Zwischen fünf und neun

In Die Geschichte der Unschärfe (The History of Blurring) Wolfgang Ullrich describes the assumption that inner psychological circumstances cannot be represented. Anyone who thinks that “one can describe or depict an inner image like an apple, [...] and anyone who thinks that an image or a photograph can correspond to a memory or an idea seems to be ensnared by these metaphors and (is) a victim of a fixed idea.”

It is not only the earliest life experiences that can only be told through vague memories. This blurriness of words in the attempt to verbalise memories is not dissimilar to the subjectivity of design in creating form out of a concept. If language is a limited tool for communicating remembrance, then design is only an approach, a perspective to develop content and to try out subjective methods for communicating it. This ideal connection between creation and the act of remembering grounds the focus on memory in the work 7±2, i.e., to allow a certain degree of ambiguity and obscurity, and even further, to meditate with. The motivation behind this publication comes from the conviction that books function both as a medium to show as well as to convey content – while remaining closely linked to the subjective experiences of the designer.