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September 09, 2005
networked practice
one of hardt/negri's ideas which would seem to have direct relevance to design in the moment -- and has been briefly touched upon in some posts -- is that of distributed networked structures (pp 79-92).
certainly a "hot" issue in practice these days is less-hierarchical, collaborative process. the "network" is also showing up in design writing/content -- with blogs, wikis, etc; even published writing has taken on a "thought experiment" tone which seems to include the reader. this influence also speaks to the unpopularity of the Rand-mold Art Director in progressive practice, the death/decline of the Big Idea school, and the proliferation of events like "roundtables" and "breakout sessions" at conferences.
this would seem to be an organic shift in professional values that is interesting not so much in terms of how design affects the global, but an abstract reverse. as will put it, "we are the fish who do not know we are wet."
meredith is fond of saying that design has long appropriated the language of war; i find it interesting that (structurally at least), the profession is mirroring the recent evolution of military structures outlined by hardt/negri. i don't mean to suggest anyone has directly appropriated these structures(*). physics teaches us that similar forces on similar objects will yield similar location; the same "global" forces are having effects not just on economic/political/military structures, but on the very nature of our profession, and the structures, tools and methods we use.
during our discussion to date, we have tended to frame the "global/local" in empirical terms, looking at services, products and consequences more than structures; how design can behave/make more responsibly and ethically to affect Massive (or Micro) Change. to those ends, perhaps there is something to learn from studying the unconscious behaviors which may already be in motion.
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*: though, i'd bet their origins can be traced to the Wired/Fast Company view of "new" business in the 90's, which thomas frank might argue did consciously take much from rebellion.
Posted by jay harlow at September 9, 2005 12:03 AM