by: Miah Lacap
As time passes by, things around us change and evolve every second in a blink of an eye. It seems that the world revolves faster and faster that every generation is imprinted on film strips and is played 32x as the speed of pressing the forward key on a DVD remote control.
Going through the details of every object that exist of course we tend to look on to the general or what we call the outside view, hence every thing is consumed while we don't even understand why is it made like this and like that. As I watched the documentary film about objects entitled Objectified by Gary Hustwit, I would start with a conclusion that in the global society that wherein everything is standardized and on this moment of our life we're on the futuristic global culture.
Designs on a certain objects nowadays which I agree on to what Davin Stowell CEO and Founder of Smart Design, (this might not be the exact words but..) objects nowadays are designed for people's capability and for his or her own convenience.
It is funny that for every small detail of an object, no matter how tiny it is, it makes a very large sense, just for example Andrew Blauvett a curator and a designer showed how a simple toothpick has its own usage and indications. First the newly designed toothpick is built of course for its natural use to pick up residues or dirt-ish substance that is stacked on our teeth gaps, second if you'll place it somewhere while you'll multitask you could break the end tip of it (as shown on the picture beside) and if you wanna use it and you want to retain is cleanliness, third breaking of the end tip is also an indication that it is used.Designs nowadays is the message to the people saying that our world is innovating and embracing advancements. Of course for each and every person things that we use projects our own image in the society we're into. With the image it is equivalent to our identity, and it falls down to which social class we belong. Design is everything, everywhere, though it is obscure to a wider sense, without it we are just plain human beings who live on a plain world, and it is boring.
Different factors such as Technological Revolution that contributes to make our global society one in an image to make a difference that we could avoid separation from the others. And putting it on our country's context we tend to remain on our old style, well a few people or designers tried to re-innovate our own products such as barong and saya to a modern futuristic style, but it is a minority, while we settle on an old fashioned lifestyle and not going with the flow of this Digital Era (speaking in all aspects where design is applicable).
As we see Europe nowadays is united, also America, through different aspects such as sports, economic standpoints, architecture, and etc. While the other continents such as Asia's having this tiny or a little spots that binds each country including Philippines that we could probably say it is a worth of embracing innovation like mega structures, music, socialization, and etc.
With it, I also realized upon watching the film that at the most raw sense of having a design to distinguish a particular culture, society, or maybe even a country from another of its own counterpart is vastly growing and developing to which I said on my conclusion that we're like an image color adjustment wherein as you drag the cursor to the left it brings our different cultures together through this globalization bridge that connects us and bringing us to the future of unity. Such as according to Dieter Rams a Former Design Director said that Design in particular is an architecture, advertisement, innovative, aesthetic, long lived, and consistent. Design shapes our individuality and the way we show our character towards other people, and our uniqueness. And if everyone has lived with it every person would stand off and appear gorgeous, pretty, and unique as in the bird's eye view we're as one global society living together on a pedestal where through global change we agreed to take a leap of having an innovative style and culture.
Design is everywhere and it is to objectify all objects in an everyday basis as we go beyond the future of global society, which we may say or today that we're having this GLOBAL DESIGN on our lives.
hi miah :) yes, designs do manifest identity. i guess, though i don't want to engage on debate on this (hehe), its not really about being "old fashion" but i think some just want to preserve the classic/ authentic identity of our country. but ofcourse some designers went all out and are now even recognized abroad but as you have said they are only few. i think it will take sometime for our country, and even for some people, to cope up with the fast changing world because of a lot of aspects, but if it will bring us a better life, then i agree that there are innovations tha we have to embrace - r mosquera
ReplyDeleteHi Miah, since you've mentioned about the Technological revolution on the global society, there is actually this interesting argument of scholars about the issue on the global society. Some Filipino scholars are arguing about the definition of global hitting the boundary of cultural identity, parallel to what you have pointed out on our baro't saya. Their arguments were rooted on the assumption that to be on a global society, one does not have to eradicate to fully embrace the technology but at least to open up the society for a technological advancement, and their examples are Japan and China.
ReplyDeleteThese countries are global in terms of technology and economy but they have fully retained but they have fully retained the culture, i.e. the Kimono in Japan.
- Toni Ebron
Like what I have commented in one of our classmate's blog, I think that the main reason why products constantly change and evolve is because of our discontentment. We are never contented with what we have. We are always looking for something new, something better, and something that will make our work super duper easy (to the point that we are no longer doing the work).
ReplyDeleteI am not against technological advancement. In fact, i am amazed on how human minds was able to conceive such extravagant products. :D
I agree with what you said regarding how the objects we use can often be used to define what social class were in. What we purchase as consumers define who we are. It's what we project to the world. It's sad to think that most people have to be denied the opportunity to use things that would make their lives ten times easier simply because some of these designers feel that their creations are worth so much more than what they should really be priced at. I guess that at the end of the day, money really does make the world go 'round.
ReplyDeleteWhat you said regarding the designs having a sense of a particular culture, society, country is really true. A lot of products that are imported are given a touch or even a hint of the country where they were from. Like toblerone, since they're from Switzerland they have the alps in their logos or Audi, with its tagline, Vorsprung durch technik (Advancement through technology). Even if they're everywhere, a sense of their nation is still present.
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