Michael Ryan likes to create works which spring from a more content driven direction. This implies taking on issues sometimes with a political or social context and harnessing graphic and typographic devices to create a form of visual commentary on events in the media. He likes to examine various forms of cultural manipulation with the intention of putting such issues under a form of ‘spotlight’.
These activities coming from someone with a graphic design background might be thought of as running contrary to the commercial status quo which pervades all client driven business serviced by the design industry. However, it has become increasingly common to find designers using their ‘graphic voice’ to flag up issues worthy of attention for no financial incentive and purely altruistic motives,
This ‘graphic authorship, as it has become known, is the driving force behind Ryan’s ideas and he offers a further definition in the description of his activity as a form of ’visual journalism’ – the activity of being a reporter of events and issues outside of the normal media domains and in the form of graphical
re-arrangements of words and language, often using the ‘book’ as vehicle.
On a more esoteric level, Ryan is interested in various forms of
re-interpretation in poetry and literature. He is currently working on a number of new projects on the theme of ‘circle’
Further reading:
See Rick Poyner: Eye magazine (several)
Noel Douglas; Eye Magazine January 2008