mother: [Places plate on table.] Here’s breakfast. daughter: [Arms-crossed with some attitude.] Just toast? Dad gives me scrambled eggs. mother: [Places plate on table.] Scrambled eggs… daughter: [With more attitude and a rude gesture towards the plate…] Plain scrambled eggs? Dad makes it how I want. And to drink? …juice, chocolate or coffee. mother: [Brings some orange juice.] daughter: And the whole wheat? mother: [Frustrated] Commercial voice: Our breakfasts do not have competition. Only in our restaurants do we prepare you a real breakfast, complete and your way.
[Commercial ends with father and daughter eating.]
This advertisement currently airs as part of the commercial prelude to feature films in Puerto Rico’s movie theaters. Due to its dry humor, its consistent showing during the summer offerings, and the context of the cinematic apparatus, every movie-going person now knows it by heart. The phrase ¡¿Revoltillo pelao?! has become part of everyday conversations.
On a first glance it’s a fairly standard advertisement: short and to the point. Its story relies on contemporary characters and scenarios we can quickly understand, an association it uses to explicitly inform, with a hyperbolical narrative, the benefits of this particular fast food chain. Yet, a deeper look reveals a myth(1) portrayed by a series of implicit messages which reference a drastic cultural shift in the Puerto Rican understanding of family values: the divorce has been socially accepted. Read the rest of this entry »
L’avenir, for philosopher Jacques Derrida, conceptualizes the coming of the Other. In juxtaposition with the Future, which can be known beforehand, l’avenir references the unpredictable appearance of the Other.
For this blog, I currently represent the Future, i.e. an intentional attempt by my brother, Alberto, to (re)invent the content of his page. Yet, what subsequent years hold for us, I do not/cannot know. How will I affect my brother’s design thinking? And – more importantly for my wellbeing – How will he deflect my way(s) of perceiving the Human Being and its World, which (mis)guides me towards specific problematizations and reconcialiations.
In short, how will l’avenir unravel in Refraction? I can never predict it.
Nonetheless, Refraction will write the evolution of our project. Not only by focusing on different themes, but by seeing how those thoughts bounce back into unforeseen realms. We hope that our thoughts, deflected, will survive.
But what does that mean: that our vestige will survive us? Is it possible? For how long? (Obviously not for eternity.) Derrida asserted: “The trace neither lives nor dies, but survives us.” Such a claim denies existence to the trace, but endows it with a personal utility of extension or continuation of one’s life after death. Yet, this quasi-satisfactory move towards the achievement of immortality (always knowing its implied impossibility) may confuse a reader into believing in an explicit, discoverable link between an origin and its footprint. The trace, always-already disentangled from the origin and henceforth being observed through varying interpretative eyes, can never open the path to recapture an original essence (i.e. thought, feeling, concept, experience, etc.). So, even if MY-trace can never be recovered, my-trace does not merely survive, but is exists! It has its own existence, endowed by the eye of the beholder. Don’t get me wrong, my writing exists because of me, but continues to be in spite of me. (I hope that the reader nourishes the life of my-trace, to prevent its inevitable death.)
Indeed for me, these times need of introductions. First, because most of you, who have decided to read posts by my rather keen brother, may not know me. Second – I have to admit - this would be the first time I bring my thoughts into a blog. And finally, I am getting acquainted with a new setting.
Two weeks ago, I arrived at Cornell University to begin my Masters in Architecture 1. The experience of meeting new people from widely different track records – architecture, furniture design, engineering, physics, business, among others – has been exciting, but has also motivated me to reflect back on my persona. Seeing how many already possess jaw-dropping abilities, I felt compelled to review what I had apparently done right to be accepted into the School of Architecture, Art, and Planning (AAP). Reviewing my application materials, I came across my essay, which began:
“I do not want to study architecture.” These words quickly became my answer to those who presumed that as the son of an architect and the brother of a graphic designer, I would pursue an undergraduate degree in the arts.
