Musings at the Cooper Hewitt, 24-February 2004
Enjoyed an exhibit focusing on the debate over the relationship between Art and Design which is finally coming to fruition today. Thought I would share some juicy tidbits to tweak your brain. All but Wilde are contemporary designers:
OSCAR WILDE: I have found that all ugly things are made by those who strive to make something beautfiful and that beautiful things are made by those who strive to make something useful.
JOHN CHAMBERLAIN: Everything is functional or why make it? And if you don’t believe in arts function, why do you think so many people for centuries came to believe God was an old man with long flowing hair except for having seen Michelangelo’s artwork?
RICHARD ARTSCHWAGER: Art is useless; furniture is useful. This statement is a large enough ‘basket’ to contain the issue. Uselessness says it all. Art is not an idea; it is a thing. If it dropped on your foot, it would hurt. If you sit on it, its a chair. If you walk around and look at it, its a sculpture.
RICHARD TUTTLE: Sculpture and furniture are different intentions but one piece can satisfy each.
DONALD JUDD: The art of the chair is not its resemblance to art, but is partly its resonableness, usefulness and scale as a chair. The configuration and scale of art cannot be transposed into furniture and architecture. The intent of art is different from that of the latter, which must be functional. A work of art exists as itself; a chair exists as a chair itself.
SCOTT BURTON: [Contemporary Art] should take an increasingly relevant position. It will place itself not in front of, but around, behind, underneath (literally) the audience in an operational capacity.
September 26, 2010
Regardless of definition, our experience of life, both collectively and individually, remains subjective. Thus, we will debate such things that allow this room as a result of diversity in human experience; such as art, love, poetry, music, comic books, architecture, history, literature, religion or design. The list goes on.
The notion of what is “creative,” and why or how, strikes at us still with broad strokes and opposing positions. For those who wish to assume conclusions underestimate how limiting a definition can be upon these things we humans create. The application of design, how it functions and what determines its degree of success, informs the application of art; just as vice versa, the artistic mediums inform design.
We cannot have innovation without respecting a necessary symbiosis with tradition. Ultimately, it does not matter whether art is equal to design or whether design is equal to art or blah, blah blah…. All that matters is that we keep exploring and learning all we can. As our human experience is changing, so are our means of expression and reaction. Innovation will always be met with fear and failure; tradition will always be a way of limiting or informing how we adapt. From Aristotle and Zeami, to Neoclassicism and Surrealism, our history is rich with clues to guide us further in our understanding, if a person chooses to look closely and not be afraid of whatever it is you see.
Life is subjective for the individual and therefore, no single person may determine what means what, but you. Just don’t forget to experience all you can while you are here. “It’s all just a little bit of history repeating…” and yes, “these times, they are a-changin’.”
Copyright 2010, KHC
September 26th, 2010
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