Date of Award
Spring 5-22-2026
Document Type
Thesis
Degree Name
Master of Arts (MA)
Department
Furniture
First Advisor
Lothar Windels
Second Advisor
Amy Devers
Third Advisor
Jamie Wolfond
Abstract
I view design as a series of gestures: actions through which ideas are processed, refined, and communicated. Barbara Tversky, an American psychologist, describes gesture as a way of thinking through action, where movement becomes part of how understanding is formed (Tversky). In this sense, gesture is not only a means of communication between people, but a way of understanding and responding to the world through action.
My process begins with noticing—observing things in the world and returning to moments that hold a particular quality or possibility. Many of the things that draw my attention carry traces of movement or manipulation: evidence of pressure, use, or transformation. Observation acts as my starting point, creating the conditions from which ideas emerge.
These observations become material for investigation. Through prototyping, gesture becomes a way of processing and understanding an idea. Through reduction, it becomes an essential movement. Through the final object, it becomes communicative again—returning to the world as something that invites interaction, interpretation, and response.
This thesis traces my process, from observation to object. The resulting body of work aims to create objects and furniture that invite moments of attention, curiosity, and delight.
Recommended Citation
Dagan, Lieyah, "Huh? Wow!" (2026). Masters Theses. 1615.
https://digitalcommons.risd.edu/masterstheses/1615
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