During the past several week, in contextual studies. We have been given a task to create a presentation of our interests. For me, it is something that relates to the course I’m doing which is Scandinavian style as an interior design. I have been doing researches and gather all the essential information to come up with a concise context.
The slides are as below. Please click to download.
An Example of the technology that I think would impact the users is driverless cars. This autonomous vehicle technology is a concept that has been around for several years and we are reaching the goal closer every year. Can you imagine the car running with no driver?
This would not just going to reduce the risk of human error when driving, or what we called “accident” but also, the artificial intelligence would probably also able to adjust the traffic jam from the surrounding area too. Thus, the likely that the car insurance will be cheaper and no more time consume in this topic, with this future technology, people lifestyle would surely change.
However, it doesn’t mean that there’ll be no disadvantage. Of course as it is an artificial intelligence, the hacking potential will still occur. Furthermore, this technology may effect other people in a bad way as there is the possibility of taxi and lorry drivers losing their jobs. Moreover, the ai will need to keep their information updating as there are always new construction for roads coming and therefore, new layouts will appear, this could lead to an accident for the passengers.
In conclusion, I think that it has a good conception, with the idea of people no need to drive anymore is a very convenient way for the lifestyle. Although, a lot more information and gathering need to be considered and make sure that it is worth it to take this risk.
People have now start to look at the climate change more different and taking this more serious. Especially, for Designers and there are both pros and cons to this topic, thus there are many ways in which designers played a role in this crisis.
For example, brands that purposely design their products to have a shorter lifespan which of course, comes into play with the planned obsolescence. This is then leads to a greater consumerism, resulting in an increase of pollution as there will be more manufacturing activity. Other problems with this crisis are the non-biodegradable and greenwashing. Until this day, there are still too much non-biodegradable substances and these were caused by us. Also, with the greenwashing, I think that it is vital to raise an awareness for those consumers who are tricked into purchasing their items.
However, many designers have been engaging more in creating many new ideas and items which help the sustainability across the globe recently. This is due to the climate change crisis that’s happening at the moment. If designers can create designs that are polluted to the world then surely they can also use their creativity as a solution as well. One of the designer to show is Jason McLennan and he is an architect who designs ‘living buildings’ which the aim is to create a better and healthier, lower carbon impact buildings for less pollution and improve the well being of people who use them.
This is a contemporary art work that was created by Damien Hirst in 1991 and was called The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living. It was made using the the formaldehyde solution to stuff this 13 foot long shark which then later put into the steel-and-glass tank.
As can be seen, the attention here is the shark. With the posture that it’s in, the opened mouth with the straight body illustrating like a hunter who’s ready to eat anything that is in front of it. This makes it looks like it got freeze in time, like the time has just suddenly stop. Thus, with the blue liquid in the tank, has made it looks even more realistic as it also links with the shark’s habitat. I think this is why the name “The Physical Impossibility of Death in the Mind of Someone Living” came from because no matter how intimidating and strong the shark looks, it can’t do anything. Therefore, the word “physical impossibility of death” is here. Moreover, “in the mind of someone living” are actually the audience and this is the very philosophical way of what the art piece is representing.
However, there has been some arguing about the solution that was fermenting the shark not being strong enough, making the original to decay after a decade and as a result, it could be seen as another thing that human fail to do, which is to stop the decay.
Open-source design is something that people can share and modify without retention of intellectual property. This aim is to allow others to continue, able to full-customised and develop the products, typically is a software but can also be hardware. For example, Plaza d’italic. The design itself is postmodernism and was done to response the modernist movement, to commemorate the cultural contributions of Italian Americans in New Orleans.
Plaza d’italic, New Orleans, Charles Moore, 1987
This is an advantage because it opens for more people to learn about the design and maybe get them to be interested by the historical structure and where its originated, they will have increase a lot more opportunities to share the knowledge. That’s also why postmodernism is used to response to the political and social problems. However, many has argued that this way of movement is like mocking the traditional and historical values.
