Camberwell Graphics Degree Show

FRANK PHILIPPIN
communication design.
the information society is a new gospel, a new order, a modern salvation. or is it?
there is a big catch. information is not necessarily communication. it takes two to communicate. in the modern information society the talking is done by the presenter, the spokesperson, the specialist. i myself say nothing.
the unidirectional information society is a pre-human condition in which there no longer exists personality, self-assertion, self-perception, or self-motivation, a society of conditioned cattle.
why on earth do we not invite friends round for a meal any more instead of sitting passively in front of the television? how come we allow ourselves to be coerced into patterns of consumption projected by ads and editorials, enjoying that which is prescribed, offered and handed down from above? to eat alone is simply to eat, to eat in company is to feel the earth move. your thought faculties are challenged, you are put on the spot, you link one thing to another, you see a picture emerging which may be threatening or may open up a refreshing new perspective, you are in motion, chasing thoughts. you draw yourself out. when does anything remotely like that ever happen when I am sitting glued to the box?
politically, too, we are in the cattle shed. we think what we are meant to think, see what we are meant to see, discuss what we are meant to discuss. we behave ourselves exactly as the dairy or chocolate factory behind it all wants us to. but who gets the chocolate?
mealtime discussions are almost a thing of the past. the personal quality of experience that traditionally leavened conversation is steadily withering away. it is the universal that counts, statistics, not the individual instance or concrete events. the dictatorship of the generalization is proceeding apace. the question of direct and indirect information is problematic in itself.
nowadays people can experience the world on two contradictory planes simultaneously, that of information and that of actuality, love on film and love at home. actuality and information vie for precedence, and this often triggers an irreconcilable clash between reality and illusion.
modern man loves marilyn monroe more than he does his wife. that is what makes people so passive, so submissive, so acquiescent these days. they are no longer brought out of themselves. they are no longer needed.
(extracts from a text by otl aicher, 1988 )

FRANK PHILIPPIN communication design. the information society is a new gospel, a new order, a modern salvation. or is it? there is a big catch. information is not necessarily communication. it takes two to communicate. in the modern information society the talking is done by the presenter, the spokesperson, the specialist. i myself say nothing. the unidirectional information society is a pre-human condition in which there no longer exists personality, self-assertion, self-perception, or self-motivation, a society of conditioned cattle. why on earth do we not invite friends round for a meal any more instead of sitting passively in front of the television? how come we allow ourselves to be coerced into patterns of consumption projected by ads and editorials, enjoying that which is prescribed, offered and handed down from above? to eat alone is simply to eat, to eat in company is to feel the earth move. your thought faculties are challenged, you are put on the spot, you link one thing to another, you see a picture emerging which may be threatening or may open up a refreshing new perspective, you are in motion, chasing thoughts. you draw yourself out. when does anything remotely like that ever happen when I am sitting glued to the box? politically, too, we are in the cattle shed. we think what we are meant to think, see what we are meant to see, discuss what we are meant to discuss. we behave ourselves exactly as the dairy or chocolate factory behind it all wants us to. but who gets the chocolate? mealtime discussions are almost a thing of the past. the personal quality of experience that traditionally leavened conversation is steadily withering away. it is the universal that counts, statistics, not the individual instance or concrete events. the dictatorship of the generalization is proceeding apace. the question of direct and indirect information is problematic in itself. nowadays people can experience the world on two contradictory planes simultaneously, that of information and that of actuality, love on film and love at home. actuality and information vie for precedence, and this often triggers an irreconcilable clash between reality and illusion. modern man loves marilyn monroe more than he does his wife. that is what makes people so passive, so submissive, so acquiescent these days. they are no longer brought out of themselves. they are no longer needed. (extracts from a text by otl aicher, 1988 )