Metaphorical Measurements

Metaphorical Measurements is a visual clarification of the measurements involved in some 30 of the Olympic and Paralympic sports, which will be produced as pulp book and as posters 

Metaphorical Measurements, led by George Hardie, Professor of Graphic Design, University of Brighton.

Metaphorical Measurements is a visual clarification of the measurements involved in
some 30 of the Olympic and Paralympic sports, which will be produced as pulp book and as posters to be exhibited at Jubilee Library, Brighton as part of the group show at University of Brighton.

George Hardie - Metaphorical Measurements University of Brighton Faculty of Arts

George Hardie - Metaphorical Measurements University of Brighton Faculty of Arts

 

This ‘clarification’ is achieved through metaphors deploying a full range of British cultural imagery and language, for example:

  • The 4 x 400 m women’s relay is run in the time it takes to boil a soft-boiled egg - the image; an egg in a spoon.
  • An image labeled; The Shot Put - the image might show a proportion of a truckle of Stilton cheese being thrown over a row of 2.5 Routemaster double-decker London buses
  • A re-designed marathon presented as a list of famous streets and roads with historic/cultural  names from all over the British Isles whose lengths add up to the required 26miles and 385 yards.
  • High-jump; Jumping over two sets of the Penguin edition of the Complete Works of Shakespeare, plus a set of the History plays, and four copies of Macbeth (from the same edition.) As an example; the words might match those above but the image might be jumping penguins rather than a pile of books.

George Hardie - Metaphorical Measurements University of Brighton Faculty of Arts 

All are based on distances, heights, lengths, times, accuracy, speed, creativity, points, faults, Olympic records etc. Imperial measurements to be used throughout, with a comparison chart attached for Metric readers and each page will have a real fact (an Olympic record for instance) as a footnote.

Monday 5th to Monday 19th July 2010, Metaphorical Measurements installation at Jubilee Library, Brighton and Friday 9th to Saturday 31st July 2010, group show at Grand Parade Gallery, University of Brighton.

George Hardie - Metaphorical Measurements University of Brighton Faculty of Arts