The Shift in Applied Arts

The Significance of Applied Art, by Hermann Muthesius

In the essay "The Significance of Applied Art" by Hermann Muthesius, the author focuses on the evolution of Decorative Art around the time of The Third German Applied Art Exhibit.  This exhibit changed the focus of Decorative Art from a form build to a function build concentrating on sound workmanship.  Social and economic issues played a major role in this shift.  They focused on a true finished product.  They wanted to stay away from hiding the materials being used to build a piece.  They wanted every piece to be what it was intended to be.  They wanted one to respect the raw materials and covering it to change its appearance to suit a style, disrespected the raw material (pg. 82).  

Personally, especially in the area of commercial furniture production, I think there has been a serious decline in the quality of the construction.  Whether it's caused by free trade agreements, or simply that we have become such a throw away society and we are expected to redecorate every few years, it's difficult to buy furniture that will last.  Even the more respected brands have fallen victim to this mentality, be it the fabric that's used or the structure of the furniture, it only has to last a few years and is not expected to last any longer, even if the consumer does.  Quality doesn't get better when the economy faulters and one can't afford to replace furniture.  

The following is a chair from Merklen Brothers.  

Manifesto of the Staatliche Bauhaus in Weimar, by Walter Gropius

According to "Manifesto of the Staatliche Bauhaus in Weimar", by Walter Gropius, there should be no class distinciton between the artist and the craftsman (pg. 83), which indicates to me that the artist and the craftsman should be equally skilled in their respective fields and should be viewed socially as equals.  There should be an appreciation for the craft of painting, sculpture and architecture as a skill and developed to an individuals full potential.  It's though this unity that true workmanship can be achieved.

I find his opinion interesting and true.  The craft people that come to my mind are finishing carpenters.  I think this skill and occupation is undervalued in this era of Home Depot shopping.  I had a built-in designed in my livingroom and the carpenters commented that no one takes the time, spends the money and does this to their homes anymore.  I love the addition and can't imagine how it would have looked the same if installed through a different resource.

I thought this was a really nice example of craftsman meets artist.  I love stone work and use it a lot around my house.  I thought the color pallet was interesting as well

Type-Needs: Type-Furniture, by Le Corbusier

Le Corbusier's essay, "Type-Needs: Type Furniture", centers around the human need based product development. For example (pg. 87), we developed items like standardized file cabinets, file drawers and files because of the invention of the typewriter.  We had a need to fit paper into a typewriter, so the size of the paper had to become standardized, thereby changing the whole furnishing industry surrounding storage and organization of thae uses of that paper.  That also standardized tables we had to owork at and chairs we had to sit in.  The examples of this standardization are truely endless when thought of in our era.  

Below is an example of an ergonomic chair, invented as a result of human need to be more comfortable in our work environments.

I find the topics of these essay, which obviously relate well to eachother, interesting, because of the frustration I feel as a consumer today.  I feel like the issues these articles address should be revisited by many of present day manufacturers.  

1. Frank, Isabelle (editor) (2000). The theory of decorative art: An anthology of European and American writings 1750 – 1940. New York: Yale University Press.