Otte

There has thus far been much debate and discussion in class about what constitutes something as art and further classifies an item as design. The notion that only thing the art system can create is challenged by design within the art system. Though subjective one could say that to be classified as design an item must act as a tool for use that serves a specific function.

The given example in class was LEGO. LEGO can be seen as art, as a tool, as a design element, as fashion and in its most intentional form a tool for children to "Play well." And while the LEGO can fit into all these categories the line between art and design quickly fades into the abyss, the space between these two well defined areas. What is the space between?

I immediately thought of the BIG exhibition at the Aros Museum. There was a model made out of LEGO. The LEGO served its original purpose of building blocks and was used as a tool of experiment with shape. It was further photographed and made into a photoshopped comic strip. This comic strip was a story as well as a piece of art. It didn't take long for the LEGO to be turned into something else. Further more the picture below is an image I took, so now this LEGO structure has been full circle and my own photograph could be considered a form of documentation and art.Why is it important to draw a line between art and design? Why do we get so stuck on the idea that the two should be considered separate entities. Is it because we can give a value to a designed object but we can't art, as it remains subjective. Is it this notion of good or bad, subjective and objective that draws the parimaters for what is considered Art and what is considered Design?

Who decides the value of the in between? And again, what is this in between. Is it a piece of art that is so worked it becomes design and eventually art again? Is it such a cohesion between the two entities that they aren't different at all? Is the space between that need we feel as humans to connect...that maybe when we push the envelope of what's been done, and try to replicate or reshape designs until we reach a point of neither art or design.

I would like to think of the space between art and design as the piece that keeps up coming back. The place that gives designers a reason to design. Though said that we all may be cogs in the machine there is still a space left between art and design, between function and aesthetic, room for growth and change. Room for inspiration only found between the two entities of art and design. Is this when we create something so intangible that it links the best of both realms under the larger umbrella art system?

Dave Matthews once sang "The Space Between / What's wrong and right / Is where you'll find me hiding, waiting for you / The Space Between / Your heart and mine / Is the space we'll fill with time / The Space Between..."

There is a  relevant similarity between the emotional connection we feel as designers with the work that we create, to the connection of two peoples hearts. Many times people cannot figure out what draws them to another human being, or what makes two peoples hearts connect as is this driving force that acts as almost a stimulus to the designer and or the onlooker of a piece of art. Time and time again people feel the need to fill this impalpable void by surrounding ourselves with art and beautiful design. It is almost as the space between art and design is the the part that keeps people coming back for more.