2011
My dissertation topic this year is focused on collaborative, dialogical and non-hierarchical design process. As a result I spent a lot of time reading
on diverse topics such as consumerism and prosumerism, database aesthetics, cybernetics, creative economy, sociology, chaos theory and system
arts. Bugged down by theory my tutors advised me to take a more hands on approach and this formed the basis of my practical research project.
I set myself the task to explore how design content could be collaborative created or derived from the Internet.
At first it seemed as a fairly straight forward task, but it really is quite challenging. Apart from the obvious
conversion of abstract to concrete and tangible, things like morals and ethics also started to creep out when
looking into the social aspect of technology and how it influences our understanding of the physical world.
Initially, I came across Miltos Manetas‘ work, which is obviously with a bit more find art context than I was aiming for,
but it sort of dwelled on exactly the topic of digital collaboration. I found his essay “Websites Are The Art Of Our Times”
truly engaging as it had a touch of Cybernetic and Randian philosophy.
“Because the Internet is not just another “media”, as the Old Media insists, but mostly a “space”, similar to the American Continent
immediately after it was discovered – anything that can be found on the Web has a physical presence.” Miltos Manetas
