Indiapolis Musem of Art, Design as Art: Post Modernism

Design history is subjective. It is driven by personal opinion. Not objective like the modernists once thought. In today's world, look at old and new design with the same subjective views where as they used to be separated. The 19th century was the start of all design as we know it, so we have a wealth of history to look over.

Post modernism was the "new" trend in the 1980's. Its effected images, ideas,messages, stories & emotions. It can be defined as a combination of styles, design for decoration. It is all about context; you can take an existing product, make minor changes to it and change it's purpose, therefore it has to be seen in a different context. Consumer's Rest' chair, 1983, Siegel, Günzburg, is sighted in the lecture. 

Post modernism blurred the lines between art and design. The idea that art is done by artists and design is done by designers, is no longer relevant. You can design a piece of art and re purpose a piece of art into a design. Design is the new art, as art collectors are buying design. Appearance is dominant but you need judge them in the same way you would any piece; intellectually, who was this designed/done for? why is it the way it is? 

 to paraphrase the speaker, Dr. Josef Strasser, "without knowledge of the past, how can we look at tthe present, let alone the future. Looking at design past, saves us from wrongly judging the present."