by Jason Page
After studying the graduation books of our school since 1976, I was fascinated by how the students’ work from different years relates to one another and what the various design typologies communicate within one school. With the books as the base, I worked on setting a framework to republish the work both digitally and physically in their various qualities. For example: by their visual characteristics, conceptual thought, or the editorial representation of their time.
My project, DPBLSHD / RPBLSHD, is a digital space to create new perspectives and publications from an archive. The graduation chairs of the DAE (300+) are the first iconic test subjects of the system. I’ve researched how these chairs form groups of thought and can be reordered by others to bring new information into to the collection. For example: it’s interesting to see that 21 graduates have made chairs that directly comment on design classics. Through curated groups like this, one can better view the relations between students’ personal interests, design departments, or historical backgrounds. As the initial curator I’ve started organizing the work but also set to make the content accessible for others to interact with and impart their own associations into the archive. i.e. Growing the archive and studying it simultaneously. The multiple curations of the work and a wide range of published forms explore the role of archiving in the modern age.
