Blank Space

By Sofia Bonfanti

Topic: Personal Data

Medium: Book

Institute: Politecnico di Milano

Year: a.a. 2023-2024

I easily get distracted: during conversation, walking down the street, while reading. Blank Space recreates the experience in which the rhythm of reading is interrupted by external input like notifications, ideas that pop out and links found. The distractions are visualized through white spaces that shift the underlying text based on the number of words that could be read in that time span. The project aims to provoke a reflection on the meaning that we associate with our daily distractions: does it result in a loss of time and meaning, or is it an opportunity to discover something else?

Featured image of the project Blank Space Complementary image of the project Blank Space Complementary image of the project Blank Space

Metaphor used:

The metaphor captures the reading experience in which words are read without being fully understood. Essay → a text that has continuity and requires attention to be understood Missing words → words that have been lost because distraction led me elsewhere Essay with gaps → the reading of the text is compromised because some parts are missing

Intended Meaning:

The distraction is visualized as a white space, interpretable on one side as a 'gap' and on the other as 'free space.' The user is encouraged to reflect on their relationship with it: does it result in a loss (of time and meaning), or is it an opportunity to discover something else?

Source:

Distractions found during one day (November 27) of searches on the web. The data were extracted from personal Google Chrome history.

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Featured image of the project Blank Space
Complementary image of the project Blank Space
Complementary image of the project Blank Space

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