Discourse: Secondary Conversations Through Twitter

Twitter is a bit of a tricky thing to explain. It’s been described as “micro-blogging,” an instant way to proj-ect opinions and information to the world wide web. Anyone can sign up for an account and begin “tweeting” thoughts and ideas that are limited only by length: 140 characters or less. Twitter at its best forces wordy people to be succinct in their descriptions and use their words strategically. When exercised appropriately, it offers a unique perspective into an individual’s life.

Some people use the platform to connect with friends, oth-ers network with peers and colleagues, market any product they’re selling, and document short moments in time. Twitter can be whatever the user wants it to be, and there’s a great variety of content published every second of the day.

As a digital form of ephemera, I’m interested in removing tweets from that rapid context and placing them a more per-manent realm. This requires the dedication of considerable effort that far exceeds the energy exerted when that tempo-rary thought was generated and published.

Josef Albers explored the interaction of colors throughout his career, particularly how context influences our perceptions of color and meaning. Colored stencils provide a literal frame of reference through which a viewer can interpret a saying based on their point of view. When holding the object, no two viewers will have the same experience; each will connect with the stencil and thought in a different way.

This is ultimately a very personal process and project, and my experience differs greatly from anyone else who might undertake something similar.

These ongoing narratives allow me to render what I see on my Twitter feed in a very individualized way. How am I pro-cessing the information people project, and how will I interpret it? How then will the viewer interpret it? Together, we begin to look at social media and these constant streams of informa-tion from a fresh perspective.

Process Each time I logged onto Twitter for a series of four days, I copied and pasted the first tweet listed in my personal feed into a waiting document. I then sifted through the results to select four that conveyed the variety, randomness, and attitude of an individual who uses Twitter on a semi-regular basis. After designing the tweets digitally, I printed them and adhered them to a mid-weight cardboard for cutting. It was at this point that I intuitively selected colors to partner with the phrases. The colors were chosen based on personal knowledge of the individual and general attitude of the tweet. Once painted, the stencils were ready to interact with viewers in any environment.

Just as the intensity of a color differs on two different backgrounds, the interaction between the stencil and its varied surroundings affects the assumed meaning of the original idea.

@reynolds_kyleFinding out that Lost isn’t new tonight has ruined my day.12:51 // 04-27-2010 // Manhattan, KS // personal friend

@fchimeroYou say “methodologies” I say “doin’ stuff.”16:57 // 04-27-2010 // Portland, OR // designer, illustrator

@alisondivinoChicago or home for the summer? Don’t like that I have to make this decision.20:49 // 04-27-2010 // Chicago, IL // personal friend

@rosenboyit’s really happening!23:02 // 04-29-2010 // Chicago, IL // designer

Discourse was created in conjunction with Anna Kunz's Spring 2010 Color Strategies course at Colum-bia College in Chicago.

Type was set in ITC Franklin Gothic and Caslon.