RED DOT Museum – Reflections

Reflections

One product that really caught my eye during the red dot design museum is this grey chair design by a designer in IKEA.

As you can see there is no structure at the back of the seat to create this curvature.

Yet how did the designer does it in a way that it curves? They uses the tension between the weaving of the lines to shape this design.

You can see there is a saturation of close knitted lines , and compare to a more sparse one. The difference is the one that creates the tension and shape the back of the chair.

It is a genius idea!

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Some other stuff that I learn from the trip :

  1. Materials and texture choice change the user tactile experience.
  2. Variety of contrasting materials makes the product different and experiential as compared to existing product in the marketplace
  3. Usage of new materials brings about new experience for the user.

After going to the red dot design museum, I learn about breaking boundaries of what is already considered a norm in the market in terms of aesthetics. Many of the products in red dot design resume are beautiful and they use very unique materials to create the appearance, for example the google phone case. The unique and color palate is something I have never seen before in the marketplace. Yet such design truly caught my eye.

In addition, talking about vacuum cleaner, the vacuum cleaner below gives off a feeling of dominance, stability and hardiness. The color choice and material selection was also unique to what is already existing in the market.

As such, to make a product beautiful, I can consider not just the form that needs to be interesting, but also the material selection and color choice.

Harvey Norman Field Trip

 

  For the 1st product, this product caught my eye due to its product styling. It looks sleek, and durable. In addition, it provides a sense of comfort, due to its contours and the choice of using baby blue as its colour. In contrast, the top part (shaver) looks solid, sharp and crisp, as if it provide clean cuts for the beard

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For the 2nd product, it caught my eye due to its visual styling in comparison with the rest of its competitor. It stood out to me, as it provide a sense of durability, quality and it looks sleek. For me, I pay extra attention to quality, therefore, I naturally will seek out similar products that fits my criteria, that it has to look durable first, before it inspire me to even touch it.

 

For the last product, I fell in love with this product, due to its crisp edges and smooth contours. The material usage reflect the light beautifully. By looking at it, it gives off a feeling that it is durable and sturdy. Although the touch wasn’t as pleasant as the initial look and feel, I felt I learn a lot just by observing current trends and products in the marketplace.

 

 

 

Hyperessay Keywork Selection : Fluid Structure 360

What made Vincent Houze the way it is today, goes a long way back since 1920s.

Vincent Houze

In 1920s, a guy named Marcel Duchamp whom in an act of rebellion, submitted a ‘fountain’ as the urinal in an art gallery[1] to prove a point to his fellow cubist member about his perspective of art, that “art can be anything”. Interestingly, even though his artwork is thrown away and rejected, it created a rather impactful change in the art world, inspiring future generations of artist to develop art with complete freedom, and it is termed as conceptual art. Conceptual art challenge the traditional meaning and practice of art, and that art is also brought to the masses instead of only allowing the elitlist to enjoy. Shortly after the submission of the conceptual piece, ‘Fountain’, that act had inspired a group of artist, who define themselves as the Fluxus Movement[2]. Nam June Paik, the father of video art was too part of the movement, whom also focus heavily on bringing art to the masses. This is where we can see  the relevancy of interactive art artist, such as Vincent Houze, created such works of today, whom art piece is cater for the public to interact, where the public is also a part of creating the artwork through the interaction with the art piece itself, plus it is a total diversion away from traditional art practices.

Who is Vincent Houze and what does he do?

Vincent Houzé is born in Paris[3]. He create interactive art through the use of computer graphics that includes performances, and large-scale multimedia installations. In his works, you can see the complexity of it, yet is highly immersive and as if draws people into another world, making one feel they exist in another dimension when experience the space and the installation itself. He strives to engage with the audience emotion, through careful creation of the space, spatial quality that surrounds the artwork, the graphics, texture of the graphics, etc.

Selected Artwork

His artwork 360 Fluid Structure, an extension of the 2D Fluid structure, is a mesmerising form of interactive art.

Fluid Structure 360 is a new format of the Fluid Structure artwork with continuous content and interaction on a canvas that wraps around the audience.

It is an immersive interactive installation which explores how an ephemeral and amorphous shape reacts under various stimuli, internal and external. Forces and collisions bend the shape until it breaks, recombining it into new aggregates.

Its immersive quality also comes from the smooth and realistic render of the water/fluid, allowing the audience to feel themselves submerge in a pool of liquid. In addition, the melancholic quality of the soundtrack and the darkness, adds on to the whole immersive experience of viewing the work. In many of his other works such as Creatures (attached below), is another attempt in bringing the audience to experience another world. It is quite similar to the VR concept where immersion is key as part of interactive art, for example the Aspen Movie Map. The notion of trying to make a hyperrealistic environment will indefinitely heighten the standard of immersive experience.

