For its 15th edition of the fair, to be held in February this year, India Art Fair (IAF) has announced a special section on design to be featured alongside the regular fare of art galleries.
This was interesting news for the avid watchers such as us, and it got us thinking (again!) about the increasing overlap between art and design. After all, generally, the definition of design is that which is applied and made with a functional use, whereas artwork is the end in itself. When we look at art, we are inspired to understand what it all means, and conversely a well-designed object often evokes the thought, how well does it solve a problem and ‘do something’.
A quick search on the internet will list out some of the more obvious reasons, we will not bore you with those here!
But the two categories have often encroached into each other’s terrain. To begin with there’s the question - is there a difference between design and art or are they interchangeable? In certain instances, a good work of design may surpass its functional expectations and be considered a work of art.
If this sounds too abstract, let's start by narrowing what we mean by design. In this day and age when UI/UX platforms are also referred to as design, we are specifically referring to design as related to interior objects, textiles, functional objects, furniture, fashion and jewelry.
One of the best examples where art and design merge, is fashion design by Iris van Herpen State-of-the-art | Iris van Herpen. Each of Iris’s creations is akin to a work of art, even when she creates these pieces to be wearable.
Whereas someone like Isamu Noguchi has his starting point in sculpture (art). His Akari light sculptures, which used the traditional gifu technique with Washi paper and bamboo, were made as sculptural pieces, which Noguchi subsequently adapted as lights. Or even his iconic coffee table for that instance.
Of course, there are numerous examples of glass artists creating glass fixtures, we even did a week’s worth of Instagram posts on these!
The point where a designer becomes imbued by the concept of a thing, in a purist realm, or where an artist pushes through to create usable objects in indeed nebulous.
When we look at the Indian scenario, unfortunately, we struggle to find many examples, especially for objects that have become cult classics. It has often been our lament that art doesn’t feature prominently in Indian homes or workplaces (we are not referring to the few who do value it). Design, be it architecture, interiors, street furniture, signage…has little premium in most people’s daily lives. It is mostly relegated to (the few) museums, or galleries, and sometimes shows up in daily objects. Indeed, and not to denigrate anything, most design-objects border on kitsch or handicrafts.
Sometimes, artists and designers break this mold, and even though they may not be household names, they do leave a mark at both ends of the spectrum. Some names that come to mind include Dashrath Patel, a master of communication and graphic design, who also created sublime paintings as an artist; and Riten Mozumdar, a textile designer par excellence - think all the bold prints of fabIndia in the early days of its operations. Riten Mozumdar | Chatterjee & Lal (chatterjeeandlal.com)
In the past couple of decades, brands such as Good Earth and Nicobar have done excellent work to bring crafts, and design to household items. However, we lack the widespread adaptability from high art to design. This lack of awareness of designers and their work could also be due to paucity of visibility in the form of books or venues to access their work. Mumbai, always in the forefront of design and art in India, has a welcome initiative - a gallery dedicated to design, 47-A in Khotachi wadi, an initiative by Srila Chatterjee and Chatterjee and Lal.
So, coming back to where we started this article. It is a welcome sign that IAF is collaborating with designers and bringing them into a purist (?) art space – and we would be watching with interest as to how it fares in the times to come.
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