THE CPTL -
AN OBJECT STORY

ARE OBJECTS POLITICISED IN PUBLIC SPACE? 

GRADUATION PROJECT,  Video 10’:15”

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My project is concerned with objects in public space, objects that are placed there with the aim of fulfilling a function. It questions their role and the intentions behind them and explores whether objects in public space can be politicised and if yes, in which ways.

 

It starts of by exploring and cataloguing objects and looking further into how they are created or used and by who. This lead to the creation of a graph as a tool that categorises objects based on their intentions and the agents that are involved. The graph is then used to analyse a number of objects and make conclusions about whether they are politicised and how.

 

The findings of this research prove that objects in public space are being politicised and raise questions about the lack of awareness and communication regarding the intentions of objects in public space. These questions act as the driving force for the design process.

 

The aim of the design project is therefore to raise awareness about the lack of communication about objects in public space. For this, film is chosen as a design medium. The three part structure of the film relates to the graph and the research findings.

 

The film takes as a starting point the events of early 2020 and moves into an unknown fictional future, guided by the objects. It includes a series of designed objects that work as props to help speculate about future design scenarios. The scenarios test some extremes of the research findings and explore the context of how objects are introduced in public space and with what intentions.

 

The result is a fictional narrative that balances between dystopia and utopia.