mixing messages
DESCRIPTION
FBAUL Based on "The Cult Of The Ugly" by Steven HellerTRANSCRIPT
Luísa Brito
FBAUL ▷ Design de Comunicação2 0 1 2
MIXING MESSAGES
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Heller, Steven “The Cult Of The Ugly” Eye Magazine 1993-Lupton, Ellen “Deconstruction Meets Graphic Design” Eye Magazine 2004-Lupton, Ellen “The Academy of Deconstructed Design” Eye Magazine 1991-Miller, J. Abbott + Lupton, Ellen “Deconstruction and Graphic Design” 1994-VanderLans, Rudy “Radical Commodities” Emigre 34 / 1995-Seligmann, Márcio “Beleza do feio, sublimidade do mal” 2006-Keedy, Jeffery “Graphic designer probably won’t read this” Emigre: Graphic Design into digital realm-VanderLans, Rudy + Licko Zuzana “Ambition/Fear” Emigre 11 / 1989-Blauvelt, Andrew “Difressions and Transgressions” Emigre book 1995-Drucker, Johanna + McVarish, Emily “Graphic Design History: A critical guide”-Poynor, Rick “No More Rules-Graphic Design and Postmodernism”, London-Carchia, Gianni “Dicionário de Estética” Edições 70 / 2009
Beauty is only skin deep, but ugly goes clean to the bone.
▷
TOLD YOU,IT GOES RIGHT TO THE BONE!
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1_PAUL GOLDBERGER “THE CRANBROOK VISION” 1984http://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/08/magazine/the-cranbrook-vision.html
2_Eve Griffin “The Art Of Story”http://www.theartstory.org/artist-duchamp-marcel.htm
3_Steven Heller “Eye Magazine” issue 9http://www.eyemagazine.com/feature/article/cult-of-the-ugly
4_Guy Julien “DAvid CArson: A Critique” 2004http://www.nytimes.com/1984/04/08/magazine/the-cranbrook-vision.html
5_Diccionário de Estética, Edições 70 “Feio”
6_ Jonh Cage “Silence: Lectures and Wrintings” 1961
7_Aristóteles “Poética” Edições Gulbenkian
8_Ferdinand Saussurre “Semiotics” Edições Cultrix 1999
9_Ralph Waldo Emerson
10_Ed FElla / AIGAhttp://www.aiga.org/medalist-edfella/
NOTAS
11_ Charles Bukowski “The Laughing Heart”
your life is your life
don’t let it be clubbed into dank submission.
be on the watch.
there are ways out.
there is a light somewhere.
it may not be much light but
it beats the darkness.
be on the watch.
the gods will offer you chances.
know them.
take them.
you can’t beat death but
you can beat death in life, sometimes.
and the more often you learn to do it,
the more light there will be.
your life is your life.
know it while you have it.
you are marvelous
the gods wait to delight
in you.
Vaugah Oliver para David Lynch 2011
“Ask a toad what is beauty…He
will answer that it is a female with
two great round eyes coming out
of her little head, a large flat mouth,
a yellow belly and a brown back.”
(Voltaire, Philosophical Dictionary,
1794). Ask Paul Rand what is
beauty and he will answer that “the
separation of form and function, of
concept and execution, is not likely
to produce objects of aesthetic
value”. (Paul Rand: A Designer’s Art,
1985). Then ask the same question
of the Cranbrook Academy of Art
students who created the ad hoc
desktop publication Output (1992),
and to judge by the evidence
they might answer that beauty is
chaos born of found letters layered
on top of random patterns and
shapes. Those who value functional
simplicity would argue that the
Cranbrook students’ publication,
like a toad’s warts, is ugly. The
difference is that unlike the toad,
the Cranbrook students have
deliberately given themselves the
warts.
X
1993- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CULT OF THE UGLY
Steven Heller
this end note: “Upcoming Issues From:
School of the Art Institute of Chicago
[and] University of Texas”) leaves the
reader confused as to its purpose or
meaning, though its form leads one to
presume that it is intended as a design
manifesto, another “experiment” in the
current plethora of aesthetically ques-
tionable graphic output. Given the in-
crease in graduate school programmes
which provide both a laboratory setting
and freedom from professional respon-
sibility, the word experiment has come
to justify a multitude of sins. The value
of design experiments should not of
course be measured only by what suc-
ceeds, since failures are often steps
towards new discoveries. Experimen-
tation is the engine of progress, its fuel
a mixture of instinct, intelligence and
discipline. But the engine floods when
too much instinct and not enough in-
telligence or discipline is injected into
the mix. This is the case with certain
of the graphic design experiments that
have emanated from graduate schools
in the US and Europe in recent years –
work driven by instinct and obscured
by theory, with ugliness its foremost
by-product.
