A three part interview series for Future Based

Information oversaturation and interdisciplinary solutions

20.07.2021  |  by Augustina Lavickaite  |  Designalism

Future Based is publishing a series of three interviews with key players of Designalism: Stijn Postema, Irene Stracuzzi, and Jasmijn Visser. The interviews highlight the topic of information oversaturation and the approaches to dealing with it.

In the first interview, we talk to Stijn Postema, researching the NWO-funded Ph.D. project 'Artistic Journalism’. He teaches Journalism and Media at the University of Amsterdam and Ede Christian University of Applied Sciences and has a practitioner's background in freelance journalism and visual arts. His unique perspective gives insight into the developments of the two converging disciplines. During our interview, Stijn Postema explores the different approaches to complexity, truth, and trust.

"What we see is that in terms of complexity, the boundaries between professions blur. Especially those who are somewhere in between have a harder time identifying themselves with either an artist or a journalist, but they are makers, they are creatives and they produce about reality, about what happens in real life."

Irene Stracuzzi

In the second of our three-part series of interviews, Italian-born graphic and information designer Irene Stracuzzi, discusses objectivity, interpretation of data, and how to deal with personal information overload. Stracuzzi's work often focuses on geopolitics and cartography for both commissioned and self-initiated projects.

"I think of the complexity of the data we can access. And then the question I ask myself is what is the role of the designer in filtering this complexity and giving it shape and selecting it and making a project that is able to share some of this big data and information."

Jasmijn Visser

Our third interview features Jasmijn Visser, an artist and author, exploring geopolitical conflicts and climate. Instead of simplifying the narrative, Visser uses the complexity of the data to showcase its importance and urgency.

"I always try to build layers, first the visually attractive layer from which you can get deeper and deeper and deeper, but that also when you enter a space or enter the work, that you immediately have an experience. That's also where I tried to combine design with fine arts because, for me, fine arts like to tackle spaces of friction and ambiguities and invisibilities, but the design often tries to show complexity in an accessible or elegant manner."

About the Author

Augustina Lavickaite

Collaborators

Augustina Lavickaite

Design Researcher

Irene Stracuzzi

Interviewee

Jasmijn Visser

Interviewee

Noortje van Eekelen

Creative Director

Stijn Postema

Interviewee