Celeste Edwards is a multidisciplinary designer of American heritage, born in Paris, France. She is a graduate of the Graphic Design Communication BA at Chelsea College of Arts, where she developed an interest in Editorial Design and publishing. Her work aims to combine words and images, inviting the public to find new ways of communicating.
Celeste Edwards
My practice mainly revolves around photography and questioning our relationship with images in the context of our heavily saturated visual culture. Through my work, I strive to question and understand the role I play as a designer in creating even more images.
While photography constitutes the core of my work, during my time at the RCA there has been a shift in my focus towards exploring the impact of words on one’s mind. In my research project, I wanted to understand the power of reusing one quote in various contexts, and how it can affect the viewer’s perception. As both a consumer and producer of visual content, I aim to understand my role as a designer in instigating change and sparking thought. Consequently, I am trying to push the boundaries of language, exploring its endless possibilities.
An attempt at exhausting a quote is an experiment and a collection of diverse publications highlighting different ways of encountering one same quote.
A collection of experimental publications which reuse the quote over and over again in different ways.
Blue and Yellow Publication, Digitally Printed,Coil Bound, 250 x 353 mm, Recycled Paper, 115 gsm
Blue and Yellow Publication, Digitally Printed, Coil Bound, 250 x 353 mm, Recycled Paper, 115 gsm
Black and White Publication, Coil Bound, 353 x 250 mm, Recycled Paper, 115 gsm
An attempt at exhausting a quote – A collection of smaller publications riso printed
Red Publication, Screw Bound, 88 × 125 mm, Recycled Paper, 115 gsm
Blue Publication, 3 Hole Pamphlet Stitch Boun, 94 × 14 mm, Recycled Paper, 115 gsm
Blue Publication, 3 Hole Pamphlet Stitch Bound, 56 × 14 mm, Recycled Paper, 115 gsm
I am intrigued by the idea of reusing an image until its full potential is exhausted. Similarly, I have been experimenting with words, seeking to provoke new perspectives and interactions. In a world of constant visual consumption, I strive to encourage a step back and a re-engagement with the present. Can we encounter a quote in a fresh way through various reinterpretations? How can we reshape our interaction with words and visual images? My research project explores the experimental connection between images and words. It investigates through iteration the power of using a single quote to exhaust words, unlocking numerous narratives and expanding the limits of language.
Through visual and theoretical exploration, I seek innovative ways of communication and reimagining encounters between images and words. By guiding the reader through specific ways of reading dictated by the publication's format, I encourage alternative understandings of the image-word relationship. Alessandro Ludovico, in Post-Digital Print: The Mutation of Publishing since 1894, discusses how the format of paper influences our reading experience.
I am interested in exploring what unique qualities traditional publications offer in our post-digital era, as they provide stability amidst the volatility of digital media saturation. In an era dominated by digital replication, I am also fascinated by the quest for uniqueness and the authenticity of each piece. My work delves into the complexities of visual content in the post-digital era, examining the authenticity and permanence of objects like books.
Medium:
PublicationSize:
various formats
Digital collage of 110 scanned A4 prints, 231 x 297 cm
Stop motion, 22 sec
Here, I wanted to explore what Walter Benjamin refers to as 'the original copy' in The Work of Art in The Age of Mechanical Reproduction.
I printed the word “visual” from the original quote I had chosen and replicated it by repeatedly photocopying the copy of the copy until it gradually vanished. The outcome was both unexpected and peculiar, prompting me to create an animation as a fitting mean to observe the word’s gradual transformation.
Medium:
Mixed Media
Photographic Prints, Tracing Paper, Screw Bound, Various sizes of paper
Receipts, Coptic Stitch Bound, 70 x 180 mm
Digitally printed, 74 x 105 mm
Riso printed, Hand Sewn, 20 x 210 mm
Experiment, Digitally Printed on Tracing Paper, Various Sizes
For this experiment, I wanted to explore different materials and unconventional ways of bookbinding to extend my vision of how a book can be defined. Through both my visual and theoretical research; I am exploring new ways in which we can communicate, and can rethink ways of encountering images and words. And by suggesting to the reader a specific way of approaching the book, I encourage the reader to find alternative ways of understanding images in relation to words.