white on white ⁰¹

"white on white" - an experimental series of labs presents:

Digital - if (still) yes, then how? Is the world without or with much less social media possible? How human communication would look like then? What would it mean? What are the alternatives?

The spontaneous Zurich get-together on the present and future of human communication, focused on the role of social media in shaping how we perceive, express, and interact with the world.

This après-midi will have a format of a free-flow discussion combined with the elements of the visual dialogue. As part of a brief preparation, please make your own (draft, quick) list of social media pros and cons, and imagine scenarios in which our relationship with these forms of media shifts. The exchange will be guided by ART NOW! Founder and Systemic Transformation Designer, Sylwia Orczykowska.

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"white on white" is an experimental series of labs exploring the multiple dimensions of language and communication, challenging the status quo, provoking questions, and disrupting conventional ways of thinking and doing things to create pathways toward sutainable and regenerative futures.

Why white?

For the human eye, white is the perception of all visible wavelengths of light in roughly equal proportions. When light enters the eye and hits the retina, it activates three types of photoreceptor cells called cones, each sensitive to different wavelengths of light: red, green, and blue. When all three types of cones are stimulated equally, the brain interprets the color as white.

In art and design, white is used symbolically to convey simplicity, purity, or minimalism, which reflects these labs' pursuit to stay open-minded, curious, non-judgemental, explorative. This also highlights its importance as a color often coated with a dense blend of striking colors in modern communication, yet one that could bring a visual pause and open up new possibilities for conveying and receiving information.

But there's more. When white light passes through a polished-glass prism, the different wavelengths of light bend, revealing the rainbow spectrum visible for a human eye: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, and violet. This metaphor illustrates the underestimated richness that can be discovered in simplicity, in slowing down the pace, in acting without acting, and how much can be hidden within the barely seen.

Why white on white?

From a practical point of view, there is no way to see white on white. But we go beyond...

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This get-together takes place in

ZT 4.T06 Seminarraum of Zürcher Hochschule der Künste (ZHdK).

Let's meet shortly before 16:00h around the main entrance of the building.

It is free-of-charge. Please RSVP to confirm your attendance.