Last semester I taught a seminar course at NC State University’s College of Design where I asked the students to identify, as part of a weekly assignment, two instances: one where design thinking had thrived and another where it had failed. Towards the end of the course, students had collected a series moments that proved that only a simple nudge was required, many times at no extra cost to anyone, to set a series of problems right. Recently, I came across one such example.
Last week, due to the birth of my nephew Gonzalo, I got to spend some time in the maternity wing of the Auxilio Mutuo Hospital. It was indeed a short time, yet most of it was spent waiting for the baby to make its appearance. I had time to look around. A few things came to my attention, but this particular emergency door stood out the most out of anything else that caught my eye.
An Emergency Door in the Maternity Wing of the Auxilio Mutuo Hospital in San Juan, Puerto Rico.
The subject in question is located on a hallway directly across from the nursery of newborns. As you can imagine, a lot of people congregate in this area. Upon further investigation, four things were of interest to me:
1) The standard, internationally used emergency exit sign; 2) An ink-jet printed sign which informs that this door does not provide access to the ground floor; 3) The familiar red sign that indicates to use this exit in case of an emergency; and 4) A photocopy which explains, in paragraphs, what to do in case of a problem.
Can you imagine what would happen, God forbid, if there was an emergency in this space? Read the rest of this entry »
In the last few weeks I have been moving from meeting to meeting, introducing myself to new clients and re-connecting with some older ones. Face to face conversation has been at the core of most interactions.
During the time, I have become aware of the many identities others bestow on me: artist, graphic artist, digital artist, the creative, the person who makes logos, sign-maker, event planner, the guy who did that exhibit on the train, the kid who makes things pretty, web-site maker, and I have even been introduced as an architect. Not once in three weeks has anyone (other than in the office space from which I now work) used the term graphic designer, or even the idea of design to refer to me or to what I do.
In the Puerto Rican corporate and academic spheres that I have been exposed to, the practice of design (even if called by other names) is still seen as, talked about, and referred to as an icing on a cake which provides decoration (and an extra boost of sugar) to an already functional product. Designers are not at the decision table, and I have yet encountered one example of design included in a larger strategic process. The techniques, strategies and tools of design thinking are nowhere to be found. The idea of graphic designers having a process and knowledge of specific strategies that might foster innovation is scarce. Inspiration, creativity and talent are still at the core of the generally accepted understanding of how designers work and come up with ideas. Read the rest of this entry »
I am a designer. The term, today employed across various contexts and business models to signify different things, is actually not as hard to understand as many people make it out to be. It basically means that I like a few essential things: sexy typography (this is like the one ring made to rule them all), apple equipment, black t-shirts, fancy eyeglasses, ergonomic pencils, reading about the implications of structuring information, funky-colored shoes, colors, markers, anything Italian, and the smell of old books. (among others) This list is easy to assemble since most of these are stereotypical images society can associate easily with this professional path I have chosen to investigate. And yet, there is one aspect of being a designer that is not as obvious (and sad since it is the best part): as a designer I am in the constant search of problems.
Sounds interesting right? Well, in reality, it is. Yet, being on a constant search for problems to solve brings about a series of problems of its own. The best way I can describe it is that sometimes I find myself in an alternate reality; others talking about the color red and me asking why red?
This past Sunday I had the opportunity to visit and participate in The Bain Project. This site-specific artistic exploration took place at the historic E. B. Bain Waterworks building in Raleigh, North Carolina.
I have to say this was a special event where quality, organization, people, atmosphere, mood, and setting all came together in a composition worthy of utmost praise.
As part of the event, the E. B. Bain Waterworks building served as canvas to varied musical compositions that engaged the senses and added to the mystery and nostalgia caused by the historic structure.
In my opinion, the most captivating aspect was its location. Rebecca Tegtmeyer documented our visit there and has shared some of her images here.
The early part of the XXth century witnessed the construction of an extensive web of irrigation channels to distribute water to homes and farmlands in Puerto Rico along more than 35 kms. Still in operation to this day, throughout time different individuals and groups have acknowledged the scenic value of these channels; however, to most they remain unknown.
