This week's readings include Rick Poyer's "Art's Little Brother," M/M's (Michael Amzalag and Mathias Augustyniak) Royal College of Art discussion with David Blamey, and Kees Dorst's "But is it Art?"
Art's Little Brother
In this article, Poyer's discusses design's relationship with art. In most examples and instances he cites, art seems to have a higher status than design. This was true even in instances where design and art seemed to mix, like a design gallery or magazine featuring artists, not graphic designers. The article also goes into how different people confronted the differences between art and design, with some people like Judd keeping them completely separate, and some people like Arad who tried to combine art and design. Poyer also mentions how art doesn't necessarily have to beautiful but design usually is. Personally for me, I feel that design is a sort of functional art. While I guess I do prefer beautiful art and hence beautiful or good design, there are many ways to go about designing something, and all of these possibilities could be beautiful. Different designs will come from different people, just like art. I know there is some distinction between art and design, but I feel it is similar to how painting would be different from illustration.
- design was seen lower than art
- however the line between design and art are getting more and more vague
- There are instances in media where art draws from design but art still seems dominant
- design is for practicality and function while art is for the artist's own vision
- Greenberg: "closer to furniture than art"
- Examples of artists/designers
- Donald Judd: kept art and design seperate
- Ron Arad: art in design
- Hella Jongerius: blur art and design
- Tord Boontje: decorative motifs in design
- Stephen Bayley: art can elevate design
- Dunne & Raby: flexible
- Art may resist beauty but Design embraces it
Royal College of Art discussion with David Blamey
In this interview, Blamey interviews M/M about their positions as graphic designers in the art world. M/M don't mind mixing in with the art world, in fact they embrace art and find they it just happens that they are designing in the art world. They state that art and design should respect each other, and recount a story about how their names were erased from a gallery invitation that they designed. M/M discuss some examples where designers would claim they are still doing design even though it looks like they could be artists. They also talk about how the division between art and design is recent and mention Michelangelo. Michelangelo was a designer and artist for the Sistine Chapel, though M/M also say he would be called an artisan during that time. Blamey sums up the interview, declaring some art is as bad as design and some design as good as art. While reading this article, I felt that both parties made sure to make it clear that neither design nor art was better than the other. However, I felt that Blamey did slip up a little, claiming art is as bad as design and some design is as good as art. Why couldn't it be "as bad as art" or "as good as design"? In the last statement he makes he seems to inadvertently favor art.
- Always graphic designers, but in a different setting
- relational aesthetics could be a definition for design
- art and design should respect each other
- design relates more to reality, art can relate or create their own reality
- some designers won't admit they are artists
- division between art and design is recent
- some art is as bad as design and some design is as good as art
But, is it Art?
This article by Dorst quickly mentions design existing in the artist's process and art existing in the designer's process. Once as artist decides what he or she wants to do, their self challenges are like a design problem, while over a period of time a designer can look back and remember their thought process and can see how now to make it better, similar to an artist. I agree with what Dorst has to say, and that design and art must always exist in each other. They are more intertwined than science and math. While their goals may be different, the process towards that goal is still extremely similar.
- art education in the west is focused on personal development
- artist must find his or her own goals
- but once goal is found very similar to a design process
- border between art and design is permeable
- designer can develop his or her goals like an artist
- just a different medium
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