 

 

Next, the interactivity comes from how the reaction of the fluid upon the sensor detecting a human presence. Upon detection, the fluid deconstruct itself, and throws itself into another lump of liquid to form a new organic form.

There is an endless creation of the art itself, as collaboration and interactivity this is required in interactive art. The audience get to be the artist, rather than just being an audience. The medium in which the audience create their art, is the art piece that the artist create him/herself, similar to Nam Jun Piak intention of creating the magnet TV. There is no end, and almost such a diverse of possibilities in creating different forms just by exploring allow the sensors to trigger the graphics.

Magnet TV – Nam Jun Piak

Another similar and relevant example of Fluid Structure is John Cage Variation V, where sensors are being triggered upon movement of the dancer, and changing the outcome of the artwork.  Although their visual effects differs, they are both similar to getting feedback from the machine/art , to allow further manipulation of the graphic from the user.

The idea of entropy also ties in to the concept of interaction, and builds on developing a more immersive experience as well. The audience has little to no knowledge what this installation does and the characteristic. Similar to Nam June Paik magnet TV[5], the interaction caused a certain outcome from the artwork, it is highly unpredictable, yet that prompts the user to find out more. Upon each attempt in interacting with the artwork, the audience gain more knowledge, and have better control over the TV, which that also signify the reduction of entropy. Soon, there will a level of understanding how the artwork operates.

As such, as it can be seen how this artist brings in the concept of hypermedia, immersion and interactivity. It also holds similarities with the artist in the past, such as Nam June Piak and John Cage, that is what made New Media art, and traditional art so different.

 

References 

  1. Marcel Duchamp Overview and Analysis. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.theartstory.org/artist-duchamp-marcel.htm
  2. Fluxus Movement, Artists and Major Works. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://www.theartstory.org/movement-fluxus.htm
  3. (n.d.). Retrieved from https://vincenthouze.com/
  4. Media Art Net. (2018, November 11). Media Art Net | Paik, Nam June: Magnet TV. Retrieved from http://www.medienkunstnetz.de/works/magnet-tv/
  5. Nam June Paik: The Artist Who Invented Video Art. (2013, August 22). Retrieved from https://www.arts.gov/photos/nam-june-paik-artist-who-invented-video-art

Hyperessay Artist Selection : Vincent Houze

 

 

 

 

Vincent Houzé uses modern computer graphics techniques to create interactive art, performances, and large-scale multimedia installations. His practice centers on dynamic simulations and systems in which simple rules give rise to complexity, richness, and realistic motion in his work.

Houzé was born and raised in Paris, where he studied computer science and graphic design. Before embracing interactive art he has worked in Paris and London as a visual effects designer for films, commercials, and video games. He now lives and work in New York, where he was previously a member at NEW INC, the New Museum incubator for art and technology. Houzé’s recent work was exhibited among others in the last editions of the Day for Night Festival in Houston, at Google I/O 2017, and has been featured in a number of online magazines such as the Creators Project and Creative Applications Network.

 

Written Essay : Neoconceptualism

First, it was Cubism, then later was Conceptual Art, that had challenged the practices and the nature of what art is perceived. The first major rejection or breakthrough of art practices was initiated by Pablo Picasso, inspiring generations of artist forming new movements within the realms of unrealistic paintings. Amidst the evolution of the art movement with progressive absurdity in their ideas and convention, constantly challenging the rules of art, gave birth to three-dimensional art, later known as conceptual art in the coming years. Neo conceptualism was simply an evolution and revival of conceptual art itself, and today presented as contemporary art.

 

Even though Conceptual art ended in the 1970s, it has never ceased to exist, there are artists whom still practice making conceptual pieces. This includes a member of the Young British Artist, notably Damien Hirst as one of its members, spark the revival of conceptual art, which was term as Neo(post) Conceptualism afterwards.

 

It wasn’t a sudden inspiration that utilization three – dimensional object, instead of a painting, is presented as art. Rather, it was a slowly escalated common direction of the art world itself towards interpreting art differently since the creation of Cubism, where art practices and norms are constantly challenged. Inevitably, three dimension objects will someday be used to convey meaning.