Conceived by the architectural firm, Jorge Rigau FAIA, Architects, the pilot project was designed to garner support from government officials, institutions, and the general public for the development of Isabela’s irrigation channels as a key ecotourism attraction in Puerto Rico. The “canales” travel across plains, mountains, and forests of varying microclimate, flora, fauna, and views. Maintenance paths that run continuously next to them could today be refashioned as nature trails accessible to the general public, children, senior citizens, and handicapped people alike. This pilot project set out to prove the feasibility of this initiative.
After public access to these facilities had been denied for eighty years, one kilometer of channels was opened up for two days, attracting an audience of over 3,000 registered people, including key decision-makers like the Island’s Interim Governor. Environmental leaders and university professors joined the long lines of visitors from all over the Island.Advocacy is often linked to demonstrations, more than often committed to stop something from happening. In our case, we chose to demonstrate otherwise: How something can, in fact, happen. Letters of support have started to come and decision makers – already engaged – have invited us to sit and dialogue. This is what we planned for.
Last semester, before I got interested in consumer behaviors and their repercussions, I explored gesture based interfaces as a possibility for my final project. Today, while organizing my current archive, I found this old copy of the HP Touch Smart ad. It is still impressive.
A few days ago Rebecca Tegtmeyer sent a few friends an email with a challenge to do something like this. It was not until today that I was able to see the link, and to be honest, I just found it too fun to ignore. Since last night I did not get to sleep much, my productivity today was very low, so I decided to give this a shot.
By now, I have shared the video with a few friends which have pointed out many crucial missing moments like the photography from the Option Shift Control Symposium, from our class trip to DC, the Design Band, and others. With all the missing parts I might have to consider Meat Loaf for the soundtrack… hehehe. I will update the file, probably after the Final Project is done. But for now… I hope you enjoy…
This past summer I spent a few weeks in the Design Dialogues Workshop. I posted a ton about this back in June, but it was not till today that I realized that a video had been made of the experience. I had kinda forgotten that Roger Remington had been video recording most of the time. A bit long for a blog video, but it is a good look into what the experience was all about.
Rebecca and Marty begin with Cady Bean-Smith’s rubber band typography.
Rebecca Tegtmeyer and Marty Maxwell Lane represented the NC State Graphic Design Masters Program at the MFA panel on the last day of the conference. They did incredible.
The presentation, following a format that I do not remember the name, lasted for 10 mins. In that short time, Rebecca and Marty were able to speak about the pedagogical approach of the NC State Curriculum, explain the structure of the program, delve into projects briefings, and they still managed to show 2 fully developed investigations, culminating in the marriage of everything that had been explained before into well executed pieces. Read the rest of this entry »
It was a great conference on many accounts, but most importantly it gave some of us the opportunity to share with students and academics from other institutions.
Having learned my lesson during the Boston conference (where i did not take my camera), I can now tell a selected visual story of the event. If you are interested for a detailed account, see Louise Sandhaus’ blog where she has some very interesting and detailed notes of many of the sessions, panels, and lectures. Read the rest of this entry »
For a long time I had been fascinated with ping-back buttons, and just like everyone else, every time a new came thru my hands I thought of making one of my own. This cycle, which I thought would end up being just another never-ending thought process, was surprisingly broken a few weeks ago when I acquired a button making machine of my own. Read the rest of this entry »
These are some images of the installation that was part of our first semester studio project where the class attempted to define design thinking in terms of a series of thinking strategies and cognitive frameworks. Read the rest of this entry »
It’s that time of year again… it’s back to school time! The adventures of my graduate class continue as we enter our second year of the master’s program. Exciting times are these…
Last year already came and went. The first semester was intense. The second was considerably busy. The third? I can’t wait to find out! I am not at all worried though, for Meredith Davis and Santiago Piedrafita are leading the way…
This semester is special though. Not that the previous ones were not, but this semester I begin to articulate my research interests towards the development of a final project. This experience will force me to concentrate my interests into a series of researchable questions which I will later investigate and work on. About time I got started on this…
This semester is about learning communities. It’s about using interaction to bring together a group of people performing a common task.
