Category Archives: Design

I used to be employed as graphic and web designer.

“‘Coefficients of friction’ of function, raw material and technique…”

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A quote from Edgar Wind’s essay on how Aby Warburg’s library aims to “cater” for problems generated by art history. The piece was written in the 1930′s and addresses the legacy of Riegl and Wölfflin, but—for me—it’s the point right at the end that caught my attention, Wind naturally applying an engineering concept to the interplay of forces necessary for the production of cultural objects.

If we consider the works of Alois Riegl and of Heinrich Wölfflin … we see that, despite differences in detail, they are both informed by a polemical concern for the autonomy of art history, by a desire to break it free from the history of civilization and thus to break with the tradition associate with the name of Jacob Burckhardt. I will try briefly to summarize the forces behind this struggle and their consequences for the methodology of the subject.

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3. The antithesis of form and matter thus finds its logical counterpart in the theory of an autonomous development of art, which views the entire process exclusively in terms of form, assuming the latter to be the constant factor at every stage of history, irrespective of differences both of technical production and of expression. This has both positive and negative consequences: it involves treating the various genres of art as parallel with each other—for, as far as the development of form is concerned, no one genre should be any less important than another; it also involves levelling out the differences between them—for no one genre can tell us anything that is not already contained in the others. In this way we attain, not a history of art, which traces the origin and fate of monuments as bearers of siginificant form, but, as in Riegl, a history of the autonomous formal impulse (Kunstwollen), which isolates the element of form from that of meaning, but nevertheless presents change in form in terms of a dialectical development in time—an exact counterpart of Wölfflin’s history of vision (Of course, this conceptual scheme is quite different from Wölfflin’s. There is no simple division of form and content, but a complex relationship of dynamic interaction between a conscious and autonomous ‘formal impulse’ and the ‘coefficients of friction’ of function, raw material, and technique.…)*

  • Wind, Edgar (1930). ‘Warburg’s Concept of Kunstwissenschaft and its Meaning for Aesthetics’ from The Eloquence of Symbols: Studies in Hamisi Art (1983). Oxford: OUP.

Laoban Mixing Event report

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I just posted a short video to youtube of highlights from last night’s Laoban Mixing event at the Gallery. Unfortunately youtube in it’s wisdom has reduced the quality of the video to “very poor” in the process of compressing the file, so the following is the original (still not great, but better):

It was a good night overall, I had a great time (even though I had to keep reminding myself that I was there to look after the space, and not to enjoy myself). Many people came and seemed to respond well to the performers. As you can see from the video above and the photographs there were some very good sounds and visuals. My thanks go to Jon for organising so much at such short notice, with the help of Matt and Lu, and all their friends who pitched in to help out. I think this shows that an exciting idea can get people energised, even on such a cold night.

Looking ahead, I hope there will more variety in the material in future events, last night was very focused on DJs and VJs. Films and short talks were promised, which would have given more of a conceptual structure to the proceedings and will help prevent it becoming just another club night.

I hope, too, that more women will present their work. Last night the performers were without exception all men – it seemed to be the cliché of boys with their toys (I don’t know maybe this is perhaps a feature of the scene rather than a bug, as they say to excuse some oddity in software). I can’t believe there are no women making material and this would make a valuable contribution to the event.

But this was the first version of the event, and was very much about investigating a format for the future, so I want to see how it develops. The original spec for the night I thought was very exciting and something which had the potential for development into something very strong – and this was one of the reasons why I agreed to go with it. I hope that more of what was originally announced becomes incorporated into future events, as they have the possibility to a) bring together some of the creative communities here in Beijing and China in general which hover round each other but which don’t really get to cross-fertilise so often, and b) make links out from the local to the international creative scenes which all have their representatives here in BJ.

Laoban Soundsystem: Xmas Mixing Event at CPU:798

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My friends at the Laoban Soundsystem will be installed in the Gallery tonight presenting their new venture, the Laoban Soundsystem. This is an open invite to all artists, musicians etc. to come along and show off what they are working on. Should be an exciting, energetic evening! Come along and see works in progress.

Laoban Soundsystem 1.0 Holiday Mixing Event at CPU:798

Friday, December 12, 8 PM – 12 Midnight, Free and Open to the Public

We invite all to come out to the launch of version 1.0 of the Laoban Soundsystem for a special Holiday Mixing Event at CPU:798. This is a new type of media event where all are welcome to join, bring media, laptops, video players, cameras, and other recording devices. The goal is to mix media, explore what artists, DJs, musicians, designers, and architects are working on RIGHT NOW — successes, failures, and rough edges are welcome at Laoban events! The ultimate plan is for consumers to be producers by both mixing media, and by tagging any recordings they have with “laoban” when posting onto twitter.com, flickr.com, or other places.

Crafting Beauty in Modern Japan at The British Museum, London

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The Great Court at the British Museum After savouring the delights of the Terracotta Warriors in the Reading Room at The British Museum I saw that there was a smaller show of craft-work from Japan upstairs.

The show, “Crafting Beauty in Modern Japan,” concentrates on the productions of Japan’s craft artists, many of whom have been designated ‘Living National Treasures’ in recognition of their skills. I love the idea of this accolade, the place that Japanese society apparently gives to the activities the result of which were on display in this exhibition. The small brochure talks about ‘tangible’ and ‘intangible cultural properties’: ‘tangible’ being “historic architecture, sculpture, painting and calligraphy, and craft objects as well as significant sites, scenic places, and particular plants and animals.” ‘Intangible’ includes “performing skills in traditional theatre and music, and craft techniques.” Those quotes from the brochure are not really adequate to explain the differing concepts involved, but there seems to be a distinction between the object and the activity here. I believe UNESCO has a similar designation now, which perhaps stemmed from the Japanese system.

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The show has some gorgeous pieces. What comes across very strongly in the presentation is the attention to detail and evident, intense craft involved in the works. This gives the show an almost reverential feeling in its presentation of the various pieces. The value accorded to the pieces is not unique to this show, of course that is the function and result of placing anything in a museum, it will inevitably gain that ‘aura’ from being isolated for our attention. But this particular show taps into an existing tradition and appreciation of craft which massively adds to this aura.

At the same time these appreciations are not the same. Within a museum, the object loses it’s everyday use value, whereas I get the feeling that while the Japanese craftspeople value perfection and quality, in some ways a piece must be used to be completed. I’m generalising here, and working from limited knowledge, but this is the feeling I get from the show.

So, another wonderful show at The British Museum. As my fiancée keeps telling me, we are very privileged in London to have so many cultural institution on our doorstep.