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.

The one thing that I find both sad and interesting is the fact that she is actually loosing her memory. In her story she describes how she was involved in some sort of accident that caused her to start loosing parts of her memory her memory. In my collage I demonstrated the lost of memory by creating these thought bubbles with both good and bad memories in her life. The sunset represents her acceptance to her illness. The clocks and calendars represent the time and days. 

The trip to the MoMa was a great experience. I saw many great works of art including many from the Cindy Sherman collection. The first piece of art that really stood out to me was the giant helicopters that hug over my head as I made my way up the stairs. Then to walk into a sea of individually dark pink crushed up papers, spread out on the floor in a somewhat organized fashion. Some of the art that were featured were in my opinion both weird and interesting, such as one exhibit that featured a bookshelf with many small old fashioned television sets, showing many different short clips. One disturbing clip showed an elderly man disrobing completely naked in a bathroom then bending down to reach something.

One of the first art sculptures that I saw was called Huma Bhabha. This sculpture was made out of many different Martials such as clay, wood and plastic. The Sculpture resembled what seem to like a human face with a skinny arm and hand that was twisted and shaped into a giant ear. It also featured a giant nose that seemed to be carved form wood. The description Stated “American, Born Pakistan 1962.” It also listed the many martials that the art was made from, the description stated “Bleekmen 2010, Clay, Wood, Styrofoam, Plastic, Cast  iron, fabric aluminum, synthetic polmer pain, ink paper and brass wire. Gift of the Speyer Family Foundation, 2011.” I believe that this sculpture is a perfect example of personal identity because of its nature.

Further description stated, “Bhaba is best known for her composite sculptures made from an array of organic and industrial materials. In Bleekmen Bhabha has altered and arranged found objects in a way that suggests a mask. The Artist has also described the work as evoking a kind of derelict building. The sculpture has a ritualistic, perhaps totemic gracitas, but with its rough-hewn, decomposing quality, it seems to resist grandeur. Bleekmen variously conjures African, Egyptian, and Native American sort, as well as futuristic aliens. In fact, the title of the work comes from the characters in Martian time slip, a 1964 science fiction book by Philip K. Dick, and refers to the indigenous people of mars.” This piece showed both personal and historical identity because of naming of the sculpture of a 1964 film.

Another great piece of art that I saw was a painting called Tadanori Yokoo. This painting portrayed Japan during the Second World War. It showed what appeared to be a city that was destroyed because of the war. On the top of the painting of the war torn country showed two dates “1945 and 1995.” It also showed many the Japanese people crying and looked like they were suffering. This work of art is a perfect example of personal identity and historical identity. The crying people of japan and the two dates that insinuates the suffering is a perfect example of personal identity.

Our Future

 Our world is so polluted that we are running out of places to put trash. Burning it would just cause more environmental damage then anything else. We current either just recycle or just burry the trash. I’m a real future type of guy; I love to think about what sort of technological advancements are going to be made in the future and how it’s going to affect the way we live.  I believe my collage expresses just that.  A futuristic space ship carrier that carries the worlds trash up and out from earth.

Good Art

Bad Art

My opinion of good art would have to depend on what personal opinions people might have on a particular piece their viewing. For example the Mona Lisa by the artist Leonardo da Vinci. My opinion on that piece is that it’s one of the best works of arts in history and I also think that it’s beautiful. Other people might think that piece is horrendous and don’t consider that work of art the best in all history. So I really believe that it depends on the viewer’s personal opinion on what they see as good art. My overall opinion of good art is something that the artist would spent time doing. The art would have to show that he/she put her all into it.

My opinion of bad art would have to be something that the artist did not spent much time doing, something that the artist took and slapped on a piece of paper and called it art. This also brings s up what I said in the first paragraph, it truly depends on what the viewer thinks of the work of art.

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