To kick start the creative insights and interactive explorations, Meredith invited the design anthropologist Elizabeth —Dori— Tunstall to make a presentation on her work on communitas. As part of her visit, we had to select an online community that we thought could be analyzed thru the lens of the various aspects of what makes up a communitas: historical consciousness, life goals, organizational structure, agency and relationships. I chose facebook, and what follows is my study of some of the key features which bring the community together.
New terms and ideas that I am being exposed to in the book Practices of Looking by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright.
] Globalization [
A term used to describe a set of conditions escalating since the postwar period. These conditions included increased rates of migration, the rise of multinational corporations, the development of global communications and transportation systems, and the decline of the sovereign-nation state, and the “shrinking” of the world through commerce and communication. While some theorists take the conditions of globalization as a given, others see them as ideological, in the sense that their direction and force are not inevitable but are shaped by vying economic, cultural, and political interests. The term “globalization” also works to extend the concept of the local, in that globalization’s advancement depends on the formation of new sorts of local communities not geographically bound.
New terms and ideas that I am being exposed to in the book Practices of Looking by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright.
] Objective [
The ideal state of being unbiased...
] Subjective [
Something that is particular to the view of an individual, hence the opposite of objective. A subjective view is understood to be personal, specific, and imbued with the values and beliefs of a particular person. Read the rest of this entry »
New terms and ideas that I am being exposed to in the book Practices of Looking by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright.
] Simulation/Simulacra [
Terms most famously used by French theorist Jean Baudrillard that refer to a sign that does not clearly have a real-life counterpart. A simulacrum is not a representation of something, but is more difficult to distinguish from the real. Hence, it can be considered to be a kind of fake real that could potentially supercede the real. Baudrillard stated that to simulate a disease was to acquire its symptoms, thus making it difficult to distinguish between simulation and the actual disease. For example, a casino or amusement park simulacrum of the city of Paris can be seen as creating a substitution for the actual city, and can perhaps for some viewers seem to be more real than the city itself. The term simulation is often used to describe aspects of postmodern culture in which copies and realities get blurred. Read the rest of this entry »
New terms and ideas that I am being exposed to in the book Practices of Looking by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright.
] Abstraction [
The quality of being conceived apart from concrete realities.
] Capitalism [
An economic system in which investment in and ownership of the means of production, distribution, and exchange of wealth are held primarily by individuals and corporations, as opposed to cooperative or state owned means of wealth. Capitalism is based on an ideology of free trade, open markets, and individuality. In capitalism, the use value of goods (how they are used) matter less than their exchange value (what they are worth on the market). Marxist theory is a critique of the ways that the system of capitalism is based on inequality and exploitation of workers, allowing a few to prosper while many have only limited means.
] Flaneur [
A french term theorized explicitly by cultural critics such as Walter Benjamin, that refers to a person who wanders city streets taking in the sights, especially those of consumer society. In other words, the flaneur is a kind of window shopper, with the implication that the act of looking at the gleaming offerings of commodity culture is itself a source of pleasure wether or not one actually ever purchases anything. The flaneur is simultaneously in the world of consumerism and detached from the cityscape around him. Read the rest of this entry »
New terms and ideas that I am being exposed to in the book Practices of Looking by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright.
] Spectacle [
A term that generally refers to something that is striking or impressive in its visual display. The term spectacle was used by French theorist Guy Debord, in his book Society of the Spectacle, to describe how representations dominate contemporary culture, and all social relations are mediated by and through images.
] Mass Media [
Those media which are designed to reach mass audiences, and that work in unison to generate specific dominant or popular representations of events, people and places.
New terms and ideas that I am being exposed to in the book Practices of Looking by Marita Sturken and Lisa Cartwright
] Objective [
The ideal state of being unbiased...
] Empiricism [
A science inspired philosophy that assumes that things exist independent of language and other forms of representation, and can be known unambiguously as positive truths independent from any specific truth. An empirical methodologies relies on experimentation and data collection to established particular truths, and is in opposition to theories that see facts and truths as dependent on the context and language system in which they take on meaning.
Armando Rigau currently pursues a Master in Architecture I at Cornell University. He received his bachelor's degree in Philosophy with History and Spanish minors from Georgetown University.
