Thursday 18 September 2014

Function and creativity

Clay Monkey Jar
Function is the driving force behind creativity. 

The creation of an object stems from its purpose, how will it make our lives easier. The aesthetics of the creation must blend well with its purpose. From a business perspective a creative designer will create an aesthetically pleasing object with minimum use of materials yet fulfill a purpose. From the earliest forms of pottery the need to preserve and protect our food and drink from animals were the function of our clay jars. The potters created the clay jars from necessity but aesthetically created them from observing the natural environment like the monkeys and so the monkey jars were created. The handle of the monkey jar imitates the tail of a monkey, the medium of the unglazed clay facilitated keeping water cool. 

 
Glass as a medium allowed us to create lighter objects enabling us to hold them in one hand to be able to drink liquids. The different type of liquids determined the design of the glass such as a wine glass has a wider opening than a champagne fluted glass because the wine needs to breathe and the champagne needs to keep its bubbles, both designs are based on the function of the glass. The aesthetic designs seen on glasses facilitates us being able to grip a glass with ease. A water glass is thankfully much bigger than a shot glass, a brandy glass is rounded with a short stem to fit snugly in the palm of your hand because the warmth of your hand warms the brandy which is how it should be drunk.
 
The previous examples of glasses and crockery were created to facilitate the function of preserving and enabling us to drink cool liquids. The medium of glazed clays or ceramics allowed us to create containers to facilitate warm liquids like tea and coffees. A teapot has a rounded body, an elegant extended handle and a sloping spout to allow us to pour the hot liquid slowly. All of these characteristic forms of a teapot are created based on function.

A lot of these different glass and crockery examples have been around for centuries where their function determined their creative form, the aesthetic appearances may have changed due to the stylistic trends of the different art periods such as the different glazes used to create Majolica  and Wedgwood ware. However new designs are being created by altering older designs to create an object that now has a new function. I stumbled across a new creation recently which combines an eating utensil, a mug and a soup bowl.

A modern day ceramic creation that has multiple functions and represents the fast pace of the 21st century lifestyle......eating on the run. The use of contrasting value and colour makes this creation aesthetically pleasing to look at and trendy. The contrast in value between the matt black finish on the outside and the glossy clean green which is echoed on the spoon creates an eye catching combination. The similarity of the rounded shapes of the spoon, handle and opening sharply contrasts with the sharp gradient of the body of the vessel.










No comments:

Post a Comment