| dc.description.abstract | This thesis identifies and characterises a particular kind of temporal typography in which
verbal forms exhibit behaviours that have been identified by Eduardo Kac as ‘fluid’ , and
fluctuate between the verbal and pictorial or abstract. A typology will be constructed which
identifies the various behaviours by which fluidity is exhibited, and provides terminology
for their analysis, accompanied by analysis of how these behaviours address the
relationship between the commonly distinct paradigms of verbal and pictorial signs.
The work identifies the distinction between fluidity and other forms of kineticism, and
explores the various behaviours exhibited in fluid artefacts. When addressing local
kineticism, gaps in existing research are filled by employing terms and observations from
other fields. For example, Kac offers the term ‘fluid’ in description of his holographic
poetry, which exhibits behaviours much like those presented in some examples of screenbased
temporal typography. This thesis proposes that Kac’s term, ‘fluid’, may be adopted
in order to differentiate significant local change in verbal forms from the various other
kinds of kineticism observable in temporal typography. Fluid behaviours are identified in
examples including Martin Lambie Nairn and MPC’s Channel 4 idents, the credit
sequences of Kyle Cooper, and the typographic animations of practitioners including
Komnios Zervos and Dan Waber.
This thesis demonstrates that the existing discourse surrounding temporal typography has
been held back by a failure to make distinguish between global kineticism (effecting
layout) and local kineticism (effecting individual characters). The distinction between the
global and the local is considered vital in studies of perceptual organisation, particularly
Gestalt psychology. By providing a coherent typology, and consistent terminology, this
study has the potential to positively influence understanding and analysis of fluid
characterforms. | en_US |
