I could write 2000 words on the entire talk however I'll spare you (the reason I write this is mere hedonism from a feeling that I need to consolidate my thoughts somewhere). Baas gave me a new perspective on design. Being a student I am constantly contemplating design philosophies and trying to choose one to employ myself. Baas' talk introduced me to a perspective that I had hardly considered. He seemed to approach design much more intuitively. He uses emotion and intuition in the creation of his pieces. He questions what we consider to be beauty and perfection. He admitted, although it was obvious from the haphazard nature of the computer presentation aspect of his talk, that he never uses a computer in his design work. I sat there in the crowd with thoughts circulating my head... "So you're more of an artist, a sculpter, than a designer?"
One lady asked Baas this question towards the end and his response was humble and well executed. He said that the terms "art" and "design" are just words. His job was not to be a journalist, just a creator. People are invited to argue whether a considerably eye-sore structure of shapes cut from car panels barbarically welded to form a lumpy, personally unique armchair was art or design. However, Baas remains on the outside, impervious to the public and media opinions of the tags and citations that pigeonhole his work. In admirable fashion Baas had relinquished the responsibility of answering a question that seemingly follows him constantly in his work. And of course! Why bother trying to justify and communicate something that even it's creator doesn't precisely understand, as it is a product of intuition, and was completed by Baas because he believed it was what he was put here to do.
Baas also questioned what we believe as the image of perfection. You ask someone what a perfect product looks like and they will tell you something that is strong and balanced and has continuity; a sportscar is a good example. But then you show the same person a serene, picturesque landscape, and they would most likely say that this is perfection too. However nature exhibits none of the qualities of a sportscar with line, precision and so forth.
Returning to the 'Smoke' range, Baas briefly touched on how he believed that he was not being destructive in burning beautiful, traditionally styled baroque furniture. He was facilitating advancement and evolution. Instead of the preservation of old objects and images, why can they not evolve with time and nature. Human are perpetually trying to rebel against progression, while we should be embracing it, and allowing our natural course of evolution to flow freely and smoothly. If we all adopted this attitude, then the power that we could possess would be beautiful.
Maarten Baas approaches design in a confident way, with belief in his own practises, yet shows modesty and supports ideas of progression, something that I admire greatly. He does this with modesty and accepts criticisms, although they are uncommon. My concluding thoughts were daunting yet inspiring. Baas knocked down the foundations of my own 'in progress' philosophy, however inspired my to think in a different way about what I want from design, and what I can do for design and the world.
No comments:
Post a Comment