Comparisons are Dangerous

Dr Austin Houldsworth started out as a student at manchester Metropolitan University studying Interactive Art. During his final year he played with animation and in his own words "blown up various things". To illustrate his displeasure in the Young British Artists he created an animation of a white cube that would eventually blow up. This is where he realised his heart was in design rather than in art.

While studying Design Interactions he worked on a piece called 'Archival Burial' which hypothetically fossilised a human body. I found this really interesting as it seemed more science based due to the topic but I guess there is always creativity behind science experiments.

The main piece of work that he spoke about was 'The Relativists Clock'. It consisted of you entering your date of birth and career of choice. The machine would then produce a list of people who had 'made it' at different ages. This is emphasising that comparisons are dangerously demotivating and success is relative. It shows you can create something amazing at any age, it is never too late.

Once he left the Royal College of Art, he worked on a large scale project called 'Burble'. It was a big installation of 1000 balloons with an LED light inside. It was then placed in the public area and the lights were controlled by the public which I think would have been so amazing to see in person.

Houldsworth then went on to create 'AHaaa' which is a small design company that runs design companies for businesses. It has worked with companies like Barclays and WorldPay, this is great to see as they are brands I am familiar with. The winners of these competitions could also be in for a chance of winning the Future of Money Design Award.

I really enjoyed the uniqueness to his work throughout the lecture. Some of his projects are so obscure and really pushes the boundaries of design. I also want to introduce interactive aspects to my work as it would be amazing to be able to engage with my target audience. This is something I want to look into for future projects.

Much love,

Abs x