30.8.09
'Bombay Sapphire' The Melbourne Museum 27.08.2009
Object Gallery
The Bombay Sapphire Design Discovery Award is now into it's sixth year.
Leading designers from all over Australia submit their work, and ten
finalists are selected by a judging panel with one to win the major prize
of $30 000 and a trip to Milan to attend the Milan International
Furniture Fair.
This years finalists have considered sustainability in various ways through
their work, which is a reminder to us as consumers of the choices we can
make to tackle the many social and environmental challenges faced by our
planet right now.
A number of different pieces grabbed my attention. One being Oliver
Smith's. All of his pieces of work were cutlery. One was titled;
'One: Universal Utensil'. This was a glass cabinet filled with a
collection of a fusion of a knife, a spoon, and a fork. all made of different
materials and different colours. The purpose of this piece was "to
incorporate balance, harmony, integrity and absence of fault..."
Smith sees this as a potential successor to the already existing 'Splayd'.
I saw it as a quite vibrant and aesthetically pleasing collection of cutlery,
even the way in which the 'universal utensils' were layed out in the cabinet
looked good.
Another artist who i enjoyed was Ilias Fotopoulos. Ilias created a canvas
that was around 3x3 meters. It was titled 'Growing/Falling' and it showed
a pattern of red dots. It wasn't untill later that i realised that the dots were
infact braille. Then on an even closer inspection that each dot was made of a
felt material. This piece really made you stand back and admire the detail.
Henry Wilson was another artist who's work i really enjoyed. He produced a
series of lamps, entitled 'Bedrock', which were made with a concrete base.
When He started experementing with concrete, he was amazed by its "heat
retention properties". These lamps absorb and distribute heat from their
environment; the sun, and their electrical waste. The way that the lamps were
created was quite unique. It appeared that cement had been poured into a
plastic bag and been left to set. This was for the base of the lamps, the rest of
the lamp appeared gravity defying. all that stood was a cord, with a bulb on the
end. It was a very interesting piece that i enjoyed.
The rest of the gallery was also very interesting. It was filled with other regular
everyday items, each with their own unique twist.
21.8.09
Liu Xiao Xian - 'From East To West' RMIT Gallery 20.08.2009
Liu Xiao Xian is an artist originally from China. He migrated to Australia in 1990 after the Tiananmen Square massacre.
His work focuses mainly on the contrasts between the Eastern and Western worlds. Having had a first hand insight into both cultures, Liu is able to demonstrate this contrast with great effect.
This is Liu's first ever major solo exhibition. The artwork is made up of a range of medium's. Having a background in photography, Liu has also experemented with video, ceramics, and more recently sculpture with great results.
All of Liu's work focuses on the difference of the 2 cultures. He does this with comparisons of Gods, eating utensils, games and locations. What I really enjoyed was the artwork entitled "The Way We Eat". It was a long glass cabinet that stretched aproximately 4 meters long. In the first half of the cabinet was a collection of finely sculptured ceramic cutlery, that would normally be used by a person on an daily basis in the western world, and in the other half of the cabinet layed 2 single ceramic chop-sticks, stereotypical to the eastern culture. There were so many contrasting details in this piece and i think that is what has really struck me. The amount of detail in the 'western' cutlery was something that really wasn't noticed until you had a much longer look. This fine detail also played a major role in accenting the difference between the simplicity of the chopsticks, and the much more complex 'western' eating implements.
Another artwork that i enjoyed was 'Our Gods'. This was a series of 2 prints, each measuring 3x3 meters!! Each print was an image of the face of each god, either 'Buddah' or 'Christ'. These images were quite striking. As you walked into this room the images just stopped you in your tracks and made you take in the whole picture. After a few minutes, when you had taken the full impact of the prints, you were able to have a closer inspection. What was revealed was quite amazing. Each image was made up of tiny thumbnail images of the opposing God. This was a great way of showing how religion affects people of all cultures, and how each religion overlaps within cultures, without taking away from the contrast of the two respective religions.
Liu's latest piece 'Wall of China' was quite interesting. Personally, i wasn't a huge fan of it, but i could see the significance behind it. This was a video//photography piece. It showed an alleyway that was filled with old 'china' plates that were stacked head-high, 10 meters wide, for 50 meters long. The video was taken from a person's point of view walking down the alley, crushing parts of the 'wall' on their way. This was a reflection of how china has changed in the 20 years since his departure, and how the fragile nature has been destroyed.
Although 'From East to West' wasn't an exhibition i would normally go out of my way to go and see, i did find it quite interesting, and i gained some knowledge on China that I wasn't previously aware of.
Image taken from photoimaging
Introduction: Art discussion/video
ELLA LUPTON - Curator of Contemporary Design - Cooper-Hewitt
Ella Lupton is a Graphic Designer, who has been Cooper-Hewitt’s curator of contemporary design since 1992. In conjunction with her twin sister Julia, She has published a book titled “Design Your Life: The Pleasures and Perils of Everyday Things”. The video is a brief insight into the book, which talks about the unnecesarry, over-designed nature of simplistic items like electrical appliances, baggage, pillows, and even bras.
For me, the video was quite boring to watch, however I strongly agree with the point she was making. In the past I have found myself being constantly confronted with things breaking; wether it be my car, my phone, my camera, or something else, I am constantly trying to fix things. Instead of putting the amount of research and design into “new features”, why can’t we put more time into making sure that a product won’t keep constantly malfunctioning. I know that products get designed around ‘obsolencence’ to keep businesses operating, but surely practicality shouldn’t be compromised.
Ella also talks about how design affects our behavior. Putting wheels on our luggage, and even the way in which toilet paper is dispensed, manages to affect us without us even knowing it. She makes a good point when she talks about the practicality of an "open ended" toilet paper holder, as opposed to a "closed end, spring loaded" one. The amount of steps involved in changing a roll of toilet paper on a "closed end" just seems completely unnecessary, and also causes alot of frustration that is not needed.
What Ella Talked about was nothing ground breaking, but it was quite a refreshing look at design, and how it affects us. It brought to our attention the simple parts of design that don't really get noticed when we're focusing on 'improving' existing objects.
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