Nomadism of Imagery and Contemporary Design Culture

With its impromptu pervasiveness, the image has taken on enormous strength today, mitigated only by its own “inflation” which can generate a sense of confusion. Thanks to the diffusion of images through the web, today’s designers have a wealth of images at their disposal. The paper poses open questions, concerning how the designer’s sensibility could be developed, focusing on the value of the image as a vital force for the project. On the basis of the revolutionary method of Aby Warburg, which freely links images from different contexts, places and times, the article investigates the effective and potential influence of the iconic turn on contemporary design research. Visual studies affirm the autonomous epistemological value of the image, recognize its deep surface and its strength as imagines agentes. Exploring this context, the article presents in its closing part an exhibition by Diego Cibelli, mixing ancient iconography and contemporary themes, digital and material technologies.