The recent work by the Campana brothers, the "Green Hexagons" painting by Sara Eichner, and the Perennial garden from Ariel Yen-Ju Hsieh leave us to think about the boundary between art and design. Compare to the Bauhaus which defined art and design distinctively, the boundary is vague today. Not only are art and design losing their boundaries, but also are other studies. People who have persisted in one particular area of design are crossing over to other side to investigate better possibilities and innovation. The Campana brothers have combined art and design, Sara Eichner has used architectural pattern in her work, and Arial Yean-Ju has worked between landscape architecture and technology.
Transplastic from campana brothers(2007)
All the pieces including chairs, lamps, illuminated meteors, and islands have been handcrafted with a typical Brazilian fiber,'apui', by Campana brothers. Their works challenge the contrasts of nature and plastic, cold and warm, textures and smooth surface.
Green Hexagons by Sara Eichner at the Sears Peyton Gallery (2008)
The painting is architectually-influenced. Artist Sara Eichner was inspired by the siding that clads houses in her Williamsburg, Brooklyn neighborhood, and fills her canvasses with pattern and structure.
Perennial garden from Ariel yen-ju hsieh
Perennial Garden, is a composition of solar powered LED lighting design which sets as a new typology for modern landscape design. Inspired by Makoto Sei Watanabe’s Fiber Wave, it is a fiber-optic lighting design which re-envisioned ways of how man perceive grassland.
Looking at case studies above that point out the vague boundary between art and design, I started to question what is the similar trait between art and design. This question reminds me one of the exhibitions I took part in before. A chair studio in my college had an exhibition named “public space chair” and 20 students showcased their own chairs using various materials. Some students created more artistic chairs by following the feature of material and their own inspiration while others built more functional chairs based on user research and the idea of functionalism. However, all of the chairs that were showcased in the exhibition, either art pieces or designed products, had a common trait: they were giving meaning to viewers, altering the notion of space.
I believe there are little boundaries between artist, architecture, and designer. Some may use most abstract language and some may use most direct word, but they are all similar in one way: they give meaning to space and object. Sometimes, the meaning they give to space is hard to translate into words, or may not clear to everyone. But as soon as you see the object, walk into the structure, or engage to the system, you get the feeling: everyone shares this feeling. And this feeling is the common area between art and design. Considering my personal experience, I believe artistic practice entails design. I have studied art and sculpture in my high school. Inspired by professional artists teacher in art classes, I experimented with oil and water painting, clay and plaster, and Oriental painting. And after I studied design in college, I realized the previous artistic practice enables better understanding in design class. I could more easily perceive the notion of light and space in interior design class, and match color with a better sense in graphic design class. It was possible for me to utilize artistic practice to the design process.
Today, there are many industries looking for a designer who can combine more than two studies. So, for designers, crossing over to art area, or any other design area, is quite attractive. Designers are able to create synergy as well as innovation. With a passion for public space systems, I want to combine urban architecture and product design in my work. Understanding urban design systems and human behavior is inevitable in the process of designing public space. It will take some time and effort to explore this broad area, but like the Campana brothers' chair and Ariel's Perennial Garden, fusing two strands of design is truly appealing.
