"Piano Keys"

"The needle is the woman's plow" read the description at the entrance of the exhibit African American Quilts. The collections of Sandra McPherson and Avis Collins Robinson artfully color the pale-gray walls of the Nelson Gallery, each commanding large sections from ceiling to floor like a grandiose waterfall. African American women in the 20th century used to work long hours plowing fields in an area usually dominated by men. Moreover, African American women were soon able to exhibit aesthetic expression through their beautifully sewn quilts- a craft where the "needle" became their "plow". Each quilt seemed as though to have a story to tell- the life it lived, the family it kept warm, and the places it traveled.

"Piano Keys", by Avis Collins Robinson, instantly caught my eye with its stream-like downward pattern. Piano keys, represented by elongated vertical rectangles flow down the canvas like interlocking bricks. The repetition of alternation "keys" lends to a gentle rhythm like that of a peaceful stream, despite its seemingly rigid structure of repeated rectangles. Even though there are no soft or round edges, the quilt's pattern and vibrating colors draw the eye in a rapid, yet gentle, motion from top to bottom and back up.

Emerald Reflection

Photo Courtesy of: Franklin Bowles Gallery

A recent trip to San Francisco left me in awe from the vibrant city life to the medley of art and architecture that fills the city's streets. Wandering the streets I stubled across a few art galleries, one of which featured Igor Medvedev. I had never before heard of this artist, but the use of bold, bright, contrasting colors and values made me want ot waltz right on in. Half of medvedev's work displayed a motif of large trees with multiple layers of branches filling up the entire canvas. Most of these paintings employed high contrast values with deep, dark colored trees against an orange illuminated sunset.

I was most intrigued, however, by the paintings of sailboats. The detail in water to depict movement is astounding. "Emerald Reflection" shows a brilliant blue and red coral sailboat wading in shallow water. The light value on the surface of the sailboat reveals details in the woodwork, like crevices and shadows formed by the inner structural frame. The subtle ripples, seen through the wavy lines and reflective light on the surface of the water, gives viewers the illusion that the sailboat is wading back and forth just ever so slightly. Not much action is taking place, but the composition seeks to depict a smooth, or legato, rhythmic motion- evoking a peaceful and calm scene.

Type Is Image

Image courtesy of: alexbinetti.wordpress.com

Swiftly clicking through typographic art on the web, I stopped to look at this composition. It struck my interest because of the contrasting ground and figure. I'm interested in how type is used as image and here, type is used to illustrate an image of a face- something I have never before seen. The enlarged letters in the foreground are what first command attention and melodically carry the eye through the composition to find a distinct figure amongst the collection of letters. What is most interesting here is that the figure of a face is not directly drawn with lines, but what the eye sees are groups of letters that create lines- the result is that we can easily see a figure of a face against a stark white background. The artist's choice of typeface, Times New Roman, in no way deviates from the design of the composition. The universality of the typeface allows viewers to be familiar with it and concentrate on the design of the entire piece.

Binetti comments: "typographic art does not have to involve straight lines of text, it can be made up of jumbles of different sizes, fonts and angles." Binetti's composition clearly conveys this message. The use of typography as an art form- overlapping layers of serifs, cap heights, ascenders, descenders, etc.-creates interlocking patterns for the viewer to discern. In this unconventional approach towards typographic art, Binetti's piece employs visual creativity: the viewer must capture unity. In other words, the figure is not directly "spelled-out".

A Unified Composition

Photo: Adrian Taylor/ Starwood Hotels; hotelchatter.com

Frank Gehry, a world-renowned architect, created the beautifully sculpted Hotel Marquis de Riscal shown above. Gehry's design employs rhythm in an otherwise stiff-like appearance of titanium sheets. He gives a whole new meaning to form: the curves and bends in the roof contrast the rigid structure of the building hidden underneath. There is a play on architectural styles here between the modernity of the actual building and the deconstructive form of the roof. At first glance, a viewer may only see a pile of folded metal sheets stacked on top of each other. After examining and digesting its form, one can find unity in the interlocking pattern of the folds. It now looks like several layers of ribbon are being held together at the peak, naturally descending, allowing gravity to command it's form. The overflowing structure of the roof seems to reach out of the building, as if the origin of this structure starts from the center, where it is unified, and reaches out like giant arms protecting the inner core. Gehry has created layers upon layers of shapes and lines, allowing the eye to travel from the center to the outer edges of any one of the many curvilinear "ribbons". Frank Gehry celebrates the diversity of architecture and design through his thought-provoking designs- Hotel Marquis de Riscal just being one of many.

A New Way of Thinking

Photo Courtesy of: The MIT Press

Wednesday October 21st, 2009: Geoffrey Chase visits the UC Davis Campus.

