above > collectors enjoying video art by a former graphic designer gregory scott / catherine edelman gallery booth 169
note: this post in ‘in-progress’ as we await more details…
what is the difference between art and design? i think it comes down to function. design can have many functions, whereas art has one single function. the function of art.
the question of what’s the difference between art and design often comes up at art expositions, perfect launchpads for such a confabulation. in this instance, DesignApplause submits that architecture, design, and engineering are one and the same.
> “what is the difference between art and design? as it applies to graphic design, i will say that the difference between art and design or artist and designers, is expression vs communication. … expression is about the artist and their view, design is about the audience and viewer. expression can be abstract and intangible but design has to be clear for the most part.” ~ anonymous
> “when one attempts to define art, there will be an artist to prove it wrong. ‘art is beautiful’ art becomes ugly. ‘art is emotional’ art becomes emotionless. ‘art is form’ art becomes idea. that’s the problem, art will always shatter definitions.
having said that, i will ignore my own advice and take a crack. i think it comes down to function. design can have many functions, whereas art has one single function. the function of art. digging deeper, the art concept can be portrayed in many different ways. the function of art isn’t singular, its endless.
so design is applied art? or maybe an eames chair is a design object when you’re trying to sell it or sit in it, and an art object when you’re observing it, etc. ~ anonymous
DesignApplause asked galleries if their artists in this show pursued any architectural or design studies in their background. 24 of 30 (80%) galleries point out the following:
artist margaret wharton worked in advertising before she received a bfa from the school of the art institute in sculpture. whorton, who passed away in 2014, left behind fantastically crafted sculptural assemblages as well as a body of raely seen conceptual photographs. hers is the story of women artists who came out in the 1970s declaring their feminisst credos. and many, like warton, used the very trappings of their domestic environment as form and content. wharton tells us, “the bandsaw was her paintbrush.’ / jean albano gallery booth 317
above> artist sara cwynar has a degree in design from york university in toronto / foxy production booth 314
above > fredrickson stallard – ian stallard earned a degree in product design and studied architecture (red chair, chrome coffee and side tables) david gill gallery 234
above > artist tomokazu matsuyama has a pratt degree in communications design / gavi gupta booth 211
above > artist virginia jaramillo was inspired by product designers charles and ray eames – jaramillo and a selected group of other students would make weekly visits to the celebrated designer charles eames’s studio. there, jaramillo was introduced to design, architecture, and “a philosophy of structure and the purity of form.” these discoveries opened “a different way of seeing” for jaramillo and would guide her artistic thinking and output in the following decades. even as she was learning from the eameses, she began to explore japanese woodcuts and a related aesthetic philosophy, called ma, which she would ultimately channel into “the curvilinear paintings,” her best-known series. / hales gallery booth 323
above> an interesting chat with gallery owner who says none of his artists studied architecture or design / however gallery is overly represented in typographic art – the image above was created by an art & architecture department chairperson (awaiting name of artist) gallery rene schmitt booth 128
above > timothy taylor booth 205
above> featuring designer jonathan meuke (works in the middle) / volume gallery booth 332