Коммуникация бренда afterplace
PART 1
Communication Theory in the Field of Design
Communication as Meaning-Making
Communication is not a neutral transmission of information. Within contemporary communication theory, it is understood as a process of meaning-making, where meaning emerges through interaction, interpretation, and context.
In design and media practices, communication does not simply describe reality — it actively shapes how reality is perceived, remembered, and discussed. Visual forms, platforms, and narratives function as symbolic systems through which social meanings are constructed and negotiated.
In this sense, design becomes a communicative environment rather than a final message, and audiences are not passive receivers but active participants in the creation of meaning.
Interpretive Paradigm in Design Practice
This project is grounded in the interpretive paradigm of communication theory.
From this perspective, meaning is not fixed or embedded within an object, image, or text. Instead, it is produced through interpretation and interaction between communicators within specific cultural and social contexts.
Design, therefore, does not deliver a single truth. It creates conditions for interpretation, ambiguity, and dialogue. This approach is especially relevant when working with memory, loss, and absence — phenomena that resist clear representation and definitive narratives.
Communication Theory as Analytical Framework
To analyze and structure this project, we rely on Robert Craig’s understanding of communication theory as a set of traditions — not as rigid rules, but as analytical lenses.
Among these traditions, three are particularly relevant for design and media practices working with memory and disappearance:
• the socio-cultural tradition • the semiotic tradition • the critical tradition
Together, they allow us to understand communication as a social practice, a system of signs, and an ethical position.
PART 2
afterplace — Presentation for a General Audience
What Is afterplace?
Afterplace is a public laboratory and media platform that explores how absence, loss, and memory can be made visible through collective artistic and research practices.
It is not an archive, not a documentary project, and not a traditional exhibition. Instead, Afterplace functions as a continuous process — a shared space for observation, reflection, and interpretation.
Making Absence Visible
Rather than reconstructing or restoring what has been lost, Afterplace works with absence itself.
Absence is approached as: • a trace • a rupture in time • a visible gap
The project does not aim to fill this gap, but to make it perceptible — to allow space for attention, reflection, and multiple interpretations.
Why a Media Platform?
Afterplace exists primarily as a media channel. Social media is used not as a promotional tool, but as a contemporary space of memory. Its fragmented, process-based nature allows the project to unfold gradually, through sequences, repetitions, and pauses.
In contrast to the fast consumption typical of digital platforms, Afterplace proposes a slower mode of engagement — one that encourages sustained attention rather than instant understanding.
Audience and Participation
Afterplace is designed for a niche community interested in contemporary art, research practices, and questions of memory and disappearance.
The platform encourages dialogue and participation through: • comments and discussions • open calls • invitations to contribute artistic or research material
Participation is not framed as engagement for visibility, but as a form of shared responsibility in meaning-making.
PART 3
afterplace — Presentation for a Professional Audience
Designing the Media Environment
The media design of Afterplace is not conceived as a decorative or branding layer.
It functions as a communicative environment that shapes how meaning unfolds over time. Design decisions are intentionally aligned with the project’s theoretical framework. Visual restraint, fragmentation, repetition, and the use of pauses are not aesthetic preferences, but communicative strategies. They structure attention, slow down perception, and resist immediate interpretation. Rather than prioritizing clarity, efficiency, or instant legibility, the media design supports ambiguity and duration. This approach allows absence to remain unresolved and visible, rather than being simplified or explained.
In this sense, design operates as a methodological tool. It organizes the conditions under which collective meaning-making becomes possible, transforming the media platform into a space of research, reflection, and ethical communication.
afterplace as a Method
For professional audiences, Afterplace can be understood as a methodological framework. The project operates as a public workshop that rejects the idea of a single authoritative voice. Knowledge is produced horizontally, through collaboration, discussion, and the coexistence of multiple perspectives.
The process itself becomes the primary outcome.
Working with Absence
Absence within Afterplace is treated as an active communicative element.
Through a semiotic lens, absence functions as a sign: • fragments suggest what is missing • empty spaces mark temporal rupture • abstraction resists closure
These strategies allow absence to remain present without being resolved or aestheticized.
Media as a Communicative Environment
The media platform functions as an environment where meaning is continuously negotiated.
Content is structured through: • series and cycles • repetition with variation • coexistence of text, image, and silence
This approach reflects communication models that emphasize process, feedback, and relational meaning rather than linear transmission.
Ethical Position
Afterplace maintains a clear ethical stance.
The project does not: • speak on behalf of others • romanticize loss • transform trauma into consumable content
Historical research is presented through invited local authors, while the project team focuses on artistic and interpretive practices. This separation ensures respect, transparency, and ethical responsibility.
PART 4
Communication Theory as the Basis of the Project
Socio-Cultural Perspective
From a socio-cultural perspective, Afterplace functions as a social practice of memory.
Meaning emerges not from isolated artifacts, but through interaction between participants. Memory is understood as something that is continuously produced, negotiated, and transformed within a community.
Semiotic Perspective
Through the semiotic tradition, the project treats images, fragments, and abstractions as signs. Absence becomes communicable not through representation, but through visual strategies that point to what is no longer present. Meaning is generated through interpretation rather than explanation.
Critical Perspective
The critical tradition informs the project’s ethical and political position.
By refusing authoritative narratives and fast consumption, Afterplace challenges dominant modes of representing memory and loss. It proposes slowness, uncertainty, and openness as alternative communicative values.
Result
Afterplace demonstrates how communication theory can function as a practical design tool.
The project positions communication not as a message, but as a space — one where absence can be acknowledged, memory practiced, and meaning produced collectively.
Griffin, E. A First Look at Communication Theory
Craig, R. T. Communication Theory as a Field
Course materials: Communication Theory: Bridging Academia and Practice
Archival materials related to the site
Artistic documentation from the laboratory
Contributors’ works and research materials
