#dev core

[mengxiao-blog]

My collaborators are two of my friends: Yizhao Du is working in Dallas, and Chenyu Dong (@mlln) is studying communication PhD. 

We began with a discussion on Skype, to work out the topic first. We all felt strongly like doing a project about ONE-CHILD POLICY in China (we are all against it, of course). But one problem lies in the breadth of this topic (education / abortion, contraception / violence / human rights...) and it took us nearly three days and still no compelling ideas. But we did collected a lot of resources about one-child policy.

And on Wednesday, in order to get some inspirations, I googled images with the keyword "计划生育" ('one-child policy' in Chinese) , and it really shocked me because the first page of image search results is full of awfully Photoshoped posters (check it), with very frightening slogans on it. But the funny thing is that when I googled images of 'one-child policy' in English, the results are just simple photos of babies. And we tried some other words both in English and in Chinese, the results were also interesting.

That's why we finally decided to design an interface to present our discoveries. We did brainstorms then to work out a list of words which have similar effects, and I chose the most compelling five words, and designed and made a web interface named 'Google Compare'. It is a prototype based on Axure RP. 

The results are somewhat ironic, but the project itself is not. The differences between two cultures do not lie in those images -- it's just like a pair of small windows.

5 pairs of words for you to play with:

One-child Policy 计划生育

Revolution 革命

North Korea  朝鲜

President 主席

Freedom 自由 

[morganmarzec]

All design is political.

Chris Csikszentmihalyi

[morganmarzec]

Statement of Intent

I am giddy. I am scared. I am humbled. Everything here is new. Design school is changing me. I am two people, measuring my life in weeks, suspended in moments. Time surges around me, carrying me forward. (So fast!) But my body, my senses are slowing. I am starting to see. I am learning how to engage. I am slowly opening myself to the possibilities of those moments I had thought inconsequential. I am making time. Combing through my sketchbooks, looking for patterns, I’m most struck by the variation of my posts. It reflects the schizophrenia I’ve been feeling as I learn to see differently. At first, I didn’t know where to look. I was never a person who collected anything more than words. But this exercise in collection, curation and self-reflection has surfaced a few themes from the muddle:

Relational Aesthetics: I am drawn to art that relies on the engagement and participation of others. I’ve grown tired of the discourse around what separates us; I’m weary of feeling hyper-linked but personally disconnected. I’m interested in art and design that create connection through shared experiences. I’m inspired by artists like Emily Jacir, Rirkrit Tiravanija, Theaster Gates and Liz Glynn...people whose practices demand that we interact and, in doing so, remind us of the humanity that binds us together.

Placemaking: I’ve always had places that I turn to for inspiration and reflection. Until now, I never paid much attention to the actual spaces. I was too caught up in experiencing them. Lately, I’ve been thinking about how every space is designed. Most of you are probably saying, “Well, duh!”...but for me, this was a revelation. I’m interested in learning more about how space, temporary installations and community can serve as media.

Narrative: At heart, I’m a storyteller. Although over the last few years, I feel like I’ve lost my way. Design school is becoming this strange, backdoor way for me to re-engage with poetry, narrative and my personal writing practice. There’s something big to be teased out in the intersection between design, narrative and memory. This is another area I’d like to explore over the next few years, although this one makes me feel as if I’m standing and looking out into a great void. It gives me a sense of the sublime.

Color: I love color, but I don’t understand it. I need to learn it. Enough said.

As I reflect on what this means for my personal practice as a designer, I eventually want to build a social practice. I want my work to be meaningful not only inside a studio context or with a small group of educated elite. I want my practice to connect with people and reveal inner beauty and truths within everyday experience. At least, that’s what I’m feeling 10 weeks into this.