Brian O'Neill on sat 6 aug 05
Hey all,
Here are a couple of books that address a broad range of design
fundamentals. They are not specific to clay, so I'm glad to see so many
clay related book recommendations showing up. If you're at a point
where drilling down into greater clay detail is what you need, these
books may not be your cup o' tea, but at least look at the TOC from
"Design Through Discovery" and you'll get a sense of a broader scope of
aesthetic and functional relationships. I see that this book is in it's
sixth edition and has gone up significantly in price, but it's the best
cross disciplinary design book I've seen.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0030765471/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-9050543
-0276853#reader-page
Over the years, I've come to believe there are universal design
realities that traverse all craft, art, and design disciplines. That's
not to say that there is a de-facto system for determining "good"
aesthetics, although there are those that have tried (google Rudolf
Arnheim for a life's work on analyzing what makes something visually
pleasing). There is even a group of computer programmers that have
studied and deconstructed the abstract expressionist's Richard
Diebenkorns paintings in an attempt to automate his painting style.
Scary stuff out there, but (to my knowledge) they can only mimic a
style, not invent/create one. And there in lies the miracle, beauty and
frustrations of our emotional responses to the "things" we make in this
world. Our emotions bubble up from who knows where, and shape our
tastes (or is that taste our shapes?).
Enough of my philosophy. What do I know, I like a 52 Dodge pickup that
was painted with a broom. Oh yeah, here's the other book I could think
of off the top of my head that puts forth a very interesting look at
stuff like the "The Golden Section", and the Fibonacci scale as it
appears in nature, art, and yes... even pots! "The Power of Limits;
Proportional Harmonies in Nature, Art, and Architecture" The only book
that ever inspired me to take a math class.
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/0877731934/ref=sib_dp_pt/002-9050543
-0276853#reader-link
There are many more, but be careful! Once you start looking for this
stuff, it shows up in everything... even mud (and clay too E.)
Happy hunting,
Brian
Brian Thomas O'Neill
Functional | Sculptural Ceramic Vessels
2985 Goshen Rd | Bellingham, WA | 98226 | 360 592 3164
brianoneill@cablespeed.com
Gordon Ward on sat 6 aug 05
Thanks for the ideas. They look interesting, especially the second one.
Gordon
Ron Roy on sun 7 aug 05
Once again Brian has hit one of the basics I believe in - the more
"universal" in it the more people will "get" it.
It relates in a way to inside space thing - make 3 bowls - and decide which
one looks more empty - then see how many other people pick that one.
RR
>Over the years, I've come to believe there are universal design
>realities that traverse all craft, art, and design disciplines. That's
>not to say that there is a de-facto system for determining "good"
>aesthetics, although there are those that have tried (google Rudolf
>Arnheim for a life's work on analyzing what makes something visually
>pleasing). There is even a group of computer programmers that have
>studied and deconstructed the abstract expressionist's Richard
>Diebenkorns paintings in an attempt to automate his painting style.
>Scary stuff out there, but (to my knowledge) they can only mimic a
>style, not invent/create one. And there in lies the miracle, beauty and
>frustrations of our emotional responses to the "things" we make in this
>world. Our emotions bubble up from who knows where, and shape our
>tastes (or is that taste our shapes?).
Ron Roy
RR#4
15084 Little Lake Road
Brighton, Ontario
Canada
K0K 1H0
Phone: 613-475-9544
Fax: 613-475-3513
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