blog assignment 4: selected posts

From Stacy Thomas:

In today’s society of mass production and get rich quick schemes, craft is not seen as often as design. An example of craft is The Bride lamp by Ieva Kaleja for Mammalampa. These lamps represent most of the key attributes of Craft in a contemporary setting. They are materials based, made from a traditional lamp material; paper, however it is presented in a different, more modern way. The Bride lamp aims to “make lamps differently without adapting, killing or violently beautifying materials.” The lamp also drew inspiration from history, the story of Rapunzel. This shows the lamps appreciation for culture and are not created on a computer program purely for aesthetics.

Mass production is an aspect of design as opposed to craft. The Bride Lamp is created by hand on a small scale of production. Each lamp is woven uniquely, with personal touches added by the weaver.

The lamps are elegant and very feminine, another characteristic of Craft. All the details of the lamp allude to the technique of craft; the execution and the quality.

From Georgie Rodie: 

The Art of Craft?

Craft was traditionally known as something practiced by independent artists working alone or in small groups, displaying a great skill in an area. This tended to be biased to hand craft as it was believed that this showed the true struggle in the object. Also, the likes of William Morris and John Ruskin believed that the maker should be fully devoted to the craftsmanship as well as having a meaningful experience.

Yayoi Kusama is an avant-garde scupltor, painter, and novelist born in Nagana Prefecture of Japan. She has long struggled with mental illness and has even said, “If it weren’t for art, I would have killed myself a long time ago”. Is this quote not evidence enough that Yayoi Kusama is an artist who puts everything into her works. She started to paint using polka dots and nets as motifs at around age ten, and created fantastic paintings in watercolours, pastels and oils. She now uses many medias including mirrors and electric lights. Therefore, Yayoi Kusama definitely has an understanding of mediums having worked with them for so long.

Who are we to say that the works of Yayoi Kusama are not displays of craft just because they are not typically hand crafted? I believe the reason she is so successful is because she uses the integration of technology and an idea to create experiences through her work. Her works do not rely totally on either the machine or the hand. I believe she represents today’s understanding of craft being; a direct experience, a personal vision, and a mastery of medium according to Malcom McCullough.

In the modern world we have access to a great range of mediums that means craft can no longer be defined the way it traditionally was. The types of skills are forever increasing due to an increase in technology and knowledge, how can there be clear cut guidelines as to what a skill is? If these guidelines did exist, would Yayoi Kusama be classified as unskilled, despite her success throughout the world?

I believe craft now is somewhere between a talent and knowledge and Yayoi Kusama has successfully incorporated the two to evoke emotion and create an experience for an audience.

With today’s emphasis on mass production and consumerism, if someone’s emotion, whether good or bad can be aroused when experiencing art then I believe that is what shows true skill.

The image is of a young Yayoi Kusama herself in one of her ‘Infinity’ pieces.

Blog assignment 3: selected posts

From Georgina Rodie:

Construction decorated or decorated construction?

“Construction should be decorated. Decoration should never be purposely constructed.”

Jones meant that nature should only be idealised not copied. He believed that, “in the best periods of art, all ornament was based upon an observation of the principles which regulate the arrangement of form in nature”. Quite simply, he meant that nothing should be designed just for the sake of decoration.

I find it hard to agree or disagree with Jones’ statement as I believe beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder. Everyone has their own likes and dislikes and what appeals to one person may or may not appeal to another. Why shouldn’t something be designed purely for decorational purposes? It only means we end up with a unique design that may not appeal to the majority but in fact the minority. I do believe that if people were to agree with Jones’ statement then there would be less over production but perhaps that is what the world needs. It creates a sense of competition, with people constantly evolving designs and creating new designs, people are pushed to better their own designs and as a result the world is able to experience only the best design. Perhaps without uneccessary decoration the world of design would be at a stand still.

If we were to remove the barriers to decoration or just general design we could be faced with the same problem of the 17th and 18th centuries such as over population causing poverty. However, things may be different today with a greater understanding of technology and populations.

The image of the ‘tree lamp’ by J. C. Penney is an example of decoration constructed. It has been designed purely for aesthetic purposes. It branches out (excuse the pun) of the conventional designs for a lamp but succeeds in the eyes of someone that likes trees.

From Bryce Mcleod:

Blog assignment three. beauty+utility

“Construction should be decorated. Decoration should never be purposely constructed.” In The Grammar of Ornament (1856) this was Owen Jones argument. This principle of design was important to Jones as he and others before him such as Pugin believed that in design there were rules that needed to be followed for something to be considered good or ‘true design’.

The basis of these rules revolve around the above statement (“Construction should be decorated. Decoration should never be purposely constructed.”) In saying that, simply I believe this means that something should never be constructed for the sole purpose of looking good or being decorative and ornamental, just as something perfectly functional shouldn’t be added to and modified with decoration that adds no value to what is was intended for. Everything must have a use and a purpose.

When this statement is broken down and put so simply it becomes hard to either agree or disagree. This difficulty of judgement is all based on two things; the extent to which ornamental value is either constructed or decorated upon or within an object, and the individual viewers opinion as there are rules to what people can like.

An example of this is the flower candlestick pictured above. Based upon Owen Jone’s idea this would be considered ‘false’ design as it has decoration that has been purposely constructed upon it that adds no functional value. This candlestick is quite similar in design to the gaslight that was featured in the lecture as they both fall into the category of having ‘false’ principles of design. These being; imitating nature, having inappropriate decoration for its function and having constructed ornamentation. On the candle stick the inner part of the flower at the top serves both an aesthetic and functional purpose as it looks intricate and well crafted as well as catching the melting wax. However the extra leaves and floral base are just added to visually emphasise the flower theme, adding no functional value to the use of the candlestick.

On the other end of the scale the second candlestick has its visual appeal built into it. The construction has included the decoration through wavy continuous curves in the S shape and has no extra, unneeded design to take away from the fact that it is just a simple but attractive candlestick. There are no other themes that are irrelevant to a candlestick meaning it is ‘true’ design as it has appropriate ornamentation that is suited to its construction and purpose.

Based on the points above and the fact that each person has there own individual views I personally find it hard to believe that all design needs to follow these rules, however in saying this I do agree with what Owen Jones was meaning when he said “Construction should be decorated. Decoration should never be purposely constructed.” Adding decoration for the sake of it is not needed and for something to be truly designed the beauty of it needs to be an integral part that is included in the construction from the beginning.