INTERIOR DESIGN BLOG @kaitlintaylorbrack - Tumblr Blog

Vertical Studio

For the Vertical Studio project, I collaborated with four first year students and 2 other second year students. The project consisted of selecting a protagonist, their ability, what they need and whether it focuses on the threshold, facade or interior, and constructing this in a 3000mm x 3000mm space. The final result would be a 1:20 model and presentation. When selecting at random, our brief became to create a workspace that focuses on the interior for a wheelchair bound 10 year old.

Initially, my group was confused on what a 10 year old’s workspace would require, but I found this challenge appealing, as I thought it was up to our own interpretation and gave us some creative leeway in a restricting brief.

As soon as research began, I found it increasingly more apparent that not a lot of pre-existing design caters to disability. Up until 2017, taxis in the UK did not have to accommodate wheelchair users by law (https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/access-for-wheelchair-users-to-taxis-and-private-hire-vehicles).

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UNIT X: Overall Review

In reflection, I think I contributed to the success of our group an awful lot. I mostly enjoyed working in a group. I created many sketches, created the film, assisted the model-making and was heavily involved in the initial, sci-fi idea for the project. At times, collaboration became stressful, the biggest issue being people not allowing other ideas to be heard and cutting people from communication. During the start of the project, I think everyone was really having a good time exploring ideas and this started to dwindle as the project progressed. People forcing their ideas became necessary to a point, so that we would have a finished idea, so perhaps timing was more the issue. As for people being cut from communication, I’m unsure whether this was purposeful. Some of the group members began to meet privately and plan the exhibition without consulting others, which was detrimental as not everyone held the same knowledge of the project. I doubt that these meetings were malicious, but they were counter-progressive to the harmonious group atmosphere that was once instilled and to the progression of the project.

I would work with this group again, but would probably try even harder to be heard. Even though our final exhibition result was very commendable, I wish I had more of an idea of what was going on later in the project. In the final exhibition, much of my work was showcased, so I don’t feel as though I was not heard at all, I just wish that I had been more clued in so I could of continued to leave my mark on the project when possible. Natalie was easily one of the strongest players in our group, as she was brilliant at organising everyone and drawing attention to how the project ideas relate to the brief. I would certainly work with her again, her work ethic is praiseworthy. Jodie is extremely innovative and has an inspiring imagination when it comes to model-making and sketching. My experience was Gareth, Emma and Bébhinn was all quite similar. All three of these people have wonderful ideas, but can be obstinate at times, which although led to the success of our project, left me feeling in the dark at times. On the other hand, as a group, we were very good at listening to our lecturers comments and applying them to our work, as well as sticking to deadlines and being professional.

In regards to the exhibition itself, I think we were very successful. We fully manifested a believable paper town, phantom settlement-esque story which people could place themselves within. The story had a strong backbone and I think the gaps in the story helped the exhibition feel more mysterious and real. The plot was understandable yet fluid, and I think we mirrored Jamie Shovlin’s work excellently, especially through the use of the film I made. The full premise of the project was superb. The film was very sophisticated and using only VHS footage in blue tones to give an eerie, DIY, thriller atmosphere. When I pondered which briefs I would be receiving when studying Interior Design, I never considered having the chance to work on something as conceptual as this, and am pleasantly surprised.

I wish that I had had the opportunity to work with 3D Design more, as I would love to try glass-blowing or another unorthodox creating method that I am unfamiliar with. Hopefully during the next Unit X I will have the opportunity to work more closely with people from different courses. I enjoyed the map creating task, but the sharing skills activity felt lacking in organisation and reason. One of my favourite activities whilst working with 3D was being taught how to model-make by Mark. I truly value this session and still think about it when i’m designing now. It helped me to gain confidence in model-making and inspired me to explore materials even further. I think Unit X could be improved through even more collaboration between subjects, and possibly being timetabled in more often. Overall, I found the full experience to be valuable as it let me grow as a designer in unexpected ways, as I was given the opportunity to use new skills like film-making and 3D drawing.

