Critical Daily    Critical practice in graphic design

The project “Reflection on Suprémat” was created during my course Critic - Critical Practice in Graphic Design and for the purpose of the annual exhibition of our Department of Visual Communication at AFAD in Bratislava that I was curating. The exhibition was called Designer–Critic–Editor–Commentator and was opened in Satelit Gallery (gallery of Slovak Design Centre) in December 2014. Students during the exhibition were supposed to directly participate in the selection and reflection of projects from former and current teachers/students of the department. 

This project was a textual and visual reflection made by one of the students - Pavol Capovčák. Pavol reflected a data visualisation “Suprémat” designed by student Roman Mackovič in 2011 during the project Visible Data - financing of culture. “It would be even more interesting if Roman Mackovič was while working on this visualisation of the Slovak culture budget inspired by some Slovak modernist painter - someone like Ľudovít Fulla - instead of a Russian painter Malevich…”, says Pavol in his textual reflection. He also included a visual reflection to his installation - he redesigned the original data visualisation designed by Roman Mackovič to have the look&feel of our most famous modernist painter Ľudovít Fulla and presented it in augmented reality. The visitors could scan the QR code on the wall above his text and watch the video on tablet or mobile device.

The exhibition Designer–Critic–Editor–Commentator was presenting the Department of Visual Communication at AFAD in Bratislava as a critical platform and community of graphic designers who see the permanent reshaping of the profession. It showed that department is able to critically reflect the profession itself, social issues and design works that were produced by its students and tutors during the 15 years of its existence.