The UC Davis Design lecture series welcomed Geoffrey Chase, co-author of "Sustainability on Campus- Stories and Strategies for change". His lecture, based off of the book, highlighted the importance on integrating the environment into the curriculum and the community. "Sustainability is local. Sustainability is global. Sustainability is community."- read one of his slides. Chase's presentation on "strategies for change" focused on starting in the class room. He opened new doors of opportunities on changing the way UC Davis could implement "greenness" on campus and into the curriculum. With this in mind, UC Davis could potentially emerge as a campus for sustainability in higher education- given the fact that it would take the university, staff, and students to make this change possible. Chase mentioned that currently, there is only one campus in the United States that offers a disciplinary major and graduate education in sustainability. So, there is intensive work ahead.

Sustainability is a new way of thinking. This thought kept resonating in my mind as I thought about how I could enhance my education and future career. UC Davis is already one of the leading campuses on making changes to better the environment- almost everyone bikes, there is a highly effective recycling program, a highly environmentally friendly water treatment facility, a dairy farm, vineyard, and olive factory, all handled with the greatest regard for the environment and the community. There are even several emerging classes on sustainability specifically. As a student in the world of design, I cannot help but become influenced by my surroundings-especially the ones that effect me personally. Sustainability and eco-consciousness is sweeping across campus, and what better source is there to be influenced by than the environment? Therefore, if we have control, it is vital to keep nourishing, not destroying, our only natural source of inspiration.

The Future of Architects

Photo courtesy of: www.treehugger.com

When a new idea is introduced into mass marketing, the subject itself is often questioned. Why succumb to the low depths of feeding yourself mass information? There is always a catch, but usually a lesson also to be learned. Take for example modern approaches in architecture, engineering, and design. Recently, professionals in many fields have decided to “go green”. However, do we know what it means to “go green”? What is green engineering?

Many have attempted to answer this question and without fail, the varying definitions of green engineering have always come down to one strong point- sustain the environment that humans thrive off of. So, how does green engineering have anything to do with design? The very aspect of green engineering, that is, designing systems to sustain the needs of people and the environment has much to do with design. Written by architect William McDonough, Cradle to Cradle features a more non-traditional approach towards "green" and sustainable engineering. His book emphasizes the importance of creativity in ways that we can use nature as our model in designing our own sustainable systems. McDonough suggests: “in nature, waste equals food”. In other words, humans should celebrate the diversity of nature and resources we have available from it. For example, we can implement nature’s own designs by using current solar income, such as natural energy flows. Designing homes with carefully placed windows, efficient floor plans to take advantage of daylight, and architectural designs suited to the region can be taken into consideration in maximizing sustainable gain.

Carefully taking advantage of the diversity of nature and using it as a model is key in green and sustainable design. As mentioned before, sustainability is the future of architecture. Designers must move forward in order to meet the demands of today's concurrent design trends and ideology of social responsability. Here is the future of architects: design by green and sustainable standards.

Live in the Future of Architecture Now

A relatively recent movement in architecture has been to change the way buildings are designed to adapt to and maximize use of natural energy flows. Integrating natural and renewable materials and designs have becoming increasingly significant as architects strive to meet the modernity of today's movements in "green" and sustainable design (a subject that requires a different post, but for the sake of the current subject at hand, "green" and sustainable design can be quickly referred to as an environmentally friendly approach to design). At any rate, sustainability has been referred to as "the future of architecture". Well, the future is now. Architects are heavily adapting methods of sustainability into the designs of their infrastructure. For example, the book Sustainable Homes, written by Jacobo Krauel, synthesizes the reduce, reuse, recycle objectives into several thought-provoking ideas. The emphasis is on innovative ideas, new technologies, and more efficient energy systems. By adapting to modern advancements in science, design does not only have to be a topic of aesthetics but also of meeting the needs of people and the environment in which we live in.

Below are examples from the book Sustainable Homes. The top picture is of a cabin designed in the underbrush, perched on a low bank at the waters edge near Deception Pass on the Swinomish Indian reservation. Its structure is built around eight concrete disks that narrowly avoid the 100 ft tall fir trees and their roots while isolating the impact of the house on the complex top soil layer to ensure continued tree health. Large monitors poke out of the roof and draw light from about through the fir canopy, providing strong passive ventilation that is augmented by a giant industrial ceiling fan, which can be used to either slowly adjust heat or quickly make an air change. Environmentally conscious and an aesthetically pleasing, one can live beautifully in the wild while feeling good about not destroying the natural habitat. The future of architecture is our present.

-courtesy of Sustainable Homes, Jacobo Krauel

"The Significance of Nothingness"

Cy Twombly- Cycles and Seasons

Photo courtesy of: www.artcritical.com

White space. When most people think about it, there is no particular emotion. It's there, it's not there. I recently read a book by David Sedaris titled "Me Talk Pretty One Day" where he analyzes this idea of white space. He comments: "these people (designers) are discussing the significance of nothingness." Some would argue that the only people who care to discuss the importance of white space are designers and art talented individuals- the mass population could care less. However, the importance of white space can be seen in all aspects of design in modern day to serve the need of a fast paced, short and sweet message.