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UNIT X: Week 7

In a way, this week was probably one of the most challenging. On Monday, everyone met up to discuss any final queries. I still felt quite out of the loop in regards to the final construction and curating of the exhibition. I decided to focus instead primarily on creating the diary with Jodie, which was to be featured at the exhibition. Lots of printing was done throughout this day and everybody equally pulled their weight. On Tuesday, the day before the show, everyone met up again and people were mainly printing final pieces to be hung and I played a role in deciding which materials would be more suitable than others, so that the film projection could pass through. I burned the film to disc and everyone was on track and knew what they should be working on. Emma took all of the hanging pieces home with her to bring in on Wednesday whilst the technical equipment and models all resided at my flat for Jodie to collect in the morning. Unfortunately, when carrying the models back to my house, I sprained my foot which led to me being almost useless on Wednesday morning when we set up the exhibition. The full team was patient and understanding to my condition and I am extremely thankful for that. Setting up the exhibition took a few hours as it involved hanging the trelis and constantly running out of supplies such as thin rope and bulldog clips. Altogether, the final set up looked fantastic, when I left I was excited to be returning later to see other people’s reaction to our group creation. On the evening, I received much positive feedback, particularly from my lecturers, which was a wonderful thing. Unfortunately, the music from the projection was drowned out by the public, but the eerie vibe was still achieved through lighting and colour in our work. When it came down to it, the diary that me and Jodie created would of been excessive in the exhibition. To me, the project already felt a little too busy, and I felt that the addition of a diary would only subtract from the composition and comfortable lack of information we provided. Seeing the work come together was a fantastic feeling, I simply wish I could of been more involved in the construction of the exhibition, meaning the idea for showcasing work and actually piecing everything together.

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UNIT X: Weeks 5 - 6

Week 5:

This week we were told that our exhibition would be in Chapter One, in the Northern Quarter of Manchester, and we had to decide which area we would like to use of the space. We discussed two different locations as a group and proposed them to Simone at different points in the day, but she could neither confirm or deny either of them. Also during this week, I went to a film workshop where I learned how to properly use FCPX. I’d been making our film on iMovie, so this workshop wasn’t particularly useful for this project, but has helped me for if I use this software in future. After this video making workshop, our group met with Simone to discuss technology needed for the show e.g. projectors. At this point, I felt confident that our project would come together coherently, but also felt a little lost within all of the ideas that my group members were discussing. On Thursday, myself and Bébhinn represented our group at a tutorial with Helen and our new staff member Paul to review what area of the café we would like to use for our exhibition. Confusingly, Bébhinn insisted to the lecturers that we were to use a different area to what we had all decided on, as it was larger, so I attempted to get a majority agreement from everyone. We agreed on this new location.

Week 6:

This week was primarily about finishing things and refining. I completed the film I’d been making towards the start of this week, so had time to assist Jodie with the construction of the models. On top of this, I helped map out the curation for the space and decide which of our drawings and such would be showcased. Myself and Jodie also worked on creating a diary to showcase at the exhibition, but decided this would be too excessive in context. During this week, when I had already finished my film, I had another film making workshop. Lots of new ideas were being explored towards the end of this week, and I think that’s because the jobs were not properly distributed, which led to group members making unnecessary posters and hangings in addition to what we all already had. Communication lacked during this time, and to be truthful, I felt like I had been cut out of discussion at times and literally didn’t know what the exhibition was supposed to look like. Me and Jodie continued to work on the models over the weekend and are very pleased with the result.

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UNIT X: Weeks 3 - 4

Week 3:

At the start of this week, we were split off into new mixed groups of Interior Design and 3D Design students and were set with the task of expanding our skill-set by teaching something to someone else. I was placed in a group with Minty, from Interior Design, and Laura, from 3D Design. After chatting, we came up with the idea that Laura would teach myself and Minty how to do gel nails and in return we would help her learn to use Photoshop. This task was fun, but felt unneeded, as after this task I never worked with these two people again. It would work as a great icebreaker in group circumstances, but otherwise lacks purpose. Everyone shared their new skills in a group presentation the following day. On Thursday, we got put into new groups, of just Interior Design students, and were briefed for our project, which focused on “Urban Intervention” in Manchester. My group was myself, Jodie, Natalie, Gareth, Emma and Bébhinn. After a meeting together, we soon fed off each other’s energy and decided to pursue a murder mystery, horror, sci-fi genre incident based in the 90s, themed around a shared enjoyment of Twin Peaks and The Blair Witch Project. Later that day, we had a tutorial with Simone and Helen, who encouraged our idea and led us to more references like Jamie Shovlin. After this tutorial, we discussed our thoughts as a group. I feel as though my group is a collective of mixed ideas and skills, but we are all on the same path. I am excited to progress further.

