Art vs Design…
September 16, 2008
When I asked myself the question ‘what is the difference between art and design’ I literally frolicked to my desk, opened my exercise book and drew up a three columned table; one column for art, one column for design and one column for words suitable for art and design. What ensued was a solid, adjective packed, thought provoking session of deliberating and debating. I have to say, it really opened my eyes. I realised that however fundamentally alike art and design may be, to be appreciated correctly one must value each disciplines subtle differences.
To begin, I think it is important to recognise the main similarity between art and design. Both art and design, in general, stem from good ideas, good concepts. This may seem obvious, but I feel it is important. It shows that both art and design are the result of some sort of creative process that is based upon something. They both have reason. Even if their reasons are entirely different, both art and design’s conceptual backing cannot be denied. I mean even dada art is ironically conceptual and even creative, contrary to what it’s anti-art creators claim…
Enough with that, now to the meat of it… what makes art, art and design, design?
In my opinion all art is subjective. One draws their own meaning from a work of art, even if the derived meaning wasn’t intentional. You show an image of Picasso’s ‘Guernica’ to a class of school kids and you will have a class full of interpretations. The fact that this is ok and is encouraged is what is important. Art is confronting, not necessarily negatively, but thought provoking. Design on the other hand is not necessarily subjective. A user is allowed to derive their own meaning from a designed object, but may be forced to adhere to set design rules or laws. Contrary to what art is, good design is looked upon favourably when it is pleasing, intuitive and not necessarily thought provoking. After all, why would someone design a door that is hard to open? Too much thought!
Art also seems to be a very spiritual, almost focusing on the ‘journey’ of creation. An artwork encompasses the heart and soul of the artist and unlike good design, not everything hinges on the final product. For example, an interactive artwork such as onacloV’s ‘Edible Audience’ continually changes and therefore has no real ‘final or end product’. Design however is different. Everything hinges on the final product. I mean, if someone did in fact design that door that was hard to open, it would simply be pawned off as bad design. No one would buy it; it just doesn’t fulfil the expected functions of a door.
Art and design in my opinion are different. Although I have only scratched the surface when comparing the two, I feel as though what has been brought up polarises the two disciplines. What is your opinion? Do you agree? Anything to add?
