TINKER. QUESTION. MAKE. EXPLORE. RINSE. REPEAT.
Practice: I came to graduate school to explore and develop a new form of design practice. In my experience in the Media Design Program I’ve been given numerous pieces of the puzzle, the assembly of which will fuel my practice in the future. I am currently exploring interests in interaction design and technology as a medium. As we live in an increasingly technological ecology, can my design practice and projects reflect critically on the cultural development of this way of life? I’d say I’m less concerned with the buttons on the device, than with the cultural fallout technology creates. I aspire to create projects and outcomes that highlight areas of contrast within this cultural landscape. I want to explore the seams, and the rough edges. I value the idiosyncratic and the eccentric.
Method: The synthetic act of design comes to life through materials, technology, and concepts within my studio practice. I explore through making. I establish challenges and ask questions towards the end of discovery. I am willing to be led down strange paths. I respect the bull’s-eye but have learned to love the shooting of arrows more.
Context: Transforming my inquiries into a sustainable practice is the biggest challenge a designer with my interests faces. The solution has to do with finding a suitable context for these investigations to live. I see a hint of it in cultural institutions like the folks at Machine Project, Eyebeam, and the Jan van Eyck Academie. It also lives in the human centered methods of researchers like Jan Chipchase at Nokia. The open ended questions of studio driven research is of interest as well. In all likelihood the solution to where my work will find it’s home is a multi-faceted existence that blurs the boundaries of market driven interests and cultural contributions.
Justin Gier