Week 4:

On Monday morning, we met up at Manchester Central Library and tried to determine the nature of our exhibition and who would focus on which area. It soon proved difficult to settle on one idea, so we decided to leave the mystery open ended, letting our audience dictate what occurred within our theory by leaving some clues. I have decided to work primarily on creating a film for the project, which will assist the spooky atmosphere we are trying to provoke. The following day, we met up again but at All Saints Library and worked on piecing together a presentation for the next day to explain our ideas to Simone, Lucy, Helen and Mark. We practiced our presentation multiple times prior. They were mostly pleased with our ideas and seemed enthusiastic that we follow this creative path. Mark questioned how our project could be measurable in regards to success - for this Lucy suggested we should have post-it notes at the event for people to write their ideas on to. We all agreed with this idea as a group but said we may refine it further and have a small form or questionnaire for our audience.

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UNIT X: Weeks 1 - 2

Week 1:

Firstly, after an introduction to Unit X, we got placed into a group, mixing Interior Design and 3D Design students. My group included myself and Jodie (representing Interior Design) with Tilly and Eilena (From 3D Design). Our task was to construct a map of a designated area of Manchester, which would later be placed as a jigsaw piece of a larger map. We could use a mix of materials and had to scale the map appropriately. After introducing ourselves to one another, including sharing personal objects that we felt represented the course and Manchester, we split off to survey the area. Later that day, we met as a group to discuss our thoughts and share sketches and materials. The girls from 3D brought lots of glass samples which we scanned to use the next day. The following day, we worked on a large group collage to submit. I primarily pieced the collage together on photoshop and edited the scans, as well as making my own collage pieces to add. The other three girls were wonderful to work with. Tilly’s approach to design was something I found rejuvenating, as she operated with a range of materials to sketch, like glass. I have found a new love for material experimentation and 3D sketching. Jodie is a fantastic illustrator and I learnt an awful lot through simply watching her sketch and sharing ideas with her. Eilena introduced me to new inks as well as how glass can be used as a collage material. We submitted our final piece on the third day and I am very proud of what we created. I think there was a clear sense of sharing aspects of our courses with one another evident in our map. I would happily work with any of these three girls again.

Week 2:

On Tuesday morning, we were led on a tour around Ancoats by Sibby. The tour was intended to give inspiration for the next part of our project, but it soon enough became hard to be inspired when I wasn’t sure what the next part of the project was going to be. All I knew was that our brief related to physicality and illusions. We were introduced to the Manchester peepholes and the history of the area. I truly enjoyed this tour as it helped me place myself within Manchester’s rich past. Later in the day, everybody met up to partake in an urban sketching session which was led by Simone. I have urban sketched once before this and found the experience of sharing my sketches with others to be daunting yet satisfying. On Thursday, I attended a model-making workshop led by Mark. This was my favourite part of the week as it taught me how to be resourceful, inspired by everyday objects and resilient with materials. We had to create a physical manifestation of our journey into university that day and our relationship with Manchester, and then added our personal touch to someone else’s work.

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Blog Bibliography

The Huffington Post. (2012). Andy Warhol Made A Mistake That Resulted In Some Of His Best Paintings. [online] Available at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/05/warhol-rorschach-test-mistake_n_7173128.html [Accessed 20 Mar. 2017].

Artnet News. (2017). Artist Man Ray on Art and Life - artnet News. [online] Available at: https://news.artnet.com/art-world/artist-man-ray-birthday-advice-327933 [Accessed 24 Mar. 2017].

BBC Radio 1 (2013). Kanye West. Zane Lowe. Part 4.. [video] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIfUmGxSgpY&feature=youtu.be&t=16m43s%5B/youtube [Accessed 22 Mar. 2017].

Dezeen.com (2016). British Pavilion. [online] Available at: https://www.dezeen.com/2016/05/26/home-economics-british-pavilion-venice-architecture-biennale-2016-uk-housing/) [Accessed 4 Apr. 2017].

Eckardt, S. (2017). Stylist and Punk Iconoclast Judy Blame Looks Back on His Genre-Defying Career. [online] W Magazine. Available at: http://www.wmagazine.com/story/judy-blame-ica-exhibit-zine-interview [Accessed 2 Apr. 2017].

Pinterest. (2017). Flood of prints; our cloth can be innovative art canvas. [online] Available at: https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/475481673130601555/ [Accessed 4 Apr. 2017].

