Chicago Schools: György Kepes and Function in Design

Abstract

Professor Golec (SAIC) gave the second of our four Chicago Lectures. Evaluating the work of György Kepes, Golec exposed a more intricate exchange than previously assumed between the Chicago school of design and the Chicago school of psychology. In this context, multiple senses of the term “form,” together with Kepes’ reinterpretation, were closely scrutinized. Here, we feature Professor Golec’s full lecture notes. The section titles were chosen by the editor. What follows reflects Michael Golec’s ongoing engagement, since 2003, with Kepes’s theory of “dynamic iconography.” Golec’s most recent installment of this project is “The Dematerialization of Complexity, Dynamic Iconography, and Iconic (Past) Futures,” forthcoming in Bauhaus Futures (MIT Press).