Crafts & Industrial Design

For most people art is like air. It's all around you, you breathe it, you need it to live, but you don't see it. It's invisible. You don't think about it. This is how most people feel about crafts - everyday ordinary objects. When you buy one, you might pick the one you think looks nicest, but it's not what you think about when you say to yourself, "I need to go to the store and get a new bowl." You know you're going to buy one no matter how they look because you need one. And you really don't care which extension cord or lawn mower looks the prettiest.

So it's easy to forget that all the things we buy and use are actually designed by artists (Some might argue over the differences between "artists" and designers. In this lesson I'm using the words synonymously for people involved in creative tasks).

In the past it was different. Instead of factories, there were local workshops that produced a variety of crafts. You could meet the craftsmen, who were often your friends and neighbours, and make special orders. These craftsmen made a reputation for themselves with high quality products and beautiful designs. Today their works are highly prized by collectors. Names like Tiffany glass, Chippendale furniture, and Wedgwood pottery can sell for hundreds of thousands of dollars.

The Portland Vase by Josiah Wedgwood, 1790, England,

Victoria & Albert Museum

Our relationship with everyday objects and tools changed with the industrial revolution. Now we don't think of them as crafts, but as designs. The difference between a craftsman and a designer is a craftsman sits down and makes his or her ideas, but a designer just plans them on paper, or in a computer program. Then a factory mass produces them, and they go to shops all over the world. Mass production makes things very cheap, so people all over the world can enjoy a level of wealth that was unimaginable in previous centuries. Not everyone in the past could afford such luxuries as a Wedgwood vase. Many people made their own crafts which, while often plain and crude, are also prized today as folk art.

Designers often have different concerns than craftsmen, because they work for large companies. Little differences in a design that lower the cost might not matter to a craftsman, but are extremely important to a modern industrial designer. When you're making over a million copies of a product, a one-cent savings here or there can quickly add up to thousands of dollars, and with big business, profit is everything. That's why modern designers consider the best way to stack and pack their designs into boxes for shipping. That's why advertisers often use white backgrounds in posters:

(they're saving money on ink).

There are still many great artists/designers in our world who make beautiful products, often at low prices, and some are also collectible (beauty will always be prized). But I'm not sure if people value everyday objects the way we did in the past, especially when many things we use today are designed to be thrown away - paper cups, plastic forks, cardboard boxes, and candy wrappers. I imagine towns used to look much nicer when there were no cheap products to litter streets with - like potato chip bags, soda bottles, popsicle sticks, etc. Even when people used "folk art" crafts that they made themselves, there must have been a greater appreciation and love for these things - the joy of doing it right, of making something special for your family and friends. Sometimes I wonder, when machines eventually do everything for us, what will humanity turn into?

Here are some more famous craftsmen you might be interested in:

black figure amphora with Achilles and Ajax playing a game by Exekias, 530 BC

silver pocket watch by Edward East, English, 1645

candlesticks by George Michael Moser, English, 1740

from the Victoria & Albert Museum

side table by Thomas Chippendale, 1778,

from The Chippendale Society

quilt by Elizabeth Roberts, Philadelphia, PA, 1840

quilt by the Hargest family, Baltimore MD, 1845

glass paperweight by the Compagnie de St Louis, 1845-55

from the Corning Glass Museum

gilt silver plate by Pugin, John Hardman & Co., English, 1847

from the Victoria & Albert Museum

gold necklace with ceramic medallions by Wedgwood & Sons, 1870, England, from the Victoria & Albert Museum

Birth of Venus vase by Hodget, Richardson & Son, English, 1877

from the Corning Glass Museum

cup & saucer by R.L. Cellier, French, 1878

Victoria & Albert Museum

 

Persian Vase by Georg Rehlander, Austrian, 1878

from the Corning Glass Museum

 

armchair by Lawrence Alma Tadema, 1884-86

from the Victoria & Albert Museum

 

favrile glass vase by Louis Comfort Tiffany, American, 1900-1903

from the Corning Glass Museum

 

Gui vase by Rene Lalique, 1920

from the Corning Glass Museum

 

Salmonidés bottle by Rene Lalique, 1928

from the Corning Glass Museum

 

makeup desk & chair by Paul McCobb, 1937

 

Harmonious Opportunities bench by Wendell Castle, 1992

 

Video: Ancient Megastructures, The Hagia Sophia in Istanbul

Mass Culture

When you think of culture, you think of stories, art, music, clothing, language, religion, and customs, usually of one group of people. Cultures can be geographical and regional, but they can also be generational, social, and religious. Besides giving people an identity, they also help us form ethics and values, because children learn from their parents, and parents typically accept the norms of their society.

