module 10.1

objects by design

A r t 1 0 0

U n d e r s t a n d i n g V i s u a l C u l t u r e

agenda

upcoming Hour Test 3

Thurs April 9, 5 to 6:20 PM

on Compass

covers Weeks 7 through 10

Technology

Graphic Design

Material Culture

Product Design

Artifacts…

reveal huge amounts of information about the people (and the

cultures) that made them.

We can “read” these images to learn about

other societies, and about ourselves.

In the West (Europe and the USA),

this kind of artifact has been “put

on pedestal” as the most exalted

kind of artifact.

Here we tend to privilege art above

other kinds of artifacts.

(E.g., Krannert vs. Spurlock Museum)

Augustus St.-Gaudens, Diana,

1892-4, in Philadelphia Museum of Art

One category of

artifacts is art.

How are objects presented in these two

different venues?

What does the method of display convey about the

value/significance of the objects displayed?

How are objects presented in these two

different venues?

What does the method of display convey about the

value/significance of the objects displayed?

Another category of things is

“vernacular” objects.

Shaker side chair, maple with rush seating, c. 1880

These are ordinary objects which have wide popularity

and whose specific origins are obscure.

Shaker side chair, maple with cane seating, c. 1880 Plastic outdoor chair, c. present

Bryan Ropar with a small sample of his plastic chair collection

Maarten Baas, in collaboration

with Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai

Plastic Chair in Wood, 2008

elm wood

Sam Durant, Porcelain Chairs,

2006

Jules Prown

“…works of art constitute a large and special category within artifacts because their inevitable aesthetic and occasional ethical or spiritual (iconic) dimensions make them direct and often overt or intentional expressions of cultural belief. The self-consciously expressive character of this material, however, raises problems as well as opportunities; in some ways artifacts that express culture unconsciously are more useful as objective cultural indexes.”

(Prown, “Mind in Matter,” p.2)

Siegfried Giedion

“We shall deal here with humble things, things not usually granted earnest consideration, or at least not valued for their historical import. But no more in history than in painting is it the impressiveness of the subject that matters. The sun is mirrored even in a coffee spoon.”

(Giedion, “Anonymous History,” p. 294)

The value of “anonymous history”

Now we’re going to look at a third

category of artifacts…

DESIGN OBJECTS.

What is design?

We use this word often, for example:

Fashion design

Interior design

Product design

Packaging design

Graphic design

Automotive design

Digital design

Sonia Rykiel

Paris, Spring 2015 collectionAgatha Ruiz de la Prada

Milan, Autumn/Winter 2009 collection

Kelly Wearstler

Katie Ridder

50% recycled PET

Fashion design, or product

styling?

tailfin of a 1959 Cadillac, designed by Harley Earl, GM design legend

Art and Color Department (1927)

Styling Department (1937)

“dynamic obsolescence”

We need a

distinction

between:

Something made through a process

of careful consideration, often but

not always credited to a specific

maker.

Something made with both function

and aesthetic appeal in mind.

AND

relatively minor changes in

the appearance of a product

design vs. styling

Packaging design: compare/contrast

What stylistic choices are made in these package designs? Let’s list as many as we can.

What meanings do we attribute to those stylistic differences?

Design is:

Design defined

“Very few aspects of the material environment are

incapable of improvement in some significant way by

greater attention being paid to their design.

Inadequate lighting, machines that are not user-

friendly, badly-formatted information, are just a few

examples of bad design that create cumulative

problems and tensions.”

—Heskett, p. 2

Between us, as people, and the

objects that surround us.

Good designers try to make this

relationship a happy one.