▷
“Ask a toad what is beauty…He will an-
swer that it is a female with two great
round eyes coming out of her little
head, a large flat mouth, a yellow belly
and a brown back.” (Voltaire, Philo-
sophical Dictionary, 1794). Ask Paul
Rand what is beauty and he will answer
that “the separation of form and func-
tion, of concept and execution, is not
likely to produce objects of aesthetic
value”. (Paul Rand: A Designer’s Art,
1985). Then ask the same question of
the Cranbrook Academy of Art stu-
dents who created the ad hoc desktop
publication Output (1992), and to judge
by the evidence they might answer
that beauty is chaos born of found let-
ters layered on top of random patterns
and shapes. Those who value func-
tional simplicity would argue that the
Cranbrook students’ publication, like
a toad’s warts, is ugly. The difference
is that unlike the toad, the Cranbrook
students have deliberately given them-
selves the warts. Output is eight un-
bound pages of blips, type fragments,
random words and other graphic minu-
tiae purposefully given the serendipi-
tous look of a printer’s make-ready. The
lack of any explanatory précis (and only
2012- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Luísa Brito
MIXING MESSAGES
É com uma questão semelhante que
Steven Heller introduz o ensaio de
1993 para a Eye Magazine “Cult Of
The Ugly”, passando imediatamente
ao leitor a ideia de que a definição
de Belo ou Feio depende em grande
parte do individuo, ou seja, é subjec-
tiva. Para os alunos da Cranbrook
Academy, o belo era o caos nascido
de uma tipografia dissonante e de
padrões abstractos. Utilizando a ex-
perimentação como uma ferramenta
que permite questionar e, apoiados
em conceitos como o desconstrutiv-
ismo e pós-estruturalismo, foi o que
permitiu a estes alunos avançarem
tanto a nível formal assim como ide-
ológico em relação ao modernismo,
contudo Heller salienta, e bem, que
o valor da experimentação no cam-
po do design não pode ser medido
apenas pelo sucesso de tais experi-
mentações, mas também pode e
dever ser medido pelo fracasso das
mesmas, tendo em conta – o autor
justifica- que os ditos fracassos em
muito contribuem para novas desc-
obertas e paradigmas formais. A ex-
perimentação é assim – segundo S.
Heller- o motor do progresso, sen-
do o seu combustível uma mistura
equilibrada de instinto, inteligência
e disciplina; mas o dito motor falha
quando demasiado instinto e pouca
inteligência ou disciplina são adicio-
nados à mistura combustível, caso
que ocorreu com algumas experi-
mentações académicas decorridas
no final dos anos 80 e inícios dos
anos 90 em algumas academias
artísticas dos EUA: o problema com
o “culto do feio” no design gráfico
da maioria das academias e dos
seus alunos é que depressa se tor-
nou um estilo quase que vernacular,
que apela – a qualquer pessoa sem
bases teóricas ou conceptuais – a
uma cópia formal dos conteúdos;
enquanto que os “pioneiros” do feio
no design, estão a seguir as suas
“musas inspiradoras”, os seus se-
guidores simplesmente assimilaram
as características formais das suas
obras, criando consequentemente
trabalhos sem substância, caindo
assim o “design” no ridículo.
O feio como ferramenta, arma ou
até código é válido quando a forma
segue uma função especifica e jus-
tificada, mas o feio pelo feio nada
cria e tudo torna ridículo.
x
Experimentation is the engine of progress, its fuel a mixture of instinct, intelligence and discipline.
The value of design experiments should
not of course be measured only by
what succeeds, since failures are
often steps towards new discoveries.
U G L Y ?
The Cranbrook Academy of
Art, one of the nation's
leading graduate schools of
architecture, art and design,
was founded by the Booths in
1932. By 1984, the New York
Times would say that "the
effect of Cranbrook and its
graduates and faculty on the
physical environment of this
country has been profound ...
Cranbrook, surely more than
any other institution, has a
right to think of itself as
synonymous with contemporary
American design."1
Página da Revista “Output” 1992, pelos alunos da Cranbrook Academy
For the moment, let us say that ugly de-
cision, as opposed to classical design
(where adherence to the golden mean
and a preference for balance and har-
mony serve as the foundation for even
the most unconventional compositions)
is the layering of unharmonious graphic
forms in a way that results in confusing
messages. By this definition, Output
could be considered a prime example
of ugliness in the service of fashionable
experimentation. Though not intended
to function in the commercial world, it
was distributed to thousands of practis-
ing designers on the American Institute
of Graphic Arts and American Center
for Design mailing lists, so rather than
remain cloistered and protected from
criticism as on-campus “research”, it is
a fair subject for scrutiny. It can legiti-
mately be described as representing the
current cult of ugliness.
