The Art Car
(This isn't something that I made or even something that I do, so I hope it's ok to post this!)
Recently, I had the pleasure of accidently being in downtown San Jose the same day as the Art Car Festival. Decorated cars were parked around the park and in front of the art museum. I spent the afternoon wandering around looking cars decorated with paint, glass, tile, plastic figures, and anything else that could be glued on. This got me thinking about art and utility.
Cars usually aren't all that pretty. They're utilitarian. They get us to point A to point B in town. Sometimes we take a road trip in them. Mostly they're left out to the elements until we need them. It's not often that I think of a car in terms of creativity and artistry, but the people who participate in the Art Car Festival see their car as a canvas and express themselves accordingly.
We do the same thing with paper, which can be just as utilitarian: we paint it, glue it, color it, emboss it, stamp it, and so on, all to express ourselves and make a work of art. I thought this might be a good point to ask a few questions about looking at the world with more artistic eyes:
Can utilitarian be beautiful?
Is there anything utilitarian in your house that you can look at differently?
What is useful and beautiful?
posted by Cellissimo at
25.9.06
1 Comments:
I tend to stick with the Prague Linguistic Circle's ideaa of functions, which allows for 1. multiple functions and 2. a fluid relationship between functions. In other words, something that is primarily utilitarian can also be beautiful, but the thing's aesthetics don't override the thing's usefulness. That relationship can change over time and space, of course. Like, say, for clothing. Some clothing was once utiliarian but now that it's sixty years old and in a museum, its usefulness as a garment has been superseded by its aesthetic qualities.
Yeah grad school!
I think that the five gazillion bowls in my apartment are useful and beautiful. They hold food and they are a pleasure to hold and behold. Oh, and I am seriously smitten with the looks of my !pod N@no, which keeps me supplied with tunes while looking supah-sleek and sexy.
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Zhenia, at 2.10.06
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