Art, design and me

My beautiful Arts & Crafts sideboard Christmas pressie

(Source: M. Stuart 2010)

The world of art, architecture and design has been a growing influence on my life and has no doubt been ushered more speedily in the last 10 years by advances in technology.  My personal aesthetic has been heavily influenced by William Morris and the Arts and Crafts Movement. I love the oak furniture, the patterned linens and beautiful typography. The interesting thing about William Morris is that he eschewed modernism; he was very much against the industrialised, mass mechanised nature of production, and in favour of the handmade artisan approach. You can learn more about him at my other blog.

William Morris created typefaces
Source: http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/7/71/Kelmscott_Press_Typefaces_Detail.jpg

After studying printing and graphic art at TAFE, my interest in design, art and typography was well and truly entrenched.  The Internet has fostered my access to information on these subjects, and promotes local interaction and participation.  Adamson, Riello and Teasley (2011: 6) argue that a global perspective on design ‘accurately reflects design’s actual situation as a globally-always local practice’. 

Seb Lester, UK typeface designer and letterer, will be speaking at 
Semi-Permanent Melbourne in October 2013.
Source: http://www.semipermanent.com/speaker/seb-lester

A key characteristic of globalisation that pertains to art and design is exchange, which Adamson, Riello and Teasley (2011: 6) define as ‘the simple movement of things in cultural space’ and ties in with Rockefeller’s (2011: 557) explanation of flow: ‘transnational movements of money, people, images, commodities...’.  The notion of exchange in the world of art and design applies not only to saleable objects but also to ideas, images and skills. 

Adamson, Riello and Teasley further note how, despite influence of multinational corporations in the sphere of design (think of the massive power of branding), it is the ‘persistent power of objects and personal contact’ that remains of central importance (2011: 7-8).  You can look at Monet’s artworks on the Google Art Project but how do you explain the 200,000 people who walked around the National Gallery of Victoria's Monet’s Garden exhibition?

Go, it's worth it.

Source: http://www.ngv.vic.gov.au/whats-on/exhibitions/exhibitions/monets-garden

Steven (2003: 57) acknowledges that ‘cultural industries have symbolic importance to the societies or states where they reside’ and that they 'act as guardians of a nation’s culture’.  The continued, or perhaps renewed, popularity of designers such as Ray & Charles Eames is just one of myriad examples of the globalised – across time and space – nature of art and design today. 

Eames DSR chair 1948
Source: http://www.theguardian.com/culture/gallery/2012/jul/22/10-best-eames-designs-pictures#/?picture=393411594&index=0

References:

Adamson G, Riello G, and Teasley, S, 2011, Global Design History, Taylor & Francis, Hoboken, US.

http://reader.eblib.com.au.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/(S(maf1elwzzbg15xeqvgplmxqj))/Reader.aspx?p=668829&o=154&u=XZi7W1iv2hK5FxAI8BGPcQ%3d%3d&t=1375236985&h=0AEFE45B1F779FDD83BC9C667FB1B0C0D8F9C78B&s=9337538&ut=484&pg=1&r=img&c=-1&pat=n#  accessed 30 July 2013

Rockefeller, S 2011, ‘Flow’, Current Anthropology, Vol. 52, No. 4, August 2011, pp.557-578

http://ehis.ebscohost.com.ezproxy-f.deakin.edu.au/eds/pdfviewer/pdfviewer?vid=6&sid=3cf96b2b-ba98-44c8-858f-50ac16c3fd1c%40sessionmgr104&hid=106  accessed 22 July 2013

Steven, P, 2003, The No-nonsense Guide to the Global Media, New Internationalist, Oxford UK, pp. 37-59.