The role of Art / Design in Society

Paolo proposed to the group to create 3 teams of 3 people each. Each group had to discuss 10 minutes the Role of Art / Design PERCHÉ il link:
This article was the outcome of our discussion about the role of art/design in society. in the Society. Here some of the results:

Group 1: Brit, Henny & Laura

We question how we call ourselves.

Both, art and design as they used to exist are dead disciplines that need re-definition.

We like to see ourselves as creative thinkers in service of life.

Creative thinkers that question and give direction to the use of technology.

Creative thinkers that work on the future of how we live.

Therefore we question the role of the designer as it currently exists, since being a designer currently means to be merely part of a commercial process.

We have a bigger picture in mind. If we create a product we think about the whole life cycle of it. This is the main responsibility of creation.

Products don’t need to be tangible, they can be immaterial like a service or a organisational structure of information or space.

Group 2: Alejandro, Federico, Tomas

we started our discussion questioning how much power we as creatievs really have to generate some charge.
we feel that companies are acutally the ones that have a bigger role in this, and since ultimately is economics and money what makes the world go around, we have a bit of a pesimistic view on this subject.

on a more possitive note, we also discussed the fact that we, as creative people are in a privileged possition from the popint of view that we have the change of having the first imput in the objects/systems that people/world use.
we work in a way like sponges; we have the capacity to observe, absorb society and things happening around us, proccess that information and propose solutions that could/should transmit a message.
but with this privilege comes alos a responsibility.

that brings us to another point we raised and that for us is at the core of the possible solutions to generate change: education.
as designers/artis/creators we can assume that responsiblity to produce designs/objects concepts that are simple, clear, honest that people can understand, identify with and therefore use. we can use our work to educate at least in a very small way.

9 Designers are here

On 7. May the workshop has started, 9 designers are here. All apart from Natasa, who will arrive tomorrow.
We all had lunch together and we started meeting, then at 2:45 pm the first meeting at the workshop room. After presenting each other with a new method (each person had to speak 10 minutes with another person and than at the and present him or her). Then each designer presented a personal project to all the others.

Then Paolo PERCHÉ il link:
Because Paolo gave the issue. to discuss on Naldini, the Managing Director of Cittadellarte, came for his meeting with the designer: he is speaking (actually he is speaking now while I am writing this text) about the philosophy of Cittadellarte. I understand that presenting Cittadellarte in 1 hour is quite complex, because there is to much to say.
I don’t know what the 9 designers have understood of Cittadellarte after this talk, but we hope all this gave same info, to be curious to try to know more of what is Cittadellarte.

Written by Armona Pistoletto

The first arrivals

Tuesday, 6 May, the first 2 designers arrive at Cittadellarte. The first is the one who comes from the farest: Colombian Alejandro Vasquez Salina. He knows well Cittadellarte, he was here as a UNIDEE-University of Ideas resident in 2004. Then he came back more times, facing a long journey and visa formalities, to participate in 2 other projects: AIM – Attraverso i Muri (www.cittadellarte.it/citta2005/eng/art/aim.htm) and Cubi in Movimento (www.cittadellarte.it/citta2005/eng/production/cubi.htm). Now, here he is again, to embark in this new adventure, to design 1 (or more than 1) “turning point products”. Welcome, Alejandro.

Then, second, comes Henny Van Nistelrooy, from Britain. Francesca and I call him “the one of the chair”. Henny was invited as a designer for he is very good at it, sparkling new funny ideas, but that chair…

The third is Brit Leissler from Germany!! Looking forward meeting you!

And then, everyone else is going to arrive. Only Natasa Perkovic, from Bosnia, will be one day late, as she had to postopone her arrival for work reasons: she has an exhibition of her works just on the 7th in Sarajevo, which is a very good reason to be late. She knows Biella very well too, as she participated to UNIDEE in 2006 (she and Alejandro are the only 2 former residents in dartlab group). She also came back to cittadellarte to develop ideas for Chianti Classico Project. It is great to have her back with us until the 24th of May.

Written by Armona Pistoletto