En.wikiquote.org. (2003). Frank Zappa - Wikiquote. [online] Available at: https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frank_Zappa [Accessed 11 Apr. 2017].

Hattenstone, S. (2016). ‘I face so much jealousy’: Marina Abramović talks friends, enemies and fear. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/oct/22/marina-abramovic-artist-face-jealousy-simon-hattenstone [Accessed 2 Apr. 2017].

Highmore, B. (2009). The design culture reader. 1st ed. London: Routledge.

AMERICAN SUBURB X. (2013). INTERVIEW: Roy Lichtenstein - "BBC Interview" (1966) | #ASX. [online] Available at: http://www.americansuburbx.com/2013/10/interview-roy-lichtenstein-bbc-interview-1966.html [Accessed 13 Mar. 2017].

Web.archive.org. (2017). MASLOW'S HIERARCHY OF NEEDS. [online] Available at: https://web.archive.org/web/20100211014419/http://honolulu.hawaii.edu/intranet/committees/FacDevCom/guidebk/teachtip/maslow.htm [Accessed 7 Apr. 2017].

Interview Magazine. (2015). New Again: Roy Lichtenstein. [online] Available at: http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/new-again-roy-lichtenstein/#_ [Accessed 13 Mar. 2017].

Rogers, N. (2015). Karl Marx and the First International | The Project. [online] The Project. Available at: http://www.socialistproject.org/history/karl-marx-and-the-first-international/ [Accessed 1 Apr. 2017].

Blog.printsome.com. (2017). What Is Screen Printing?. [online] Available at: https://blog.printsome.com/what-is-screen-printing/ [Accessed 2 Apr. 2017].

Numéro Magazine. (2017). Who is Judy Blame, the last of the real English punks?. [online] Available at: http://www.numero.com/en/accessories/fashion-judy-blame-never-again-artistic-differences-ica-the-mall-london [Accessed 5 Apr. 2017].

Qualityofkamagra.com. (2017). Wooden Table Design Your Kitchen Design Inspirations And Appliances - Qualityofkamagra.com. [online] Available at: http://qualityofkamagra.com/tag/wooden-table-design/ [Accessed 14 Apr. 2017].

Elledecor.it. (2016). Alla Biennale di Venezia la Gran Bretagna presenta Home Economics. [online] Available at: http://www.elledecor.it/biennale-venezia/padiglione-gran-bretagna-home-economics [Accessed 10 Apr. 2017].

Lyman Tower, Sargent (2005). Rüsen, Jörn; Fehr, Michael; Reiger, Thomas W., eds. The Necessity of Utopian Thinking: A Cross-National Perspective. Thinking Utopia: Steps Into Other Worlds (Report). New York, USA: Berghahn Books. p. 11. [Accessed 4 Apr. 2017]

Orwell, George. (1949). 1984. 1st ed. Harvill Secker.

Frost, L. and Frost, L. (2013). You probably didn’t read the most telling part of Orwell’s “1984”—the appendix. [online] Quartz. Available at: https://qz.com/95696/you-probably-didnt-read-the-most-telling-part-of-orwells-1984-the-appendix/ [Accessed 12 Apr. 2017].

andBerlin. (2012). Schwerbelastungskörper – Hitler’s Folly. [online] Available at: http://andberlin.com/2012/05/07/hitlers-folly-schwerbelastungskorper/ [Accessed 16 Mar. 2017].

Amusingplanet.com. (2016). The Schwerbelastungskörper And Hitler’s Grand Plans For Berlin. [online] Available at: http://www.amusingplanet.com/2016/06/the-schwerbelastungskorper-and-hitlers.html [Accessed 8 Apr. 2017].

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Utopia

One lecture from Contextual Practice that has stayed in the forefront of my mind is “Utopias & Microtopias”. I think this is because prior I had never overtly linked these themes with design. The word utopia nowadays is defined as “a non-existent society that is intended to be viewed as considerably better than contemporary society”. In greek, the word utopia translates to “no-place”, and in interior, we refer to place as a specific location, an occupied space. No place, not of a specific area, does the word utopia imply that a utopia can never exist?

