Mitchell, I Resisting the Algorithm or Chart-junk? Field mapping cultural history using visual metaphor. In: 2CO3: Communicating Complexity 2022 Conference Proceedings . (2CO3: Communicating Complexity, 8-9 September 2022, Department of Architecture, Design and Planning (DADU), University of Sassari, in Alghero, Sardinia, Italy). (Accepted)

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Abstract

UK designers Dorothy have been mapping the history of music culture through their Blueprint series for 10 years. These prints all use a visual metaphor as a structural framework, an approach which can be critiqued as placing artistic preference over informative design. Yet recently their blueprint model has been appropriated by Google Culture and Arts as the interface to an immersive online exhibition Music, Makers & Machines, suggesting a subjective and authorial approach to mapping cultural history which is not only valid but may warrant critical examination. Bourdieu’s Field Theory provides one such critical lens through which to examine visual maps and conceptual diagrams of this type, having been adapted by academics to present interesting ways to visualise in two dimensions the (often) complex mapping of people, artefacts, spaces and organisations across space, time, and concepts. This paper presents a reflexive exegesis of the design of Dorothy’s Blueprints, placing their work in the context of a history of visual mapping and conceptual diagrams, whilst exploring and repurposing ideas related to Bourdieu’s field theory as tools to further the visual analysis of their work, and is supported by interviews with Dorothy’s designer-in-chief.

Item Type:	Conference or Workshop Item (Paper)
Subjects:	N Fine Arts > NC Drawing Design Illustration N Fine Arts > NX Arts in general
Divisions:	Art & Design
Publisher:	Edizioni Nuova Cultura - Roma
Related URLs:	https://ianmitchell.online/
SWORD Depositor:	A Symplectic
Date Deposited:	24 Apr 2024 10:59
Last Modified:	24 Apr 2024 10:59
Editors:	Ceccarelli, N
URI:	https://researchonline.ljmu.ac.uk/id/eprint/22874

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