Summary: | 博士 === 國立臺灣師範大學 === 美術學系 === 102 === This article aims to link the “modernization” in cultural third world’s graphic design (Taiwanese graphic design in particular,) to the colonization and orientalism under certain historical circumstances, using the concept of decolonization, anti-colonization, and anti-authority in postcolonial literature. Furthermore, as an artist devoting in art decolonization, this article describes how I observe, analysis, and avoid all kinds of colonization in design creation. As a final climax, this article aims to fundamentally subvert the necessity of design modernism, and by returning to the tradition of “nationalize for art language,” to obtain a design representation and cultural interpretation different from the common modernism in design. The article would be written in first person to strengthen the immediacy of self-expression.
The level of contribution of this article would have to base on three assumptions on cultural awareness. First, we agree that, from WW2 till now, Taiwan’s social development is a progress from colonization to post-colonization. Second, under the first assumption, we agree that all cultural and artistic developments in Taiwan are influenced by the modernization due to colonization and post-colonization; in fact, the modernization even strengthens the level of cultural colonization. Third, we agree that graphic design is not just a business service, but also a part of art, and therefore, it must reflects part of the colonization mentioned above. Only under these assumptions would the objective of this article make sense, and would the discussion of whether Asian graphic design should decolonize meaningful. To strengthen my argument, I propose to study this issue through postmodern historiography, postcolonial discourse and decolonoial discourse, which would be further established through various literature review throughout the article.
In the following, I present various concepts such as “necessity of decolonization in graphic design,” “design is a literary stance,” “design method is the objective in itself,” “oriental symbols in modern design is a representation of orientalism,” “transcend of calligraphy from pure language,” “revolution from design modernism is the top priority in design decolonization,” “solving problem is not a must in design but an intrinsic cultural burden,” “language could not be isolated in the nationalize for art language” and “finalization in sketch is a rebel from design modernism;” they represent my cultural ideology, as well as my path back to tradition. This article could be viewed as self-review of my own design, of how I connect my own artistic development and belief, to an anti-colonial designer that constantly fights against globalization and cultural capitalism in this extreme era.
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