Synopsis: What is Design? explores the aspects of Form, Structure, and Movement through cutout style animation derived from imagery from The Last Whole Earth Catalog (1971-75). This catalog was important in establishing one of the locations where the film was created as a destination for counterculture, intentional communities, and techno-agrarian style of design innovation. The cutout technique and style of What is Design? draws inspiration from such work as Harry Smith’s Heaven and Earth Magic (1962). It seems likely that readers of the Whole Earth Catalog and the experimental animator / anthologist of American Folk music were part of a larger community of like-minded individuals. In keeping with the exploratory scientific feel of aspects of the catalog, all of the individual frames in the film were captured with a microscope. This technique was also chosen in order to preserve the textures and details of the original printed material. The soundtrack is based on audio from Dickson Experimental Sound Film (1894), chosen for the sonic textures indicative of early recording medium and edited in stereo to compliment the visual components in the film.

Bio: Mark Franz is a designer, artist, and educator whose exhibitions and primary research projects involve the creation of interactive installations that reflect on issues of violence, dislocation, and other social constructions important in contemporary cultures. This work has been exhibited at venues including the PhxArtcade in conjunction with The Smithsonian American Art Museum’s Art of Video Games presented by the Phoenix Art Museum in Phoenix, AZ and at the Blank Arcade: Games out of Joint at the Leuphana Centre for Digital Cultures, Luneburg, Germany. Franz’s secondary research involves creating custom hardware and software for audiovisual performance and installation, and references the art historical current of visual music commonly discussed as part of animation history. This work has been exhibited at Pixelerations at the Rhode Island School of Design and Brown University in Providence, RI, the Sydney Non-Objective Sound Program at the SNO gallery in Sydney, Australia, and the New World Symphony in Miami, FL. As an Associate Professor and Chair of the Graphic Design area in the School of Art + Design at Ohio University, Franz teaches courses in Graphic Design, User Experience Design, Animation, and New Media.