Le Corbusier | Mill Owners' Association, Ahmedabad

Blackness

Black is not a color... it is beginning to dawn upon our generation. There are shades of blackness that define us as a human race that constantly get defined and redefined as part of political processes that shape our culture and our perceptions of us and the 'others'... Jean Paul Sartre wrote in 1944: "l'enfer, c'est les autres" (The ' other' is hell), in "No Exit " however, our generation's quest is not to find an exit but to open doors.... Doors to perception and change.... Change is fueled by 'blackness' not as a perceived tool but as what defines the collective contemporary consciousness in the 21st century. We are ready to define the 'otherness' by redefining ourselves as a human race - represented not as a 'crowd' but as an individual consciousness that contributes to the larger 'us' as a collective culture - We do not 'exit' not because of the fear of the unknown, but because of what can be attributed (as in Garcin's desire in the play by Sartre) for validation that he is not a coward - each one of us is not a crowd.

The ‘otherness’ is now new ‘blackness ’….. Blackness used to be defined as the degree to which an individual, regardless of their ethnic background, is sympathetic to or a part of the mainstream African-American culture. But now, that is being put into another context and being redefined as an almost ‘colorless’ blackness under globalizaion and changing definitions of mariginalization. Blackness at times, is a brand… as presented to us by the media. It is not merely a political tool, but it is also a process that transcends color, race, ethnicity or intellectual orientation. It is at once expressed as power and powerlessness as strength – epitomized by language and its use. It is visual and pure blindness simultaneously.

Photography

WORDS: Legible | Visible

Words are legible, definitely; that is the purpose for their existence and why we invented them in the first place but we designers forget at times (though we use them as such) that words are also visible and at times audible... if you can strike the right notes... Another beautiful aspect about written word that is lost is about its tactile quality. Since the Gutenberg, we no longer touch 'words' as they are now printed as opposed to being carved, engraved or constructed.... That is why I think Brail is beautiful because it is a language of touch that touches you… Years ago, Victor Hugo wrote in “This will Kill That” about the ill effects of the printing press… describing the fear that the printed word would kill architecture, will replace our need to record history through great buildings, architecture and the sculpted, constructed word…. People no longer would need to visit historical places, buildings that incorporated and recorded history, culture and time itself through built words, paintings and sculpture… I am not sure if the printed word has actually killed art of architecture or not but is has definitely deprived us of the visual and tactile qualities of the word….

At their best, words are hieroglyphic and pictograms that perpetuate a meaning or two and are grossly abused for their multiple meanings or used effectively to seduce and be persuasive. In today’s technologically advanced and visually obsessed world, they have taken over our lives and have become bits and bytes that pixelate our imagination. Reading is constantly confronted by seeing and scrolling... while words float over and across the screen trying to draw our attention or distract us from reality as they bend every form of what is real. They have always been that way, actually! - But still, words are beautiful, however treacherous they may/can be... and as designers, we are always going to use them to seduce, persuade or dissuade; but more than anything else, never lose sight of the fact that they are 'visual' and graphic and can be used not only to tell a story but to also paint pictures....

‘Spaces between’, Oh the interludes!
Squeezed between words, silence hurts

Words turn my imagination into
A magical, legible, audible landscape.....