3 d chapter 2 ideas and approaches

CHAPTER 2 IDEAS AND APPROACHES

IntroductionResearch

Natalie Jeremijenko. Tree Logic. 1999. MASS MoCA, North Adams, MA.

Artists, designers, and architects research in a variety of ways, some similar to the humanities:

• Using the library or the web to investigate a specific topic

• Traveling to places, near and far

• Asking questions and conducting experiments

• Biomimicry is a discipline in which engineers, scientists, and designers research and emulate nature’s designs and processes to create products, solutions, and strategies to solve human problems.

IntroductionResearch

• Subjecting prototypes of products to testing provides

valuable information for improving performance.

Cervelo bicycle in wind-tunnel test.

Tube-shaped dwelling of sandcastle worm

These forces can include:

• Function• Fabrication process

• Material use• Maker’s values and

sensibility

Jean Prouvé. Standard chair. 1950.

IntroductionProcess

Biologist D’Arcy Wentworth Thompson said,“In short, the form of an object is a diagram of forces…”

Gaetano Pesce. Golgotha Chair. 1972. Dacron filled and resin soaked fiberglass cloth,3' 3” x 1' 6 1⁄2 ” x 2' 3 3⁄4 ".

ProcessThe VesselReceptacles and containers are archetypal forms, extending back to prehistory.

Common processes used to create vessels:

Ceramics:• Pinching together flat slabs at their joints• Stacking coils• Throwing on a potters’ wheel• Pouring slip (liquid clay) into molds

Glass:• Spinning molten glass on a rod as air is blown into it• Pouring molten glass into molds

One example of a newer material:•Using air pressure to blow plastics into molds

Ceramic artist at potters’ wheel

Glassblower at Waterford Crystal, Ireland.

Process NatureAll matter, organic and inorganic is generated and shaped by forces, conditions, and processes. In this sense, nature might be seen as the ultimate designer as well as the first and foremost source of design inspiration—the design school without equal.

Bruce Barnbaum. Hollows and Points, Peach Canyon. 1984. Photograph.

Tools enable us to perform special and complex tasks that would otherwise be impossible.

•Levers and pulley systems to lift heavy weights•Axes, planes and chisels for cutting material•Lenses to bring distant objects near and make small objects appear large•Molds for replicating forms•Computers to make huge calculations instantly.

Paleolithic stone hand ax. Traditional jack plane. Peck Tool.

ToolsExtending Capabilities

Computers control many of our contemporary tools:

• Welding robots produce perfect welds quickly.• Designers utilize CAD (computer aided design programs) to draw and model products and architecture.• Rapid prototyping (3D printer) allows designers to see their products quickly• CNC routers (computer controlled carving machines) can shape many materials

Welding robots at an auto plant in Fukuoka prefecture on Japan’s southern island of Kyushu.

ToolsExtending Capabilities

The requirement that raw material be transformed, changed from mere matter to something greater is a commonly accepted notion in the arts, in both historic and contemporary work.

From marble, Gian Lorenzo Bernini created realistic muscles, veins and even the pressure of a intense grip.

The material no longer seems hard and cold, but has been transformed to appear warm, soft and life-like.

TransformationTranscending Physicality

Gian Lorenzo Bernini. The Rape of Proserpina (detail of Pluto’s hands). 1621–22. Marble, height 9 2/3’ . Galleria Borghese, Rome.

Tara Donovan’s Haze appears to be a cloud-like formation, but is actually made from plastic drinking straws.

TransformationTranscending PhysicalityThe requirement that raw material be transformed, changed from mere matter to something greater is a commonly accepted notion in the arts, in both historic and contemporary work.

Variation and DeformationAltering FormThe painter Jasper Johns suggests, “Take an object. Do something to it. Do something else to it. Do something else to it.”

Henri Matisse. Back I. 1909. Bronze.

Variation and Deformation

Creating several similar iterations can:• Result from experiments to find the correct solution.• Show various related themes or points of view.• Explore an evolution of style or process.• Rethink or reinvent a established forms or pre-existing elements.

