Dear David and All;
Nobody in this world (including designers and researchers like us) is alone.
And who can be left alone wlth thoughts like growing our field and
encouraging better designs and designers in the future. On the other hand
though design seems like a very concrete thing in itself to Professor Sless
and to many others, I (as a designer and researcher) will continue to think
it more as a concrete end of abstractions. Since I've been criticised to be
frying hypothetical eggs I am ready to take any "concrete" "thing" that
David Sless is to propose not as design unless it is a very unique human
abstraction (spiral, linear, rectangual, or synchronical). Not only 2+2=4 is
not a concrete scientific fact but an abstraction of human mind like Kant
has explained it in very concrete volumes, but also artefacts, systems,
thoughts have always been nothing but abstractions. I do not want to mean
that an artefact, a chair (a quantum leap from eggs) has concrete properties
such as physical properties or research data, design(ing) still stands
closer to human abstraction than to such concreteness. There is a lot to
find out about our ways of abstracting things as much as transforming them
into concrete ends.
Identity, Method, Quantity and Quality are the first properties to come to
my mind design(ing) has to take into account. I can say that identity
usually comes from the unique (even alone) abstractions of the designer or
designing body, while others can be shared with others. Goethe has said "art
is called art, because it is not nature". So is design. And even nature is
opening up its concreteness through principles called science and we see a
magnificent design abstraction behind its concreteness.
No David, you are not alone, but yes, the spirals of abstraction help.
a. can ozcan, phd.msc.bid
assistant professor dr
izmir institute of technology
dept of industrial design
email: [log in to unmask]
----- Original Message -----
From: davidsless <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Thursday, September 26, 2002 7:58 AM
Subject: Abstractions
...
> I had no particular expectations, but I did think that someone might have
> honed in on specifics, such as research data, case studies etc. Instead,
the
> list seems to have gone off on yet another spiral of opinionated
> abstractions involving, among other things, hypothetical fried eggs.
>
> As a designer and, indeed as a researcher, I deal in very concrete things,
> whether they are artefacts, methods, or ways of thinking. These are the
> objects and tools of my trade. It worries me greatly that the kinds of
> debates going on on this list seem to spiral into abstractions rather than
> focusing on the concrete aspects of our trade and the apprenticeships we
> hope to encourage, as it were.
>
> I'm anxious to grow our field by sharing research and design experience
with
> others, particularly the next generation of researchers and designers. But
I
> seriously wonder whether the spirals of abstraction help?
>
> Am I alone?
>
>
> David
> ...
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