Design as Art Bruno Munari

Paperback, 224 pages

Published September 25th 2008 by Penguin Classics (first published 1971)

Original Title

Artista e designer

ISBN 0141035811 (ISBN13: 9780141035819)

Edition Language

English

An analysis on the chapter ‘Knives, Forks and Spoons’ by

Kareena Shamsi Section J

ISDI Parsons – First Year Studies

Design as Art Bruno Munari

We eat. No surprise there. From crisp juicy salads to delicately broiled meats, we are no stranger to food, lest there be any dispute. Globetrotting, as fun as it sounds, can be quite a bother. It is simply easier to enjoy any cuisine in the comfort of your city. Whether you use a fork handcrafted from the finest silver, a black plastic spoon, simple pair of chopsticks, it is still an instrument of satisfaction. The earliest use of cutlery to assist eating dates back centuries and its purpose hasn’t changed - it has merely expanded exponentially. Bruno Munari cleverly exposes the excessive nature of our demands in a simple paragraph long litany over a couple of utensils you’d find in any kitchen drawer. Coming from one of the most inspirational designers of all time; his work and life has explored how to make design accessible and appealing, yet highly functional. Perhaps the International Herald Tribune said is best, “(He) encouraged people to go beyond formal conventions and stereotypes by showing them how to widen their perceptual awareness”. Munari, an Italian artist, designer and inventor, contributed generously to the fields of visual arts (painting, sculpture, film, industrial design, graphic design), modernism and futurism amongst the visual arts. As far as non-visual arts go, his research on games, didactic method, movement, tactile learning, kinesthetic learning and creativity have been path breaking. Born on 24th October in 1907, he lived a full life till September 30th, 1998. From 1938 to September 1943 he worked as a press graphic designer for Mondadori, and as art director of Tempo Magazine and Grazia, two magazines owned by Mondadori. At the same time he began designing books for children, originally created for his son Alberto.

Useless Machines – Bruno Munari

The inventor of the ‘Useless Machines’; Munari’s work is probably the best example about how a creation so frivolous and unnecessary can hang in fine balance for vanity’s sake. The absurdity of making these simplistic yet edgy mobiles was lost on society till Alexander Calder came along. Ironically, the more refined circles, Calder’s bold versions pushed Munari into the position of an imitator rather than being acknowledged as an original content creator. A prime example of society’s obvious partiality towards bolder looks; both had this in common – they were suspended and they gyrate; yet details of construction, delicacy and design were lost on most. Much like crows, we often point to a large shiny thing and “aaaahhhhh” in wonder and praise. The intention wasn’t to undermine the organic movement and inspiration of Calder’s creations but rather to highlight the geometrical nature of Munari’s.

Useless Machines – Bruno Munari

Design as Art – in a movement of abstraction, Munari extracted sharp and unique forms from the world of art and injected it into his work. Freeing these geometric shapes from a static canvas and freeing them into open air, letting them soar in any way the wind wishes, it almost sounded like a bird taking off from its nest for the very first time. It is strangely enlightening to see how a mobile made solely for our harmonic entertainment can hold so much meaning without much purpose. What one later realizes is that this transcended the conventional two and three-dimensional art, it was acquiring a fourth: that of time. Why useless machines and why so much matter dedicated to it? It is Munari’s intentions towards all the possible interpretations of that moniker that make this rudimentary concept inspired by the workings of a basic lever so refreshing. In the author’s own words, “They are useless because unlike other machines they do not produce goods for material consumption, they do not eliminate labour, nor do they increase capital.” It is strange that one would -buy his mobile then, no? Yet I remember my own mother buying one made out of stuffed toys and hanging it above my crib, I was so very fascinated by it. As a mere baby I could derive no intellectual enlightenment from my fancy new toy, I could just wiggle my limbs in a premature attempt to reach the swinging shapes suspended above me. After much contemplation maybe it was simply about that emotion, it was after all producing a good, one of a spiritual, intangible kind. Sometimes extravagance in the simplest forms is meant to appeal to an aesthetic sense more than anything else. “Machines would not exist without us, but our existence would no longer be possible without them.” – Pierre Ducassé I skimmed past most chapters in my second run-through of the book. I was hunting for ‘Knives, Forks and Spoons’ and trust me there was no shortage of them, a full four pages of cutlery heaven. A short chapter, barely qualifying as a design article, I felt it was a unique take on the abundance of design. Sarcastic and excessive, it alludes to the repetitive redesigning of the tiniest of implements. Why was I drawn to this chapter? After all, it was practically an ace of a designer ranting about knives, forks and spoons; but it was inherently that which brought me back. It seems beneath a master of his caliber, such a mundane thing to trigger a person, but yet it did. It is pure human reaction coming through a design-oriented filter. “If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”

