The politics of interdisciplinarity: an interview with experimental jetset

This article transcribes an interview with the Graphic Design collective Experimental Jetset from Amsterdam, Netherlands. The interview was responsively structured, with three famous quotes from revolutionary critical theory guiding the discussion; one from Karl Marx and two from Walter Benjamin. These quotes suggest that disciplinary specialism is a consequence of the capitalist organisation of society and that interdisciplinary or collectivised practice is the method for achieving radical social change. The interview considers the ramification of this suggestion for the contemporary visual communicator. It also considers the distinctions between art, design, theory, practice and politics today, and how a creative design practice can be sustained at the intersection of all the above. The interview, which started out as an informal e-mail exchange and retains the orality of that dialogue at times, has been slightly revised to fit, under a process of co-authorship, within the conventions of a scholarly academic journal. References and brief commentary have been added in parentheses only when the author thought it might be helpful for readers outside the field of art and/or design.