DECLARATIONS of [inter]dependence
and the im[media]cy of design

October 25 - 28, 2001. Concordia University, Montreal

DESCRIPTION

The symposium will bring together designers, artists, educators and activists to explore the public sphere as a space of democratic voice and citizenship with an emphasis on graphic agitation, manifestoes, interventions, alternative modes of public address, and culture jamming. We are committed to the development of a discourse for a socially engaged design practice that seeks to address the complex and contradictory role designers play as cultural producers in capitalist societies.

The symposium seeks to take up the challenge of design manifestoes, new and old - from F.T. Marinetti's, Words-In-Freedom to the most recent rewriting of Ken Garland's, First Things First. Moreover, it seeks to extend the dialogue and debates initiated at the conference organized by Jan van Toorn, design beyond Design: critical reflection and the practice of visual communication, at the Jan van Eyck Academie, in 1997.

Important in our discussions will be the links from theory to practice - the strategies for action adopted by image makers and cultural producers working both inside and outside "the mainstream." Moreover, the rapid expansion of digital technologies is implicated in this discourse as a tool and medium for expression. Digital media have transformed the discipline of design - changing the ways in which we work, allowing direct access to communication networks, and opening the door to cross-disciplinary collaborations.


Publications: A CD-ROM and a serial publication in the form of poster/postcard will be produced and all material presented during the conference will be considered for inclusion.