Design in Our Lives

        This week my art class took its third field trip to the MoMa. This time my class viewed the 3rd floor architecture and design galleries. The class had the choice of picking four different works from the exhibit, two of the works being “high functionality” and the other two being “low functionality.” Having a chance to look at these exhibits really opened my eyes. Only because something is simply made and looks functional does not always mean that it actually is and vice versa.
        The first work that I chose was from Kazuo Kawasaki, this artist created a wheelchair that felt as good as it looked. Kawasaki created a seemly functional wheelchair made out of aluminum honeycomb-core wheels and rubber seat and tires. The artist made this creation after being involved in an accident that resulted in him becoming disabled. He wanted to create something that was comfortable and useful not only for him but for everyone. Another work what I found useful was the “Sea Shelter” by Nikhil Garde. This work of design is a great working raft that I would personality find very useful if I would ever need a water raft. It is properly balanced to one’s weight when boarding. It also has handles on both sides of the raft, with a step that extends under the water to make it easier for one to climb in. For these reasons I consider both of the artist works to be highly functionality. Both artists share a common similarity; they both have a unique style to their work. Kawasaki uniqueness is his medium and Garde uniqueness is the exotic shape of his water raft. This is why I consider both works to be useful and very successful if used in the real world.
        For the “low functionality” works, I chose Bruno Munari “Fork” and the MoMa store “Newspaper Coasters.” Munari’s work is a series of three disfigured forks; if actually used by someone it would be impossible to eat with. The tips of these forks are bended in such a bizarre matter that if someone tried to eat with it, they would probably end up hurting themselves. As for the “Newspaper Coasters,” I find them to be completely useless; cup coasters are usually made out of rubber, glass, or wood, not newspapers. These coasters totally defeat the purpose of having coasters because they are suppose to be used to protect the surface underneath and a newspaper is not going to get the job done. If a hot cup is placed on top of the coaster, the heat coming from the cup will shrivel up the newspaper. Or if a wet cup is placed on top of one of the newspaper coasters the water from the cup will just stink through and wet whatever surface the cup is on. Both of these artists commonly transformed something that is useful in the real world, into a not so useful design. If someone were to bend Munari’s piece into a straighter line or have made “Newspaper Coasters” out of a different material, then it would be considered more useful and ergonomic. 
        Lastly, in looking at these designs I have gotten a new perspective. It showed me that not all works have to be highly functional to be considered a good design. I found the “Newspaper Coasters” to be a good design just not a useful one; the same with Munari’s piece. Art and design I feel are one in the same. They are not different at all because a design is a form of art. We need to have some type of design in order to call something art. Whether it’s a straight line or a weird shaped piece of metal, it is art and a design.

Kazuo Kawaski

"Carna Folding Wheelchair"

titanium, rubber, and aluminum honey comb

1989

Nikhil Garde

"Sea Shelter"

nylon and rubber

2004

Bruno Munari

"Fork"

metal, each: 8 1/2 (21.6cm)

1958-1964

MoMa Store

"Newspaper Coasters"

Turkish newspaper, 100.3"5 diam.

2007

Illustrate a Story

The story I chose is "How did you meet Dad?" I found this story so cute, defiantly a knight in shining armor. My digital collage focuses on the beginning of the story where Florence, the mother, tells her story of how her late husband, Joe, saved her from a big guy. The collage is broken down into two parts, one side representing the party/get together for Joe and the other side representing the bathroom part of the story. And in the center of the collage I placed a heart between both sides symbolizing their love and marriage. 

MoMA PS1: The Good, the Bad, and the Misunderstood

               Happy, sad, and confused are just a few of the emotions I felt during my class second field trip at MoMa PS1 in Long Island City, N.Y. My professor asked of the class to pick three works of art to write about, one work of art that we liked, one that we disliked, and one that we did not understand. As my classmates and I walked around the museum and looked at the different artworks, I found myself getting a little overwhelmed by the randomness of the museum. I remember looking at a good artwork with an interesting story. Then looking at the artwork next to it and being puzzled by the piece. I was so bewildered by the piece that I actually should in front of the artwork gazing at it trying to make sense of it. I then moved on to a different exhibit were as soon as I stepped in the room I was overcome by sorrow. I was so overwhelmed by everything; it was such an emotional roller coaster.

      One of the few artworks that I actually liked from MoMa PS1 was “The Three Disappearance of Soad Hosni” by Rania Stephan. This piece was about Soad Hosni, a famous Egyptian actress and her journey growing up in film. The artist showed clips of Soad Hosni early years as an actress all the way up to her last film, also including clips of raw documentary. One of the reasons why I liked this piece so much was because the artist was able to sum up pieces of the actress life and career and transform it into a lovely work of art. The piece also caught my attention because of the era of the films. As a teenager my sister was a really big fan of Marilyn Monroe. She would stay up almost till 2 or 3 o’clock in the morning watching Marilyn Monroe movies on AMC. I remember one night actually staying up with her to watch one of Monroe’s movies and I must say it was pretty good. After that night I started to take an interest in not just Marilyn Monroe movies but in movies filmed in the 1950s-1960s era. I loved the humor of the films and how some of the actresses had take charges attitudes. Stephan’s piece brought back good and fun memories of my sister and I spending time together, watching classic vintage movies.

      Another work of art that I saw that but kind of threw me off was Janet Cardiff “The Forty Part Motet.” While at the museum I didn't fully read the description about the artwork. The sound of the forty speakers were so loud and distracting, all I wanted to do was get out of the room. The music at first entering the room was soothing, so I thought. The longer I stood in the room the sadder I began to feel. It was as if a wave of sadness crushed over me, I kept thinking to myself, “what is this, I don’t even know what the music is saying and I’m feeling like this.” I was defiantly confused and did not understand what was going on. I guess the sound of a choir individually being recorded and put on speakers, is not a sound that my ears were quite fond of.

      Frances Stark “My Best Thing” is a piece that I had very little interest in. For starters, the piece was an “animated soap opera, constructed from interactions with online video chat rooms.” The description itself turns me off. As I stepped inside the exhibit room and watched a couple of minutes of the video. I kept thinking to myself, “what? What’s the whole point of this video.” Honestly speaking, I did not watch the entire video; I was surprised that I even stood in the room as long as I did because I really can’t stand anything animated. Don’t get me wrong, I could appreciate something even if it’s not my cup of tea but Stark’s piece was just combined with too many things that are not to my liking; animation, soap operas, online chat rooms, really?

      To conclude, my experience at MoMa PS1 will considerably be memorable. I went into the museum happy and excited to learn about the artworks but left confused and a bit frustrated. Yes, I know it may sound like I’m over exaggerating but I’m not, okay maybe just a little. But like I said before, it was an emotional roller coaster. Even though my MoMa PS1 experience was not the best, I would still encourage others to go and visit the museum. Only because I did not really enjoy the museum does not mean that someone else is not going to either.

Rania Stephan

"The Three Disappearance of Soad Hosni"

Digital video, color, 70 min.

2011

Janet Cardiff

"The Forty Part Motet"

40-track sound recording (14:00 min.)

2001

Frances Stark

"My Best Thing"

Images, slideshow (video, color, sound)

2011