009: multiple hands
What is interesting to me about this newsletter (and hopefully what is also interesting for everyone reading) is that they're really sharing the seeds of larger explorations. Seeds that often get buried, sometimes even forgotten, are instead getting some shine. Studied Hands is a graphic that I made a while ago, just trying to learn how a program works, long before design would actually pay the bills! It was also the beginning of a camera obsession journey that'll be outlined soon enough here.
Multiple Choice, a recommendation from my dear friend Annesha (who has an excellent newsletter!), is a short work of fiction wrapped in the format of a multiple choice exam. The book is great. And it fits in with a larger research project on interactive fiction that'll unravel in the coming years, but I'm grateful to have a space to share some thoughts here and now. In fact, all the essays that go into forms/fragments are part of larger projects, zines, anthologies, blogs, books, etc. that have yet to reveal themselves.
Another one from the vault. I found this editorial ad for the Olympus OM-1, a camera I'm quite fond of...more on that in the future, and tried remixing it in a few colors. Then I applied a few different overlays, crops, and distortions to both see how it looks, and as a way to learn more about Illustrator. It's interesting how a formal, utilitarian ad design becomes something a bit more intriguing with time, and some simple transformations. Free from their original purpose, a new life begins.
To call Multiple Choice, a book styled and read as a standardized test, a game would seem perverse. Standardized tests are often associated with an arduous, painful process, a stressful experience rather than something pleasurable or rewarding like a game. Not to mention, even though the core premise of multiple choice tests is one of choices, the effect seems to be the opposite. Standardized tests feel like a binding contract with an illusion of choice, you can pick your poison as long as you drink it.