The phrase "less is more" seems appropriate in today's world of design and advertisement. This minimalist approach with the use of white space in modern day design can be seen in Cy Twombly's Cycles and Seasons. The use of white space allows for a shift in visual weight from the upper right hand corner down to the lower left hand corner. Because of the white space, there is a significant start and end point- the negative space allows viewers to focus on the "heavy weighted" segment of the painting. The white space also adds a creative contrast to the swift, dramatic, and smudged markings that fill up the center of the page, giving the painting a playful quality and organic texture. Consequently, there is much to be said about "nothingness".

Paula Scher

Photo courtesy of: mockduck.wordpress.com

A New York City designer, Paula Scher has been touted as one of the top designers in the city. Scher has helped create identities for famous companies like NYC Ballet Co., Public Theatre Co., Citi Bank, Tiffany Co. and many more. She draws inspiration from the loud, urban, industrial city of New York. In a short video clip, Scher mentions that she "heavily works on instinct" and rarely works on refining because if her ideas don't come instantly, they almost always don't end up working for her. This aspect of relying heavily on instinct is drawn and inspired by the fast-paced city life in the movement of New Yorks' "hustle-and-bustle" life style. The way she works, her "pass/fail" attitude, is a strong commentary on the way many designers work. So many designers beat their heads trying to figure out what their client's want, when it is the responsibility of the designer to determine what the client really needs. Of course, meeting the clients' expectations is important, however, it shouldn't be at the expense of undermining your design expertise. Scher's work can be appreciated for it's clever and respectful use of simplicity.

Venture to Pence Gallery

Leslie Show- Karen (Black Bile)

I recently meandered around the Pence Gallery in downtown davis. From the two story building there were many pieces of artwork that were beautiful, but only one actually caught my attention enough to stop me from my mindless wandering. The piece was called Karen (Black Bile) by Leslie Shows. The picture honestly looked like what was the beginning of a black tornado with incredibly dark coloration dead center of the swirled structure. The saliency of the piece was the cut out magazine pictures scattered within the swirl and compiled at the bottom of the painting. There is an interesting mixture of form- this black bile, non-representational cloud with representational art in the form of tangible products that we see in day to day life, i.e a bottle of clorox and piles of clothing commenting on the cluttering nature of humans in general.

The beauty in this piece lies in the juxtaposition between the use of non-representational and representational subjects. Without the representational art forms, we may think that the Black Bile is just some random ominous cloud without a purpose. However, with the added pieces of day-to-day objects thrown in and around the cloud, falling to the bottom, Shows’ art raises questions about ethics. How so? Originally meant “the search for the good life”, ethics, in practice, means “the pursuit of morally correct behavior and recognition of the impact of our actions”. The meaning of ethics raises even more questions based on how we live and how our decisions and actions impact our surroundings. Karen (Black Bile) highlights awareness about human impact on the environment and society in general. A good thing? Highly unlikely since there cut-outs of trash, junk food, harsh chemicals, skulls (indicating death), and other recognizable images cluttered and scattered about the canvas.

The social commentary on how humans are filling their bodies and lives with garbage and bleeding out onto the planet, is a silent, yet highly significant protest. The use of a non-representational black cloud against colorful cut-out images is a clever juxtaposition- humans are interesting creatures that like to color their world with consumerism only to end up cluttering their lives and inadvertently destroy their natural habitat. Show definitely raises questions of ethics and social responsibility: the lack of care and negligence to our body and habitat- where has this led us?

Abstract Expressionism: Jackson Pollock

Creative Process

The creative process- what is this phenomenon that we often hear of as being more important than the actual artifact or end product? Many believe that the process of creating is where true meaning can be found in the synthesis of ideas and feelings. For example, world renowned Jackson Pollock believes in expressing his thoughts rather than illustrating them. The word "express" denotes a sense of personal voicing and he does so through the gestures and movements found in the intricate layers of paint.

Pollock's paintings suggest careful placement of each individual strand- like a painstakingly sewn tapestry. On his very first attempt to paint on glass, he washed off the paint claiming that he lost connection with the painting. Pollock shows us just how important the creative process is to him and his audience: he must maintain connection at all times. Pollock also attributes life to his paintings and allows them to live, suggesting that "there is no beginning and no end". One can develop a greater appreciation for art, music, architecture, automobiles, etc. when the creative process is taken into consideration. Take for example clean water.

We often take for granted the availability of clean water to drink, bathe, and wash with. It takes endless hours of work to create and build water treatments facilities to reach all homes and buildings. Just imagine all the work it takes to create a system that meets the needs of a million people in one city, all while hiding it underground so that it isn't a hazard or visual impairment on the aesthetics of the city. There too lies a creative process in designing a system to provide you with something as simple as the liquid that comes out of your faucet. Whatever the case may be, there is a creative process involved in almost all arenas of life.

As designers, teachers, creators, innovators, whatever we may profess to be, we all wish to create meaning in what we produce and prove it to the world. Why else would we work so hard? So, this "thing" called the creative process- this is where hidden knowledge is revealed.