Design in Our Lives

     On our second trip back to the M.O.M.A. we took a closer look at the third floor “Applied Design”. Our goal was too look for four works of art, two that have high functionality and two that have low functionality. Ergonomics or functional design is how well objects can  improve productivity, give comfort, and/or provide safety. The difference between art and design is that artist start from scratch while designers improve, add, or rearrange an existing idea. The point where both meet are that art can be made up of designs while still sending a message to the viewer and since designs can be made from images or original ideas, which were just called art before being altered with, I think this is were the idea overlap each other while setting out their purpose. 
    The first two designs I thought have high functionality are Ido Bruno and Arthur Brutter’s "EPT: Earthquake Proof Table" and Massoud Hassani’s "Mine Kafon Wind Powered Deminer" Both objects fulfill what they are described to set out to do. The EPT is meant to protect student who go to school in earthquake zones. Most of them are told to go under their regular school tables but that just gets them crushed  by the collapsing roof. As shown by the images below, the earth quake table works. It is made from steel and birch plywood. Next, Hassani’s deminer also works for safety purposes. Made from recycled plastics and bamboo it is cheap and can be easily assembled on site. It rolls through areas where there maybe mines and trips them so the people who wish to pass would not suffer injury or death.
    The two works of art I chose that I thought had low functionality were Gae Aulenti’s "Table With Wheels(2652)" and Maarten Baas’s "Sweeper’s Clock". Aulenti’s table is made up of  glass, metal, and rubber. The only use I see for it would be just to make a living room look kind of nice and perhaps move light objects if they were placed on top of it. The glass would not be able to hold much weight, it would just make a persons life harder if they were trying to mover furniture which would be the opposite definition of ergonomics. To make this object function better I would change the material from glass to wood. Maarteen Baas’s Sweepers Clock is actually a video of actors sweeping garbage and that same garbage is used as hands for the clock. It is suppose to represent the passage of time through labor but other then showing that I do not see how it would give comfort, increase productivity, or provide safety.
    The M.O.M.A. had many different designs to choose from and discuss whether or not the art works have high or low functionality. Those four designs caught my attention and were. in my opinion, the definition of ergonomics and the opposite meaning of the term. Whether or not they made one’s life easier or harder, they are all great works of art.

 

Ido Bruno & Arthur Brutter

"EPT: Earthquake Proof Table"

Steel and Birch Plywood

2010

 

Massoud Hassani

"Mine Akfon Win-powered deminer"

Bamboo and biodegradable plastics

2011

 Maarten Baas

 "Sweeper's Clock"

Video 720:00min

2009

 

Gae Aulenti

 "Table With Wheels(model 2652)"

Glass, metal, and rubber

1980