When I read 1984, a parable of a utopia actually being a dystopia by George Orwell, my perspective on design changed. I once thought of design as a physical creation, when in reality, design can be intangible or more spiritual. In this book, a man named Winston lives in Airstrip One (once known as Great Britain), where thoughts are policed and people are lied to and manipulated by a higher power known as ‘Big Brother’. Although just a face to a cause, it would be fair to argue that Big Brother is the architect of this dystopia. People follow Big Brother out of devotion to his cause and fear of no choice. I wonder if people have this mindset when it comes to design to an extent, feeling unheard in a world of overgrowing architecture. Big Brother designs the people’s future on a physical and metaphysical plane. “One does not establish a dictatorship in order to safeguard a revolution; one makes the revolution in order to establish the dictatorship”.

(https://qz.com/95696/you-probably-didnt-read-the-most-telling-part-of-orwells-1984-the-appendix/)

By trying to design a safe-haven for people, whether with corrupt intention or not, I don’t believe that a utopia can ever successfully exist on a large scale. During Germany’s panic and desire for a leader, Adolf Hitler came into power, and was deemed mostly a suitable candidate for helping Germany recover during the Great Depression. Hitler’s Fascist Utopia was an intended plan to develop Berlin into the nazi capital of the world and was to be designed by Albert Speer. Physical remnants of this intention still exist, like the Schwerbelastungskörper which was built as “there were some concerns about the marshy soil of Berlin and whether it would be able to support the weight of the giant structures Hitler wanted” (http://andberlin.com/2012/05/07/hitlers-folly-schwerbelastungskorper/). Today, this haunting concrete cylinder acts as a monument to the dystopia that could of been.

(http://www.amusingplanet.com/2016/06/the-schwerbelastungskorper-and-hitlers.html)

One man’s rubbish is another man’s treasure, and that statement couldn’t be truer with utopias. There is no one way to please everyone and an attempt to do so is nonsensical. No matter what, there will never be a time that everyone is happy. Connecting this to interior design, I have learnt that it’s vital to know historical context in order to create something correctly, it’s valuable to consider that not everyone will like your work and that the power that comes with design is extensive, and therefore should be treated with the upmost respect. I plan to continue to research the power of design so I can appropriately make choices in my field and I want to read more about Utopias, so plan on reading Brave New World over the summer.

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British Pavilion @ Venice Biennale 2016

The theme for the Venice Biennale 2016 was “Reporting from the front” which explored architecture and design as an approach to tackling social, economic and political issues in the world. This particular exhibition, the British Pavilion, was about redefining what it means to live with all of your needs met in modern day life. The pavilion explored people’s needs to survive and whether our current living situations are suitable for our ever changing and growing lifestyles.

What really resonated with me was that the room that you enter to get inside the pavilion was created with the intention of encouraging communication and social interaction and I found this out after sitting and chatting with people in there for at least 10 minutes. When I read that I had being using the space for it’s built intention without knowing, the possibilities of controlling human interaction with interiors became much more prevalent to me. The exhibition explored disbanding the idea of nuclear structures for homes. I think as a designer in the 21st century, this is something extremely significant and which will become more and more important throughout my career.

(https://www.dezeen.com/2016/05/26/home-economics-british-pavilion-venice-architecture-biennale-2016-uk-housing/)

The Gran Bretagna building held a trail of consecutive rooms which each explored living within a different timeframe. The entrance room was “living within terms of hours”, the next was “days”, “months”, “years” and finally “decades”. Travelling clockwise through these 5 model homes, the growth between each was apparent and left me considering what it is that logistically makes a home. Catering to people’s needs is a huge aspect of interior design, and the British Biennale fully explores this in their entry.

The exhibition offers an experimental, and perhaps a more practical, quick solution to the housing crisis in the UK. One of my favourite rooms was “living within days”, which showcased large, inflatable balls as a housing solution. Although sounding impractical, if you were to move every few days, your home would probably need to be able to move with you. In Maslow’s Hierachy of needs, “Maslow states that people seek to overcome feelings of loneliness and alienation. This involves both giving and receiving love, affection and the sense of belonging” (https://web.archive.org/web/20100211014419). This leaves me questioning, would an inflatable ball give a strong enough sense of belonging that someone could be happy in it? It’s hard to assume so. Maslow states “Adults have little awareness of their security needs except in times of emergency or periods of disorganization in the social structure”, and I find it hard to imagine a great sense of security in this solution too.

