System, Suspension, Seduction: Anne Bush's Critical Design Practice

Abstract

For the past decade, in additional to her contributions as a design historian, theorist, educator and professional designer, Anne Bush has created works of installations art that engage their viewers in a set of questions about the role of design in the construction of knowledge. Façade (1995), "Type" Specimen (1998), Trust (2002), and Library/Catalogue (2003) all fuse typography with a range of materials that have become fundamental to human interactions with each other and the environment — including banknotes and the basic tools of scientific research such as microscope slides, test tubes and books. With these installations, Bush constructs conceptual way-finding systems that operate on both large and intimate scales to orient the visitors not only to the specific details of the spaces in which the works are installed, but also to the general systems of demarcation, classification and control that shape our comprehension of our world.