Henri Matisse. Back II. 1913. Bronze

Henri Matisse. Back III. 1916–1917. Bronze

Henri Matisse. Back IV. 1930. Bronze

Thinking in SeriesFocused Investigation

Each element in a series varies from the others while maintaining a distinct similarity. Series allow creators to investigate issues more deeply than a single work would permit.

In the arts and design, a series can be based on:• A theme or concept• A form• A process• An idea

Sol Lewitt. Incomplete Open Cubes. 1974.

In the previous slide, Sol Lewitt’s conceptual sculpture includes 122 cubes based on mathematical variations in construction.

Roxy Paine’s sculptures at the lower left use a process that relies on a modified industrial extruding process and a set of computer instructions

The realistic duck decoys at right capture the same thematic subject matter with slightly different postures.

Thinking in SeriesFocused Investigation

Roxy Paine. Eight sculptures Charles E. Wheeler. Three Black Ducks. Decoys. c. 1920. Wood.

Conceptual StrategiesThe Idea Becomes A Machine That Makes the Art

“In conceptual art the idea or concept is the most important aspect of the work. When an artist uses a

conceptual form of art, it means that all of the planning and decisions are made beforehand and the execution is a perfunctory affair.” – Sol Lewitt

Wim Delvoye. Cloaca. 2000.

Play, Invention, Problem SolvingDiscovery Let my playing be my learning, and my learning be my playing. — Johan Huizinga

Play and InventionArtists and designers perform acts of serious play in order to arrive at new discoveries or to discover objects in our environment and utilize them in new ways.

Alexander Calder with his Cirque Calder (1926–1930).

Problem SolvingInnovation and invention are achieved via numerous paths:

• Brainstorming • Breaking down large problems into small discrete units• Lateral thinking to avoid the obvious direct approach• Research that investigates existing solutions to related problems

Play, Invention, Problem SolvingDiscovery Let my playing be my learning, and my learning be my playing. — Johan Huizinga

Richard Notkin. Heart Teapot: Compassion. 1993. Ceramic, 6" h.

SimplicityReductive Sensibility

Minimalist sculptors like Donald Judd clearly made pure form—devoid of figuration and decoration—the central focus of their attention.

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1989. Two plywood units, 1' 7.69" °x 3' 3.37" °x 1' 7.69" each.

SimplicityReductive Sensibility

Economy of means raises the question “what is essential?”

This idea manifests itself in both simple and complex forms.

Perfection is reached not when there is nothing moreto be added but when there is nothing to be takenaway.—Antoine de Saint Exupery

Robert Maillart. Cement Industries Hall. 1939. Zurich, Switzerland.

Sketching, Model Making and PrototypesIdeationDeveloping solutions to design problems and creating art require both thought and action.

Sketches and models allow you to • See and test your idea• Detect something unexpected• Prompt modifications• Lead you to new and better ideas

Frank Gehry. Sketch of Guggenheim Museum Bilbao. Bilbao, Spain

Sketching, Model Making and PrototypesIdeation

Models that are reduced in scale are termed maquettes.

Prototypes are unique objects that are full-scale working models of the product being designed.• They can be used and tested for effectiveness.• Often, a number of prototypes are produced in succession, each attempting to improve an aspect of the previous one

David Smith assembling liquor boxes as models for his sculptures. David Smith with completed sculptures Cubi IV and Cubi V.

DetailClose Attention Totalizing Details, Precision and Appropriate Craft

God is in the details.—Ludwig Mies van der Rohe

Observing and interacting with designed objects and buildings in which primary form is in synch with minor characteristics can be exhilarating.

It is not enough to have a good idea if it is executed without precision and appropriate craft.

Frank Lloyd Wright. Robie House, dining room. Chicago, IL.

Meaning and ValueAn Interpretive Act

Meaning • A notion assigned to objects by viewers, not simply something that is built into objects.• Is also relative—it varies from culture to culture and changes over time.

Improvised shrine in Golden Gate Park. Photographer: Susan Spann.

Meaning and ValueValue • Refers to the significance of an object. • It is also relative and it is up to every individual to formulate a personal value system.