(http://www.elledecor.it/biennale-venezia/padiglione-gran-bretagna-home-economics)

In regards to my personal practice, I think that visiting the British Pavilion has broadened my awareness on quick solutions to design problems and has me considering how to meet people’s needs through design too. I find it interesting that aesthetic still comes into play when assessing the needs of housing people for these time periods. Each solution is visually pleasing in it’s own way. I will continue to investigate this philosophical notion of human needs vs aesthetic and will contemplate this idea when working on my own projects.

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Judy Blame: Unit X Inspirer Series

When I heard Judy Blame was giving a talk for the “inspirer series” my interest certainly peaked. All I knew of Judy was his alternative approach to design and work in jewellery.

Judy is a punk designer who thrives on ideas of rebellion coming from creation. From Bjork and Boy George to Louis Vuitton and Commes Des Garcons, Blame holds a strong CV of famous clients. His collaboration with big names isn’t exactly what interested me, it was moreover the fact that even when working with Adidas and such, he has managed stayed to true to his vision. During the talk, he said “being proud of yourself attracts other people” and I found this truly beautiful. As a designer, it’s hard to imagine that I could maintain a sincere concept whilst listening to a client. Judy taught me that while (listen to clients and include them stay true to yourself) . What I love the most is that he got to his position in the industry mainly because of his integrity and devotion to his creations, which is such a rewarding and beautiful thing.

(http://www.wmagazine.com/story/judy-blame-ica-exhibit-zine-interview)

During his talk, he explained to us the power of collage and how to find inspiration in unlikely places, how you should collect pieces and find a way to use them later. Collage artist, Man Ray, is quoted saying “I have only to look at something, anything, and it can instantaneously give me an idea. Whether a face, an object, or an event, it can immediately suggest a shape to create…” (https://news.artnet.com/art-world/artist-man-ray-birthday-advice-327933). I find that this mirrors Judy’s ideologies of art too. Judy uses collage as a sketching method, which is how it relates to interior design. In my practice, I’d love to attempt to sketch through scrap materials and images. I think the process of sketching like this holds more responsibility due to the limited materials. I will definitely use this in future projects. It’s something I have done before, but after listening to Judy, I am more confident in the process. He once said “I’m very kind of tactile in the way I put the ideas together, and I wanted to show the thought process in quite a physical way to the young people of today that are kind of unused to threading a needle, not looking at the computer screen” (http://www.wmagazine.com/story/judy-blame-ica-exhibit-zine-interview)

(http://www.numero.com/en/accessories/fashion-judy-blame-never-again-artistic-differences-ica-the-mall-london)

In retrospect, looking at Judy Blame’s work is almost like looking at a collage piece which has manifested itself to have a physicality. He said that when creating jewellery he considers collage. Some of my favourite pieces of his are his “Comme Des Garcons Homme Number 3″ collections where he uses neon pink toy soldiers with gold religious imagery in brooches and necklaces. From these pieces, I realised how important it is to hold a message in your work. I feel like I do this already a great amount within my interior work e.g. my first project exploring the idea of music as a religion and finding a way to be able to worship it in the context of Manchester. I will definitely carry this onwards. Marina Abramovic is known for being a provocative artist and it quoted “They don’t see what this work means, how I am reaching a larger public than just the art public” (https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2016/oct/22/marina-abramovic-artist-face-jealousy-simon-hattenstone).

The overarching message I took from Judy’s talk was that your best work comes from resonating with your creations and maintaining a strong passion always. Throughout collections with Marc Jacobs and Jean Baptiste, you can visibly see Blame in his pieces. I want to be noticed like this in interior design.

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The Design Culture Reader by Ben Highmore

I started reading “The Design Culture Reader” to strengthen my contextual understanding and to prepare myself for writing a manifesto as a part of CP. When reading The Design Culture Reader, my favourite section to read was Marx’s “The Fetishism of Commodity and It’s Secret”.

Proposed in 1867, this manifesto explores the idea that people add humanistic features to design and thus objects become more of a commodity than they should be. To be more clear, this is an extract "as humans become more thing-like, (cogs in the machine, for instance which is often the literal position of a factory worker), things take on magical, human qualities". The way we talk about furniture, like a table, as having legs and feet, is a fetishism. He also says "While it is clear that even as a commodity a wooden table is still a wooden table, we won't get far looking for its commodity form by analysing the properties of wood". While all of this was proposed, commodity culture was still a fresh concept and in its infancy. In my opinion, I find that this helps my career in the way that this is an exploitable concept and can be used to make consumers feel guilty into buying something. I don’t think that morally I could coach people into owning objects

(http://qualityofkamagra.com/tag/wooden-table-design/)

The 1860s, when this piece was published, was a time of extravagance and excess. Some key events relevant to this time are Britain’s Imperial Century and the Victorian Era. Those of a higher social class indulged in gothic revival architecture, Marx is repelling this lavish lifestyle and he’s trying to communicate what it means to need, rather than to want. As a communist, Marx established the idea of common ownership and everybody contributing something to their community, discarding the idea of social class and the ideology of some people having more power than others.

