Error Messages

We are inundated continuously with signs, notices, and other directives intended to give warning, present essential information, mandate behavior, or simply provide context in a curious world. Their raison d'étre is to be clear, simple, and unequivocal. This project explores what happens when these indicators are separated from their intended purpose, either by chance, neglect, or a mischievous hand. Signs and signals that should communicate directly and plainly often end up communicating something entirely unrelated, if anything at all. What do we do when we encounter unanticipated ambiguity? How do we process the “huh?” moments that accompany their discovery? Like much of the informational overload that clutters our perceptual operating systems, these transient signals often arrive as Error Messages.