Towards a design criticism
Abstract
My starting point is that art criticism is in need of new optics, and that an anthropological approach must be integrated to complement the established art historical and critical-theory-informed approach. The advantage of focusing on design as an entry to this is twofold; First, there is no established design criticism, so it is perfectly legitimate to propose something new – and secondly, anthropology is already an integral part of the academic theory base for design research, as design as a phenomenon is not just about intention but also about its impact-in-the-world. However, the need for such an approach is evident in much of the more agency-oriented contemporary art, so-called post-art, not to mention in enabling critics to tackle decolonizing perspectives or to produce relevant criticism in the antroposcene for that matter. I was fortunate to work with art historian Erlend Hammer on writing about this - we have had a dialogue going for almost a decade with a great deal of overlap about alternative perspectives, so it is about time we got something produced together.
Description
Video recording of lecture (lenght 00:37:57). Artistic Research Week 2019. Time: 22 January 2019. Venue Main auditorium, KHiO