Codex : code X : a palimpsest reading of the book as a material object in a new media age

摘要

This research investigates the effects of new media technologies on thearchitecture of the book in the context of a New Media Age. The aim of theproject was to develop a Conceptual Framework for the design and production ofthe contemporary book as a material object. The materiality of the contemporarybook is examined by revisiting its historical origins in the Middle Ages, to discoverthe extent in which the ‘new’ media technology of mechanical printingdetermined the design and production of the fifteenth century book. Parallels werethen drawn between these effects and those of digital technology on the book inthis current New Media Age. The results revealed the book as a palimpsest, whereremnants of ‘older’ media remain embedded in the design and form of the ‘new.’While fundamentally situated in the field of graphic design, the study also venturesinto the disciplines of architecture and the semiotic theories of Umberto Eco andGunther Kress. The design of the research includes historical and theoreticalanalysis, case studies of selected contemporary book objects and a series of studioinvestigations into the space, form, techniques, processes and materials oftraditional and contemporary book construction. The theories and designpractices of William Morris, implemented in the studio investigations, includedresearching the origins of book production in the fifteenth century and thetraditional hand technologies of papermaking, printmaking and bookbinding.New media investigations included experimental work with laser etching and theembedding of printed, paper pages in porcelain.A synthesis of the theoretical and practical research findings, was then interpretedas semiotic conceptual matrices, from which a Conceptual Framework wasconstructed. Conclusions drawn from the study reveal the design of the book as apalimpsest of past technologies that remain embedded in the design of thecontemporary book. As a material demonstration of the thesis, a series of three dimensional conceptual models were developed as reading sites informing thedesign of contemporary books as palimpsest readings of the book as a materialobject for the New Media Age.