Forms Of Inquiry: The Architecture Of Critical Graphic Design

About

Forms of Inquiry presents architecture as seen through the practice of graphic design. The exhibition highlights work by 20 contemporary international graphic designers who were asked to contribute 'inquiries' into architectural subjects. These self-propelled inquiries have been developed into a myriad of media and forms. The works exhibit a common desire to reframe the circumstances surrounding graphic design practise at the start of the 21st century.

The inquiries are the foundation for a series of specially commissioned A0 prints, which will be interspersed with existing projects. Exhibited works include Paul Elliman's Whispering Walls, a short radio programme to be broadcast from the AA; Jürg Lehni's Hektor, a computer-controlled graffiti writer; and Radim Pesko's Sol Lewitt typeface. Other participants are: Š bäke (UK), Cornel Windlin (CH), Devalence (FR), Dexter Sinister (US), Experimental Jetset (NL), Hudson Powell (UK/JP), James Goggin (UK), John Morgan (UK), Julia Born (CH), Karel Martens (NL), Manuel Raeder (DE), Meta Haven (NL), Mevis en van Dursen (NL), Michael Worthington (US), Project Projects (US), TASK Newsletter/Emmet Byrne, Alex DeArmond and Jon Sueda (US) and Will Holder (UK).

A Reading Room situated in the Front Members' Room will make visible the process of debate and exchange. This open library is guest- curated by eight publishers/designers who will contribute a selection of independent scholarly publications, books and zines, both new and historical, exemplifying graphically driven modes of inquiry from around the world.

The exhibition is curated by Zak Kyes, a Swiss-American graphic designer.
Kyes is Art Director of the AA, faculty member at the London College of Communication and a tutor at the AA. The publication accompanying the exhibition is co-edited by Kyes and Mark Owens, a graphic designer and writer working between Los Angeles and New York and a regular contributor to the design journal Dot Dot Dot.