 

Previously, since World War One, Duchamp and his peers questioned the purpose of art and that inspired their approach of breaking of creative boundaries in art practices. That inspiration drove Marcel Duchamp creating alternative art, which later he founded DADA. Before the establishment of DADA, he created the first ever three-dimensional art in the art world, known as Fountain. It was originally posed as a challenge for his broad members for rejecting his mixed genre Cubist and Futurism artwork, Nude Descending A Stair Case, No.2, for not being Cubist enough. However, such an incident not only made him felt frustrated with the rules of art, but it also inspired him to create art more differently. The fountain was presented in the “unjuried” Society of Independent Artists’ salon in New York. It wasn’t just a showcase of his frustration, the creation of Fountain was his continual pursuit of breaking even more boundaries of art, to recreate meaning and experiences, and defining it through his approach of making art away from traditional medium. As such, he turned to purchase a urinal from a sanitary ware supplier and submitted it – or arranged for it to be submitted – as an artwork by ‘R. Mutt’. He rotated the urinal, to allow the significance of the function and meaning of a urinal, to disappear under the new art title and point of view. This decontextualizes the meaning. The meaning change based on changing the position, and a new-found interpretation of using a known object. That became the practice of conceptual art, where the visual appearance does not matter, what matters is the meaning behind the object. Therefore, so long you can explain why you placed a dustbin in an art gallery, it is art.

 

The creation of the urinal was a test once again to the art world in the 1920s, on their commitment to breaking new rules of art. That establishes the practice of DADAism.

 

Another example of conceptual art of Duchamp includes Bicycle Wheel in 1913. Using a bicycle wheel and a kitchen stool creates a nonfunctional machine. The wheel serves for travel, yet embedded with a steel rod on a chair, it strips away the functions of both items. It was a completely random idea, and almost impossible to link the meaning of the fusion of both objects. Duchamp denied the creation of it purposeful or meaningful, but it was simply created because he enjoyed looking at the wheels turn. That he called art.

 

Artist creating conceptual art rejected the idea of being labelled as a movement, they see themselves as individuals and creating art based on their own interpretation. Creating conceptual art can only be interpreted as following only a common direction rather than a theme or group. Although they hold similar philosophy, labelling them as a movement defeat the purpose of doing conceptual art as it contradicts the nature of freeness in conveying art.

 

Moving on to some other examples of modern conceptual art. The very first example was the recent incident where Banksy destroyed his own artwork after it was being sold in the Auction for 1.4million USD. His motive quoted from Picasso “the urge to destroy is also a creative urge”. It holds similarity to the attempt of Marcel Duchamp interpretation of his art using a urinal. It does include an element of shock factor yet shredding his own artwork to portray the meaning he was trying to convey is another approach of how can be shown to the audience.  There were many speculations as to if it was a conspiracy of shooting the value of the artwork upwards, but putting that aside, it is a method of execution of using anything to express the meaning of one’s artwork that makes conceptual art unique, from traditional practices of doing art.

 

Another example of a conceptual artwork is Damien Hirst “A Thousand Years”. It is a showcase of life and death, and the fragility of life itself. Although life and death are opposition, they are part of the cycle of life. When standing outside the glass and looking into the artwork, the audience can feel like a higher entity. One can immediately felt the sorrow and even the shortness of being alive. With a minimal rectilinear form and transparent glass, it places the emphasis of the objects that are within the installation. The usage of real-life insects makes the art piece hyperrealistic and accurately interpreted the meaning and cycle of life.

 

To sum it up, conceptual art now is anything. The way I look it, conceptual art breaks all boundaries, it has no limits, even a prank can be interpreted as art. The only thing you need is an idea and a way to execute your ideas and bring it to life, and you can be a conceptual artist.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Reading Response – Massimo Vignelli

I really love this quote that he says ” Trends kill the soul of design”. This really help me inform my practice, on staying true to my own approach and objective when designing graphics or products. It is not about copying others, or seeing what is popular then imitating it. But rather knowing what is true from the internal part of myself, and portraying that as that kind of designer to the world.

As what I could see from the works that are posted on the website, it focus heavily on readability, and understandability. I can says that his part is minimal due to his huge reduction of unnecessary graphics as compared to many designer does today. There are little ornamentation, no quirky fonts, and almost everything serve a function or to portray a meaning in his design, except for his textured background that serve for aesthetic purposes, rather than for functionality (in my own opinion).

However his approach portrays a more serious undertone to his work, anything that set the mood for fun, quirky, adventurous, experimental, will be out of the question.

