POSI-TIONING
CHAO-CHI LAU
Finishing university, I can begin to reflect on a process, which w
as enriched w
ith transition and self-actualisation.
Many lessons w
ere learnt.
The outcomes of the w
ork I produce and my practice focuses on the concept,
theory, metaphor, narrative, sem
iotics and context behind a project. These them
es become im
portant in worthw
hile, universal and humanistic design.
My atti
tude towards design and the things that influence m
y references come
from outside of the conventional design field. This is because, at the core of
those disciplines and genres are people and innovators with processes that if
relevant, I relate to my practice and developm
ent.
One particular genre of influence is that of M
oving Image and Film
, disciplines that I am
beginning to envelop into my practice as a designer.
The first two projects, The Good Journey (M
ajor Project) and The 4th Stoke N
ewington Scout Group (Self Initiated Project) ran sim
ilar to each other in term
s of their design focus. The design solutions sought to create a framew
ork of constancy that allow
ed for the diversity of the intended audiences to inform
elements of the outcom
e. They also intended to invite the themes of ow
ner-ship, com
munity and co-design.
The two projects taught m
e the value of putting an idea to test. As soon an idea
is tested, the details that can or cannot be achieved are self-evident and allow
for the idea to become refined.
Spearheaded by my dissertation w
hich analysed the sand metaphors in the
film, W
oman of the Dunes” (1964), I began a period of risk taking and sincere
process. The Design Factory (M
ajor Project) led to consider a new w
ay of practice: start-ing a project w
ithout having a vision of the end result.
The project explored and challenged the perceptions of sand. The project was
able to take direction through the influence of Yayoi Kusama’s introspective
work; she considers the sym
bolism of a polka-dot:
“...a polka-dot has the form of the sun, w
hich is a symbol of the energy of the
whole w
orld and our living life, and also the form of the m
oon, which is calm
. Round, soft, colourful, senseless and unknow
ing. Polka-dots become m
ove-m
ent... Polka dots are a way to infinity.”
The final project was Docum
enting Dominic (Self Initiated Project), a docum
en-tary project initiated through sim
ply moving w
ith an opportunity. Taking on every role in the m
aking of the documentary,
I saw m
y strengths in my ability to em
pathise and adapted from m
y design experience, to construct narratives w
ith the physically intangible.
To conclude, I will take the next steps in finding w
ork experience with a Design
Innovation company and to continue to cultivate the skill of constructing narra-
tives with M
oving Image and Film
.
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