Mass culture brings many different groups together, forming one larger, global social conscience. Mass culture is shared by millions of people, from different countries and ethnic groups. It consists of pop music, sport, Hollywood films, TV shows, sitcoms, cartoons, reality TV, videogames, smart phones, internet culture, Twitter & Facebook, viral videos, internet memes, etc.

Mass culture as we know it today is very much a product of the modern world, spread by large industries such as film, TV, radio, and print. These industries are known as mass media. Mass media includes news and entertainment, and communicates to many people. Mass culture is the result of these media outlets, when millions of people around the world know the same actors, singers, athletes, and other celebrities.

Talking about mass culture can be confusing, because many forms of news and entertainment are seen by millions of viewers, for example the TV show Panelak in Slovakia. But, it’s not shown beyond Slovakia. Shows like Friends, CSI Miami, and Alf, on the other hand, are shown all around the world, and have been for decades. Everyone from Greenland to Timbuktu knows about these shows. So, when is something a part of “mass culture”? There’s no clear answer. Typically shows and celebrities that everyone knows about are called “mainstream”, while those that are less famous are called “underground”.

For many younger generations, mass culture has taken the place of smaller, regional cultures. You can see it in Slovakia. While older people still know and enjoy singing traditional Slovak folk songs, the younger generation prefers pop music, dancing to hip hop, and learning foreign languages. The problem is how to save and preserve traditional Slovak customs while embracing the new. This is a common problem throughout the world. There is a competitive aspect to culture, and some even refer to them as culture wars.

There are advantages and disadvantages to mass culture. Hollywood, record companies, and TV channels like HBO, MTV, and others have given us high quality, talented performers and wonderful stories and music, both for viewers of all ages. There are many genres and styles to suit everyone’s taste. And, when everyone around the world sees and listens to it, it creates a greater understanding that can help bring cultures together.

On the other hand, when we leave culture to the best and most talented, we become lazy. Imagine how the world was before cinemas, the radio, record players, and cameras. If you wanted to hear some music, you had to find someone to play it, or play it yourself. If you wanted to see a play, you might have to write it, and organize it yourself. If you wanted to take a picture, you had to draw it. Imagine how much more special it was when everyone sang instead of playing the radio – singing or playing for your children, instead of just playing the radio for them, or popping a DVD into your computer, making a cup from clay instead of just buying it at the shop. There’s a pleasure connected to making that most people don’t feel anymore.

Video: The Parthenon

The following two videos are about the Parthenon, an ancient Greek temple in Athens. The first was produced by PBS, a state TV channel in America:

This video has sound, but it's very soft. Turn up your volume.

 

This next video is from the Discovery Channel:

 



Ancient Architecture

Ø      Architecture is both the process and the product of planning, designing, and constructing buildings and other structures.

Ø      Architectural projects are a collaborative process, with many people working together, facing challenges such as aesthetics, structural integrity, social function, light & shadow, and costs.

Ø      Our greatest buildings are often perceived as cultural symbols and works of art.

Ø      The first book on architecture was written by the Roman Vitruvius in the 1^st century AD. According to Vitruvius, a good building should satisfy three core principles: durability, utility, and beauty.

 

Mesopotamian architects, including Sumerians, Babylonians, and Assyrians, developed the first urban planning, with markets, temples, canals, and gardens.

Artist Rendering of the ancient city of Uruk, which flourished from 4000-700 BC

Residential areas were grouped by profession. They built forts, towers, and palaces.

Ruined palace of Uruk

They designed the first known courtyard houses, and large temples called ziggurats.

Ziggurat of Ur, build around 2100 BC

They developed buttresses and columns to support their walls. Windows and doors were supported using a post and lintel system:

Stonehenge in Britain is an example of the post & lintel system

They also created pilasters, enameled tiles, mosaics, bas-relief, and frescoes to decorate them. They made doors with hinges, locks, and keys. Their houses had no windows facing the street, strictly separating public and private life. Their materials were mostly mudbrick and wood, although the Assyrians also used stone.

 

Egyptian architects are most famous for the pyramids, the Sphinx,

The Sphynx, 2558-2532 BC

 the Necropolis in the Valley of the Dead, the temple complex at Karnak, and for burial tombs called mastabas.

an Egyptian mastaba - burial tomb

Egyptians also designed the world’s first palaces, at Thebes. Many towns from ancient Egypt were washed away by Nile floods, so most of what’s left are their temples and monuments. They used mudbrick, but their most ambitious projects used limestone, sandstone, and granite. Like Mesopotamia, all of their monuments were post and lintel constructions, with many interior columns. All exterior and interior walls and columns were painted with hieroglyphic frescoes.

