- Based upon the readings the word design comes with many definitions. Across all the readings what are some examples of these differences?
Greenberg, in his article, “Recentness of Sculpture,” describes “Good Design” as “where Pop, Op, Assemblage, and the rest of Novelty art live.” In other words, he sees design as an umbrella for these certain sub-categories of art. Paul Rand, in “Politics of Design,” defines it as a “problem-solving activity” or something that can gracefully fit the needs of humanity. Vilem Flusser, in his article “About the Word Design,” more looks at the semantics of the word, linking it with the words “cunning,” for the noun, “to fashion” as a verb, among multiple others, the Latin route being literally “sign.” Hal Foster defines it as a “florid kind of decoration” in his article “Design and Crime,” which, like fashion, changes with the centuries and can go in and out of style. In other words, it is a category for subcategories of art, a problem-solver, a word with multiple connotations and denotations from different linguistic route, and an era-sensitive décor.
- How does misunderstanding or rather multiple definitions of a singular word effect how we perceive design? Be sure to reference the four articles.
It may cause the perception of Design as in the “eye of the beholder” as with beauty. This, however, may become problematic, in that it makes “design” a more elusive concept, rather than the specific stance that each article has, such as a category for art versus the more abstract definition of a problem-solver. This vagueness makes it more subjective to judge design as “good” or “bad” with some areas for critique, but no definite guidelines that ideological groups can agree on.
Personal Reflection:
- How do you suppose you could better prepare yourself as a maker of aesthetic objects/ideas?
I have an Art major and an Education minor so as to become an Art teacher. I do want to teach, but the dream is to be a free-lance artist. I have written down in my journal from the VISU class in the Jones auditorium last semester several things about the art industry and how to prepare yourself to be a professional artist. I am not so as of a “10,000 hour rule” kind of gal, but I am a “write a page each day, end the year with a novel” kind of gal (it is nearly the same thing, I just like that one better become it seems more attainable). I am in the process of slowly integrating practice more regularly into my schedule. I would love to internship at Women and their Work. I have a Facebook page for a social media presence to build, but I will also create a website as was suggested in the class. I have a technician friend who is willing to help me create one.
2. What are things you currently do to practice your creative muscle?
To be honest, I do not do this critical practice as regularly as I would like to. Most of the time, I do not do much art outside of the assignments for this class. As a college student, it is challenging to find a chunk of time free from assignments or other obligations. However, I have spent these last couple of Friday nights making art pieces for a couple of hours while playing music. That was very life-giving, and I hope to keep the practice to continuously apply the concepts learned from this class to my own art style and express those concepts through my lens. I understand practice is critical to growth. My plan right now is to make the Friday night practice a regular thing and build from there. Carve out other chunks of time from my routine.
My Drawing professor, Michael Massey, once said, “you do not need to be actually drawing in order to become a better artist.” He went on to explain that you can become a better artist by studying the world around you with your eye, study other art pieces, etc. In that sense, I do practice with my eye often. I try to make it easy on myself to see various pieces of art per day to study and expand my ideas of what art can be. I follow several artists on social media. I like to think sometimes, “how did they make that?” and try to get into the head of the artists and think what steps would they have taken for that particular piece.