This book doesn’t offer the reader what its title promises. It is not a method in the sense of a handbook or operation manual. It is rather a travel guide, albeit for travellers who already have reached their final destination. In the first part of METHOD, the traveller is a ‘mover’, setting himself into motion to change the world according to his plan. In the second part, a ‘perceiver’ follows the mover in his footsteps and meticulously reports ‘us’ on it through views. ‘We’ in our turn, receive those views and forge them into new concepts and plans. Because we are also ‘movers’, who want to travel and change the world. We have come full circle.
The title METHOD is derived from the famous work
La méthode graphique (1878) by the French physiologist E.J. Marey. He has been the first to put to practice the principle of making motions visible through cinematographic means. Just like Marey’s method, METHOD aims to be working like a film. It wants to transport the motions of the ‘mover’ before the readers’ eyes phase by phase, like film stills on a film tape.
In order to do so, the perspective of both dramatis personae in METHOD, the mover and the perceiver, is kept extremely flat and close. Likewise, all headwords in the field of motion and perception are interpreted literally, and expressed in so-called language-views. METHOD has been written to put these language-views in words.
Dick Raaijmakers (Maastricht, 1930), technical engineer and one if the founding fathers of electronic music, published De methode (translated as Method) in 1985. De methode dealt with the application of the machine as medium and the role of movers and perceivers within a communication process in a poetic and analytic way. Method is a important vision that investigates communication at the start of a new technological era and is relevant for anybody who looks for an innovative and creative aproach of our (technological) culture.
Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei, artist, linguist, and PhD candidate in philosophy at the European Graduate School (CH) studied the work of Raaijmakers and translated De methode into English.
Graphic design:Remco van Bladel
Funded by: Stroom, Den Haag
Supported by:Lecturis, Eindhoven, Blatan Laboratories, Eindhoven
ISBN: 978-90-78454-35-9
384 pages, black and white
Cover is available in all primary colors!
Printed at:
On Thursday, September 24th, Onomatopee guest curates a special edition of BALTAN goes NATLAB dedicated to the English translation of Dick Raaijmakers’ ‘De methode’ by Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei. Presented in the former Philips NatLab at Strijp-S in Eindhoven, this session will act as an historical inspiration for present day multidisciplinary approaches to technological culture.
Dick Raaijmakers (Maastricht, 1930), technical engineer and one if the founding fathers of electronic music, published ‘De methode’ (translated as Method) in 1985. ‘De methode’ dealt with the application of the machine as medium and the role of movers and perceivers within a communication process. ‘Method’ is an important vision that investigates communication at the start of a new technological era and is relevant for anyone looking for an innovative and creative approach to our (technological) culture.
Vincent W.J. van Gerven Oei, artist, linguist, and PhD candidate in philosophy at the European Graduate School (CH) studied the work of Raaijmakers and translated ‘De methode’ into English. During the presentation, he will present the findings of his research. Additionally, students of the Artez Art Academy Arnhem will present a series of graphic interpretations of Method, hosted by their teacher and Onomatopee designer Remco van Bladel (NL).
