Parsons School of Design
BFA Communication Design
Thesis 2022

Pieces of Process
Oriana Teitelbaum Zwerdling

Productivity is defined by today’s world as one’s ability to produce work. We restrict producing to financially or academically-beneficial terms; who can complete the most so that they can make the most back? This colloquial understanding of productivity however, comes from the exploitation of the literal definitions of productivity: “having the quality or power of producing especially in abundance” or “doing or achieving a lot: working hard and getting good results.”

Pieces of Process is a year long exploration of what it means to be productive on your own terms. Over 5000 individually assembled parts are brought together to produce traditionally accepted forms of art and design: catalog, painting, and sculpture. Rather than spend a year creating these works, a year was spent assembling the parts needed to make the work; in the form of puzzles, Legos, and Perler beads. These activities are hobbies, activities we do because we enjoy the process of doing them and gain a sense of personal satisfaction when they are completed. We are not rewarded by employers or professors, but by ourselves.

By producing in abundance through untraditionally “productive” means, Pieces of Process forces one to question their perception of productivity. Who is defining what is productive for you as an individual? Whose values are informing what you consider a good use of your time? But perhaps most importantly: if you value your own happiness, do you apply value to the activities that bring you happiness?

Eesha Agrawal

Paul Ahern

Aishah S. Ahmad

Luna Alatorre

Nadia Alhejailan

Seher Anand

Maren Hannah Anscheidt

Kayla Marie Isabelle Areglado

Zeynep Atik

Vee Authari

Amaya Avila

Vlora Bajrushi

Sophia Beceiro

Ilan Belokon

Madeline Benfield

Sophia Bevacqua

Sia Bishnoi

Tarra Boroumandi

Paul Brock

Sofia Cacho Sousa

Eunice Chan

Malini Chandra

Jacey Chen

Jamie Chen

Nico Chilla

Samantha Chun

Erin Clausen-McGee

Stephanie Cui

Chenguang Deng

Claire Dong

Shaanzya Dongre

Miranda Elder

Adelai Evans

Elizabeth Fan

Nicho Ferez

Emiliano Flores

Emily Force

Logan Frances

Jen Fu

Juriel Furukawa

Chloe Gad

Camila Giraldo

Avni Goel

Jess Gooding

Amanda Guo

Ethan Halpern

Aijia Hao

Nathan Harrison-Bokor

Meini He

Ashley Heo

Olivia Hepner

Joy Hsu

Yuhan Hu

Diwen Huang

Leanne Huang

Xinyi Huang

Dakoda Hughes

Hana Jacobsen

Emma Jaeger

Zeid Jaouni

Vivian Ji

Zhiyuan Ji

Hyunji Jo

Avery Kang

Simran Kanwar

Nicole Kapper

Sarah Kendric

Ashley Kim

Kyutae Kim

Sarah Kim

Veronica Kim

Nitya Kumar

Ivy Kurniawan

Danielle Lair Ferrari

Hana Lanzkowsky

Yea Sun Lee

Yingyi Lei

Cecily Li

Weihe Li

Zimo Li

Vivian Lin

Yiwen Lin

Kai Ling Kelly Liu

Zi Yun Liu

Nora Lombardo

John Luo

Patrick Yang MacDonald

Germaine Mai

Rachael Mattison

Arman McLean

Alex Mi

Ayesha Mirza

Noyonika Nath

Staicy Ngongu

Khe Nguyen

Helen Niu

Calvin Ogden

Sonya Olomskaya

Aly Orescanin

Alina Osborn

Hyunji Park

Min Jung Park

Albert Parson

Carmen Pleitez

Emily Popovitz

Haiqingqing Qi

Amaarah Rahman

Audrey Razak

Olivia Ries

Daniela Rodriguez

Eva Roso

Erin Rusek

Elizabeth Shavrick

Disha Shetty

Freeze (Jiating) Shi

Sophie Shron

Alisa Su

Haozheng Sui

Ziyi Tang

Oriana Teitelbaum Zwerdling

Ren (Karen) Thomas

Zachary Tinubu-Karch

Brigitte Ugarte

Julia Vidal

Tia Wagh

Stephanie Wang

Zhanyi Wang

Ali Waqar

Mary Wedd

River Wildmen

Duncan Williams

Amy Wong

Jiayi (Cassie) Xu

Shuming Xu

You Xu

YoonJi Yang

Allison Yick

Yejoon Yoo

Shamail Zahir

Arianne Zhang

Victoria Zhang

Regulus Zhao

Xinyi Zhao