{"id":22411,"date":"2012-11-30T22:57:18","date_gmt":"2012-11-30T22:57:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/designers-are-liars-all-design-is-a-lie\/"},"modified":"2012-11-30T22:57:18","modified_gmt":"2012-11-30T22:57:18","slug":"designers-are-liars-all-design-is-a-lie","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/designers-are-liars-all-design-is-a-lie\/","title":{"rendered":"Designers are liars all design is a lie"},"content":{"rendered":"

jamesbranch<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\n

Thanks to @juspar who flagged this post<\/a> on Sean Sturm\u2019s blog which features the essay About the Word Design<\/em> (Flusser, 1991)<\/a> published in Eine Kleine Philosophie des Design<\/em> (1993) a reference to either Coldcut<\/a> or Mozart<\/a>. Anyway\u2026 In it Flusser analyses the origins of the word \u2018design\u2019 and suggests that trickery and deception were bound up in this term from the start\u2026<\/p>\n

As a noun, it means \u2014 among other things \u201cintention,\u201d \u201cplan,\u201d \u201cintent,\u201d \u201caim,\u201d \u201cscheme,\u201d \u201cplot,\u201d \u201cmotif,\u201d \u201cbasic structure,\u201d all these (and other meanings) being connected with \u201ccunning\u201d and \u201cdeception.\u201d As a verb (\u201cto design\u201d), meanings include \u201cto concoct something,\u201d \u201cto simulate<\/em>\u201c\u2026 (Flusser, 1991)<\/p>\n

He goes on to describe how for Plato the arts and technology were a deception because they \u2018betray\u2019 and \u2018distort\u2019 ideas when they transfer them to the material world\u2026 Shifting forward to the end of 19th century he states that design held a unique position in that it brought together the previously opposed domains of art and technology. This design culture that emerged was aware, \u201cof the fact that it was deceptive [i.e. designed]\u201d<\/p>\n

Begs the question \u2014 who is being deceived? \u2014 Using the example of a lever he establishes design as an enabler of super human feats i.e. to lift weight beyond the limits of our natural capabilities. So, it is nature who is the victim, being deceived by the act of design\u2026 In fact \u201cBeing a human being is a design against nature.\u201d (Flusser, 1991)<\/p>\n

Today he argues that this word \u2018design\u2019 has become the focus of much discourse and general chit chat with the question of \u2018design\u2019 possibly replacing that of the \u2018idea\u2019. Using the example of plastic pens he asks where the value resides in these objects, when the production labour is largely automated, the materials are worth very little\u2026only the design is of value as it represent a coming together of great ideas that ensure its function. And yet this is a design we don\u2019t notice and the ideas behind it are ignored along with the labour and production. How can we explain this devaluation of all values? he asks?<\/p>\n

Once the barrier between art and technology had been broken down, a new perspective opened up within which one could create more and more perfect designs, escape one\u2019s circumstances more and more, live more and more artistically (beautifully). But [-] the price we pay for this is the loss of truth and authenticity. <\/em>(Flusser, 1991)<\/p>\n

He points out that if everything becomes perfectly designed artefacts there is no truth and authenticity and everything becomes disposable. The same is true of us we do ultimately just die. He claims the word design remains key in discourse because we are \u201cbeginning to lose faith in art and technology as sources of value. Because we are starting to wise up to the design behind them.\u201d (Flusser, 1991)<\/p>\n

For me as someone interested in lying (or design) this raises pressing questions. How do we find meaning and value in this activity? Should we just down tools and shuffle off this mortal coil? We can point to many things designed today show contempt for labour, ecology and ideas but what does the opposite look like? Design that respects ecology, design that dignifies the lives of those that make and use them? Design that embodies ideas respectfully rather than exploiting them? Starting to sound like the values espoused by Victor Papaneck<\/a>.\u00a0 To be cont\u2026<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

from prior post<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

jamesbranch: Thanks to @juspar who flagged this post on Sean Sturm\u2019s blog which features the essay About the Word Design (Flusser, 1991) published in Eine Kleine Philosophie des Design (1993) a reference to either Coldcut or Mozart. Anyway\u2026 In it Flusser analyses the origins of the word \u2018design\u2019 and suggests that trickery and deception were […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[10],"tags":[42,633,634],"class_list":["post-22411","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-words","tag-design","tag-flusser","tag-lying"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p6PWot-5Pt","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22411","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=22411"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22411\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=22411"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=22411"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/rafaelfajardo.com\/portfolio\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=22411"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}