An essay on Acquired Taste by Kevin Melchionne. 

This article is published on Contemporary Aesthetics.

"I minimize conflict with someone to whom I am very close by intentionally acquiring beliefs similar to her own and relinquishing those that lead to discord. Perhaps the most common motivation is status. Believing or liking certain things may enhance how I am perceived or how I perceive myself. In the hope that liking what is liked by popular people might also make me popular or might simply make me feel better about myself, I intentionally acquire new, upwardly mobile beliefs."

and, quoting his final paragraph,

"The widespread charge that when it comes to contemporary art, the emperor has no clothes, is an observation of the ubiquity of inauthentic acquired taste. But why would not the response be the old saw, "There is no disputing taste" or the other common formulation, "There is no accounting for taste"? A theory of acquired taste may serve as the basis for disputing taste not so much for correctness as realness or authenticity. When we observe acquired taste that seems to be extrinsically motivated, generated by hasty decisions, exhibiting lack of coherence with the rest of the person's taste, or an over-alignment with fashion or authority, we have reason to pause. But more is to be gained by taking the enthusiasms of other people at more or less face value, with the hope of learning and growing from them. We can enjoy the 'contact-high' of their enthusiasm, reveling in the connections made with other people through them, and moving on when we find ourselves uninspired. In the cultivation of taste, what we are in pursuit of is our own experience and, through it to the extent possible, our own satisfaction."

The entire article can be read here.

Paola Antonelli, Curator of Architecture and Design for the MoMA commented on her recent show, Design and the Elastic Mind in Creativity Magazine.
 
"The most important juice that you can extract from Design and the Elastic Mind is that the best designers are great generalists that are able to call upon the people that they need to create a team. So they are really intellectual leaders, and their real specialization is seeing the goal and putting together the means that are needed for that goal."
 
She goes on to address what, in her opinion, designers do:
 
"...the toughest and most interesting aspect of any designer's job is synthesis. What I see designers doing is being those people that are able to provide a synthesis before things are started."
 
photo from http://www.objectifiedfilm.com/category/production-stills/

Take a broken or obsolete piece of modern technology and re-think that object. What could possibly be done to resurrect or re-purpose it into something even better?
 
Look at what still works or what is still relevant on the object. Take this usable feature and heighten its operative aspects. Create design or visual functionality from what is now seen by society as "junk."
 
Pictured: A third-generation, 4GB iPod Nano with a broken screen. Everything else still works, but that broken screen makes the display resemble abstract video art (hey, wait a second!) which would usually relegate this fairly expensive item to a landfill.

Let's see... what can we do with this thing?

Although I enjoy my own creative projects immensely, I do have to earn a living selling “creativity on demand” services to clients as a normal course of my day around here.
Part of my frustration in designing and managing complex, creative projects has to do with the fact that most of my work is centered around highly customized fabrication and installation. That said, I have, for a long time, wished there was more information out there for those of us engaged in the custom-design process; a knowledge-base of tricks and techniques, gotchas and what-ifs. However, everyone has their own ideas and opinions regarding a process which, if you think about it, contributes to the individuality of a design. I am fully aware that this is what makes custom design truly custom. And truly unique.
 
Here is a typical problem:

1. Designer or Architect makes a simple (or even semi-detailed) drawing in CAD for a particular design element within a project.
 
2. Owner thinks, “That looks good.” Then proceeds to give drawing to a General Contractor for pricing. The General Contractor, unfamiliar with the “wacky” design stuff, usually asks a specialized subcontractor to provide pricing for the design element only.

3. The subcontractor, now arm's length removed from the original designer/architect, looks at the “notion” of the design and - using the best available knowledge he/she has - begins to build the required design in a spreadsheet, attempting to capture the elements of materials, labor, installation, and a few unknowns to the best of their ability.

Note: A fair amount of speculation and guesswork goes into determining if the designer and owner want it built sorta good, kinda good, really good, or super good. The subtle differences between these levels of “goodness” vary radically from one specialized contractor to another.
 
4. Once the subcontractor feels they have created a price for the indicated design, and is confident that the costs to build the design are covered, they send this price back to the General Contractor.
 
5. The General Contractor will take this price, mark it up, and submit the price to the owner as part of the overall budget.
 
6. The owner sees the price and says, “Holy shit! (Insert item here) costs that much to make!?? Forget it! You guys re-design it to be a lot cheaper.”
 
7. The designer erases a few features on the design to “simplify” it and, instead of using 1/2” thick glass, uses 3/8” glass or something like that. Then faxes this “updated” design to the General Contractor.
 
8. The General Contractor, without looking at the updated design just received by fax, simply sticks it back into the fax machine and sends it along to the subcontractor with a note that says, “You need to figure out how to make this cheaper.”
 
9. Sub-contractor loses money before the project has even been awarded.
 
10. GO TO 6.
 
 
How can designers, architects, contractors, fabricators, and project managers minimize this iterative process? I may have some ideas; but first, I hear my fax machine... gotta go see what they want this time.

(To be continued...)

So...

My intent to write about an idea for an application that combines a wiki and a CRM that is specifically tailored to those working in the custom design and fabrication industries (specifically in architectural and interior branding practices) was thwarted when I installed    I Love Katamari on my iLeash.
 
I Love Katamari is Katamari Damacy for the iPhone. Anywhoo.
 
My "serious" post will have to wait until tomorrow. Right now, I got stars to create. At least I am creating something...

(And yeah... the photo is an actual screenshot off my phone.) *winces*

This symbol, known as the lemniscate, should not be mistaken for just a really huge, enormous number. It is, however, a reminder of a certain type of abstraction that is very hard to come to terms with.
 
I can say, "I love you. Infinity." and you get the gist. But, the notion of something with no end, ever, is really hard for us to imagine. It is the opposite of everything we humans have come to understand about the physical world. We learn, at an early age, how to justify these abstractions in our mind so that we can function as humans. We do things everyday that could possibly hurt or even kill us based on the Principle of Induction: what has worked in the past will probably work in the future. (Think airline travel.)
 
There is nothing more abstract than infinity. It has the effect of driving us further away from actual experience. Infinity, as something we try to comprehend, becomes an exercise in creating a language and symbolism that we use to describe the idea of never ending or, existence forever. And, at what point does this description take us so far away from our ability to perceive it, that we simply can't even handle thinking about it anymore?

After a long weekend, I feel a little removed from myself. What is on the agenda today?
 
1. Warm up the studio to at least 60 degrees F. This is always an on-going battle between me and my shop in the winter. Its natural state of being wants to be “cold.” Mine is “warm.”
 
2. I need to build a handrail. I am going to start cutting those pieces and get them ready to weld.
 
3. Once again, my office desk is cluttered and needs to be organized.
 
4. I am making some sketches for a new website.
 
5. Review and make some comments on a business strategy a friend is proposing.
 
6. I need to make something cool today.
 
 
There. That ought to keep me busy.

Today was a busy day.  Lots of life stuff had to get done. This afternoon, I managed to briefly get a chance to, albiet quickly, produce a piece for the Make Something Cool Every Day Flickr pool.  I created a kind of Instructables-like thing where the whole process, including setup, construction, photos, uploading and labeling/tagging took about an hour.  I drank a couple of beers while I did it too.  I listened to music also...

And now, I am off to bed to read (which won't, I'm guessing, last long) and fall asleep.

Tomorrow I will wake up and think of something new.

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