Kari Hans wrote:
>Let's assume you design something else, like a theater interior. You
>become inspired by the breeze on a cold moonlit night. The theater
>should in your opinion have that kind of atmosphere, and this becomes
>your guiding (generative?) idea. An abstraction?
Thanks to Klaus Krippendorf for his wise words. I'd like to raise a more direct
question
If there is some abstraction going on in the examples that Kari-Hans describes,
I feel that we should be careful when ascribing roles to the players in a
scenario. For example, is the designer engaged in creating a physical artefact
(the theatre set) or is their aim to work on the perceptions of the audience,
in which case the aim/outcome of the design is the experience (of a "breeze on
a cold moonlit night"). So which is an abstraction of which?
Also the idea of a model or sketch being an abstraction is difficult for me. As
a designer I experience those things as the most complete version of the final
design currently available and I recognise Klaus' description of the way people
use them. Childhood is not an abstraction of adulthood but a necessary part of
a complete life.
Similarly it is difficult to disentangle a "product" from the system or process
which produces it. Kari-Hans is right in a sense that drawings and
instructions are an abstraction of the product, but when I see cars in the
street I see them as an abstraction of a whole system of production,
consumption and exploitation (ok, maybe I'm strange) and the drawings and
manufacturing instructions are not just means to making a product, they are
also tools designed to help workers and their business to make a living.
When I (used to) produce technical drawings for products at least 50% of my
thoughts were about the people who would use them (often I knew them
personally) and the technical processes that they would use. At that point the
product was often a done deal and not very interesting any more while the
production problems were crucial.
best wishes from Sheffield, home of the 1990 Iraqi supergun
Chris Rust
*******************************************
Professor Chris Rust
Art and Design Research Centre
Sheffield Hallam University UK
www.shu.ac.uk/design
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