DESIGNED FOR THE GUGGENHEIM
Recently I’ve been designing just like I did when I was a child. When I was 9 years old, I designed several items in shop class. One item was a shelf, with clear shelving to see items on the shelf better in the bathroom. One was a whistle. And another was a sculpture of a dog in aluminum. That was way back in the 70’s. I even took a shot a drawing chairs and did pretty well at it. Today- many years later- I design items for sheer pleasure of designing. I’ve researched design to see what is out there a bit in modern design. I look at what worked in modern design in the 50’s through the 90’s and frankly I find that a great deal of the design was uncomfortable. The newness of the design was the selling point rather than the design itself. And myself always preferred the designs that were made in the forties. Yet those designs seemed to collect a lot of dust. In the 21 century- designers are doing great things. Myself- I look at all aspects of design before I begin to mold things together in my mind and finalize designs. Sometimes, as with a new design of my SUEZ CHAIR, the design was not meant to be perfectly fitted to the body, but to be comfortable and replicate the interior of the GUGGENHEIM MUSEUM rotunda in NYC. The SUEZ CHAIR was designed to honor the GUGGENHEIM and FRANK LLOYD WRIGHTS rendition of the building. Therefore the chair was not simply designed from an asthedic and functu=ional perspective. THE SUEZ CHAIR was designed to be representational of another design. Although, I have to say that with the many chairs and designs out there, comfort seems to be the least of many of the qualities. I love high style- and like to mix high style with a serene effect in design. Though in looking at the styles of modern design- you have to ask yourself what is the meaning of modern? Myself- I don’t even know the meaning of post modern let alone modern. And now- 60 years later in the aspects of modern design we have to begin to ask ourselves of what is modern in the 21st century. If we look back in time to early ancient design it is timeless, and even often appears to be modern. Simplified is the word. The complications of design can go off into many directions until one gains focus and knowledge. Some designers like Noguci have an innate sense to designing. Remarkable at every level of design and often time good designers are born with this ability. Rob Forbes for instance is a remarkable designer that is sometimes overshadowed by his tremendous success with selling the great designs of very well note modern designers with the greatest of heart in the shops that Rob has opened all across the country. The Forbes designs are underrated and superb. His work is by far the best I’ve seen in modernism. Striking really as he brings the vibrancy of colour to form. Forbes says that he is a potter and well, I say that forbes is much more than a potter in the area of fine art. Rob is a true fine artist. Yet the Forbes designs are not readily available and are only sold at private auctions here and there. I have seen many pots, that so called potters create and Rob Forbes has certainly a different perspective than simply a potter. He is a well rounded and creative individual that has much to give within his work. In-fact Rob could have made a great living in the selling of his designs to the production business or even museums. Artist like Rob are few with many directions to play in the world as a person. And going on with modern design- modernism at it’s best should serve a purpose. Modern design in the 21’s century should be clean, functional, and with good understanding of purpose. As we design all this stuff in plastics and in the Chinese industry that is being produced by the millions, we must think to understand good design and the quality of that design. Some of our youthful designers, and I say some, have no idea what they are doing yet they secure funds to create, and it’s not always good design. Yet the BEST of even 21’s century modernism is very good mostly. The designs are still sought after even today because of the quality in manufacturing. Although, the best in new modernism is just as good and expensive for very good reasons. Because the manufacturing process is expensive and all the team that is in the design and production process must get paid to continue such beautiful work.
I won’t go about naming what is good design and who is the best designer, I’ll just say that I’ve been greatly inspired by all the nice designs of the world.
WRITTEN by TRACEE PICKETT
| 7 months ago |
MODERN WORKS by artist TRACEE PICKETT
////// MODERN WORKS of sculpture- basically explores modern sculptures interaction within the spirit that resides in the hearts of people who react, interact, and create works.
This is an excerpt of Modern Works Written by artist TRACEE PICKETT
The full version will be published in Book Form and will be available into the future / BOOKS@www.traceeandcompany.com
Some say that everything is created from nothing. Sculpture comes from the artists: universal knowledge of the artist’s -mind, physical labor, internal senses, and the sub-conscious. In today society there are generally convoluted social statements within societies norm, and within creating- simply, just, ideas of sculptural works- comes a flurry of expression that goes off in many directions as the modern sculptors molds and extracts their ideas- simplify their forms- and present these forms to the world for public display. Larger cities with mass works of- architecture, design, and works of sculpture, have rhythms which surround us that seem to sing the voice of spirit. Even in smaller cities- with larger modern works- often times, those works seem to set the spirit free as if the constraints of the norms of the society have been released into the air. Thus, creating- a vibrancy where perhaps none existed before.
This type of planning in our cities gives modern works- sculpture, and art, the ability to breath life into areas that have never varied from the designated design norms of the cities landscapes.
Modern sculpture is a labor of freedom in and of itself- creative freedom- freedom of expression, freedom of the constraints of what is normal- where once there was no direct expression or freedom of societies routine: with rapid expansion,… with busy daily bustle,… with city developers going off in different directions- our cities today need the broadest diversity of visual perspectives more today than ever before, for a visual overseeing prior to the ongoing rapid planning of our cities and essentially, what is our world together…
As modern sculpture is often a labor of love- not just about beautifying our fields of interacting, more often that not- modern works of sculpture are about enriching the playing field that surround us by freeing our imagination with the unusual and the unexpected to give us the sense that there is more to experience and consider in the world than just our immediate experience. Modern sculpture is a statement which provokes humanity to think.
Modern works of sculpture are seemingly spontaneous movements which are planted in our seemingly ordinary spaces adding vibrancy. When walking down the street near a modern work of sculpture- we see many thing: doorways, buildings, sidewalks,… in say a downtown square. And we know them to be doorways, buildings, and sidewalks. Many times when you see a modern sculpture- modern sculptures are something more than the ordinary, that disrupts the mind, provokes the imagination, and often fantastically surprises us. Even when the works existed there for many years- our first and second encounters of modern works in sculpture is what often, delightfully, evokes our memories to think back to our first and second views, often in surprise of the encounters. Within the innocense of the surprise, often we feel at least a small sense of joy. The artist has spontaneously provoked us to experience something upon the encounter. Therefore modern works engages us in areas that quite often, people don‘t think of- yet do experience.
The viewer experiences on levels that initiate often: surprise, joy, and thought of something unusual. Reinforcement of the memory of spontaneity continues to exist with each passing step upon viewing the given works….
Anish Kapoor’s work: “Memory” gives us a monumental experience and leads us into curiosity and even darkness. The work, with its heavy bodied assembly and its thick tangible steel walls provokes the mind to ponder the construction, shape and the material- in its broad conceptual ability and “Memory’s” functional quality. The mass- weight, and strong permanence- resonates something in the memory as solitary… Yet with warning, and even worry of what could become real or with the aging quality of the rusted brown surface- what once existed and was indeed very real. //////
| 2 years ago |
