design = art + capitalism
Thread
Yeah I mean I grew up literally a stone’s throw from the Sistine Chapel 😝 but also I have a background in applied arts and worked in the art “industry” and it’s the worstttttt. So like you say it’s like “ugh no but totally yes” 🙈
(But I totally understand the sentiment, I do, because I would love to see art completely “removed” from capitalism and I think in some cases it is or can be)
in the olden days they called it commercial art which was purposeful and based on craft. then we got into calling it design and it became fancy and a bit conceited (thanks a lot apple). did you know michelangelo was paid 2m euros (roughly) to paint the ceiling?
Yes! Absolutely agree with everything you’re writing here. I think it’s a conversation too complex for this format but I’d love to know if you think that design and art can evolve and allow for multitudes. Should design always be purposeful?
yes design should have utility. otherwise it is art. somewhat related: this is a question we asked (me, i did!) in the very early days of the app store. someone submitted an "art" app (it did nothing but exist) and had no utility. we classified it as art, and acceptable. 🎉🥳
Wow! 🥳 Sooo… can we ask the same question in the other direction? Should art have no purpose in order to be defined as such? And where does political propaganda, for example, land on that spectrum? And is political propaganda different from the work of Banksy?
Maybe some of these are very obvious questions with obvious answers and I’m just spamming folks with my thoughts 😂🙈
these are fun questions. agitprop is utilitarian art. everything is political, the personal is political. the form a poor person fills was designed to make sure they fail so don't get government money. design is political. dark patterns are political (& financially rewarding!)
all labor should be recognized as such and paid accordingly. we could collectively pay each other to live but in lieu of that...being paid for our labor works too. 😃
Ideally when we think of art we (want to) imagine it to spread the message of the artist as opposed to the message of the person paying for the art. Does that make sense? Like, were art patrons just.. VCs? 🫠