Design in Our Lives

            To me, the artistic part and design of the things in our everyday life, never really played a big role. I never took the time to pay attention to the design of things we use constantly. I realized this after visiting the MoMA. It may have a lot to do with the fact that I am not the most artistic person in the world, and although I may notice the beauty or uniqueness of something, that’s as much depth as I put into the thought of design. In the Architecture and Design Galleries, I saw a couple of pieces of work with such unique design, but their functionality was rather questionable, while others made perfect sense.

            My favorite piece of work was the “Sea Shelter.” This is a piece designed to be an alternative and safer version of a raft. When you are caught in a sea storm a raft is not the easiest and safest place to go, the sea shelter than becomes convenient. I believe the “Sea Shelter” has high functionality because of the simplicity that is using it. The “Sea Shelter” becomes an easy route to safety with handle bars on the side, steps to enter that are below the water surface, and it can be maneuvered to face anybody who is trying to enter. The other piece i believed to have high functionality was the "Nature-City." "Nature-City" is more of a sketch, or blueprint on what a group of artist think the ideal neighborhood would be. I labeled this piece high functionality because of the way it projected such a good environmental space where people are constantly surrounded by nature, it is bound to be a great living environment. They also make everything run on water, rather than any other mean of power. That already makes the neighborhood, an ideal one.

             In the Low functionality category though, I placed "Knork Fork and Spoon." At a first glance I thought this was a different and quite interesting twist to the 'Spork.' After paying closer attention I realized it seemed pretty dangerous to eat with the utility. You would have to turn the utensil sideways and it will most likely become an uncomfortable eating experience. Eating it frontward, like we normally do would be impossible due to the sharpness of it. The other one in the low functionality category is the "Experimental Plywood Recliner." This piece was beautifully designed, something that would be found in an Ikea magazine, yet I labeled it low functionality because i don't see how anyone, by any means would want to sit on something so uncomfortable. With furniture, i know design plays a big role, but i strongly believe comfort plays an even bigger role. Maybe a person who is deeply into house decoration will enjoy having it there just to be viewed. But as for its purpose, to sit and be comfortable, I don't not think it has a high functionality.

            The way art and design go together is unappreciated, at least it was to me. They go hand in hand, and I just did not realize it. The design of something does greatly influence whether or not it is going to function properly, and that is something I never truly payed close attention to.

Herbert von Thaden
"Experimental Plywood Recliner"
Plywood
1947

Maria Benktzon and Sven-Eric Juhlin
"Knork Fork and Spoon"
Polycarbonate, ABS, and stainless steel
1978

Nikhil Garde, Elle-Mie Ejdrup Hansen, Brnabas Wetton, Michael Frederiksen
"Sea Shelter"
Nylon and rubber
2004

Michael Etzel, Gerald E. Frug, Sean McLaughlin, John Parker, John McMorrough, James Lima, Jason Loiselle, Eric Sanderson.
"Nature-City"

Illustrate A Story

This Story was on Romance. What interested me was that a wedding had come about from parents trying to set their kids up. To narrate, it started with a young ladies mother who became diagnosed with breast cancer. Due to her leaving her job she no longer had health care and had to sell her house to pay her bills, and ended up renting a home who belonged to a father of a young man. The parents then wanted to set up their kids. When they finally met, they didn't really click. They young ladies mother though, did not give up, she called the young man every day for a week to help her move. In that week the young adults spent a lot of time together and by the end, they began dating. Today, they are happily married. 

                    

The Good, the Bad, and the Misunderstood.

When viewing an artwork it is an automatic instinct to feel something toward it, you either like it or you don't. After paying closer attention, those feelings might be subject to change. Speaking on behalf of myself I can say that once I get to understand an artwork a little better, I begin to appreciate it and disliking it is no longer an option. In some cases though, I can't get a piece of art to stick to me, due to my taste I just do not like the artwork. When visiting the MoMa Ps1 I found three pieces of art that I will discuss here including one that I liked, one that I didn't, and one that I did not understand.

When viewing the "Henry Taylor" exhibit there was a painting entitled "Wegrett". This was the painting I disliked. I did not like that it looked like a logo for brand. I also didn't like the fact that there was a little boy on his knees with dirty feet in front of a woman who looked angry. This painting brought upon me a sense of negativity. In the same room there was a painting in regards to Sean Bell, a black man who was killed. When seeing this painting I thought about a boy asking for forgiveness and although that is not a bad thing, I did not feel it should have been in the same room as the painting of Sean Bell. I guess what makes me dislike this painting is the placement of it.

The exhibit I did like was that of "Janet Cardiff: The Forty Part Motet." This was a room that contained 40 speakers and was playing a 14 minute long 40 track sound recording of "Spem in Alium Nunquam habui" by Thomas Tallis. When in this room you heard a beautiful melodic harmony of artist singing as one. But as the author encouraged walking among the speakers you were able to hear individually each artist that was singing. Out of each speaker you heard a different voice, different words. But when standing in the middle of the room they all sounded as one. It was interesting and beautiful at the same time.

The piece I did not understand was called "chicken burrito, beef burrito." The title alone was quite rare. This piece was an empty room with two speakers hanging on the wall playing music. That is all there was to the piece. The song playing didn't have anything to do with burritos, and there was nothing else in the room. I did not understand the connection, maybe if I would have stayed longer something in the song would relate to the title but as I listened I just could not make a connection.

Art is special in the way that not everyone will say the same thing about specific art works. With art you are able to interpret what you please from the art, but it is crucial to try to understand it from the artist point of view. Even though people may have different opinions on different artworks it is very much possible to appreciate them all.

Henry Taylor
"Wegrett"
Acrylic and collage on linen
2006

Janet Cardiff
"The Forty Part Motet"
40-track sound recording (14:00 minutes), 40 speakers
1957

"chicken burrito, beef burrito"