The Making

“Triangle Trade” was in response to a visual exercise where the requirements were to install typography in space and make reference to one of the many historical facets found in Providence. This course was co-taught by Lucy Hitchcock and Bethany Johns in the Spring of 2008, the same time I began to think about my thesis topic. Because I encountered unforeseen connections between Rhode Island’s slave trade and current illegal immigration, I chose to go deeper into the research. The more I dug, the more I found. And pretty soon, multiple triangulations started to emerge.

First, I learned about Rhode Islands involvement in the Notorious Trade and how it controlled anywhere between 60 to 90 percent of all slave trade in the United States. Once I learned about the rum, molasses, and Africa's slave trading posts, I drew my own triangles in the streets of Providence. "Trinity Brew House" came to mind because of its triangular shaped logo and because this restaurant/pub is the largest brewery in Rhode Island. Beer and rum, I thought, also have their own commonalities. The question that popped into my head next was inevitable, "How does a place like this reflect Providence's own history; and why the trinity symbol?" The answers were soon brought to my attention by further research. After concluding that the pub and the triangular trade routes shared the same produce and shape, I started to draw more triangles (geometrically and metaphorically). Trinity is a religious word made up of three parts, the trade is an economic term composed of (still working on this part)

At the end, and about a year later, I revisited this project in hopes of tying its loose ends. I went back to my designs and reworked the remaining two quotes. I then got them laser cut out of chipboard, painted them different colors, and then installed them. The two typefaces used were Snell and Din. Snell would later proved to be incredibly difficult to handle because of the large weight contrast between its thicks and thins. Although they seemed extra large on my living room floor, I was hoping the same would occur outside and in the context of the architecture — but his was not the case. The only way one could get a sense of scale was to photograph the quotes next to people because the giant brick walls behind them seemed tiny to the unfamiliar eye. After all the quotes had been installed, and after compiling large panoramas, I resubmitted my file to the printer. This time it would be much larger, almost 3" x 4", and made out of MDF (medium-density fibreboard). I later installed this typographic dessert on the walls of RISD's Graduate Thesis Exhibition at the Convention Center in RI. I call it a dessert because I felt each letter was exquisitely arranged. Its inner delicacy also reminded me of these sweet after-meal companions. Despite its sweetness, the MDF had a bitter ever present taste: it could not hold without some support due to its frail structure, like that of caramelized sugar ornamentations.