Writ In Water
Writ In Water is the Master Thesis of Jack Tufts from Rhode Island School of Design’s Graphic Design MFA program. Digital Copy Here
Abstract:
This thesis celebrates impermanence; that all things are transitory, in a perpetual state of flux. Yet the idea of place is a perception that endures; it is what we carry with us.
Here lies this thesis, Writ In Water.
On the surface, there is a layer of impermanence: fragments dispersed, dissolved memories, words washed away. Water is a medium for memory, carrying the ephemeral debris on the surface. I take what the water gives me, reaching in to pull out the remains to build a home, for wherever the water takes me. I gather fragments as a form of place making — rooting attachment. What coalesces becomes itself anew. This process of collecting and accenting allows me to understand and situate myself in the context of what remains. What arises are spaces for others to participate — to remember, to share stories, and to be a part of something larger.
To acknowledge the fragmentary play of memory, the book elements drift between time and space across 25 signatures. Streams of layered thought flowing across the landscape of the work.