A Formal Analysis
Douglas Escalante
A Formal Analysis is an analytic book based on a simple premise, that the search for meaning creates more meaning, ad infinitum. The impetus for this inquiry arose out of an interest in the way we as humans perceive and discover meaning.
A Formal Analysis is then a demonstration of a system through which the meaning of any visual object could be understood. If followed in its entirety, the system allows you to conceptually take apart an object and study each of it’s visual elements in isolation. The objective is to study each element thoroughly, allowing you to achieve a deeper understanding of what that object means as a whole. A Formal Analysis is then a demonstration of this system and the kinds of understandings that can be achieved with it. In other words, the book is a physical representation of the system.
Not only does this book serve as a collection of examples, but it takes the system one step further in making connections between different visual elements that the system only considers in isolation; again leaving you with a more holistic understanding of the object. And while this system only considers objects free of context, the book allows you to consider each element of those objects with other outside elements in mind; providing context and expanding your understanding of the object as a whole.