The exhibition “unleashed: Early Explorations of Interactive Media in Visual Communication Design” was presented at Museum Tinguely in Basel in October 2024 . The e-catalogue makes the content of the exhibition available.
The exhibition “unleashed: Early Explorations of Interactive Media in Visual Communication Design” was presented from October 3 till October 20 at Museum Tinguely in Basel in October 2024 . The freely available e-catalogue makes the content of the exhibition available.
The exhibition catalogue presents early explorations of inter-active media created within the context of visual communication design in the 1990s and the early 21st century in Switzerland.
Many of these explorations were originally created in the context of education in visual communication design and have not been accessible for some time. Due to technological shifts, they had to be retrieved through elaborate processes, transferring outdated file formats onto more recent computer systems. This effort was necessary to make them available again as interactive applications or, at least, as screen recordings viewable on today’s computer platforms. The retrieved applications and recordings provide insights and allow for the reconstruction of early interactive media explorations from the perspective of visual communication design. These works are juxtaposed with projects from the arts and with more recent explorations of technological developments in the context of generative AI and virtual reality.
The selection of works presented does not provide a comprehensive overview of explorations within the stated time period and context. Rather, it represents an incomplete result of practical media archaeology, making certain projects visible while others are still waiting to be retrieved. Nevertheless, the accessible elements of this archive enable “a conceptual and practical exercise in carving out the aesthetic, cultural, and political singularities of media”, as Jussi Parikka has described the approach of media archaeology.
The exhibits shown in the e-catalogue are framed by an introduction by the curators Annette Sschindler and Michael Renner and four essays by Stefanie Bräuer, Zach Lieberman, Teresa Dillon and Gilles Rouffineau.
The exhibition was supported by Pro Helvetia, the Basel Academy of Art and Design, Alliance Graphique Internationale (AGI) and hosted by the Museum Tinguely in Basel.
The e-publication has been designed by Siiri Tännler and is hosted by electrfd.net, initiated and realized by Esther Hunziker.