The death of the author

"The explanation of a work is always sought in the man or woman who produced it, as if it were always in the end, through the more or less transparent allegory of the fiction, the voice of a single person, the author ‘confiding’ in us" - Roland Barthes

In his essay Barthes emphasises that "the removal of the Author [is] not merely an historical fact or an act of writing; it utterly transforms the modern text".

"To give a text an Author is to impose a limit on that text, to furnish it with a final signified, to close the writing."

"by refusing to assign a ‘secret’, an ultimate meaning, to the text [we are liberated]

"the birth of the reader must be at the cost of the death of the Author."

This essay was written in 1977 - The author obviously still exists - such a nihilistic statement - if taken literally would ultimately result in destruction. The driving thoughts, however, are in fact very appropriate to my investigation and how this relates to design.

I've been away from blogging for some time and there was an interesting point in Chris' investigation posted on the main blog about what constitutes "good design".

-Perhaps we are placing to much trust into the design community to create "good work".

What I mean is that the residents designers of our glossy mags and expensive coffee table books have been given authority through their success. Perhaps this is why I was so eager to rant on about Stark and "rashit". There is something fundamentally wrong with a community rewarding products that exclude such a vast consumer base. Products created with an exclusiveness that give the customer a feeling of significance - a Mark Newson Doorstop.

Modern Design has its roots in craftsman and artisans fulfilling a need, however, the current state of design has resulted in the establishment of a less significant emotional need, with the primal physical need that gave birth to it forgotten.

I must stress, however, that the work of Newson, Starck, Lovegrove does not completely represent design as a whole - far from it as the majority of design we experience is in fact authorless. Some my most cherished objects (my guitar/watch/wallet) are enjoyed without knowledge of its creator.

It is disappointing, however, that the community is placing authorship (through these famous designers) on a discipline that is driven by authorless creations.