Jessica Hiltout, photographer. Nelito’s Ball. Nhambonda, Mozambique.

SourcesGenerating Creative Energy

Source material inspires and can come from anywhere:

• Other art and design (historic and contemporary)• Nature• Geometry• General culture

Raf Simons, designer. For Jil Sander. Fall 2009 Ready to Wear.

Paul Chambost’s vase is inspired by natural forms. Because the similarities are observable, Raf Simons’s garment references Chambost’s work.

Pol Chambost. Vase. 11 2 ⁄5 " °x 11 4 5⁄ ”.

SourcesNature

Plants, insects, fish, mammals, rock formations, oceans, weather, and the cosmos at large—render nature the source of all sources

Biomorphic is used to categorize design and art thatutilize organic form reminiscent of nature.

Henry Moore’s collection of bones.

Henry Moore, Standing Figure. 1962.

SourcesNature

Art Nouveau, a style of design popular at the turn of the 20th century, found inspiration in organic form. The design of the Art Nouveau ornamental ironwork at right is derived from plant forms and the exuberant, twisting patterns of growing tendrils.

Hector Guimard. Entrance gate of Castel Berenger, Paris. 1898.

SourcesGeometry and MathematicsGeometry and Philosophy

God always geometrizes.—Plato

The five Platonic solids of geometry are of special historical importance.Five Platonic Solids

SourcesGeometry and MathematicsGeometry and Mathematics in Nature

Forms that reveal a marked mathematical and geometrical structure are also widely evident in nature. There are countless examples: crystals, sunflowers, bubbles, rainbows, growth patterns, spiral nebula, and DNA’s double helix.

Honeycomb and honeybee

SourcesGeometry and MathematicsGeometry and Mathematics in Nature

• Rectangles with a 3 to 5 ratio are known as golden rectangles• The 3:5 ratio is the golden mean (symbolized by the Greek letter ø)• A series of consecutively smaller golden rectangles can be placed to describe the path of

a golden spiral. The golden spiral is the spiral of the chambered nautilus, and many other spirals found in nature.

The Fibonacci series is created by adding two consecutive numbers together to create the next. 1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21, 34, etc.

Golden Spiral in golden rectangle Chambered nautilus, cross section

SourcesCulture

Culture is increasingly understood to be all the customs and products of human beings—from the traditionally defined fine arts and literature to everyday cooking and dating rituals.

Vernacular describes commercial architecture and products as sources.

Ready-mades were invented by Marcel Duchamp and are described as art made from ordinary manufactured objects.

Andy Warhol. Brillo Boxes. 1964. Synthetic polymer paint and silkscreen on wood, each 1' 5 1⁄8” x 1' 5” x 1' 2".

WorldviewBelief Systems

Particular individuals, groups, and professional disciplines within a culture develop their own philosophical views—attitudes that shape everything they create. This Bauhaus chair was designed during a time of economic difficulty, leading to an economy of material and process.Marcel Breuer.

Club chair. 1927.

WorldviewBelief Systems

Abstract expressionists emphasized subconscious emotions and were influenced by surrealism, automatic writing, Carl Jung’s ideas on myth, and Freudian psychology.

Willem de Kooning. Untitled. 1972. Pewter, 6.5“ x 11“ x 2.625“.

WorldviewModernism

Modernism is a historical period of art and design that is characterized by an interest in:

• Science and progress• An international style• The “working masses”• Industrial processes• A Utopian world• Rationality and the grid• A “less is more” philosophy

Donald Judd. Untitled. 1980. Steel, aluminum and perspex, 9” x 40” x 31".

WorldviewPostmodernism

Although the exact nature of postmodernism remains vague, it is considered the Zeitgeist (defining spirit) of the contemporary world.

As a reaction to modernism, postmodernism is the thought that recombining existing ideas is all that is left for us and is characterized by:

• Irony• A “More is more” philosophy• Multiplicity and an interest in

overlooked cultures• Working in different styles

simultaneously• Appropriation, or recombining

of ideas and images from popular media

James Miller. Duct Tape Chair. 2006. Cotton/wool upholstery and leather over a wood frame, 2' 5" h.