
Art, Design, Craft, Beauty and All Those Things...
Donald Richardson
Responding to many recent calls for redress and restitution, Richardson summarises the historical and current situation and attributes its problematics to the fact that theorists and historians have taken the concept art as a generic that includes both design and craft – which are actually and validly distinguishable from art by application of the concept function/al – or else ignored the two entirely. Considering the concept function/al, he maintains, calls into question the view that the three may be sub-classes of the one class: whereas in a work of art, typically there is a resolution of the tension between form and content, in works of design and craft the resolution is between form and function. How this recognition can clarify the issue informs the entire book.
The book’s other major thesis is the realisation that aesthetic values are inherently human and that, therefore, they apply not only to art but to life in general. Far from being frivolous or a mere ‘emotion’, the aesthetic is a sense of equivalent psychic status to sight and hearing and, like them, is employed at almost every moment of our daily lives – which fact grounds art, design and craft deeply in human life. This is reflected in the universal use of the human form (including the exhibition of sexual characteristics) in art.
The eternal conflict between making art and making a living from making art is examined and contrasted to the rarely-recognised, but positive, role of design in planning and industry.
Richardson also critiques common theories of representation and composition, including ‘creativity’, Albertian perspective and scientific and geometric theories of beauty and composition; also the relevance of the camera and the computer in the field.
Duration - 16h 4m.
Author - Donald Richardson.
Narrator - Jacob Z Klimaszewski.
Published Date - Wednesday, 15 January 2025.
Location:
United States
Networks:
Donald Richardson
Jacob Z Klimaszewski
Austin Macauley Publishers
English Audiobooks
Findaway Audiobooks
Description:
Responding to many recent calls for redress and restitution, Richardson summarises the historical and current situation and attributes its problematics to the fact that theorists and historians have taken the concept art as a generic that includes both design and craft – which are actually and validly distinguishable from art by application of the concept function/al – or else ignored the two entirely. Considering the concept function/al, he maintains, calls into question the view that the three may be sub-classes of the one class: whereas in a work of art, typically there is a resolution of the tension between form and content, in works of design and craft the resolution is between form and function. How this recognition can clarify the issue informs the entire book. The book’s other major thesis is the realisation that aesthetic values are inherently human and that, therefore, they apply not only to art but to life in general. Far from being frivolous or a mere ‘emotion’, the aesthetic is a sense of equivalent psychic status to sight and hearing and, like them, is employed at almost every moment of our daily lives – which fact grounds art, design and craft deeply in human life. This is reflected in the universal use of the human form (including the exhibition of sexual characteristics) in art. The eternal conflict between making art and making a living from making art is examined and contrasted to the rarely-recognised, but positive, role of design in planning and industry. Richardson also critiques common theories of representation and composition, including ‘creativity’, Albertian perspective and scientific and geometric theories of beauty and composition; also the relevance of the camera and the computer in the field. Duration - 16h 4m. Author - Donald Richardson. Narrator - Jacob Z Klimaszewski. Published Date - Wednesday, 15 January 2025.
Language:
English
Openin Credits
Duration:00:00:17
About the Author
Duration:00:00:51
Dedication
Duration:00:00:18
Foreword
Duration:00:08:53
Chapter One: Concepts and Nomenclature
Duration:01:06:55
Chapter Two: Dealing with Terminology
Duration:01:31:42
Chapter Three Part One: A Summary Outline of the Confusion
Duration:01:51:28
Chapter Three Part Two: A Summary Outline of the Confusion
Duration:01:21:15
Chapter Four Part One: A Reflection on the Mind and Its Capacities
Duration:01:31:53
Chapter Four Part tWO: A Reflection on the Mind and Its Capacities
Duration:01:49:56
Chapter Five: Creativity, Its Implications and Ramifications
Duration:00:45:05
Chapter Six: The Realpolitik of Art, Design and Craft
Duration:00:51:54
Chapter Seven: The Concepts Art, Craft and Design
Duration:01:12:25
Chapter Eight: Representation
Duration:01:06:46
Chapter Nine: Composition
Duration:00:44:34
Appendix I: Various Genres
Duration:00:31:27
Appendix II: Critiques of Some Iconic Writing
Duration:01:28:04
Closing Credits
Duration:00:00:17