1. Week 12
OBJECTS BY DESIGN

2. Artifacts…
reveal huge amounts of information about
the people (and the cultures) that made
them.
We can “read” these images to learn about
other societies, and about ourselves.

3. One category of artifacts is art.
In the West (for
example, Europe and
the USA), this kind of
artifact has been “put
on pedestal” as the
most exalted kind of
artifact.
Here we tend to privilege
art above other kinds
of artifacts.
(E.g., Krannert vs.
Spurlock Museum)
Augustus St.-Gaudens, Diana,
1892-4, in Philadelphia Museum of Art

4. Objects coded differently through
how they are presented

5. The value of “anonymous history.”
Jules Prown Siegfried Giedion
“…works of art constitute a large “We shall deal here with humble
and special category within things, things not usually
artifacts because their granted earnest
inevitable aesthetic and oc- consideration, or at least not
casional ethical or spiritual valued for their historical
(iconic) dimensions make import. But no more in history
them direct and often overt or than in painting is it the
intentional expressions of impressiveness of the subject
cultural belief. The self- that matters. The sun is
consciously expressive mirrored even in a coffee
character of this spoon.”
material, however, raises (Giedion, “Anonymous
problems as well as History,” p. 294)
opportunities; in some ways
artifacts that express culture
unconsciously are more
useful as objective cultural
indexes.” (Prown, “Mind in
Matter,” p.2)

6. Relationships not facts
“Facts may occasionally be bridled within a date or a
name, but not their more complex significance.
The meaning of history arises in the uncovering of
relationships. That is why the writing of history has
less to do with facts as such than rvith their
relations. These relations will vary with the shifting
point of view, for, like constellations of stars, they
are ceaselessly in change. Every true historical
image is based on relationship, appearing in the
historian's choice from among the fullness of
events, a choice that varies with the century and
often with the decade…” (Giedion, p. 295)

7. The historian’s task
“His role is to put in order in its historical setting
what we experience piecemeal from day to
day, so that in place of sporadic experience, the
continuity of events becomes visible. An age that
has lost its consciousness of the things that shape
its life will know neither where it stands nor, even
less, at what it aims. A civilization that has lost its
memory and stumbles from day to day, from
happening to happening, lives more irresponsibly
than the cattle, who at least have their instincts to
fall back upon.” (Giedion, p. 295)

8. Another category of things is
“vernacular” objects.
Shaker side chair, maple with rush seating, c. 1880

9. These are ordinary objects which have wide popularity and
whose specific origins are obscure.
Shaker side chair, maple with cane seating, c. 1880 Plastic outdoor chair, c. present

10. Bryan Ropar with a small sample of his plastic chair collection

11. Maarten Baas, in collaboration
with Contrasts Gallery, Shanghai
Plastic Chair in Wood, 2008
elm wood

12. Sam Durant, Porcelain Chairs,
2006

13. Today we’re going to look at a third
category of artifacts…
Design objects.

14. What is design?
We use this word often, for example:
Fashion design
Interior design
Product design
Packaging design
Automotive design
Web design
User interface design

15. Packaging design: compare/contrast
1. What stylistic choices are made here? Let’s list as many as we can.
2. What meanings do we attribute to those stylistic differences?

16. We need a distinction between:
 Design
 Something made through a process
of careful consideration, often but not
always credited to a specific maker.
 Something made with both function
and aesthetic appeal in mind.
 Styling
 Relativelysuperficial, minor changes
made to enhance the novelty of an
existing product.

17. Fashion design, or product styling?

18. Design is:
“the human capacity to shape and make our
environment, to serve our needs and give
meaning to our lives.”
—Heskett, p. 6

19. Design defined
“Very few aspects of the material environment
are incapable of improvement in some
significant way by greater attention being paid
to their design. Inadequate lighting, machines
that are not user-friendly, badly-formatted
information, are just a few examples of bad
design that create cumulative problems and
tensions.”
—Heskett, p. 2

20. There’s a relationship…
Between us, as people, and
the objects that surround us.
Good designers try to make
this relationship a happy one.

21. Formal Analysis/Semiotic Analysis
What formal/functional features do these chairs possess?
What do they signify, culturally?

22. Side Chair, circa 1880, maple, cane seat
Lebanon, Massachusetts
 Name three
visual/functional
elements of the
chair.

23. Compare/contrast: form
Side chair, gilt and Beauvais tapestry, c. 1780

24. Compare/contrast: meanings

28. Ingres, Princesse de Broglie, 1853
Whistler, Arrangement in Gray and Black #1, 1871

29. Jacques-Louis David, Madame Récamier, 1800

30. Magritte, Perspective, 1951

31. The Salon of Mme Récamier, with furniture by Jacob Frères, illustration from 1849

32. Chaise Longue of Mme Recamier, by Jacob res, c. 1798

33. David, Madame Récamier, 1800

34. Gérard, Juliette Récamier, 1805

36. Briefly describe the visual form of the seating pictured in this photograph. Then
speculate: what set of functions are implied in this design? What meanings can we
infer about the people likely to be seated in each chair?