Structure & Substance — Matthew Edgar
Channel: TypeCon
Date: 2019-05-07

Recorded during TypeCon2018: Xx in Portland, Oregon

Shortly after completing my BA in Graphic Design in 1990 I travelled to London at the invitation of my then external examiner. He lived in Camden Town, North London, a few doors down from the expressionist painter Frank Auerbach. His name? Ken Garland. Through his design practice, critical writing, and teaching, Garland has been a continuing influence on my approach to teaching design and typography. As I turn 50, Ken is entering his 90’s. Garland has been a prominent visiting lecturer to the course I lead at the Sheffield Institute of Arts. Alongside my colleague Pam Bowman we have curated exhibitions of his photography, writing and more recently his life in collaboration with Unit Editions. For the past 5 years we have been returning to his home and studio in Camden to record interviews for a documentary we are making. The conversations we have with Ken help connect history, theory and practice for us. They inform our curriculum, challenge our assumptions and transform our teaching practice. The presentation will show extracts from the interviews we have conducted, examples from the exhibitions we have curated and attempt to map Garland’s considerable influence.