 

 

 

Constructivism Presentation (Handout + Presentation Slides)

Handout

 

 

CONSTRUCTIVISM

 

What:

  • A Russian artistic and architectural philosophy that propagated an entirely new approach to making objects, one which sought to abolish the traditional artistic concern with composition, and replace it with ‘construction.’
  • This construction was then used in the service of the Russian Revolution

 

Who:

  • Father of Constructivism: Vladimir Tatlin
  • Other significant artists: Malevich, Popova, Rodchenko, Lissitzky, Gabo, Pevsner

 

Background context: Political chaos (When and Where)

  • During the decade after the birth of Cubism, the world witnessed astounding changes
  • Technology zoomed ahead at breakneck speed
  • Against a backdrop of World War I, Europe erupted in political chaos. Finally the Russian revolution of 1917 called for the destruction of everything from the old regime.
  • The Bolshevik Party seized power
    • The Bolsheviks: a major organization consisting primarily of workers governed by the principle of democracy, who considered themselves the leaders of the revolutionary working class of Russia
    • Wanted to converted Russian society from a feudal state to a “People’s Republic”
  • Amidst this upheaval, Constructivism called for a careful technical analysis of modern materials
    • It was hoped that this investigation would eventually yield ideas that could be put to use in mass production, serving the ends of a modern, Communist society

 

Constructivism amongst other Modern art movements outside of France:

Futurism Constructivism Precisionism
Period 1909-18 1913-32 1915-30
Locale Italy Russia US
Artists Boccioni, Balla, Severini, Carrá, Russolo Tatlin, Malevich, Popova, Rodchenko, Lissitzky, Gabo, Pevsner Sheeler, Demuth, O’Keeffe
Features Lines of force representing movement and modern life Geometric art reflecting modern technology Sleek urban and industrial forms

 

Key Influences To Constructivism:

 

 

  • Political

 

      • The Russian Revolution in 1917 is a great influence to art in Russia. Artists started creating artworks to support the revolution.
      • Artworks are very related to the politics at that time

 

  • Social

 

      • Art is influenced by the shift of society in the revolution such that artists now cater their artwork to everyone instead of just the rich
      • Artists’ intentions are influenced by the shift in society to unite Russia and to use art as a way to serve the community
      • Art is thus used as propaganda and becomes something more practical

 

  • Cultural

 

      • The changes in Russia made artists throw away traditional art-making techniques like easel painting which are deemed overly bourgeoisie
      • The rejection of an existing art culture is an influence to constructivism as artists try to move Russia forward with a new way of artistic expression

 

  • Technological

 

      • Artists are heavily influenced by the industrialisation and technological advancements in Russia

 

  • Cubism

 

      • Vladimir Tatlin, an avant garde artist in Russia was influenced by Pablo Picasso’s wooden reliefs when he visited Paris in 1913
      • He created sculptures that eventually gave rise to Constructivism

 

  • Suprematism

 

      • Suprematism developed at around the same time as Constructivism by Kazimir Malevich
      • With similar influences that started out Constructivism mentioned above, the difference is only in that Suprematism artworks are non-functional and self-expressing unlike Constructivism

 

  • Futurism

 

    • Rejection of tradition and everything that is old, progressive and forward-looking
    • Fascination with speed, youth, power, and technology

 

Principles/Concepts of Constructivism

 

  1. A modern art movement

-Constructivism falls under one of the modern art movements, which took place between the late 19th century till the mid-20th century. Art movements from this period tend to stray away from traditional aesthetics and instead formed new ideas of what art was.

 

  1. Industrialization

-Constructivism was a result of the industrial revolution that hit Russia. Factories, machines and technology started coming in, leading to an obsession with everyday objects and materiality. Constructivists also had to cater to the new mass production techniques that were being adopted and thus have to come up with a new design language.

 

-The new visual they came up with consisted of geometric forms, bold colours and strong typography. This visual was kept consistent for many of the posters then so that they would be easier to mass-produce. One such example was Books! By Alexander Rodchenko and Varvara Stepanova, which showcase the usage of the mentioned visual to help with promotion.

 

  1. Art with a purpose

– Constructivists also believed in making artworks for a purpose. They did not want to create art just for basic viewing, instead, they believed art should be ‘constructed’ to serve a societal purpose. Paintings were thus viewed as ‘dead’ and they chose to work with sculptures, architecture or graphic design instead.

 

-This redefined the role of the artist as well as the artwork produced as works now carry a heavier thought and meaning than just aesthetics. It evokes the consciousness of the viewer and gets them to do something, creating an inclusive relationship between the art and the viewer.

