The reference becomes the proof, the comfort blanket, the way to sell in an idea to stakeholders who fear risk . But when the proof is always something already familiar, the outcome can only ever be a variation of what we’ve seen before.

research itself has to be reframed. It can’t remain a matter of collecting what looks good together on a slide. The point is to look for what interrupts it. Research at its best is digging for undercurrents: overlooked symbols, overlooked artists, gems in history, overlooked media. It’s about training your eye to notice what feels unresolved, then... See more

research itself has to be reframed. It can’t remain a matter of collecting what looks good together on a slide

Originality won’t come from abandoning references altogether, but really from changing our relationship to them. Offline archives, personal collections, even fragments from outside the visual field, these are ways to disrupt the loop and make space for work that feels alive again. We shouldn’t put the appearance of a deck first, we should think a... See more