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Design as Craft. Performativity and Interpellation in Design History

Rosenqvist, Johanna LU (2013) 10th European Academy of Design Conference: Crafting the Future, 2013
Abstract
Teaching design history to future designers poses great challenges to me as an academic in the design field. There is a constant need to further describe and analyze how design and its history continuously are being made. The role of the designer implies the crafting of artefacts or at least an ability to communicate the possibility of them being materialized. Design history has mainly focused on the object. Some concern has been directed towards the consumer aspect and the societal context, an approach that ultimately should raise questions as to what kind of performative action is needed to make design and its history.

This paper presents part of a research project dealing with the performative aspects of craft practice. In the... (More)
Teaching design history to future designers poses great challenges to me as an academic in the design field. There is a constant need to further describe and analyze how design and its history continuously are being made. The role of the designer implies the crafting of artefacts or at least an ability to communicate the possibility of them being materialized. Design history has mainly focused on the object. Some concern has been directed towards the consumer aspect and the societal context, an approach that ultimately should raise questions as to what kind of performative action is needed to make design and its history.

This paper presents part of a research project dealing with the performative aspects of craft practice. In the project, gender and genre in craft-, art- and design magazine are being examined from a critical perspective, focusing on the discursive limits at play. The project explores the performative aspects of practical skills by studying how notions of gender are used to communicate craft - or hand made aspects of the design process. In this paper I will discuss how the discursive limits of design have been conceptualized in Swedish design history and how representations of art-, craft - and design-making in magazines relate to the historical narrative. The Do-It-Yourself and the “critical making” aspects of contemporary design have opened my eyes to these questions. I believe that a design history with a critical approach to norms and habits in desig n practice answers to crucial questions such as: What works as incentive to do design? What makes a person think that she or he can be a designer? Or make a difference? In the long run perhaps the practitioners in their making the objects of their trade can also challenge the limitations of both genre and genre. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
keywords
handicraft, historiography, gender, critical making
host publication
10th European Academy of Design Conference
editor
Johansson, Ulla
pages
14 pages
publisher
Gothenburg University
conference name
10th European Academy of Design Conference: Crafting the Future, 2013
conference location
Göteborgs universitet, Göteborg, Sweden
conference dates
2013-04-16 - 2013-04-19
ISBN
978-91-979541-5-0
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
6fd4179f-904b-4681-95bf-9abb433d73f3 (old id 3632912)
alternative location
http://daniellen.se/papers/seven/design_as_craft.pdf
date added to LUP
2016-04-04 11:08:24
date last changed
2020-03-23 15:20:40
@inproceedings{6fd4179f-904b-4681-95bf-9abb433d73f3,
  abstract     = {{Teaching design history to future designers poses great challenges to me as an academic in the design field. There is a constant need to further describe and analyze how design and its history continuously are being made. The role of the designer implies the crafting of artefacts or at least an ability to communicate the possibility of them being materialized. Design history has mainly focused on the object. Some concern has been directed towards the consumer aspect and the societal context, an approach that ultimately should raise questions as to what kind of performative action is needed to make design and its history.<br/><br>
This paper presents part of a research project dealing with the performative aspects of craft practice. In the project, gender and genre in craft-, art- and design magazine are being examined from a critical perspective, focusing on the discursive limits at play. The project explores the performative aspects of practical skills by studying how notions of gender are used to communicate craft - or hand made aspects of the design process. In this paper I will discuss how the discursive limits of design have been conceptualized in Swedish design history and how representations of art-, craft - and design-making in magazines relate to the historical narrative. The Do-It-Yourself and the “critical making” aspects of contemporary design have opened my eyes to these questions. I believe that a design history with a critical approach to norms and habits in desig n practice answers to crucial questions such as: What works as incentive to do design? What makes a person think that she or he can be a designer? Or make a difference? In the long run perhaps the practitioners in their making the objects of their trade can also challenge the limitations of both genre and genre.}},
  author       = {{Rosenqvist, Johanna}},
  booktitle    = {{10th European Academy of Design Conference}},
  editor       = {{Johansson, Ulla}},
  isbn         = {{978-91-979541-5-0}},
  keywords     = {{handicraft; historiography; gender; critical making}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Gothenburg University}},
  title        = {{Design as Craft. Performativity and Interpellation in Design History}},
  url          = {{http://daniellen.se/papers/seven/design_as_craft.pdf}},
  year         = {{2013}},
}