INTRODUCTION

“Ongoing Matter” is a traveling, multi-platform collection of contemporary print and augmented reality poster designs that mobilize political engagement with the Report On The Investigation Into Russian Interference In The 2016 Presidential Election, or as it is more colloquially known, The Mueller Report. Co-created with Anne H. Berry of Cleveland State University, the goal of this project is to make The Mueller Report more accessible to a wider audience, and subsequently facilitate increased engagement with its findings. An exhibit of over forty posters have been designed to illuminate the major threats to democracy as cited in The Mueller Report. Currently, the collection travels around the United States (so far, eight exhibitions have occurred). Additionally, a digital platform showcases the artwork in an effort to prompt interactive engagement and participation with The Mueller Report from both designers, creatives, and members of the general public who may not be able to view the exhibit in person.

BACKGROUND

The Mueller Report, in its current form, is opaque. Not only is its verbiage difficult for an average citizen to parse due to its legal vernacular, but it is poorly designed: important information is squirreled away in annotation and entire pages are blacked-out due to redacted content. According to the Special Counsel for the United States Department of Justice, these effaced pages would cause “Harm to Ongoing Matter.” Our work, titled “Ongoing Matter,” directly references this obfuscation and seeks to illuminate the literally impenetrable. 

There is a need to clarify what is documented in The Mueller Report and respond to what is continuing to come to light in the aftermath of the 2016 U.S. election. The Mueller Report lays the foundation. However, despite its magnitude and the dissemination of its content via books, news reporting, and podcasts—and despite the general public’s interest in it—the length and overall layout of the report is a barrier for digesting the information. As a result, the average American citizen may not be aware of the gravity, significance, or substance of the information contained within. As the 2020 presidential election approaching, it is more important than ever that the average American understands what occurred in the last election cycle.

In 2022, Ongoing Matter integrated real-time digital animations with a user's real-world environment. The AAHD Gallery at the University of Notre Dame was the first to exhibit Ongoing Matter with augmented reality.

Read more about the Ongoing Matter project on AIGA’s Eye on Design op-ed article, "Making Public Information Actually Accessible to the Public is the Responsibility of Designers," co-authored by myself and Anne H. Berry of Cleveland State University.

www.ongoing-matter.org

This project was partially supported by Indiana University’s Arts and Humanities Council, the New Frontiers in the Arts & Humanities Program, and the Office of the Vice Provost of Research at Indiana University Bloomington through the Grant-in-Aid Program.