Methods of Organization

Collect / Classify / Categorise

Introduction

2020 has been a strange year so far — we find ourselves living through a new reality of self isolation and social distancing due to the far reaching effects of the COVID—19 pandemic. This new reality will frame and inform this project; the tools you have access too, the things you have around you and the wonderful ideas you have inside you, will all be utilized in how you approach the brief.

We surround ourselves with a multitude of ‘things’; from books, to clothes, to objects we display, to the numerous photographs on our phones, to the stuff we keep in our drawers, to the items in our cupboards, to the things on our walls, etc. All these ‘things’ reveal and communicate who we are, what we like, our beliefs, ideologies, ambitions, hopes and desires!

This project is a prompt to reconsider and interrogate these ‘things’, and how we can reimagine, reconsider, understand and extract information from them, and how we can organise, classify, categorize, curate and present them.

The information architect and designer Richard Saul Wurman developed the idea of LATCH as a method of organising information. He stated: “Information may be infinite, however… the organization of information is finite as it can only be organized by LATCH: Location, Alphabet, Time, Category, or Hierarchy.”

Do you agree with Richard Saul Wurman’s statement? Or are there other ways of organizing information? How do you in fact organise information? And what is the relationship between ‘things’ and information? Over the course of this project we intend to find out! 

Brief

Each week you will be invited to produce an ‘outcome’ based on a prompt. The format of the ‘outcome’ will be based on the tools and materials that you have access to. You will document, record and evidence all that you do in a consistent and structured way. Each ‘outcome’ and supporting process work is to be uploaded onto the Information & Systems blog.

In addition you will be put into groups of 6, to provide each other with regular support, feedback and encouragement. Each week you are to check in regularly with your group, via Zoom, WhatsApp or another platform. In your groups you will review and comment on each others work that has been posted on the blog.

The Structure

— Week 01: Collect
— Week 02: Catalogue
— Week 03: Curate
— Week 04: Converge
— Week 05: Exhibit

THE SCHEDULE

Week 01 — Collect
Tuesday 14 April, 14.00—15.00
— Platform Brief goes live!
— Group tutorials on Blackboard Collaborate
— 45mins tutorials with small groups
— The ‘Collect’ task goes live
— Completed and uploaded to the I&S blog by Thursday 14th April @ 12pm
— Feedback to your groups work by Monday 20th April @ 10am

Week 02 — Catalogue
Monday 20 April, 10.00—13.00
— Blog feedback & review session
— The ‘Catalogue’ task goes live
— To be uploaded by Thursday 24th April @ 12pm
— Feedback to your groups work by Monday 27th April @ 10am

Week 03 — Curate
Monday 27 April, 10.00—13.00
— Blog feedback & review session
— The ‘Curate’ task goes live
— To be uploaded by Thursday 30th April @ 11:59pm
— Feedback to your groups work by Monday 4th May @ 10am

Week 04 — Converge
Monday 4 May, 10.00—13.00
— Live feedback session via Bb Collaborate
— 45mins tutorials with small groups
— The ‘Converge’ task goes live
— To be uploaded by Monday 11th May @ 10am
— Feedback to your groups work by Monday 11th May @ 10am
— Map out your journey through the project, and reflect upon the how you felt the project went, this is also to be uploaded by Monday 11th May @ 10am

** In addition please upload your outcomes and 100 word caption to the Information & Systems Are.na channel in preparation for the Open Studio! Please upload before 10am on Monday 11th May. **

Week 05 — Exhibit
Monday 11 May, 10.00—13.00
— Open studio in Are.na
— Review, comment and reflect upon all the work produced.

THE references

• Giorgia Lupi & Stefanie Posavec: http://www.dear-data.com/theproject
• Mona Chalabi: https://monachalabi.com/projects/data-visualisation/
• Richard Saul Wurman: https://www.wurman.com
• Information Anxiety: https://parsonsdesign4.wordpress.com/resources/latch-methods-of-organization/
• Paul Elliman: https://frieze.com/article/taken-wonders
• Bernd Becher and Hilla Becher; Water Towers: https://www.tate.org.uk/art/artworks/bernd-becher-and-hilla-becher-water-towers-p81238
• Sol LeWitt: Variations of Incomplete Open Cubes: http://socks-studio.com/2016/06/15/irrational-thoughts-should-be-followed-absolutely-and-logically-sol-lewitts-variations-of-incomplete-open-cubes-1974/

the groups

Group 1
— Em Brooks
— Freya Kirk
— Filipa Alves Faria
— Miao Su
— Simiao Long
— Alena Zavarzina

Group 2
— Luke Davies
— George Macland
— Hannah Amsellem
— Sunghyun Shin
— Maria Lukoianova
— Wangjia Zou

Group 3
— Megan Glover
— Chase Nash
— Ana Costa Bomeny
— Pilar Leite De Faria Melo Gouveia
— Xue Tian
— Shizhao Zhou

Group 4
—Laura Hawkes
— Macey Roberts
— Lili Fourmestraux
— Puthimart Naothaworn
— Amanda Tiong
— Meixun Zhou

Group 5
— Flora Hay
— Shaydell Ryan
— Ceni Gulnihal Yesilbahar
— Gyuri Kim
— Elizaveta Manoshkina
— Siting Yao

Group 6
— Jasmine Key
— Ismail Sanusi
— Polina Litvak
— Han-Chun Lin
— Kina Yim
— Susanna Montaner Messori