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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

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@bu_visualarts

@bu_graphicdesign

@bostonpainting

@pmp.bu
@bostonsculpture
@buvisualnarrative

@feral.forms

they/them

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Dharshanya Venkataramananகண்திட்டம்

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Tool use is a defining moment in human evolution. It marked a shift in our biology and thus our abilities—a shift that would fundamentally differentiate us in more and more complex ways from other cognitive beings. To this day, new tools and technologies mark cultural shifts, usher in new eras, and mark the different stages of our history.
Tinkering has always been a huge part of my creative process. My earliest memories are of crafting and tinkering with all sorts of materials and tools. I was, and am, a maker at heart. South Asian cultures have a common understanding of जुगाड़ (Jugaad), the ethos of making do. Jugaad, in my practice, is the essence of questioning the way things are done and trying to devise new ways of doing.
Women in my family have been cooking for decades. They don’t have recipes written down because they don’t even use standard measurements most of the time. கண்திட்டம் (Kanthittam), or eyeballing, is seen as the mark of a true craftsperson. Proficiency with craft and consciousness of one’s tools are both necessary and essential for good, inventive design.

My thesis is a codification of my design methodology and ethos. It is a natural progression of the years of making that have shaped my practice. After trying to learn graphic design, I fell in love with it as a craft. When given a pen, why are we only taught to write with it? What else can it be, other than a mark-making tool? Through the work that has been planned for this thesis, several questions will be attempted to be answered: If anything can be anything, do tools have inherent value? How can subversion become a driving principle of design? How much is there to be explored in the craft that is graphic design?

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