Authenticity in a Visual World

‘Authenticity’ may be a “hoax” (Andrew Potter); and is certainly a hype. This particular term appears everywhere: in the art world, tourism, the marketing industry, fashion, and in UNESCO cultural world heritage sites. Not only does a work of art have to be authentic, but the artist as an individual is also expected to be so. This is an expectation which seems to extend to all of us. Experiences, products, adventures, body and mind all fall under the umbrella of ‘authenticity-pressure’, as designers continually strive to design with the imperative of being authentic: real, true, approved, honest, reliable, credible and trustworthy, not false, not fake, not untrue. We are living in a ‘visual world’, saturated with imagery. Confronted by an abundance of pictures without reference or context, one can only respond subjectively, following inherent (unconscious) selection and aesthetic rules. How do graphic designers as specialists in visual communication find ways of staging authenticity - and at the same time remain authentic to themselves? This dissertation features interviews and contributions by: Åbäke, Adrian Shaughnessy, Daniel Eatock, Design by Desire, dbyd, Eine, Herbert Lachmayer, Katie Scott, Sagmeister&Walsh, Scott King, Teal Triggs, Zulu Tattoos The full transcript of this writing is on: http://rca.academia.edu/KaiMatthiesen Thanks!!

The full transcript of this writing is on: http://rca.academia.edu/KaiMatthiesen

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