Derek Ercolano Thesis Proposal 2012

I like the Painting, but I’ll take the t-shirt.

Utilizing art as a tool for expanding methods in design

I like the Painting, but I’ll take the t-shirt.

Utilizing art as a tool for expanding methods in design

By Derek Ercolano

1

PRO POS AL Subject and Motivation

The borderlines of design and art: Many essays have been written to give clarity to their definitions, to separate them, to unite them and to discredit them. One of my favorite of such arguments so far comes from furniture maker and author Norman Potter, whose essay “Is a designer an artist?” was a well articulated and executed argument on the subject. Potter claimed “ A designer works through and for the people” and that “An artist’s first responsibility was to the truth of his own vision”. As great a service as these arguments do in defining these disciplines in their purest form, It is my belief that the role of the designer evolves in each cultural context and it governed by the beliefs of the time.

Rick Poyner summed it up very well in his article “Arts Little Brother” when he wrote “There are more passionate, less detached designers just as there are highly cerebral artists. Simply put, these definitions are most times too straightforward to describe fields whose diversity is so vast.

I was personally attracted to design early on because I felt it lacked some of the pretentious ideals and liberated me from the weight of art history which alienated me during the begining of my studies at art school. It’s functionality and

2 omnipresence meant that It would get more use then a painting on a wall. However, later on in my career I have found myself frustrated with limiting the horizons of my thinking to the confines of a project. For the last two years before starting my masters I spent my day’s working as an art director, addressing my clients problems in a pragmatic process oriented manner. By night I worked on my personal endeavors, which consisted of drawing’s that had no practical functionality but strived to tell stories in an abstract way, and to influence peoples feelings and imaginations. During my time working hard and shifting between these two disciplines I began to notice that an organic dialogue had been starting to form between these two different bodies of work. I took methods and processes that I learned in these separate practices and exchanged them between the two disciplines. This act lead me to questions such as: Why should I keep them (art and design) separate? I believe that a critical look at this dialogue can reveal more about my intentions, broaden my vocabulary as a visual thinker and help me to identify my own unique way of solving problems. The work I want to explore is greatly informed by the design process but strives to include the intentions and wider scope of my personal artistic vision.

Over the next two years I want to explore the differences in how art and design are concepted and contextualized. Is it possible for me to use art as a tool in the design process and visca versa? Specifically,I want to use storytelling as a way to set up a discourse between design and art. I believe that all differences aside, the most successful examples of these two fields manage to communicate a story in some way shape or form. For me this can be a good brand story, sequential narrative or a well thought out statement behind an artists show.I believe the act of storytelling will allow me to flexibly permeate these two disciplines with ease. Contemporaries such as Donald Judd, Andy Warhol, and Jorge Pardo have approached this conversation by making work as artists that crosses over in design. I wish to approach the argument on the other side; making design that crosses over and makes dialogue with art. I find it interesting and practical to approach the project from this point of view because it is in design where my expertise and experience lie. It is also my point of view that art only remains as such during the the conceptual and ideation process. Once an artist has decided on a goal he or she wants to pursue thier process ends up looking quite similar to that of the design’s.

My motivation for this project is strongly rooted in me wanting to explore blurring the lines between my art and design practices in order to try to develop a method of

3 working that challenges my intentions for working between myself and problem solving for others. I believe that all kinds of opportunities will open up if I can only enlarge my notion of what design practice might be if it was to embrace hybrid methods of thinking, researching and executing.With this in mind I am referencing careers of artists such as Geoff Mcfetrige, Jean Julien, Gary Panter and KAWS who have all collaborated with commercial clients and produced bodies of work that are in dialogue with each other. These artists listed also have a distinct visual language which is consistently apparent in their work, an aspect that I would very much like to develop in my own work over the next two years.

Limitations One of the things I would not like to suggest with this project is that I am redefining the boundaries of the discipline for all designers. I think the scope of the profession allows for many types of “careers� based on personal interest. To clarify this a little more, i think it is completely possible to hold true to the purest motives of the design profession if that is your where your passion lies, to work from 9-5, to only adhere to brand standards, to be better at selling ideas then actually designing them.

The inherent beauty and bane of this profession is that it can cater to many types of people who want to be different types of designers. In this thesis I only wish to explore how far I can push the envelope and have it be an example to other designers who have the passion to do so.

