Chaos and Precision is an Exhaustive, Perpetually Incomplete   Archive of the Graphic Design Practice of  Riley Hooker


Hooker’s work moves across graphic design, independent publishing and art—emphasizing close collaborations with artists and architects. The name Chaos & Precision is an axiom for design, rooted in the belief that chaos is the neutral state of the universe, and that precision is a more compelling counterpart to chaos than order—which can be used devisively to reinforce social hierarchies, for instance. Using this as a (flawed but) working model for an approach to design, Chaos & Precision strives for a 21st c. realism where clarity is realtive, not absolute. A viewport, cut through the chaos of waking life, even if fleeting, is preferable to the unstable promise of lasting order.

In 2012 Hooker co-founded the graphic design studio This is our work until disbanding in 2015 to launch Façadomy —an independent publishing project which explores paradox and desire as fundamental elements of liberatory thinking. Hooker’s writing and editorial work has been featured in PIN—UP Magazine, The Architect’s Newspaper, and the Walker Art Center’s design blog “The Gradient.”

In the spring of 2022 Hooker presented SIT(UATION) a mutable, reading environment that pulls from collective intelligence and multisensory education, comminssioned by the ICA in Richmond on the occasion of the the exhibition Misread Unread Read Re-read Misread Unread Re-read (MURRMUR). In the spring of 2022 a solo presentation of Hooker’s video and installation work was shown in the exhibition Doing Language: Word Work, curated by Nontsikelelo Mutiti and Egbert Vongmalaithong at the ICA in Richmond, VA where they have also lectured and lead a 24-hour Halloween workshop titled “DEATH WISH.” In winter of 2021 Hooker held the technology residency at Pioneer Works in Brooklyn. Hooker’s collaborative work with queer artist collective “House of LaDosha” was featured in Trigger: Gender as a Tool and a Weapon at the New Museum in New York in 2018 and has been exhibited internationally since.

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CLIENTS
(In no particular order)

Yale Graphic Design
The Community, Paris
Tom of Finland Foundation
BOFFO
The Kitchen NYC
The National Academy of Design
Van Alen Institute
Virginia Commonwealth University
Anonymous Club
Performa
Storefront for Art and Architecture
Wonder Press
Capricious
Creative Time
MIX NYC
Recess Projects
Pioneer Works
YARDY WORLD
Milkbar
Park Avenue Armory
The Architect’s Newspaper
PIN—UP Magazine
Walker Art Center
Canteloupe Records
The New Museum
Studio MORSA
RISD
Brown University
Stanford University
COLLABORATORS
(In no particular order)

New Red Order
May Kim
Phobebe Kerr
Maria Chavez
Rush Jackson
Rahul Shinde
Juliana Huxtable
Christopher Udemezue
Maria Petschnig
Christian Velasquez
Nontis Mutiti
Nicole Killian / Nico Fontana
Paul John / Endless Editions
Sami Sikinas
Rosen Tomov
Zoe Breszney
New Red Order
Ignacio Gatica