Page 46 - Studio International - October 1970

left side is usually on the left and the right on — The designer's culture is interdisciplinary —
the right; if the opposite is the case you've got a knowledge of contemporary technology,
the sculpture upside down, that is, with the a feeling for research and continual experi-
right corresponding to the left and vice versa. ment.
If you take hold of the right-hand side with —The artist is not concerned with being
your left hand you will have trouble opening understood by the public, and often despises
it, even though this is not so very complicated). it.
Sit down and don't worry. Open the window —The designer has to bear in mind the
and switch on the light since night is coming `consumer's code', otherwise he risks being
on. Your eye may light on the illustration that misunderstood. His product must be under-
accompanies the sculpture and in a flash all stood by the public towards whom it is
will become clear. Place the sculpture on a directed.
horizontal plane (it slips on inclined ones) and —The artist's style is personal: everything
before switching off the light observe how it he realizes is in his own style, whether it is
illuminates the projecting and receding parts, pure or applied art.
the solids and the voids, turn it slightly, —The designer has no personal style; he
pushing the right-hand side with the middle works in an objective way, and every
finger of the left hand. That's better. Turn it object he produces has the logical form for
round, and it changes its appearance; your its function, material and psychological
practical thoughts will gradually become component.
aesthetic (the length of time depends on you), —The artist has his trade secrets and guards
and you will sleep sweetly. Good night. them jealously.
—The designer exchanges his experience 3
Bruno Munari
DESIGN with other designers. Tubular Lamp 1964
Artist and Designer—two tasks, two methods —The artist traditionally produces unique 4
Bruno Munari
Many designers were originally painters, pieces which are unrepeatable and hand— Study of the Surface of Attachment
sculptors, and architects, and in this trans- made by the creator himself. of a rose-thorn to the stem
5
formation abandoned one thing to acquire —The designer produces objects in series. Bruno Munari
Travelling Sculpture 1958
another. They abandoned a way of working The artist with his unique piece runs the Card
the origins of which are romantic and acquired risk of fakers : for the designer this risk does 6
Bruno Munari
an objective method of projection. The situa- not exist. Flexy 1968
tion of the artist of the past who destroyed — Judgements on works of art are 'good' or Edizioni B. Danese, Milan
himself in poverty or alcohol was romantic, `bad' — absolute terms. bound only to the most superficial sense of
just like that of the artist of today who does so —For products of design there exist judge- decoration, unjustified and superfluous, even
with drugs. ments of 'right' or 'wrong', which are pro- if, in a few cases, they are formally coherent.
Yet, since there is no precise distinction visional and applicable in consideration of But it is common knowledge that, as an end
between the two activities, and some de- constructional principles and analysis of the in itself, formal coherence is not enough to
signers are still artists, it would, I think, be given problem. justify objects that are produced with no
interesting to clarify the operative character- — To speak for the artist there exists the art previous estimate of their market possibilities,
istics of the two. Take for example the critic, with his language for the initiated and even promotes social dynamics of the
romantic sort of artist (remembering that which should presumably have the function emulative type instead of exciting direct
there are other sorts) and the logical sort of of explaining works of genius to the man in interest in the product.
designer, considering for the moment just the the street. One of these objects is the rose. It is an object
visual arts and visual communication. — 'Instructions for use' explain the work of produced on a huge scale (a production that
—The artist works for himself and for an the designer, even if its function is only is completely chaotic and disorderly, ignoring
elite of collectors and enthusiasts. He is the aesthetic. any sense of economy), formally coherent and
creator of rare works of Pure Art, and for —The great dream of an artist (if he is a pleasantly coloured, with irrigation channels
him there is a great difference between sculptor) is to get a major public com- for the distribution of the lymph, which are
Pure Art, in which he feels free, and applied mission. well calculated and distribute with excessive
art in which at times he is obliged to sacri- —The great dream of the designer is to precision, even in the points that can't be
fice his personal ideals. produce a million copies of a work, a good seen. The nerve system can be seen in the
—The designer considers himself not as an object for the use of everyone. notched leaves. The petals are as elegantly
artist, but as a 'visual operator'. He works I feel that in our time we are at last moving curved as a thirties limousine, but the clearly
as a member of a team, with experts in away from subjective values, typical of uneven composition of the leaves and their
various disciplines, and produces for the romanticism, towards objective values that rational arrangement along the stem are not
community. For him artistic categories like can be understood by people in every part of sufficiently interesting features to justify it as
painting and sculpture do not exist, just the world, thus broadening the powers of an object of widespread use.
objects in two or more dimensions. He communication and aesthetic level of every How can a customer of undiscriminating
applies the same degree of energy to the country. taste appreciate such an object? And what is
designing of all objects, independently of [Milan 1 9 70] the reason for those thorns ? Perhaps they are
their relative importance. to add a touch of suspense, or perhaps as a
—The artist receives a classical culture (if he The Rose contrast between the sweetness of the perfume
is a traditionalist), and invents new cultures, A rational conception of the social function of and the aggressiveness of the claws? If so, it
i.e. the various isms, like Surrealism, Mini- industrial design can only deny the produc- is certainly a vulgar contrast.
malism, etc. From these is born the activity tion, unfortunately widespread, of those So it is an absolutely useless object. An object
of the avant garde, which consists of break- objects that are of absolutely no use to man. made only to be looked at, or at the most, to
ing the rules of the past to create new ones. These objects stem from mere hypothesis sniff at, a completely unjustifiable object. An