From my point of view, I do agree that open-source design is a good thing, as it allows anyone to be able to modify and develop them. This in a way, could help people to invent new ideas that are creative and fun. Despite some arguments saying how it’s a copycat and that it makes the original not as special, I still do somehow understand both views but my opinion thinks that it’s playful and not boring, contrasting to the historical piece that are original.
Yoko Ono is a Japanese performance artist and the work that I have watched is called “cut piece” and her first performance was first did it in 1964. This performance piece allowed each audience, one at a time to cut a piece of her clothing with a pair of scissors and the end result has revealed some of her body parts, I think that this illustrates the feminist themes like in this article said, “how viewing without responsibility has the potential to harm or even destroy the object of perception.” (Artsy Editorial and Gotthardt, A., 2019).
For me personally, I found it quite shocking how she can endure and being ignorant to what those people were doing to her, she seems to be very good at resisting her own emotions to come through. Despite this, I also felt quite surprised with how the audience cut her clothes out very easily, it’s like they don’t see her as a human but then I do understand that it was a performance. Moreover, if I was in as an audience I think that I may have felt a little uncomfortable at first but then as the performance continue happening I think I would be used to it to see her on the stage looking like that.
Another performance was done in 2003 and this time from the start, she understood that in each of these presents the work would be transformed – not from any authentic original, but from an idea into an experience, Peace, I. (no date) Yoko Ono’s CUT PIECE. Therefore, I feel that each performance gives a different meaning of it in each time she does but still remains in the Feminism topic.
Peace, I. (no date) Yoko Ono’s CUT PIECE: From Text to Performance and Back Again by Kevin concannon, Imaginepeace.com. Available at: http://imaginepeace.com/archives/2680 (Accessed: November 6, 2020).
For me, the word “Minimalism” means small, less, clean and basic. As an art movement, I would say that the work involves as less textures, lines and form as possible and only use clean lines and simple geometric shapes. Many minimalist artists create their work with a purpose to make it anonymous so the actual work is what the audience should focus on and not the artist.
However, some other designers has look at this a little different, they look at how the appeal of minimalism is in its aesthetic. For example, in the style of architecture and interior way and like Architect –Mies Van der Rohe said, “Less is more”. This meaning that, with less furniture and objects but more showing on the structures can create a greater impact on itself.
Moreover, for some people, they’ve chosen minimalism as their lifestyle and this show how they live a simple life with few possessions. I think that it is a very good lifestyle to the environment because they need to consider a lot more before purchasing items that they have to use because every items they buy will affect their lifestyle, thus their aim is to have less possessions as possible. Therefore, the positive that can take from this is that these people are very environmental-friendly while the negative is that the lifestyle is difficult to maintain as now, we are used to buy things that we want and sometimes are unnecessary.
To conclude, Minimalism is a wide topic and can be talk through many way as people now have their different approach to it. The lesson I learned in the class has given me a lot of views toward this and which are all very useful.
Hierarchy – a system which orders things in terms of status, usually from high to low. High in this meaning, a traditionally thought of as being most sophisticated or certain types of art e.g. fine art. Thus, low means the opposite to this.
Popular – liked or admired by many people, or intend for or suited to the taste of general public.
Commodity – a physical product that has brought.
Consumer – a person who purchases goods and services.
Mass Production – not handmade, individual or unique and usually something that is produced by machine in large quantities.
Icon – someone or something that is instantly recognisable to global audience.
I felt that abstract expressionism can be a lot deeper than what people might think. This is because it cannot be described visually of what it’s representing and for someone to be able to tell it emotionally is somewhat rare. The expression that came through strokes of brush with many colours depending in the mood of the paintings has shown a lot of what it’s representing. Therefore, the picture above is trying to show that this abstract expressionism may have a lot of meanings in emotions and could also tell a lot about that artist. While, some group of people may not agree with this type of painting so they made fun of it.
Moji 