Someone should have sent that memo to the cutlery manufacturing industry, but then a lot of people would have been out of jobs and even more out of shiny new things to buy at their local store. An unmitigated disaster. Imagine a newly engaged couple setting up a new life; they’d need cutlery, obviously. Or, think of your mom setting the table for when guests come over, and gasp, one spoon is missing from the set. I know mine would have replaced the entire set with a new one, rather than just choosing a random other spoon and filling the gap. It is the reason we have thousands of options.

Munari understands it, rants about it, we understand it, we accept it, there is something wrong with this picture yet we don’t see the need to change a thing. Maybe the problem isn’t with the design, but the fact that there is too much design. “Two giant toothpicks ten inches long”, a refreshingly honest elaboration of chopsticks, yet it is a solution far too simple for the west world. Yes, this cost effective utensil has been used for years by millions. As an Indian however, there

is something glaring obvious overlooked here. As an Italian artist, born in Milan and raised in Badia Polesine before shifting back to the former on work, his life was restricted to the lifestyle he knew. I eat with my hands, this sounds crude once penned down, but it is an art form too. For someone who has used cutlery all their life, it’ll be a stretch of imagination for them to cast it aside and adapt to the technology our ancestors once used; these dexterous double-jointed marvels called hands. I’d like to see someone from Europe use their hands to eat rice and rasam (a lentil based spiced watery soup – I do this delicious concoction no justice with my unpolished description). By the time you figure out how to balance rice on the tips of your fingers and put in your mouth without having to open it too wide, all the rasam would have probably trickled down your arm or poured through the microscopic gaps in between your fingers. This seems like an impossible feat right? Then how have millions of people been eating this way in the Indian subcontinent, and that too off fresh banana leaves rather than plates? Good design is sustainable, and increasingly the horizon has broadened to include environment-friendly options as well. South-Indians use banana leaves as their plates, parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan weave ‘crockery’ out of

Talking Forks, 1958 - Bruno Munari

dried leaves using thin stems as thread. It is ingenious and an example of how design evolves to suit a need out of the most accessible resources. It is evident in hindsight that a fascination with the space-time continuum is a part of his collection of work. His ‘Useless Machines’ amongst other works, interact with the environment and change accordingly, his intention all along. Inspired by the commonplace cutlery and his personification of the forks in his work shown above (Talking Forks) one can envision Munari’s concept behind the grand declaration of variety. Maybe advice for a young married couple ready to equip their kitchen, it is several pages of indispensible implements, only to finally huff and puff and settle at chopsticks. While also a much cheaper option saving all the pretty pennies it feeds into his fascination for the Japanese culture, a recurring theme in his life. Perhaps it is the cleanliness, sophistication and effectiveness of the society that he identified with so easily as a minimalist. Fancy goods such as corkscrews like pigs' tails and ashtrays in the form of little houses provoke similar ironies. Munari is everywhere opposed to excess. "Subtract rather than add," he advises. Interesting features in his Useless Machines are also a byproduct of the actual form. One will never truly know if the effect was desired, but the results are simply marvelous. It is all a game of shadows. Whether they loom in the background almost swallowing the mobile in a dancing darkness, or a barely-there suggestion of an outline, lighting of his works have always produced two results. Much like how even the slightest whisper of air can change the dynamic of the form, and hence to life of the resulting shadow, a mere hint of a suggestion by the right person can change an entire style of art. Every time a kind of fork or filigree ceases to be in ‘vogue’, we replace it with a newer more ‘relevant’ one. But in the larger scheme of things, in lets say a century of cutlery production, how many designs will we truly remember and immortalize? None really.

