On the Impulse to Notate — Lydia Chodosh

Lydia Chodosh is a independent designer, educator + writer based in Brooklyn, New York. She holds an MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design and currently teaches at Parsons School of Design in New York. Her practice is grounded in language, critical research and conversation. Present and past collaborators include Condé Nast, Harper's Magazine, RISD Museum and Walker Art Center.

Selected Work
On the Impulse to Notate
To read is to
Supersaturated
Artifactual Accumulations
Interior Atlas
Artifacts of Countability
Spore Site
RISD GD MFA Biennial
Clock Studies
Translations of Gratitude
Harper’s Magazine
2025 © Lydia Chodosh

Book Design, 2024
On the Impulse to Notate

On the Impulse to Notate includes original writing composed in 67 notations, curated art-historical research in 297 images, 12 anonymous letters, an index of 28 projects and six interviews with individuals on the subject of craft, namely poet Henri Cole, graphic designer Isabel Seiffert, and contemporary art curator Jeffrey De Blois. 480 pages in length, the first half of the book favors an open poetic syntax, while a comprehensive index takes up its second half. This system speaks to the manner in which the author collects and aggregates information, constantly shifting its frame. You can download a digital pdf of the book is from the RISD Fleet Library or read from the book’s digital translation at notations.xyz.

Advised by Paul Soulellis, Angela Torchio, Cem Eskinazi, Alicia Cheng, with notable support from Anne West, Bethany Johns and Pouya Ahmadi