Looking into the Constructs of a Magic Shitshow. Part 018 The Rhinoceral Bodywork of Design History

How do the modernist myths and illusions at the core of design maintain its colonial, sexist, Eurocentric and universalist values, despite critical attempts at addressing these consequences? Researcher, writer and editor Maxime Benvenuto draws on theory, auto-ethnography and discursive research in order to explore how design history and institutions perpetuate a commodification culture that conditions the field and discipline. The research is presented through a staged reading that draws a parallel between design history and the history of representations of the rhinoceros in Europe. It highlights how, without critical assessment, such descriptions and attributes continue to grow more aggrandized and mythical with each retelling.