Index of Intangible Selves
Isaac Jung
isaacjung.work@isaac_jung_
It might seem unnecessary to rationalize or doubt the magical, unknown workings of the mind—how we become who we are, what we are made out of, and why—and this is in fact a deeply personal inquiry that springs out of my anxiety, uncertainty, and fear on how much I surrender myself to the unknown, unregistered, uncontrollable parts of myself and my surroundings. Some might deeply appreciate this spontaneous, wild beauty of life. However, for me, it manifests as fierce combat on a battlefield that constantly dislocates my identity, memory, and language—the need to recollect the past and register the present is inextricable. Index of Intangibles Selves is a design system that constructs my understanding of who I am. It is a continuous record of how I try to remember, grasp, and transform my transient, unresolved self-image as well as an introspective instrument that helps me access and assess them once they have drifted away. Through process-driven experimentation of modifying various visual, acoustic, and writing systems, I synthesized a new mode of expression that recollects and registers my identity (as performance), memory (as emotion), and language (as poetry). Its creative output serves as anchor points that offer a moment of contemplation that brings clarity and empowerment. In this project, graphic design is not only explored in a deeply personal context of meaning-making but also as a vehicle of comprehension and a tool to construct materiality (fabricated, tangible, and external) that demarcates impalpable boundaries.
