Out-of-language. And forming a practice

Abstract

Softening the borders of design has become a close subject of mine. It grew organically through my efforts of understanding signals between plants, my own families history and the struggles of the communities I am embedded within, which reflect broader social and ecological issues. This Master's thesis is about forming a practice in researching, writing and publishing that can explore entangled issues in and out of language In the effort of finding new words that can hold this in-between, I turn to zines as a tool for expressing and sharing these reflections. Particularly the mode of sensing and thinking through zining has become a core practice of mine that allows for working with complexities that lay in the unknown. Gifting intimate zines to the smallest public, friends, family, close communities and collaborators, is a radical form of publishing with no editors, no rules. My interdisciplinary work on complex issues between design, ecology, and community becomes a tool for transformation as translating them through zines opens new perspectives. Especially in disciplines I interact with like biology, urban planning, anthropology and economics, new words can help shape friendlier worlds.