Save the Arts 09/12/2010
David Shrigley, a UK based cartoonist has created this enjoyable and meaningful video for the Save the Arts campaign in the UK. It's a simple story about a farmer explaining the importance of the arts to his son, both in terms of the enrichment the arts provide, and their contribution to the economy. The video brings to light some important facts about the arts in the UK, and why it is so important not to cut funding to the arts. Seeing the video also raises many questions about the state of the arts in our own country, India. As a matter of fact, its hard to gauge how much funding is dedicated to the arts, and what is the contribution to India's economy in monetary terms. The intangible and cultural benefits of the arts cannot be denied, especially in a country like ours with so much diversity. When we say arts, it means not just fine arts, painting and sculpture but also music, dance, and theatre. These are age-old activities in India, and as entwined in our culture as is our heritage of craft and textiles. 'Arts' is often narrowly defined as just the fine arts, but it includes a lot more. While there are a lot of NGOs and individuals working for the arts, the government could play a much more active role in encouraging and promoting the arts, as they can be a huge contributor to India's economy. Meanwhile, enjoy the video, you can read the petition here, and know more of the campaign here. By Armeen Kapadia 1 Comment  Post-ULM, Post-Client: The Winterhouse Lecture, National Institute of Design, India, 5.30 PM, 18th January 2010 What a way to start a week? Listening to two of the most articulate individuals of our designerly time and space — Jessica Helfand and William Drenttel. Although they have worked as designers for many years, I feel what Jessica has done to design education and design criticism or what William has done to the business of design is sufficient for an ordinary individual, like me, to seek in a whole life. Williams' insights into the economy and politics of design were matched by Jessica's articulation of designing a process. Jessica seems to be proud of the fact that Paul Rand taught her and the fact that they interacted with each other and remained to be in touch beyond her student days. She even scanned one of the letters penned by Mr Rand, and posted it on this Design Observer post. I have seen Mr Rand's interviews faciliated by Steven Heller, which are on YouTube, which are examples of a yet-to-be matched ariculation of design. I could see traces of Paul in Jessica when she spoke. Strangely, whenever she said 'Yale' during her talk, I could only see the imprint of this unique Yale Univeristy Press logo (courtesy Paul Rand), which was unfortunately put to rest by this 'look-i-can-kern' logo. Anyway. I am drifting here. Sigh. William, on the other hand, has seen it all — working for corporate houses to dealing with clients to choosing clients to building a business model devoid of clients. His projects start as mere intiatives and take shape without any limitations of the improbable notions in mind. These projects evolve to entirely redefine the role of graphic design. These are some of the projects: Design Observer (DO), Teach For America, Poll Photo Booth and Change Observer. Way I see is that Change Observer, in itself, will branch out to become something substantial in future. At the moment, DO supports this movement observing and tracking social change across USA. William has an eye for ideas and thinks on his feet, whereas Jessia has a hand for ideas and thinks on a sheet. Although that is true, in a short span, I figured that Jessica is an artist who has made a journey towards design and William is a manager who has made a journey towards design. Somewhere in between they have met, perhaps, and they decided to trip on design in a beautifully amalgamated house/office embedded in the maple woods, deep in the countryside. It seems they also make some maple syrup once in a while and gift it to friends and families. Their life is organic and biological. Talking about biology, it reminds me of what William told us about designers excluding the abundant knowledge and inspirational stories of science from their practice. Designers with an inclination towards a specific niche subject in either science or humanities are needed in the next decade, he stresses. He also felt that designers have to figure out what works for them, rather than what has worked for others. He subtly mentioned about the choice one has to make between making a lot of money and chasing clients or making sufficient amount of money and choosing clients. He was diplomatic, maybe practical, in mentioning that design students just graduating can't choose clients at will. They could afford to do it only after years of hardwork and building a sustainable pool of funding resources. As a graphic design student, I never failed to notice that they are in love with the typeface 'Gotham', which features in more than half their work. On a personal note, I felt most of the websites they have designed (by the look of it) are smiliar in tone and voice. Maybe I should visit the sites and form another opinion later, which I will. That apart, I felt Jessica and William are passionate about their work, which was evident by a few glimpses of the process that they shared. As a design student, I am more interested in the process rather than just looking at the final output. To a student of design, who is designing the process of writing a book, listening to William and, especially Jessica, reaffirmed the intentions behind my book writing project. As Jessica put it, "What I can't figure out as a designer, I figure out as a writer." And from Jessica I learnt today, even after I graduate, I will forever be a student of graphic design. By Sanjay Basavaraju |
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