Virtual Typography

6.2

6

Job:01212 Title: Basics typography (AVA)

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The signifi cance of ambiguity: 6.2 Time-based ambiguity

6.1 The medium and the message 6.3 Ambiguity and memory

Time-based ambiguity

In the context of virtual typography, a typographic code

reveals itself gradually, as typography emerges from an

abstract and potentially random graphic pattern. This

means that the typographic nature of information initially

remains hidden. The gradual reduction in disorder is

slowed down to such a degree that the recognition

process happens progressively. Depending on the

amount of time delay and on the viewer’s readiness to

commit him or herself to the perceptual process, this

can lead to either the viewer’s frustration or to a sense

of aesthetic pleasure. Contemporary media, such as

television, often confronts people with information faster

than they can decode it. The struggle for immediacy of

information transmission defi es the possibility of aesthetic

perception. With virtual typography, the process of

transition can be paced to engage the viewer more

intensively in the communication process.

A code, such as a typographic message, that does

not clearly expose itself right away, constitutes

ambiguous information. Semir Zeki, one of Britain’s

leading neurologists, claims that ‘we are only conscious

of one of the interpretations at any given time’, even

if several interpretations are possible. This can be

experienced when looking at ambiguous images, the

visual impressions of which fl ip constantly between two

possible states. The kind of ambiguity that is inherent in

virtual typography is, however, fundamentally different. As

the level of ambiguity changes over time, the guessing

process is future-orientated. The question ‘What is it?’ is

replaced by ‘What will it be?’ This is why the perception

of virtual typography requires a progressive interplay

of recognition and interpretation, which lends virtual

typography its intriguing quality.

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