His work remains to be quite a paradox, despite being part of futurism; there is a staunch mocking response, (while subtle, still very experienced) to the fascination for roaring machinery. After all he did create an anti thesis to counter the basic nature of Industrialization; arguably one of the best movements to happen to modern humans in our history. Life as we know it would not exist without machines, yet in spite of seeming primitive, it may just be simpler – or less complicated depending on whom you ask. Bruno Munari's Design as Art, first published in English in 1971, has been out of print for much too long and Penguin's decision to reissue it as a Modern Classic couldn't be timelier. Inevitably, some elements of this collection of short writings have dated, but Munari's way of thinking stands revealed - not for the first time - as extraordinarily prescient and relevant to many of the design problems we face today. His playful, inquiring, socially aware intelligence mark him as what we would now call a "critical designer". The great charm and delicacy of his writing makes the humanity and good sense of his arguments even harder to resist. In a rare effusive display this chapter almost defies his own personal dispassionate style of work and text. His language reveals a world of pure emotional response to his world, revealed as you peel layer by layer. Yet unlike most designers who are hired for their styled, he is quite the chameleon, he blends to suit the brief rather than forcing it to suit his style. That is probably the penultimate goal of design. As far as Munari’s style goes, its very distinctive, it almost makes you do a 360 – he doesn’t have one. This quality is a rarity, one he urges others to inculcate, and he describes it best – The designer doesn’t have a style, he doesn’t have a personal style. He shouldn’t have a personal style. I humbly suggest that a designer shouldn’t have a personal style. Because he gives a style to a product.

— Bruno Munari (1992) University lesson in Venice, Italian Language

“Good design is obvious, great design is transparent”, Joe Sparano hits the nail on the head; forks, knives and spoons were simply meant to make our lives easier, not make the “next Leonardo (Da Vinci)” (as Picasso surmised) lose his calm over. Man overboard, or rather society overboard.

Bibliography

Text

1. Design as Art, Bruno Munari; 1971

2. "Munari's childhood memories and "Useless Machines"." Italian Ways.

March 5, 2014. Accessed March 16, 2017. http://www.italianways.com/munaris-childhood-memories-and-useless-machines/.

Reference for images of 'Useless machines' and their context

3. Http://the189.com, M. Robinson -. "Bruno Munari, The Man and his ‘Useless Machines’." OEN. August 22, 2012. Accessed March 13, 2017. http://the189.com/design/bruno-munari-the-man-and-his-useless-machines/.

Analysis and personal response to the book and work

4. Casali, Davide Folletto. "Useless Machines: Munari, Calder and Ray." Intense Minimalism. May 05, 2015. Accessed March 16, 2017. http://intenseminimalism.com/2011/useless-machines-munari-calder-and-ray/.

Response to Design as Art

5. Papadopoulos, Yiannis. "Yiannispapadopoulos | Bruno Munari & the useless machines." Yiannispapadopoulos Site Wide Activity RSS. Accessed March 10, 2017. https://www.thedesignschool.co.uk/yiannispapadopoulos/2012/11/02/bruno-munari-the-useless-machines/.

Images

1. "Munari's childhood memories and "Useless Machines"." Italian Ways. March 5, 2014. Accessed March 16, 2017. http://www.italianways.com/munaris-childhood-memories-and-useless-machines/.

2. Reference for images of 'Useless machines' and their context

3. Http://the189.com, M. Robinson -. "Bruno Munari, The Man and his ‘Useless Machines’." OEN. August 22, 2012. Accessed March 13, 2017. http://the189.com/design/bruno-munari-the-man-and-his-useless-machines/.

Analysis and personal response to the book and work

4. Casali, Davide Folletto. "Useless Machines: Munari, Calder and Ray." Intense Minimalism. May 05, 2015. Accessed March 16, 2017. http://intenseminimalism.com/2011/useless-machines-munari-calder-and-ray/.

Response to Design as Art

5. Papadopoulos, Yiannis. "Yiannispapadopoulos | Bruno Munari & the useless machines." Yiannispapadopoulos Site Wide Activity RSS. Accessed March 10, 2017. https://www.thedesignschool.co.uk/yiannispapadopoulos/2012/11/02/bruno-munari-the-useless-machines/.