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ABOUT

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GRAPHIC DESIGN

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PAINTING

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PRINT MEDIA & PHOTOGRAPHY

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SCULPTURE

%

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VISUAL NARRATIVE

x

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@bu_visualarts

@bu_graphicdesign

@bostonpainting

@pmp.bu
@bostonsculpture
@buvisualnarrative

@________CORE

they/them

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Ren Lanzi________CORE

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In the realm of graphic design, a new concept emerges: ________CORE.

Acidic, belonging, chaos, culture, decentralization, emotion, filling space, interaction, queer. Whatever nouns, verbs, or adjectives imaginable are a possibility and a perfect fit to accompany this multidisciplinary ethos. Each word serves as a brushstroke on the canvas of my graphic design thesis, challenging societal and design norms and beckoning those who seek refuge from the confines of tradition, conformity, and the ordinary.

Born out of the lived experiences of a nonbinary POC navigating a predominantly white and cishet society, ________CORE arises as a safe haven—an endless web of communities where one can enter and bring to light their true self. It can act as the ambiguous middle stage of a rite of passage, offering a sanctuary for ideas, thoughts, WIPs, and trial and error.

________CORE is a design manifesto of decentralization and experimentation: creating spaces for new experiences, emphasizing the importance of S.T.E.A.M. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math), and encouraging interactivity between the artists, the art, and the audience. My thesis endeavors to decentralize graphic design norms, challenging Western and Eurocentric customs with an unconventional and experimental approach to make design more inconvenient as a form of play, testing the five senses, making a controlled variable uncontrolled, and removing control entirely from the artist is just the beginning.

The results aspire to inspire those to challenge the routine and embrace intuition, utilizing ________CORE as a visual narrative, a science experiment, and an inquiry to disrupt and reconstruct. The objective is not just pedagogical—it reaches into the realm of self-discovery and identity, extending beyond the artist to the audience. So now I ask, how should we begin to dismantle the enigma behind what makes and who is “an artist”?

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