Syed Hasan Abbas 

What did you want to accomplish/achieve with your project?

For my project, I wanted to use visual storytelling to share my feelings of fear in relation to power structures of the modern world in order to empathize with anyone who might feel the same way or establish an understanding/compassion with anyone who might not feel the same. My approach to my design project was not as much empirical but perhaps more shamanistic and that is one of the reasons storytelling has been at the core of my design project.

How has the process been?

In the design process, I developed a story and a visual style using theoretical foundations in metaphysics, hermeneutical understanding, and my educational/professional background in Fine Arts, animation, and illustration. Metaphysics is a branch of philosophy dealing with ideas and concepts that has little to no basis in reality. On the other hand, hermeneutical understanding, is an alternative method to process data based on questions and answers, in contrast with systematic/logical analysis practiced in scientific research. I found theories in metaphysics along with hermeneutical approach to design, closer to the shamanistic nature of storytelling. And I used this theoretical foundation in my design project to raise questions (within myself) that are more philosophical than mathematical; questions that add to my understanding of fear in relation to the power structures, instead of just confirming my point of views or third party scientific data.

What could this mean for society?

In terms of social, cultural, or historical importance, my design project is concerned with the functions/dysfunctions of power within established social and economic structures. My fears in relation to power structures lie in the connection I see between power structures and some of the world problems that concern me, such as prevalence of war, refugee and immigration crisis, and constant degradation of the environment. I believe power is an extremely volatile phenomenon and if centralized within social structures, it can be used to favor a small group of people over huge populations. And as I see it, that is how social structures have evolved over the years through globalization; instead of growing as fluid sustainable structures, our social structures are turned into rigid power structures.

What have you discovered along the way?

Through my design project, I realized that the views on power structures can be different depending on the background of each individual. In the age of globalization, it appears to be that more people from different backgrounds will be seeing each other a lot, and I believe storytelling can be utilized in bridging those differences through sharing, understanding, empathy and compassion.

In my design project, I practiced research through design, where I used methods based in metaphysics and my skills as an animator/illustrator, such as free drawing, writing, and animation, in order to understand and visualize fear. And with my research findings, I established key visual and story elements that I used in an animated sequence in order to capture the essence of fear through visual storytelling. Moreover, I collaborated with a music student, Jung-jae Kim, from Grieg Academy to compose an original soundtrack for this animated sequence.

What was the result?

Gallery