5) Active surrender to the formative structure
More than we realize, grammatical structure has a fundamental effect on the content of what we say. So if we want to say something, we must first surrender to grammar. This becomes obvious as soon as we begin to learn a new language.
Studying design means first of all learning a new language. We might assume that we already know how this language works. That it consists mainly of the ability to reproduce, i.e. to copy what we see, physically in front of us or in our imagination, and to learn how to do it on a technical level. But we do not need any knowledge of the visual language, or more precisely, of the sensual language of aesthetics. To reproduce a physical image or an imagination in our mind is, literally speaking, nothing more than a reproduction of what already exists.
To be able to say something in the language of aesthetics, we need a completely different knowledge than to simply copy something that has been said over and over again.
First of all, we need to understand what the grammar of sensual language is, which we call visual grammar, and how to actively surrender to this grammatical structure.
To put it as simply as possible, grammar is generally the knowledge of the relationship between the elements that make up a text. The term text must be understood as a readable sequence, which may contain a sequence of different physical objects as well as a sequence of letters. The term read is to be understood on both human levels of understanding, the intellectual and the bodily.
As designers, we must consider both levels and how to relate them so that one can activate and intensify the other. In order to do this, it is essential to acquire a deep knowledge of the basis that underlies all the different grammatical structures, such as those of spoken and written language, of music, of dance, of images, films, sculptures, and so on.
The tricky thing is that in order to acquire the knowledge, you have to practice it physically. That means you have to use pen and paper. And you have already done that. In your very early childhood drawings it is quite obvious how you have physically acquired the basic grammatical structure. Now the challenge is to activate, systematize, and use that knowledge to build your own vocabulary.
The grammatical structure of sensual language is fundamentally based on the elementary experience of being physically moved: by breathing and by our heartbeat, which causes blood to flow in our veins from our feet to our brain. As soon as we actively detect the movement, it becomes solidified at the intersection of movement and perception.
What we simply do when we detect a movement is to fix the start and end points by drawing a line between them. This is how every drawing of a very young child begins. This is how every masterpiece drawn by Michelangelo or Leonardo da Vinci begins.
The fact of drawing a line from one point to another seems quite simple, and indeed it is, but understanding what it means to unfold one's own use of a sensual language from this simple gesture becomes more complex with each step forward.
In the first unit we start with our childhood drawings. The task was to deconstruct the result of that which had already been deconstructed and thus traced and manifested. So we understand that early childhood drawings are just that: traces of the deconstruction of our perception. We do this in order to order what we perceive so that we can read it and tell about what we have read. This is where our narrative of being related to the world, and thus to ourselves, begins.
The task was also to use the elements gained from the deconstruction of the early childhood drawing to create a composition that tells nothing more than the aesthetic tension between movement and its manifestation.
Here you can already see what is meant by active surrender to the formative structure. Formative is the smallest element that carries a basic meaning, in a sense the boundary between that there is nothing to be identified and the identification of punctuate fixed nothingness that by being punctuated becomes something. At this point we can do nothing but surrender to the movement and actively trace our surrender. The result is a drawing that may or may not show something that can be identified. But this is, as always, a matter of interpretation.
The activity of surrender requires a deep knowledge of how to follow the movement. It is important to remember that it is the living movement as such that we are surrendering to. What used to be called the individual signature or tonality of the artist was literally based on the movement of his hands.
Although we use very different tools today than the generations before us, it remains the same: the movement, that is, the process by which we methodically acquire the formal elements of our composition, unfolds our own use of language. Thus, beginning with the point and the line, the methodical use focuses on the formation of the elements, colors and materials you use. This defines the formal result of your object, whether it is physical or media.
Finally, methodical use is the result of almost endless experimentation with formal elements in relation to your preferred means and media, until you are able to define your own methods of creating unique aesthetic results.
You see, the main knowledge to be gained is how to create an individual vocabulary to design objects that are involuntarily perceived as the result of an individually executed composition.
The second part of the task is to develop an individual vocabulary by deconstructing an existing artifact, then choosing an object from a given list of objects and realizing it using your individual vocabulary.
For an example of what is meant by an individual vocabulary, see the work of the French designer Simon Renaud.
One last note: to unfold your own sensual language from the basic formative elements requires a lot of commitment in terms of time, passion and patience with yourself (which may be the most difficult part), and last but not least the inner freedom to make your experiments, your discoveries, your failures.
The study gives you the framework in the form of assignments, all the theoretical knowledge you need to develop your own methodological approach, the opportunity to reflect on each step over and over again, the exchange with others who are also trying to find their own way and, through all this, the perspective of what it takes to become a designer in the 21st century.
To activate and withstand your passion (in the double meaning of the word), to use your freedom and to dive as deep as possible into the opportunities given here - that is entirely up to you.
Now take another look at the results of the first assignment, if you are happy with them, compile them into a PDF file and upload it to the 'Upload your first small task' section.