2008-11-23

the fine line between art and design

People often call Rhode Island School of Design an “art school,” despite the word “design” in its name. Even the RISD students, including myself, say “art school” when we refer to RISD, which I find rather strange. There is a fine line between fine arts and design, and the definitions of the two terms vary from artists to artists, from designers to designers.

Then, what is the difference between art and design? My roommate and I often discuss this topic by classifying each major into three categories: design, fine arts, and gray-area. Under “design,” there are Industrial Design, Graphic Design, Architecture, Interior Architecture, Apparel Design, Textiles, Film/Animation/Video, and Jewelry + Metalsmithing. Under “fine arts,” there are Painting, Glass, Ceramics, Sculpture, and Printmaking. We always have difficulties determining where to put Furniture, Photography, and Illustration under.

My roommate, who is in Graphic Design, recently commented that Industrial Design seems like the major that is the furthest away from fine arts. The reason she explained was that the main focuses of industrial design are usually the function and the users, not the designers themselves, and even the drawings are so technical and dry. Art usually involves the philosophy of the artist. However, to her, she said, nothing seems to be about the designer when it comes to Industrial Design.

Could this be true?

Can Industrial Design be artistic? Can it be considered to be fine arts? I had never considered industrial design as “fine arts,” but I had never thought of it to be on the other end of the spectrum, far, far away from “art” either. This is why I find this week’s topic in ID History very intriguing, and today, I am going to explore the boundaries between design and fine arts through the work of Tokujin Yoshioka.

TOYOTA Tokyo Motor Show 2007 by Tokujin Yoshioka

Tokujin Yoshioka is a Japanese designer, born in 1967, and he is the founder of Tokujin Yoshioka Design. He has worked extensively with Issey Miyake, and also with Nissan, Peugeot, BMW, Shiseido, and so on. He usually does the shop design or exhibit design for these companies. As for his product design, he has several series such as the Pane Chair, Tokyo-Pop Design, and Honey-Pop Chair, and so forth.
Issey Miyake "TO" by Tokujin Yoshioka

Tokujin Yoshioka seems to focus on delivering experiences – dramatic, subtle and poetic – to the users or the audience, both through his exhibit design and product design. His approach to work is not so much design-like, at least in a conventional sense, but rather artistic. He maximizes the characteristics of an object and creates an emotional space.




Swarovski Ginza 2008 by Tokujin Yoshioka

His work seems to embrace the characteristics of fine arts. However, at the same time, his work, especially his product design lines, seem modular and almost practical that they remind me of industrial design. He plays with geometry, structure, simplicity, and honesty. The interesting part about his work is that these characteristics of his work remind me a lot of William Morris’s Arts and Crafts Movement, which was about linking arts, crafts, design, and production all together. Tokujin Yoshioka’s work is beautiful, artistic, well-crafted, delicate, and manufacturable.


Salone Del Mobile 2004

da drade "Kiss Me Good Bye" by Tokujin Yoshioka

Pane Chair 2006 by Tokujin Yoshioka

A lot of Tokujin Yoshioka’s works are not really all about him. He channels his point of view through the work, but the products are not really about his life or experience. Rather, it seems like he is in a position where he has stepped back a step, and is introducing a new idea about experience, while thinking about the user, the nature, the product, and his self. He is detached and attached to the work at the same time. I do not think that his exhibits and chairs tell much about Tokujin Yoshioka or his life. We, as users or audience, are to view and experience the space that he has created and think of whatever it means to us.

I find Tokujin Yoshioka’s work very difficult to categorize. It falls under the gray-area. At first, when we were introduced to his body or work in History of ID class, my primary reaction was that his work was definitely fine arts, according to my definition of art and design. However, the more I look into them, the more I realize that his work is not simply fine arts, but something in between art and design.

Now, this raises a few questions. What is industrial design? Does it always have to be about functionality, users, and manufacturing? There is definitely a “style” and a “point of view” of the designer in each product he or she may design, but does that include the designer’s “emotion?”

To me, design, especially industrial design, means solving problems and inventing experiences through the problem-solving. On the other hand, art is about the artist and his/her emotional world. Tokujin Yoshioka’s work reflects that industrial design could be both. Perhaps, it has the potential to be both at the same time.

Now, there is the question of practicality. In general, industrial design is heavily focused on efficiency and functionality. A lot of Tokujin Yoshioka’s work is very interesting, but does not seem too practical or functional. Does industrial design have to be functional and practical?

My answer is, “no.” I probably would have said “yes” before going through this exploration, but now, my view has changed. Many of Tokujin Yoshioka’s chairs were not truly practical. However, they were extremely inspiring and presented many opportunities that could be applied and developed into a new, more useful design. The “artistic” design pushes the boundaries and presents an idea. Then, the conventional design will take the idea and go through another level of innovation. Art and design are interrelated, and cannot be separated.

Going back to my roommate’s comment, industrial design may seem rather dry and direct usually, but it does not always have to be that way. An industrial designer could always take a slightly different path and go through an artistic exploration to achieve a new idea, which could be in turn applied to something beyond that. Everything is related to each other, in a very, very complicated manner, and at this point, I would say that industrial design is really about everything.

I find this funny. The more I try to define “industrial design,” the wider the definition becomes.

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