Interview: Artist Jasmine Chen

I was lucky enough to have the opportunity to speak to Jasmine Chen, an upcoming artist in who has had multiple exhibitions in Taiwan with another one coming up in September this year. She has also had some experience working in the British art industry. As well as this, she has been featured in W.E People Magazine (December 2008) for her artwork.

While I was speaking to her, I decided to ask her about her thoughts on some of the lectures I have had:

In your opinion, what is design?

“Aww, that’s a hard question, do I have to answer? “

Yes

“When I think of design, I usually think of product design. I don’t particularly like to use the word ‘design’ as it doesn’t pertain to what I do which is more along the lines of fine art. The word ‘design’ feels more of something that would make art more accessible and communicative; whereas fine art is less accessible as they’re the artist’s own views and show ambiguity.”

(W.E People)

Do you have a process you follow when painting/sketching or do you just ‘go with the flow’?

“In the beginning I do have a simple process, however as I continue to work on a piece the process can change. There is often a process of trial and error and it takes time to realize something isn’t working too well. Sometimes when this happens and I get artists block, I visit museums to try and get inspiration. Take my new series of works for example, the inspiration came from a moldy potato that I was supposed to have cooked, inspiration usually pops up by accident. So I suppose that is my own version of a process.”

Would you say your works have more of an aesthetical appeal or a symbolic one?

“I guess it’s a little bit of both, a lot of people have told me that my work is more on the aesthetic side, but I am really trying to incorporate more symbolism. In my career it is important to not stick purely to aesthetics as adding symbolism allows an audience to relate and emote more. You could probably say that if my work was purely aesthetic based it would be more akin to illustration than fine art, but it is really more to do with what you want your work to come across as.”

Lecture 4: Design Visualization is Thinking and Communicating

Some people believe that the core of design visualization is thinking and communicating. I would say I have to agree with them. This is because design is more about making a finished product than expressing oneself, in which case the exploration of ideas is needed as well as thinking how the finished product will work and its specifications. In design, the drawing process is definitely more of creating something as an object. Visualization is about creating an image that can communicate ideas and concepts across to other people rather than having enigmatic qualities and meanings as is the case with more artistic and emotional images.

As it is important to communicate ideas using visuals, it is also important that you find an inner "visual voice" to get your ideas and concepts onto paper. As an exercise for this, I drew hands 20 times, hid them away for a day and looked at them again the next day. This allowed me to find if I have any patterns emerging in the way I draw.  Among them, these were my favorites:

They're my favorites because I feel they each have an emotional pull to them and suggest that there is a meaning or emotion behind the gesture of the hand.

Visuals can be categorized into two broad types, representational and diagrammatic. Representational visuals take much longer to draw, are more artistic and need a lot more skill to do, while diagrammatic visuals are the opposite, conceptual, quick to draw and not as much skill is needed.

I feel that I am very much diagrammatic in my drawing when trying to communicate ideas, and probably in most of my drawings as I'm not that skilled at drawing. The main reason I use diagrammatic drawings when communicating is because they are able to get the idea across without so much time being consumed and putting too much detail on the paper that isn't needed.

Lecture 3: Design has Purpose

As mentioned in my previous post, designs all have a specific purpose such as being practical or decorative. There are many types of functions an object can have; However, I will focus on three: The physical purpose, the aesthetic taste and the symbolism an object has. Each object and its function will have been created for a specific group of people which can be determined, to an extent, by how it was designed.

Physical Purpose:

(SwissArmyKnives)

A design with a high importance in physical purpose focuses mainly on how the user will interact with the object and how the object will work. For example, the multi-function knife has high importance for how the object works and functions.

Something as practical as this object most likely has a target audience of working people or those who may like to work with their hands. It will probably not appeal to those who are looking for a decorative or symbolic object.

Aesthetics and symbolism are not as important in such a design as its main focus is on how it is used and its usefulness, not how it looks or what its meaning is.

Aesthetic Purpose:

(House Interior Home)

An object with aesthetic functions listed as high importance will try and have influence on the feelings of those observing the design and perhaps even try to evoke an emotion from the observer or user. The design can achieve this objective in a variety of ways, such as appealing to the senses of the user (sound and feel) or using color and shapes to create a feeling of emotion (Jagged edges for aggression etc.). These objects will most likely be less practical and more just for viewing than use.

The contemporary chairs have high aesthetic purpose due to its appearance, however it likely is uncomfortable to sit on for lengthy periods of time and it located very close to the floor. This leads me to feel that the physical purpose of the design is very low. The chairs do appear as if they are attempting to symbolize something, but it does not seem as important as the aesthetics of the chairs.

Symbolic Purpose:

(Businessweek)

Symbolic designs and objects will attempt to recreate or mimic another object in some form. This is usually done to give the object meaning and personality. These structures and designs are likely to be iconic, such as the Beijing National Stadium which symbolizes a bird's nest but also became the icon for the Olympic Games in Beijing.

These objects usually become more well-known due to how they can easily be related to. They also are likely to have moderate importance in aesthetics as well, probably so they are visually appealing and make the symbolism more obvious.

Mixed Purpose:

On the other hand, designs are not limited to being only one of these functions and can have high importance in each of the aspects.

An example of this can be the faucet shown. It has a practical use as a tap and functions as a normal tap, yet it also has aesthetic appeal in its designs. The curves and angles, as well as the material chosen, all contribute to its appearance and feel to create a very modern and functioning faucet.

Lecture 2: Design is Organized

Many think that there is not much planning or organization involved in design; However, the process of design is not as simple as bring a concept to life. No matter how simple or complicated a concept may appear, the design that comes from the idea has some sort of purpose, whether it be practical, aesthetic or something else.

(CongruentSystems: Simple Process)

(BoxesandArrows: More Complicated Process)

Each design also has a specific target audience which can range from the designer themselves to decorators with a minimalistic taste. This aspect also needs to be included in the design process as the target audience/contractor has a large influence in the creation of a project. Naturally, a design will change and evolve over time. This is due to the amount of people working on the project. Most of the time it takes more than a single person to create an object an each person will have a say in the final outcome. These influential powers can range from those funding the project to the environment where the object will be placed.

Designs can be very fluid as most of them stem from ideas which can be interpreted in many different ways. Each of these diversions may effect the final design due to ideas being taken and incorporated from each one creating an effect much like tributary rivers contributing to a larger river.

(Minnesota River Basin Data Center)

Lecture 1: What is Design?

Hurricane - Jasmine Chen
(Permission to use)

Something I hadn't thought about until recently was that everything around us is a design, a concept brought out into the world through art, construction and many other outlets. It is something that I don't think registers into our minds when we look at, think about or talk about an object. Usually we would say something along the lines of "That looks amazing" or "This chair is comfortable", but not often do we hear someone say "this has been very well designed and has had a lot of thought put into creating it."

When I think of design, I usually think of a process or a method starting with an idea that then becomes a sketch or a model and finally an object with a form and structure; However, nature also has its designs. Trees, landscapes and animals (including humans) are all a part of nature's design. Through evolution, nature has slowly created organisms that adapt to they're surroundings while landscapes are always being shaped as well.

Photo by Myself

Every design is different though. Some designs are made to be functional (such as a basic chair), others are for aesthetics while some are just to express our inner emotions, such as Jasmine Chen's 'Hurricane'.

My main point is that no matter where we look there is a design. Everything we use or create is a design. The clothes we wear, the computers we type on, the photos we take, they are all designs that someone has thought up and created.

Anything and Everything is a Design, and its everywhere.