Egypt is famous for having one of the earliest known architects, Imhotep, who designed Djoser’s step pyramid, and was one of the only Egyptian commoners to earn divine status. He may have been the first architect to use columns.

statue of Imhotep, from around 2,650 BC

 

Greek architects are famous for temples, open-air amphitheatres, gateways, squares, town council buildings, mausoleums, and stadiums. Greek towns had paved streets with gutters, public fountains, and markets surrounded by a colonnade with shops. They also had gymnasiums (fitness centers, not schools) for men to exercise. Temples were post & lintel designs, like the Egyptians, and were more like treasuries, holding all the gifts that people offered to the Gods. Greeks were also famous for the acropolis, a defensive citadel on a hill with cliffs on most sides.

The Acropolis in Athens, with the Parthenon on top

The most famous is in Athens where the Parthenon sits, but there are others in Assos, Pergamon, Argos, Greek Thebes, and Corinth. Greek architecture can be divided into three orders of design: Doric, Iambic, and Corinthian, which you can identify most by the capitals of the columns.

The three Greek Orders: Doric, Ionic, and Corinthian

Major building materials were limestone, marble, and clay. What makes Greek architecture so special is their obsession with proportions. The lines of their buildings are rarely straight. Every line is slightly curved to make it look better, like the columns that swell in the middle, like muscular arms. Greek architecture has been extremely influential in later periods, up to the present.

 

Roman architects learned from the Greeks and from the Etruscans, a civilization that had lived in Italy before them. So, Roman architecture looks very similar. The Empire lasted from about 500 BC to 500 AD. In this time, they developed arches, which are superior to the post & lintel system, because they bear the weight evenly.

This shows the limitations of post & lintel construction

Arches can hold heavier loads

By joining two arches together, the Romans developed vaults.

 

Putting vaults together (ribbed vaults) created large, open, interior spaces, an innovation used for thousand of years in cathedrals and palaces. 

 

Arches allowed the Romans to design vaulted ceilings, domes, arched bridges, and aquaducts that carried water for hundreds of miles to their cities.

Pont du Gard, the aquaduct of Nîmes, France, 40-60 AD

Famous buildings include the Colloseum, the Pantheon,

The Pantheon in Rome, 126 AD

the Baths of Diocletian and of Caracalla, the aquaducts of Rome, and many basilicas - public court buildings. Romans developed ways to improve their homes and hygiene, with baths, latrines, heated floors, and hot & cold running water. They also developed concrete, a strong, new building material.

High & Low Art

Art can be put into two categories: high and low. Civilization is most proud of its high art. It’s a product of genius. It’s so great that it’s iconic––countries use it as a way to promote themselves. Italy has Leonardo Da Vinci, Raphael, and Michelangelo. Austria has Mozart and Beethoven. England has Shakespeare. America has Hemingway and Mark Twain.

Low art can be beautiful, charming, skillfully made, and intelligent. But it’s still not so impressive (pôsobivý) as high art. High art is more profound (hlbšie). It’s more complex, and philosophical. It requires more concentration and sensitivity to make and to appreciate (ceniť). Higher art is harder to understand. Lower art is easier––like art for children. People who make low art can be popular and loved, like J.K. Rowling, but they’re not as highly respected as people who make high art, like Shakespeare.

It’s good to know what these words mean, but it’s not very important in judging art. It doesn’t refer to the quality of the art so much as the quality of the ideas behind them. Some people don’t like to distinguish (rozoznávať) between high and low art. They think it’s snobbish and insulting (urážlivý). Many people prefer “low” art, and they don’t like to feel embarrassed about it.

Sometimes it’s hard to say if an art form is high or low. It’s in-between. Some jazz music is very complex, having more to do with classical music theory than with pop. But, then some jazz music is very simple, like pop. Some films combine elements of high and low art, like Being John Malkovich, or Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind. And, some artists devote their lives to making one-of-a-kind toys, selling them at high prices. So the line between high and low art is blurry (rozdiel je nejasný).

