The following are the most elite quotes from the previous post and my corresponding explanations.
("Q" stands for "quote", and "A" stands for "argument".)
First of all, we assume there is a sharp boundary between art and design.
Q: The differences between art and design lie not so much in how they look as in what they do: They have different purposes, they are made differently, they are judged by different criteria, and they have different audiences.
A: Yes, I totally agree, especially for "different purposes". I think art can have many purposes and its purposes can change upon different factors because it all depends on the viewers' understanding and feeling. Nevertheless, design usually has only one purpose which is strictly controlled by the designer (or those who "control" the designer at the back).
Q: Milton Glaser noted that whereas a design must convey a given body of information, the "essential function" of art is to "intensify one's perception of reality."
A: Yes, that is true. The given body of information of my project is 1. the places where forgetfulness has happened (where); 2. the contents of forgetfulness (what); 3. the identification of the forgetful people (who).
Q: The artist usually has an end in mind. The designer typically begins with more than a blank canvas or lump of clay from which anything may emerge.
A: Before he even starts, an artist knows what he will get at the end by following his intuition. I believe a designer follows his intuition too, but he use his intuition to make design decisions based on research. In the first class, Nelson Ho pointed out if you have a topic that you know what you are going to make for it, then do not do it because it will likely be a failure. (That is how I understand his words.) That is why I came up with such a complicated topic which I have little idea how to start, but after doing a lot of research, I am confident of completing it in an interesting and innovative way.
Q: Art is judged in terms of beauty and truth, of insight and revelation, of almost prophetic clairvoyance-when it isn't being judged as text, subtexts, and social constructs. Design is judged another way. Does the design serve the product? Does it accomplish an end--does it sell, inform, persuade, direct, or entertain? Typically, lack of success in these ways (often described statistically or quantitatively) is considered a defect in the design.
A: Art exists for itself, while design exists for a mission. (This quote is too commonly accepted to argue about.)
Q: The audience for art wants to look at the artwork or listen to the composition--perhaps to contemplate and reflect, perhaps to be transported by the power of the aesthetic experience or the scene portrayed; whereas a design's audience wants to use the information to find their subway station or select a product.
A: My project is definitely not just for being looked at as art piece, although it is indeed aesthetically attractive. People use the way finding system to find their subway stations, while they use my project, which has similar property as a way finding system, to find their memory moments (events of forgetfulness). They function in a similar way, but in different scales.
Q: Design graces our lives with the aesthetic presentation of useful and beneficial things, and art graces us with representations of things to ponder and perceive.
A: Haha! The author is almost like saying design is pretty and useful and art is beautiful but useless. How is my project beneficial? After interacting with my project, the audience become less uncomfortable to accept forgetfulness. Thus, the troubles and embarrassment caused by forgetfulness will have less serious impact on the audience. Therefore, the audience will have less stress. Stress is a big factor to cause forgetfulness. In this sense, they will become less forgetful. Is not it beneficial enough?
Q: Art often exists to provoke a reaction. Grphic design, however, is a branch of visual communication in which it is important that the message being communicated is received in the way that was intended.
A: I want to add that design also provokes a reaction, otherwise, its visual communication would be just like pages of boring plain text.
Q: If a designer produces a sign to direct people to the right place in a building, it has to do the job. Its function is not open to interpretation. Either it works, or it doesn't, and if it doesn't it fails.
A: Right. If my project can not serve its purpose, it fails. However, this judgement is very subjective. The effectiveness of a design can only be seen after it is completed and tested.
Q: A designer is similar to an engineer in that respect and must not only have an eye for color and style but must adhere to very intricate functional details that will meet the objectives of the project.
A: Again, this quote emphasizes that design is for achieving its objectives.
Q: No artist ever has to explain why they did something a certain way other than that this is what they felt would best portray the feeling or emotion or message.
A: My project is full of explanations about why the way it is. Every element has a "why" behind it. Most (not all) of those "why's" are not based my own feeling or emotion, but are based on research, analysis of target audience, and its purpose. In this sense, unfortunately, my project is not qualified as an art project. It has to be a design project.
In reality, however, art and design share a gray area. We commonly believe that design came from art. Actually, not only design is evolving to become its own, but also art is getting different from its ancient form when design has not been separated. A metaphor can be, design as white people (not being racism), art as black people (not being racism), and ancient art as their common ancestor (Adam and Eva?). White people and black people are obviously two different ethnic groups, but they are the same species. The relationship between art and design is not parent and child, but is cousins (parallel).
Q: I feel that designers who are passionate about their work should try and dedicate time to create "art" for art sake and train themselves to express emotion and feeling through their designs.
Q: Following trends and applying imagery based on specific needs and goals is the easy part, allowing yourself to express a message or emotion free of any specifications is where true beauty is born.
Q: Designers who are looking for the next big trend or who want to be the one to create that trend must create chaotic and truly original pieces to display their artistic prowess and then apply those unique methods to their design at work and i think this will create a truly harmonious balance between art and design.
Q: The Designer must learn to draw upon the techniques and discoveries made by the Artist. The Artist, conversely, may use tools developed by a Designer. Therefore, you see, it is both a sensory process and a feedback loop upon which Art and design rely in order to function cooperatively.
A: Showing some art traits in my project does not mean it becomes an art project. It has a clear purpose which is to change people's negative feelings towards forgetfulness into being more relaxed (less stressed to yourself) and forgiving (more sympathetic to yourself and others). It has a given body of information: 1. the places where forgetfulness has happened (where); 2. the contents of forgetfulness (what); 3. the identification of the forgetful people (who). It has specific target audience which is 16 to 25 age group who have the best memory capacity. You may ask: why not the elderly audience? Aging is a natural and unavoidable factor in affecting forgetfulness. Targeting an elderly audience whose memories have been declining due to aging will be disrespectful. Also, people within the 16 to 25 age group should not have concern about forgetfulness, but it does happen to them in an over-frequent way, mainly because of stress from life. My project is to remove their unnecessary stress from being forgetful. Alzheimer's disease and stress both have negative impacts on our memories. The former is in physiological level and usually affecting elderly people, and the latter is in psychological level and usually affecting younger people. Both deserve equally amount of attention and care.
In conclusion, my project is obviously a design project.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
3 comments:
Great job, Yu. I agree very much with your arguments and I think it's been a little quick for others to say that what you're doing is art simply because of your approach. Something light-hearted and un-serious does not automatically mean an art project. Design would be just as depressing as some professions (dentistry=highest suicide rate?) if that was the case.
Especially during the 3-minute presentations, I did not feel that you were presenting an art project at all, and that the feedback was very much concentrated on one aspect (which completely revolved around your subject "what" but failed to address the "how" and "why"). I thought that this was unfair to you.
Hi Yu,
I am so grateful to you for posting this Q + A of sorts about Art and Design. I think your project can be a fine balance of art and design if we are saying art is for allowing people to "feel" and design is for allowing people to "learn". Though simplistic as this binary is, it resonates with me and my intentions for my project as well as others in our class like Kamila's, Alex's, Mark's, Alanna's and GInger's where part of our intention is for our audience to learn through their "feelings" with our work.
Your post has provided me with a boost of confidence to continue on my project's path. See you Thursday!
Yu, I still believe your project - which is very exploratory in nature - contains much potential to, when the time is right, be shaped into something of meaning within design. It's tough to walk the fine line of exploration/inspiration while developing and maintaining a focus... I think you have managed to do this quite well throughout your process since the beginning.
Post a Comment