Presentation and Form In terms of presentation and form of this project I have gathered some preliminary thoughts on how to proceed. I have split my presentation into two categories: Visual Experimentation and Written Analysis. I believe that these categories make sense for me personally because I love to work as much visually as I do with crafting my words.

My written analysis can be broken in up into two types: Critical text analysis and First hand Research. Critical text analysis will include research that aims to challenge the genre by analyzing the arguments and breakthroughs achieved by the discussions of it’s greatest figureheads. I have already discovered an unending collection of essays written throughout the last 30 or 40 years, it will be my job to analyze these arguments and shed some insight on the possibilities of working between these two visual worlds. Secondly, first hand research will allow me to step away from the books

4 and reach out to “designerartists” who are working between these two fields in order to gain insight into the methods and processes utilized by these creatives.

The visual experimentation category will also be broken up into two types: weekly visual experiments and semester mini projects. Weekly visual experiments will I ensure that I am able to work visually as much as possible as this is very important to me. Therefore I will work on a weekly basis generating small thoughts, concepts and ideas into smaller scale pieces that will explore my identity and relationship through the lens of these two fields. These experiments though small may be able to “tip me off” or be a catalyst for discoveries that can push my project forward.

Secondly, For each semester I would like to undertake one longer form project that explores different ways art can be a tool in my design process and visca versa. I want to attempt to bring my own voice through a number of creative endeavors in order to identify and develop my own methods for working in between these two fields. One way of accomplish this might be to use these mini projects to explore how these two fields converge in terms of the themes of communication, provocation, commentary and collaboration. An example of one of these projects could be a collaboration with a someone in the art field, working with them to create work together as two specialists in our respective fields. This work could shed light on methods that I could incorporate into my process and give me a clearly informed idea of the differences and similarities between the way I work and the way an artist works.

Resources and Conclusion The resources I will be need will really be determined at the beginnings of my research but to scratch the surface I think that I will need to make contact with the professionals I am going to interview for my first hand research. As these contacts are integral to really getting the most up to date insights on how people are working between these worlds. I also think it would be a great source of information as well as experience to actually work as an assistant to one of these people during the my summer break next year. Spending time assisting could give me key insights on the sorts of methods these people have as well as how the put themselves out there in a digestible form in order appeal to both commercial endeavors and to galleries.

Following these plans with my key question as a guide at the end of these two years I will in theory have some drawn out visual pieces and first hand experience to reflect

4 on as well as some good critical analysis through texts and interviews. From there I could go on to reveal my findings not as boundaries written in stone but rather general statements that are suggestive of how one might work between these two worlds to expand the scope of their practice in a meaningful manner.

References Rick Poyner. ‘Art’s Little Brother’,Icon, no. 23 (London, May 2005) Kees Dorst. ‘But, Is it Art?’, Understanding Design: 150 reflections on Being a designer ( Amsterdam BIS Publishing,2003) Norman Potter, What is a Designer? (London: Studio Vista/New York: Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1969); revised, extended edition ( London: Hyphen Press, 1989/2003) 15-20 Joe Scanlan (with Neal Jackson), ‘Please, Eat the Daisies’, Art Issues ( Los Angeles, January/Februrary 2001) 26-9.

Discussion with M/M convened by David Blamey for students at the Royal College of Art, in the Department of Communication, Art and Design, 17 Februrary 2006; guest participant: Alex Coles. Abridged version edited by David Blamey, November 2006.

TI ME LI NE

7 Rough Timeline Semester 2 | Jan-May 2013 * Foundation Research (jan-mar) * First Hand Research (feb-may * Weekly Visual Experiments (jan-may) * Semester Mini Project (jan-may) * Written Analysis/ Thesis Structuring (jan-may) * First Draft of thesis (mar-may) Summer | Jun- Aug 2013 * Writing and Structuring of Argument and thesis * Second Draft of Thesisv (prefably finished here) * Design and layout of thesis book * Weekly Visual Experiments Semester 3 | Aug-Dec 2013 * Refining of Research and Conclusion of Writing * Weekly Visual Experiments (aug-dec) * Semester Mini Project (aug-dec) * Development of Manifesto for Designer/Artist based on written and visual research.

Semester 4 | Jan-May 2014 * Begin Planning and sketching for exhibition (jan-may) * Weekly Visual Experiments (jan-may) * Semester Mini Project (Jan-march) * Analysis and Structuring of visual work for final presentation (march) * Finalize all materials for exhibition (april-may)