Honours ThesisIn 2018 I went back to uni to complete a year of research. The below projects are examples of this research.
The final written document can also be viewed here
‘Photo Album’was an exploration in ‘social photography’, performed as research for my honours exegesis. Reacting to the simple fact that: if most of us have cameras on our phones, which are in arms reach almost 24/7, then we must be practicing photography in some way.
For 6 hours over 3 days I spoke to strangers about the images they have inside their phones, and if they would like a physical print. A transaction would take place where the participant kept their printed photograph, and I kept the voice recording of them describing their photograph.
Collaborators would receieve their printed image in a publication packaged inside a 6 x 4 photo slip. (shown above) An archive of transcripts developed, reimagining the photograph and honing in on where the meaningful nature of the photograph really lies: in the story attached to it. These transcripts were then uploaded into an LED sign and exhibited at the Nicholas Building in November 2018. (shown below)
‘Photo Album’ street setup.‘Photo Album’ LED sign exhibit
Exhibition view of ‘Photo Album’ LED sign, alongside a slideshow of my own photo album for the year.
‘Free Consultation’Free Consultation was a two week long exhibition of sorts that cross pollinated myself and Maddie Symons’ honours research. Promoting participation from the university public, prospective ‘clients’ were asked to book a ‘consultation’ regarding an object they owned that they believed to be broken. The exhibition occupied our collaborative studio space and was designed from repair store typology found in Melbourne.
Consultations were structured as ‘object therapy’ with the aim not to repair the physical object, but to build a conversation around the objects value before and after it breaking. The relationship between subject and object was strengthened through discussion and often a new appreciation for the object resulted.
Through Free Consultation, conversation became the vehicle for exchanging dialogue, by establishing what the research, project and outcome meant to the consultant and client, both parties could relate to one another.
Experience Library‘Experience Library’ is a workshop designed for students that explores the importance of the ‘communication’ side of communication design – the premise being that the idea itself can be the most effective part of a design, and very little needs to be done to establish an evocative communication.
An idea, or in this case more-so, an ‘experience’, can be evoked purely by reading/saying the words being communicated. Experiences are collected, curated, exhibited and discussed, presenting the effectiveness of idea-sharing and the essence of communicaion design.
Exhibition Catalog
This ‘exhibition catalog’ was designed and exhibited live over the duration of
‘Unfinished Business’. The publication was an experiment in exhibiting design,
as well as a critique of traditional exhibition catalog’s which usually only catalog
the works in the show, whereas this publication documented the show itself.
Exegesis Document
The final Document was a risograph printed 18pp A4 booklet.
Back to top
© Matthew Justice 2024