Diaspar Was Not Always Thus

Eliasson ends with a nice comment about experience:

“Experience is about responsibility. Having an experience is taking part in the world. Taking part in the world is really about sharing responsibility.”

I just read an article about logo design by Paul Rand, titled Logos, Flags, Escutcheons. You can read it at Graphic Design Forum. Rand explains what a logo is and is not, what makes a logo effective, what to expect of a logo, and he cites some great examples.

Here are two quotes from the article:

“Should a logo be self-explanatory? It is only by association with a product, a service, a business, or a corporation that a logo takes on any real meaning. It derives its meaning and usefulness from the quality of that which it symbolizes.”

“A design that is complex, like a fussy illustration or an arcane abstraction, harbors a self-destruct mechanism. Simple ideas, as well as simple designs are, ironically, the products of circuitous mental purposes.”

I especially like that second quote. It is worth remembering for the times when I think I can just rush through something or wait to start a project at the last minute.

The article was also published in a book, titled Looking Closer: Critical Writings on Graphic Design (Allsworth Press, 1994).

“Perfection in execution cannot be measured or defined in terms of execution; it implies those who perceive and enjoy the product that is executed. The cook prepares food for the consumer and the measure of the value of what is prepared is found in consumption. Mere perfection in execution, judged in its own terms in isolation, can probably be attained better by a machine than by human art. By itself, it is at most technique, and there are great artists who are not in the first ranks as technicians (witness Cézanne), just as there are great performers on the piano who are not great esthetically, and as Sargent is not a great painter.” (49)

This is one of the most difficult aspects of art-making – understanding that the technique and execution are ingredients and not the whole recipe (to continue the culinary metaphor). I am easily distracted by technique – printmaking and digital imaging being the known culprits. It is so easy to lose oneself in the process (often repetitive) of etching a copper plate or drawing with the pen tool in vector editing software. And this repetition and doing is incredibly necessary. It is what many artists speak of as meditative, calming, and even therapeutic. But – if the ultimate goal is to make art, I believe there comes a time when the artist needs to step back, perceive, and analyze – to start asking questions. This can be scary if not downright horrifying. Nobody likes to be questioned. It has that claustrophobic feeling of being interrogated – and who is ever going to sit down and interrogate themselves? But it is not interrogation, it is learning and, eventually, growth. By asking questions, we encourage the examination of our actions. There are many reasons why this is valuable. We throw out the obfuscating details and gather together the meaningful ones (unless, of course you intend to obfuscate). We realize that decisions we made while our noses were stuck to the plate or screen might have been made without taking into consideration the greater whole. Maybe, after stepping back and seeing your work, you realize it’s a completely different piece than you had intended. Whatever the case may be, stepping back and asking yourself some thoughtful questions is good practice. It can only make move you forward.

“To see, to perceive, is more than to recognize.” (24)

In other words, to know an object is what it is, such as a chair is a chair or a painting is a painting, is only recognition. Computers can already do this at the chemical level, but to perceive, is something more. Dewey explains that birds making their nests and beavers their dams is nothing more than the satisfying culmination of bodily and physical actions working together with the outside world (25). He sets man apart from the animals…

“The distinguishing contribution of man is consciousness of the relations found in nature. Through consciousness, he converts the relations of cause and effect that are found in nature into relations of means and consequence. Rather, consciousness itself is the inception of such a transformation.” (25)

And…

“Apart from organs inherited from animal ancestry, idea and purpose would be without a mechanism of realization.” (25)

We are naturally makers, but so are birds and beavers. We can perceive our actions and creations – and evolve our minds at the same time. So, next time you are making something (maybe art?), take a break after a while and truly perceive your actions. Your mind will thank you later.

Bibliography:

Dewey, John. Art as Experience. New York, New York: Penguin Group Inc., 2005. (Originally published 1934)

Video by Scofield Editorial.

Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship, by Robert C. Martin, has been an excellent resource for my computer programming projects. I am a self-taught programmer and therefore have always have a few holes in my knowledge of code-writing, mainly the fundamental theories and “best practices”. Martin’s ideas on naming conventions has probably been the most informative section for me. Aside from basic style guidelines, Martin discusses some very abstract ideas, such as polymorphism and concurrency, as well as other object oriented fundamentals. The examples in the book are all Java, which I have no experience in, but it does not deter from my ability to walk away from the book with new insight and ideas. The most interesting and valuable facet of Martin’s writing is his ability to clearly describe and explain the abstract concepts that are such a core part of computer programming. There are a number of illustrations that leave quite a bit to be desired aesthetically, but are hilarious and, nonetheless, a great addition, (e.g. The Bottled City of Kandor, Data from Star Trek, drunk sailors representing the chapter on formatting)

You can find it on Amazon and Alibris.

Bibliography:

Martin, Robert C. Clean Code: A Handbook of Agile Software Craftsmanship. Boston: Pearson Education, Inc., 2009.

A friend recommended Glasser to me the other day while I was searching for music that is similar to Boards of Canada, Atlas Sound, Telepathe, and Fever Ray. Glasser is Cameron Mesirow, Matt Popieluch, and Charles Burrus. They are making some incredibly sublime and ethereal music — just the way I like it. CORRECTION (06/24/09): I incorrectly described Glasser as being comprised of three musicians, when, in fact, there is only one – Cameron Mesirow. Mesirow is the sole composer behind Glasser. Matt Popieluch and Charles Burrus accompany her when she performs live. Thanks Charles!

Malcolm Gladwell, who has written for the New Yorker, reported for the Washington Post, and authored three books, speaks about the roles that time and experimentation play in the work of creative people. He discusses Fleetwood Mac, Picasso, Cezanne, the Beatles, and Andrew Wiles. His overall message is that it takes a great length of time to create something complex that is filled with depth and emotion. Gladwell points out that Fleetwood Mac’s success was due in a great part to the wiling patience of their record label — their most successful album was the 16th in their discography! He also mentions the 10,000 hours rule, which is worth reading about too. Gladwell doesn’t show up on the video until 2:08, so skip ahead.

Here’s the link (AIGA doesn’t provide an embed video option):

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/video-gain-2008-gladwell

(From the AIGA October 2008 Business and Design Conference)

VBScript has two primitive datatypes:

1. Number
2. String

Although VBScript does not require explicit variable declaration, it does provide two tools for doing so, Dim and Option Explicit. Explicitly declaring variables keeps lots of debugging nightmares at bay.

Using the Dim keyword (abbreviation for Dimension):

Dim myNumber = 4
Dim myString = "What's up doc?"

You can also force explicit declaration of variables in a VBScript file by adding Option Explicit above all other statements in a script:

Option Explicit

References:
Introduction to VBScript and Windows Script Host. http://www.mhuffman.com/notes/language/vbs_intro.htm

Tiny web design. We’ve all seen it (or squinted at it), and I say it’s time is up. Websites that use tiny icon sets and tiny fonts are not considering the reason they exist in the first place – the person browsing the site! Don’t get me  wrong – I enjoy pixel artwork just as much as the next NES geek – but those 8-bit pixels were the best that technology could serve up at the time. Their existence in today’s world is usually for reasons of nostalgia alone, just as John Wayne and all of those dusty westerns exist as nostalgia for our parents. And I am not saying that these reasons are bad – but it seems like a poor visual decision to design a website around tiny for the sake of tiny. Just a thought.