This Means (Art) War
Posted: May 15th, 2009 | Author: graggregator | Filed under: Graf | No Comments »
Here’s a shout out for a new international contest, in case you want to test your credentials in open creative warfare – www.artistswanted.org are holding a worldwide contest to decide which is better art or design. I have the answer for them so they don’t need to waste their time, although I’m sure they won’t, seeing the amount publicity Artists Wanted have already received on the Net. The truth is that neither art nor design are better than the other, in our current age, at the top of the game, there’s little to distinguish between the two. The fact is there’s bad art and there’s bad design and there’s good and even great art and design out there if you look hard enough. Ahem.
The only distinction I’d make is between art and crafts, craft is for the most part unable to convey meaning on anything more than the surface level, this includes everything from jewellery to fashion to pottery to carpentry to wicker to knitting and so on and so on. Sure there is the rare exception, a ceramics artist won the Turner Prize last year, and plenty of great street artists including Shepard Fairey have strayed into fashion, but for the main part this somewhat provocative statement stands true.
So apart from the fact that the whole premise of the competition is somewhat flawed it’s still fun to pop along and have your say. I’ve already been clicking away and checking my own opinion against the majority and as far as I can tell it’s going to be a close call. Simply visit Artists Wanted and straight away you’re confronted by a clear choice of two pieces, one art and one design. After a few votes you’ll have trouble telling the difference, great design wins over bad art and vice versa.
Design usually follows the conventions of form and function, but so does plenty of art out there, the same goes for artistic interpretation, conveying an emotional message, illustrative technique, an awareness of art history, bold use of colour, political and social message, all can apply to both genres. So before I manage to repeat my point for the third time, let’s take a look at some of the works I found whilst I was voting at AW.
Art: ‘Mr. Hyde’ by oleg – Mr. Hyde by Andrew Lloyd Webber – a new musical coming to the West End Stage Soon!
Design: ‘Street Meat’ coupon – was a holiday gift to a co-worker Created By: Ben Weisman – following all the recognisable iconic traits of a powerful street art piece – however seeing as it’s merely selling meat rather than commenting on the impact of man on nature I suppose this is genuine design. However print a 100 of them, tear them up and make a sculptural tree and you’ve defected.
Art: Genève by Benoit Versace – photography that could look at home in a trendy lifestyle magazine or part of an advertising poster campaign. Still it’s described as "art".
Design: Table Displaced by Ian Gonsher - this looks rather like a surrealist sculpture to me, it breaks the conventions of form and function. Still it has been described and submitted as "design".
Still looking at the results a lot of people seem to have submitted web design, holiday snaps and various doodles as design, and in those cases an oil or watercolour painted (however badly painted) wins out every time.
I really doubt this competition will teach anybody anything new but still it’s worth entering for the prizes…
Grand Prize & Student winner will be awarded with:
* A gala reception the New Museum in New York City
* $2009 cash grant
* International Publicity, including a feature in Filter Magazine and work shown through Gawker Artists exposing the winners art or design to hundreds of thousands of visitors across 190+ website galleries.
* $500 in gear from Akademiks
* Plus the Red Bull Prize: Offering a choice of: A vintage Vespa OR a trip to London to visit the Tate Museum and the Design Museum OR a fully loaded Mac Book Pro (If you’re in the UK take the Mac!)
Every participant gets:
* An online portfolio and international exposure.
* A $70 "Thank You" package with gear and discounts to help further your work.
The competition is being judged by a has been pop star, a fashion label owner and a curator NYC’s New Museum so worth a go – anybody could win judging by the line-up. Who knows you might even see one of my works in the competition – if you do you know what to do 
Tags: art, art competition, art versus design, design, design contest, false argument