High & Low Art Examples:                 High Art                                                        Low Art

Painting:                     Da Vinci, Rembrandt, Picasso                 Book Illustration, Comics, Cartoons, Advertisements

Sculpture:             Ancient Greek & Roman Sculpture,              Children’s Toys, Furniture & Electronics Design

                                Michelangelo, Rodin                               Crafts like Ceramics, Weaving, Fashion Design,

                                                                                              Jewellery Design

Architecture:            Cathedrals, Palaces, Parks                        Typical Family Homes, Apartments, & Shops

Music:                    Mozart, Beethoven, Brahms,      - Jazz -     Pop Music, The Blues, The Beatles, Britney Spears,

                              Debussy, Chopin                                           R&B, Hip Hop

Theatre:                 Shakespeare, Oscar Wilde,                            Children’s Theatre, Sketch Comedy, Improv,

                              George Bernard Shaw                                   Ventriloquists (bruchomvravce), Puppet Shows

Opera:                   Mozart, Verdi, Puccini                                  Light Opera (Gilbert & Sullivan),

                                                                             Broadway Musicals

Film:                     Avante Garde Film:                                                     Hollywood Blockbusters, Action Films, Children’s

                           Ballet Mécanique, Un chien andalou                              Films, Comedies, Hangover

Dance:                    Ballet, Swan Lake, The Nutcracker                           Hip Hop, Club Dancing, Folk Dancing

Literature:               Shakespeare, William Faulkner,                             Pop Fiction, Pulp Fiction – J.K. Rowling, Collins

                                Hemingway, Fitzgerald                                       (Hunger Games), Mayer (Twilight), Stephen King

                                                                                                            Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park)

Introduction to Dance

History of Dance

Dance is one of the oldest forms of art known to man. There are glyphs of people dancing that were painted over 11,000 years ago. Primitive dances still exist today, and are used for ceremonial, religious, and healing purposes. Many of these dances tell a story – myths, legends, and histories of a cultures. Dance is also an integral part of gymnastics and martial arts.

Kinds of Dance

Dances can be categorized by the number of dancers - solo, partner, or group – and by the style of dance:

 

Ballroom dance: Ballroom dance and balls come from the Italian word for dance, ‘ballare’. They originated from folk dance, but became more formal as entertainment in kings’ courts. Ballroom dance evolved with classical music. Typical dances during the renaissance were the basse dance, branle, pavane, and the galliarde. The minuet was introduced in the 17^th century, and the waltz, polka, and mazurka started in the 19^th. The waltz was innovative in that it wasn’t a “sequence dance”, meaning each couple could dance independently of the others. The waltz was controversial because the partners held each other so close.

            Ballroom dance transformed in the 20^th century due to several factors. World Wars 1 & 2 ended many older social customs. Jazz music led to dance crazes that created new dances, made popular by films with Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. And, new dance schools led to competitive dancing.

 

Standard Ballroom Dances today include: Slow Waltz, Viennese Waltz, Tango, Foxtrot, and Quickstep.

 

American “Nightclub Dances” include: Lindy Hop, West Coast Swing, East Coast Swing, Two Step, Hustle, Salsa, Merengue, Bolero, and Mambo.

 

Latin Ballroom Dances include: Samba, Cha-cha-cha, Rumba, Paso Doble, and Jive.

 

Ballet: Ballet is a performance dance that tells a story. It’s a very technical dance with its own vocabulary, and it takes many years to master. It’s theatrical, with costumes, sets, and is closely related to opera. Many early operas contain ballet scenes. Ballet first developed in Italy and became very popular in Paris, as court entertainment for kings. The word comes from the Italian ‘balletto’ meaning a little dance. The Académie Royale de Danse, the first ballet academy, opened in Paris in 1661, and began the first ballet troupe – this is when ballet first separated from ballroom dance. In the 19^th century, ballet became less popular in France, but Russians took it very seriously, and reintroduced it to France just before WWI, while fleeing the Bolshevik Revolution. Ballet has been very influential in the development of modern dance and music. Many famous ballet composers are Russian, like Tchaikovsky, who wrote the Nutcracker, and Modernist composers like Stravinsky, Prokofiev, Shostakovich. The most famous French composer of ballet is Maurice Ravel, and in America, Aaron Copland.

 

Folk dance: There are many kinds of folk dance, coming from different countries, villages, and cultures around the world. Many are hundreds of years old. Different kinds of folk dance include polkas, which vary from country to country, square dancing, barn dancing, step dancing, clogging, Greek and Turkish dances, sword dancing, etc.

 

Ritual dance: is any dance performed as part of a ritual, or religious ceremony. Many of these originate in Polynesia, on islands like Indonesia, Hawaii, and New Zealand. The Maori of New Zealand perform Haka warrior dances, meant to intimidate their enemies. Buddhist dance tells a story, with every movement and gesture telling a word. Hawaiian dance also tells stories.

 

Breakdancing: Also called B-boying, is a form of street dancing that began in NYC in the 1970’s. It’s now spread worldwide. Common elements of breakdancing include toprock, downrock, powermoves, and freezes.

Modern dance: is an expressive, formal dance similar to ballet, but breaking many of its rules. There are many styles.