Week 8: Grant Thompson and Auckland Art Gallery

Form and function is an aspect of modernism and it plays a prime role in how we look at objects, from language to art and architecture. Being a modern concept, it rejects the past and looks into the future. As an example, Grant Thompson's approach to the theory of form and function came down to the chicken or the egg dilemma: which came first? Answer: The chicken, according to scientific researchers. The egg cannot exist if the right sources of protein found inside the chicken's ovaries weren't provided in order to create it in the first place. So there you have it - form follows function. An object is looked upon judged on how you can use it and scientifically, it's seen as a language that anybody across the world can understand.
Being your own person however, you can make up your own mind about how you look at things. You might have a formalist approach, where you find an object and come to an understanding of how it works. Or you might have a functionalist approach, where you understand how an object works by how it looks.
American architect and inventor of the skyscraper, Louis Sullivan is a good example of somebody who would have a functionalist approach to form following function. His solution to the increase of space used for building at ground level was to work with height so his skyscrapers were designed and built to save on space. And because he worked with the concept of going up, the high rises themselves were given an advantage that other buildings were restricted to having: more space. Just by making this observation you come back to the laws of form and function.

Old Chicago Stock Exchange Building, by Louis Sullivan 1894

Sullivan comes to the conclusion that everything has a purpose, everything has a function.
In both natural and social sciences, form is said to predate function, the form comes first but if it has a function, then that's good as well. So this would be a formalist approach. I guess this would apply to art works, such as paintings, drawings, sculptures, etc. It's there to look at and it's your first reaction: to look at the piece.. but what does it do? It isn't until you actually dissect the form of the art piece that you will come to an understanding of what it's about, what it means for you and what kind of role it will play in society.

But when it comes to art galleries, we look at the function of the building first, we know that this is a building that displays art, but the way the building looks also comes down to it's marketing scheme and engagement with the public. After Grant's lecture, we went to the Auckland Art Gallery which had been newly renovated. Grant had mentioned that director Chris Saines had wanted to give the gallery a transparent look by adding large windows, so the public could look in from the outside and would feel welcome to coming inside and learning more about the art. The structure reminds me of both a library and a museum: in some cases, libraries would also have large windows so you can see the people inside, reading or taking books out, so it draws you into the building because you know that this is open to the public. The staff members were very kind but at that same time they reminded me of museum curators, they were very informative but also quite stern and very precious when it came to protecting the artworks from anybody who was about to step outside the boundaries, which is fair enough. For educational purposes and for the public, I think they have managed to create a space where form follows function, once you have seen a particular feature of the gallery, you know exactly what it's for. The white seats for example, were supposed to imitate the way a person rests or sleeps, as soon as you see them you immediately feel comfortable and you're already thinking of ways that you can sit or lie down.

There are certain aspects of the gallery where form predates function though, mainly because they are viewed as features first, you aren't exactly aware of their function or what it means until somebody has made you aware. Of course I know that the column is there to support any extra weight but I would not have thought twice about the design that was carved onto it. They were carved by Maori kaumatua, the intricate details of the designs represent that of birds, which is a guardian figure for the gallery. There were also water features there, which were to represent the sacred springs. The flora artworks by Korean artist Choi Jeong Hwa were immediately seen by me as a feature. The guide then informed us that these pieces were made based on the artificial flowers you buy from discount stores. They are usually bright in colour and very popular with customers. Jeong Hwa made these large scale art pieces as a way to make people smile, "your heart is my heart," the guide said.

There is a form of art that makes you question whether or not you have a functionalist of formalist view. Kinetic art depends on motion in order for it to gain movement. The most effective form of kinetic art for me would be works that are dependent on the weather. A great example of this would be the kinetic sculptures of  Dutch artist, Theo Jansen, who creates these skeleton-like creatures that rely on the wind to move. I focus more on what it does before I examine it's physical traits because it doesn't entirely look like an art piece for me until it is moving.  His work cleverly crosses over from art to engineering, so these "creatures" are made to function in some way. The quality of these structures have also improved over time, so he has plans to eventually  "put these animals out in herds on the beaches, so they will live their own lives."

"Rhinoceros" by Theo Jansen

Watch his work in action
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PVLja80RWA8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WcR7U2tuNoY


Links
Form Follows Function
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Form_follows_function
Chicken or the Egg?
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/38238685/ns/technology_and_science-science/t/which-came-first-chicken-or-egg/
Formalist/Functionalist approach
https://litigation-essentials.lexisnexis.com/webcd/app?
action=DocumentDisplay&crawlid=1&doctype=cite&docid=22+Harv.+J.L.+%26+Pub.+Pol'y+21&srctype=smi&srcid=3B15&key=0e154507bf915fd0e70aabc17393fdb2
Louis Sullivan
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Louis_Sullivan
Auckland Art Gallery
http://www.aucklandartgallery.com/
Kinetic Art and Theo Jansen
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kinetic_art
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Theo_Jansen
http://www.strandbeest.com/