(http://www.socialistproject.org/history/karl-marx-and-the-first-international/)

“Communism doesn't work because people like to own stuff” (https://en.wikiquote.org/wiki/Frank_Zappa), which is great for me as a designer of interiors. Another contemporary musician with a lot to say about fetishising commodity is Kanye West. In this clip (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GIfUmGxSgpY&feature=youtu.be&t=16m43s%5B/youtube) from 16:43, he explores the idea of greed and desire as a citizen of the system in the 21st century. His views resonate with me, as he explains that he knows what he is buying into but nevertheless continues to endorse it.

Reading this essay and exploring the topic at hand has really helped me place myself within and design, and has helped me understand the opportunities that come with furniture in design. I feel like my position as a designer is to encourage people to be wise with their purchases. I am a fan of lavishness, but I find excess to only be appropriate to a point. It’s about being able to distinguish between what is needed and what is wanted and then acting upon it. Throughout my career as an interior designer, I will be faced with opportunities to exploit peoples wants, how I choose to respond to the situation is all down to my moral compass.

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Andy Warhol @ The Whitworth

Before visiting The Whitworth to see the “Andy Warhol: Artist Rooms” exhibition, I was apprehensive. Truthfully, I’d never gave his work much attention, and was only familiar with his Marilyn Monroe work which didn’t peak my interest. I found the piece to be basic and easy, but in reflection, I think this is because I didn’t know anything about how it was made.

(https://uk.pinterest.com/pin/475481673130601555/)

I am a true believer in using traditional techniques where-ever it’s possible, and when I discovered that Andy Warhol’s work is made mostly through screen-printing, I saw most of his pieces in a new light. This is because I am aware of the effort and consciousness that goes into making a screen and producing prints, whereas I presumed they were just paintings before. I have screen-printed myself and I thoroughly enjoy it. I’ve never screen-printed on to anything but paper, formally known as serigraph printing, so to see huge artworks printed on to canvases was awe-inspiring. It gave me a buzz of excitement and left me questioning where screen-printing is relevant in my practice and what traditional techniques are used in interior design.

Originating in China, screen-printing was designed to transfer designs to materials. The method was popularised in the 60s by pop artists of the time, including the likes of Roy Lichtenstein, Edward Ruscha and Andy Warhol, among others.

(https://blog.printsome.com/what-is-screen-printing/)

Rather than mocking up a model of an interior on google sketch-up, which I am not discrediting, the amount of perspective gained from seeing a scale model is remarkable. In a way, I compare this to the difference between digital printing and screen-printing. Maybe it’s simply the effort of manually making a stencil and hand printing rather than moving a mouse that excites me. Through traditional techniques, an unspoken effort is brought to light. “The hard-edged character which is brought about by the printing” (http://www.americansuburbx.com/2013/10/interview-roy-lichtenstein-bbc-interview-1966.html) . Seeing something and being able to read the time and passion that has been put into creating it is rewarding for both the audience and the creator.

(http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2015/05/05/warhol-rorschach-test-mistake_n_7173128.html)

In relevance to interior design, I think it’s vital to be evolving yet respecting what there once was. Like hand-sketching plans and interiors and physically making interior pieces and models rather than digitalizing them. In my personal practice, I plan on applying a combined mix of these two as I feel it will give me the best and most varied results. Ultimately, design is about allowing room to grow and using whichever techniques are deemed necessary. Lichtenstein said “usually I begin things through a drawing, so a lot of things are worked out in the drawing. But even then, I still allow for and want to make changes” (http://www.interviewmagazine.com/art/new-again-roy-lichtenstein/#_) and this is something I agree with. When possible, I think I’ll even try to screen print sketches of interiors to increase my usage of mixed media. Over the summer, I plan on developing my sketching skills so that I can feel less intimidated by hand-drawing interiors.

#cp1

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