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PHENOTYPE
Sinclair Brazier
This project is an experiment in designing towards spiritual utility, creating a technology that enables an interactive and transformative relationship between user, object, and environment through poetic modes. It seeks to explore the function in enchantment - how experiences of mysticism and magic may catalyse radical transformation in the world.
It draws heavily from the written thesis work entitled ‘Alchemical Design and the Theatre of the Future’, and the name Phenotype is chosen to reflect this. A phenotype is the physical expression of genetic data in living organisms. In abstract terms it is the actualization of virtuality. In this context the Phenotype project is the practical manifestation of theories, finding alternative ways to communicate the concepts of the paper beyond academic writing and to a wider audience.
The result is a multi-object with many constituent parts and functions, made to operate as a ‘spiritual modelling apparatus’: a framework which allows experimental interactions of ritual and play.
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Sinclair Brazier
Gastropod/artist/alchemical designer from Zimbabwe.
Where do you see yourself in 20 years?
Growing the concepts of alchemical design in collaboration with talented creative, making an impact and rupturing old orders.
What is a good design for you?
It very much depends on the context, but I feel most excited by designs that charm and enchant as well as serve their purpose… substances with souls.
What was the most challenging experience during your studies?
The limited access to facilities during the pandemic and the university bureaucracy.
Who or what inspires you?
Things that are other, things that challenge, things that glow. My influences are a constellation, i could never describe them singularly.
How do you approach a new project?
Dissolving, coagulating and conjoining the things around and inside.
What advice would you give to students who just started studying in your programme?
Have trust, stay perceptive, be open.
Have you changed during your studies? How?
My art became more designerly and my design more artistic. Now the borde rs between the two aren't so clear
Why did you choose to study in your programme?
I felt the practicality of design would benefit my career, and the environment of Berlin would connect me to a creative pulse I have been drawn to for years.
What are you not going to miss in your studies?
Early morning classes and strange glares from business students in the cafeteria.
How are you going to celebrate your graduation?
Visiting my partner in NYC.
