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A Review By Dick Bjornseth The Age of Aesthetics? Could it really be that we are here? After decades of bemoaning the sorry state of design, could we really be at the tipping point where style, aesthetics and how things look and feel really are popularly valued? In her thought-provoking and, in many ways, groundbreaking book, “The Substance of Style,” Virginia Postrel builds the case that the answer is “Yes.” Surprisingly such an optimistic forecast doesn’t come from a person directly involved in the art world. Postrel writes an economics column for The New York Times and is former editor of “Reason,” a respected libertarian political journal. Postrel starts by building the case that aesthetics is not a luxury, but a universal desire. She demonstrates further that the demand for art and design is not limited to wealthy economies, but to all cultures. Anthropologist Ellen Dissanyake is noted for her studies of the roles of art within a wide variety of non-Western cultures. Dissanyake observed that there are individuals in each culture with the ability to make ordinary things special. Whether it be a spear, a structure, a religious artifact, a dance, a mode of transport or even a cooking utensil, artists today and throughout millennia have strived to use their special design skills to make things “special.” By makings things special, important customs, processes, history and religion have all been preserved. One can argue that good design is not just nicety, but has been essential in the survival of the human species and individual cultures. I find myself preparing the first draft of this book review not using a standard No. 2 yellow pencil. Such a pencil would work fine. Instead I am using a stylish well-designed retractable lavender mechanical pencil with an ergonomic rubber grip and shiny black pocket clasp. I enjoy the look and feel of this pencil. I simply find it special. I realize that Postrel (and Dissanyake) may truly be on to something. Postrel quotes a GE Plastics spokesman who proclaims, “Aesthetics is just the name of the game right now and if designers are going to differentiate their products in the marketplace, it is going to be because of finish and color.” So good design does indeed have real value. Look to the recent successes of Target, IKEA, The Great Indoors, Pottery Barn, Restoration Hardware, West Elm, Starbuck’s, Elle and Apple Computer — each serving up plenty of enjoyable style with their substance. But contrast to the marketplace, enjoyment and pleasure are attitudes that most of the political and high art worlds have lost. I find Postrel’s generally anti-establishment writing to be similar in outlook to those of distinguished architectural revolutionaries as Robert Venturi, Denise Scott Brown and James Wines. Postrel’s observant eye for detail in the culture is also reminiscent of popular author Tom Wolfe who roasted society’s self-appointed guardians of good tastes with his books, “From Bauhaus to Our House” (roasting modern architecture) and “The Painted Word” (roasting modern abstract art and the high art world). Don’t look to this book for some universal standards of beauty or keys to design success. Old-time modernists (this is not a contradiction of terms) have held to a rigid ideology that promises “efficiency, rationality and truth.” Postrel argues that today’s Age of Aesthetics instead offers a much different trifecta: freedom, beauty and pleasure. Think about the design implications of these different paradigms. Postrel’s optimism and fondness for pleasures of the body and mind are not well-received by all, particularly those who demand rational order and predictability for society. Central planners, Marxists, Puritans, environmental extremists and others with a substantially negative world view, will find Postrel’s free market perspectives disturbing. She openly does not buy into the premise that the function of good design should be subservient to solving world problems. The function of design she argues is much simpler, simply to make life more enjoyable. Not a bad idea. But this simply pisses off a lot of people with other single-minded agendas. Whether we fully appreciate it or not, the Savannah College of Art and Design community is at the forefront of this Age of Aesthetics. Fashion, architecture, interior design, industrial design, advertising, graphics, even entertainment, are all growing fields. I would love to see Postrel’s reaction after a tour of SCAD’s programs and facilities. SCAD seems to be at the right place at the right time: the tipping point into the Age of Aesthetics. This book is an eye-opener, a must read for anyone involved in design. There’s a lot of substance to “The Substance of Style.” Enjoy. Bjornseth is a foundation studies professor. |
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