 

  1. Constructivism as a propaganda

-Besides societal purpose, many artworks during the Constructivism era also had a lot of political references and served as propaganda. It can be said that artworks then could be used as a political tool and Russia was their canvas. This concept can be found in the propaganda poster ‘Beat the White with the Red’ by El Lissitzky, which used abstract forms to portray its political meaning.

 

Characteristics of Constructivism:

 

In constructivist artworks, the visual qualities of these artworks tend to propagate a sense of truthfulness to the needs and purpose of material. Which in basic terms, “wood should be wood” and “steel should be steel”. Site-specific scenario places an abundance of iron mills in the countryside of Chernobyl, which leads to a heavy usage of iron constructivist. Secondly, the compositions of these work are often utopic and doesn’t account for spatial logic; Emphasising on the “magical” industrial growth of Russia at that point of time of time. Lastly, the abstraction to basic elements of design are results of a more effective mode of education and awareness. Without excessive, unnecessary details, messages are to the point.

 

 

  • Visual quality truthful to material and purpose

 

 

Emphasising on the idea of being truthful to materials and their purpose, we will compare two artists of similar era, of whom with different intentions. Edward Hopper, an American realist painter who painted actual modern American life and Americans distilled in their urban environment, compared to Vladimir Tatlin, who made artworks that represented the growth and state of Russian industrialisation. Albeit similar themes of patriotism as subject matter, the execution is very different. Edward Hopper paints realistic works of skyscraper that are of existence and people who live in that environment. This eye-to-paintbrush to canvas technique can be limited in its effect in terms of driving up diligence under the American Dream (even though Hopper is very successful) Tatlin on the other hand, uses real material of iron, glass and steel that stands representative of the Russian industry to create a monumental tower that symbolises growth and patriotism for the fatherland, with intentions of building it higher than the Eiffel Tower to stir up national pride with the Russians, which would be possible but difficult under the techniques of realistic painters or sculptors.

 

 

  • Composition focused on constructing industrial utopic vision

 

 

Another distinct characteristic would be the fantastical composition that defies spatial logic. Comparing two artworks again, El Lissitzky with Edward Hopper. Lissitzky broke up architecture into beings that are not defined by the laws of gravity or motion. Hence in the Proun series, buildings are seen hovering above plains, in which the plains itself are hovering over empty space without proper grounding. This utopic spaces are not tied up by stroke and harsh tones that makes visual logic, unlike the ones in Hoppers painting. When Hopper is painting from real life, his architecture are seemingly slightly more mundane without exaggerated arrangement and features. This in turn drives up the American Dream in another method, challenging the everyday viewers to relieve familiar sight.

 

 

  • Abstraction to shapes, colours and lines

 

 

Lastly the abstraction to the most basic elements help to clear off any unnecessary details, smoothening the process of understanding. In the Proun Series, the architectures are simplified into their most basic shapes, removing details and textures to facilitate spatial understanding. In Rodchenko’s triptych of primary colours, he plays to this idea of abstraction very intentionally. In the avant garde exhibition called the 5×5=25, he showcased these three paintings that features only a plain layer of each primary colour. His idea of doing so is to express the material quality of the paint. He wanted to reduce the paintings into its most logical conclusion, drawing attention to the substance as a matter. In doing so, Rodchenko announces that this painting is of the subjects “red”, “yellow”, and “blue” and nothing else, unlike the over-decoration by the contemporary counterparts. A key difference when you compare this constructivist abstraction to the then contemporary geometric abstraction or de stijl artists is the purpose behind it. For de stijl, the key player Piet Mondrian, who runs the movement with strong influence from Theosophy. Hence, De Stijl features a strong sense of spiritualism apart from the social intentions. Removing the embellishments of spiritual and social grounding, the function of abstraction applies for both artsworks, the triptych as well as Mondrian’s “Untitled”. Both artists wants the audience to look at the painting and just take notice of the painterly quality of each work. When you look at the layer of black, it visually creates a stronger depth compared to the white which enhances the foreground space. When you look at the red, it pops out compared to the receding blue colour. When you walk towards the painting, you are confronted with the detailed brushstrokes, questioning yourself with each intentions of the brushstroke.

 

Constructivism Today

 

  1. Design language as mentioned by Amanda consist of : Sharp geometry, Primary colours Heavy sans-serif fonts. Dynamic and eye-catching design that helped to promote
  • MoMA poster redesigned in a Russian constructivist style, Lauren Wells, 2009
  • Concert posters for The Black Keys’ NYC tour, designed by OBEY’s Shepard, 2012.
  • Poster for CBS Records, Paula Scher, 1979.
  • Obey develop prints that are heavily influenced by Constructivist style

 

 

 

Presentation Slides