Abstract:
"Seeing is forgetting the name of the thing that one sees." Paul Valery This thesis began with an inquiry into the design process. It is not so much about theory as it is about coming to know myself and my own design process better. What follows is a journey through a series of projects tied together by their exploration of perception, process, and the translation of their conceptual ideas into tangible things.Beginning with the idea of inspiration, I found that some of the most powerful objects in our environment are also the most familiar and, because of that, the least noticed. My interest began with objects such as television sets, light bulbs, grain elevators, steel bridges, and the Indiana landscape (also a man-made thing) and led to a fascination for the materials and connections from which these things are constructed. These utilitarian objects possess a powerful image in both a sculptural and cultural sense, a quality often overlooked due to the banal stereotype assigned to them. Perhaps it is precisely that reason that I believe these things require a second glance.In these pages are contained five projects acting as a medium in which to explore the previously mentioned issues. Beginning with a process exploration starting with a light bulb and culminating in a bed and breakfast inn set in down town Louisville, the projects take theirinspiration from a series of utilitarian objects and materials and question the process of translation from idea to tangible product through perception and communication.
