Chapter 7 of Bowers' Introduction to Two-Dimensional Design: Understanding Form and Function centers around select artists and projects that address a scope of issues and make works through an assortment of procedures, media, and standards examined prior in this book. Their work demonstrates the scope of contemporary two dimensional design. All things considered, the work incorporates typography, blended media, painting, fiber, information design, digital connection, printing and photography. From the mixing of East and West to interactive experience design, the pieces are bound together by energetic investigations into important issues that touch the lives of many.
Stephen Ferrules' work utilizes analogy to investigate methods for making associations between components. His synergistic accounts utilize content to be both acknowledged outwardly and contemplated. Together the content and pictures fill in as analogies that guide readers in the comprehension of a story's nuances, developing connections to the topic. His work "Visible citizens," based on the house he remodeled, recounts the tale of disclosure and custom. As he was remodeling, he found 14 brooms, and on the bookshelf he found 60-year-old books delineating proper social conduct. Farrell presents the daily practice of homemaking, aligned with personal development and individual reflection.
Julie Green commemorates the last meals of inmates who have given the death penalty. Obtained at yard sales and thrift shops, they resemble a clear canvas for composing and imagining the last dinners of those executed. The plates' blue and white color palette and clear content matter reference memorial plates of the 19th and 20th centuries, giving a haunting commentary on the use of capital punishment in the United States.
Hu-Hung Shu's ink wash pieces are made using a particular process of oil and ink. The outcome is eerie, dream-like pieces that allow viewers to find their own meaning and translation of each piece in context. Expanding upon customary Chinese ink printing, he uses thin layers of oil. Through use of high contrast, he makes a scope of qualities that convey a movement and center on the canvas. His working technique is intelligent of the natural, organic climate that is portrayed in the work.
Christy Matson utilizes a digital jacquard loom to weave cotton string and copper wires, attached to electrical circuits, which in turn are appended to speakers. At the point when the work is engaged, tones are produced that correspond to the interactive process. The outcome is an audience-produced piece that records their involvement with the design itself.
Regardless of the format, information design in everyday interaction impacts our capacity to partake definitively in society. MorningStar, Inc. encourages individuals to make educated financial choices that affect their lives. MorningStar designers investigate the issues of changing over huge and complex amounts of information, and translate them into comprehensible and realistic structures.
Mark Napier tests digital experiences that enable clients to partake at the same time in the making of work posted on the web. One of his sites, potatoland.org, clients are able to bring different elements of content from outside sites to his side, where it is arranged arbitrarily. It is constantly in transition, meaning it is a work that is never complete. The outcome is an adjustment in order of unique content, discharging information. As these new visual connections are made among components, our comprehension of their shape and capacity shifts. The work is never completed, as some contributors leave as others arrive.
Jack Stauffacher began printing as a child in a studio in his family's backyard in the 1930s, naming his press the Greenwood press after the road he grew up on, and today still prints under that name. His work is a one of a kind mix of customary preset letters, printing in unique and abstract arrangements.
In 1984, Peter Feldstein, an inhabitant of Oxford, Iowa, started capturing the town's 676 occupants on film. He set up a studio and, working alone, photographed every one of his neighbors. After 20 years, he start capturing the townspeople again, this time the next generation of individuals. The approach to photography is minimal, unassuming and direct, portraying the gritty reality of a small American town.
Above: Christy Matson interacting with one of her pieces in 2008. The sensitivity of the organ itself is astounding, watch how as her hands even graze the piece it is so reciprocative to her touch. Truly beautiful- what an interesting statement piece it would make in a home!
Above: Image source, Deviantart. Peter Feldstein's work strongly reminds me of the HONY photographer, Brandon Stanton. Seeing humanity at its most vibrant and diverse is one of the strengths and vitality of photography as a medium.
Above: Image source, potatoland.org. The most recent feature on Napier's site is a poignant commentary on current social issues- reminding me a lot of the "tiny penis" Trump statue, the piece of him passionately embracing foreign leaders, or any other of the reaction pieces that have emerged in the past 3 years.
Above: Image source: huhungshu.com. This is an interesting print that isn't like any of the ones pictured in the book- it is truly very complex, almost like lettuce or cabbage (?) I love how ragged the edges of all the forms are- it seems truly organic in shape.
Works Cited:
Bowers, John. Introduction to Two-Dimensional Design Understanding Form and Function. John Wiley & Sons, 2008.