Field Trip 3
My resent trip to the Museum of
Modern art was very interesting. I saw many exhibits’ that were either “High
functional” and also “low Functional.” The term “High Functional” in art just
refers to the fact if people can use it to make their life easier. The term “
Low Functional” just refers to the fact that it’s not something people might
not use in an every day setting. One example of a “Low Functioning” object is
an exhibit by Kazuo Kawasaki called the “Carna Folding Wheelchair.” In this
exhibit the artist created a wheel chair that had the rough looking bubbles as
a cushion. In my opinion “Carna Folding Wheelchair” would not be a function
item to use if you were hurt in any way.
Another example of a “Low
Functional” exhibit would be the “ParaSITE Homeless Shelter” by Michael
Rakowitz. In his exhibit the artist created an apparent homeless shelter tent that
can be blown up by the use of ventilation systems. In this case the artist
directed this exhibit to politics, he quoted “It is very much an intervention
that should become obsolete.” “These shelters should disappear like the problem
should. In this case, the real designers are the policymakers.” One thing both
the “Carna Folding WheelChair” and the “ParaSITE Homeless Shelter” have in
common is comfort ability. Sure these items can be used, but it’s the lack of
comfort is what make these two items “Low functional.”
One example of a “High Functional”
item would be an exhibit by Jens Martin Skibsted called “Puma Bike from the
Puma Tribranded Collection. He’s exhibit showed a bike that is able to fold up
into different pieces. The description states that the bike is made solely out
of aluminum, making it both light weight but also durable to use. Another
example of a “High Functional” item was an exhibit created by three IBM design
employees named Sam Lucente, Richard Sapper and Robert P. Tennant. This exhibit
showed an old fashion Laptop named the “ Think Pad 701 Portable computer” that
featured a somewhat futuristic look to it. This computer featured a retractable
keyboard that when closed, retracts toward the sides of the computer. One major
thing that these two exhibits have in common is the fact that they can in
general terms; fold up to make it more smaller and more portable. They are both
in my opinion “High Functional.”
What makes the “Think Pad 701” and
the “Puma Tribranded collection” so ergonomically is the fact that it is just
simple to use. Both the “ParaSITE Homeless shelter” and the “Carna folding
wheelchair” are not ergonomic because of the way they were design. The “carna
Folding wheelchair” looked like it was design to give comfort by using these
bubble thing as some sort of massage, but instead I imagined my self in pain
sitting on it. The “ParaSITE Homeless” shelter was connected to a ventilation
system meaning that a constant flow of air would be blowing in any person that
lived in it, making it a huge inconvenience and not ergonomic.
In conclusion great design does not
have to be highly functional. Great design can just mean how the item looks. I
believe that art and design are one of the same. You need design in every
painting that you make and in every drawing that you draw or in every sculpture
that you create.
