Design in Our Lives

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.