons mirror reality through their utility; in other words the icons can be viewed as tools. However, they are unlike reality because they generalize and focus work. Reality presents humanity with a nearly endless supply of tools to do any manner of work. The mouse is one of the most ingenious inventions of the 20th Century. It allows anyone using a computer to touch something that is not necessarily there.
Arrow: The arrow is our main gateway into the GUI. It is the icon that we are presented with most of the time. All other icons follow in its footsteps; other icons flow from the arrow and back into the arrow. The things that we see most often are those that disappear. In other words objects in our day to day lives no longer announce themselves to our senses. The arrow icon is one of these things. It is so pervasive in our use of the computer that many users probably do not question it after their first few uses of a modern desktop. The arrow is a safety net or an anchor. It helps to focus attention and to aid in dimming the visual bombardment from the rest of the desktop. The arrow is the center of attention when using the mouse. Our eyes and [dominant] hand follow it all over the screen.
Hand: The hand is one of the transformations that the arrow undertakes. Through the hand we are able to ‘touch’ the intangible objects on our screens. The hand is something we can identify the sensation of touch with. It usually only appears over buttons that have an associated action. So to use the hand is to set something into motion.
Hour Glass: The hour glass is yet another property of the arrow. At its most basic level it represents time. This is time spent waiting on an action to complete. On another level it represents the computer “thinking” or taking action. If anything this icon is the most noticeable. It is more apparent because of its very nature and because of the way our culture perceives time. We are a monochronic culture, we perceive time as being linear and are very cognizant of its passing. When time is made manifest through something like a clock or hour glass and then forced on our attention we cannot help but take notice.
My Goal: I want to take these icons out of their context. By making people (either in public or in critique) acknowledge what they are and what they do and also how that affects their daily lives in the time in which we live I believe that I can spark meaningful conversation and thought. I personally feel that by rendering these icons tangible and setting them out in the world is a start. When using the constructed icons I will strive to connect them with their computational purpose. At the same time I must find different ways to make them self referential without being tacky.
Obstacles To My Goal: Finding settings that will be photogenic is the first major hurtle. The other is that I am not a very accomplished photographer. Time and effort can overcome both of these obstacles. Composing scenes is essential to the success of this project. When other people (i.e strangers) are involved their every action must be made clear. Spontaneous interaction should be cut down to a minimum as it hampers critical construction of scenes. With this in mind I must premeditate virtually all of my pictures before shooting. I should also address the fact that these are now sculptural objects in the photographs. Being sculptures is not enough. I feel that using digital photographs will provoke a confrontation with the objects. I have already seen several instances of the question “did you Photoshop that?”. I think this is important, but I want to take that further to where people perhaps know it is not fake in the sense of doctoring and yet fall back onto the notion of the “Photoshopped” image.
On Humor: The photos that I have already taken have come out as being comical in nature. At first I thought that was because they are genuinely funny. Some of them are. On second thought I think it could come from some kind of knee jerk reaction. Maybe I am just fooling myself, but that may be the first reaction to most of the pieces, regardless of actual inherent humor. Hopefully laughter is what results from someone seeing these objects out of place, especially on a computer screen as that is how they have been displayed thus far.
Ideas: So far placing the objects into direct human contact has resulted in “funny” images. However I have had some images that were successful. So far I feel my most powerful images were ones where only a persons arm can be seen holding the object from the side of the picture. This is enough for someone to realize the object was not pasted in. The size of the icon in the photograph should dictate how large the print should be. This way I will not have to worry about scale in every picture I take, and it will have the added benefit of adding variability to their presentation. Hopefully the icon will always appear the same size in the printed versions, but the prints themselves will range in size.