The layered images, vernacular hybrids,
How is ugly to be defined in the current
post-modern design climate where ex-
isting systems are up for re-evaluation,
order is under attack and thea forced
collision of disparate forms is the rule?
For the moment, let us say that
ugly decision, as opposed to clas-
sical design (where adherence to
the golden mean and a preference
for balance and harmony serve as
the foundation for even the most
unconventional compositions) is the
layering of unharmonious graphic
forms in a way that results in con-
fusing messages. By this definition,
Output could be considered a prime
example of ugliness in the service
of fashionable experimentation.
Though not intended to function in
the commercial world, it was dis-
tributed to thousands of practising
designers on the American Institute
of Graphic Arts and American Cent-
er for Design mailing lists, so rather
than remain cloistered and protect-
ed from criticism as on-campus “re-
search”, it is a fair subject for scru-
tiny. It can legitimately be described
1993- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CULT OF THE UGLY
Steven Heller
[ continuação ]
as representing the current cult
of ugliness. The layered images,
vernacular hybrids, low-resolution
reproductions and cacophonous
blends of different types and letters
at once challenge prevailing aes-
thetic beliefs and propose alterna-
tive paradigms. Like the output of
communications rebels of the past
(whether 1920s Futurists or 1960s
psychedelic artists), this work de-
mands that the viewer or reader ac-
cept non-traditional formats which
at best guide the eye for a specific
purpose through a range of non-
linear “pathways”, and at worst re-
sult in confusion. But the reasons
behind this wave are dubious.
▷
~
beauty
“Love of beauty is taste. The creation of beauty is art.” 9
O conceito de “feio” sempre foi uma
questão polémica no que diz respeito
a aceita-lo, não como uma oposição ao
belo, mas sim como parte integrante do
conceito de beleza, fazendo o “feio” as-
sim parte da criação artística, enquanto
possibilitador de experiencia estética.
Foi com polémica que em 1992 foi visto
o trabalho “Output” – amplamente dis-
cutido através da revista Emigre (nrº10
e 13)- dos estudantes de Cranbrook,
principalmente por parte dos ávidos de-
fensores do Modernismo, que acredita-
vam numa primeira instância, que com
a “universalidade” conceptual e gráfica
proposta pelo movimento, a procura for-
mal relativamente ao design não estava
estagnada, mas sim finalizada – como
nos refere Ellen Lupton no ensaio “The
Academy of Deconstructed Design”.
“After three decades as a successful commercial artist, Fella, at age 47, entered the MFA program at Cranbrook Academy of Art in 1985, opening the door for him to be recognized as a pioneer of postmodern graphic design. From his subsequent position as a professor at California Institute of the Arts, where he has profoundly impacted the design program for the past 20 years, Fella has since presided as vanguard master to a new generation of graphic designers.” 10
xED FELLA, Flyer para a Detroit Focus GAllery 1986
O
conceito
d
e “feio
” sem
pre
foi
uma
questão
po
lémica no
que d
iz respeito
a aceita-lo, não
com
o um
a op
osição
ao
belo
, mas sim
com
o p
arte integrante d
o
conceito
de b
eleza, fazendo
o “feio
” as-
sim p
arte da criação
artística, enquanto
po
ssibilitad
or
de
experiencia
estética.
Fo
i com
po
lémica q
ue em 1992 fo
i visto
o trab
alho “O
utput” – am
plam
ente dis-
cutido
através da revista E
mig
re (nrº10
e 13)-
do
s estud
antes d
e C
ranbro
ok,
princip
almente p
or p
arte do
s ávido
s de-
fensores d
o M
od
ernismo
, que acred
ita-
vam num
a prim
eira instância, que co
m
a “universalidad
e” concep
tual e gráfica
pro
po
sta pelo
mo
vimento
, a pro
cura for-
mal relativam
ente ao d
esign não
estava
estagnad
a, mas sim
finalizada – co
mo
nos refere E
llen Lupto
n no ensaio
“The
Acad
emy o
f Deco
nstructed D
esign”.
O conceito de “feio” sempre foi uma
questão polémica no que diz respeito
a aceita-lo, não como uma oposição ao
belo, mas sim como parte integrante do
conceito de beleza, fazendo o “feio” as-
sim parte da criação artística, enquanto
possibilitador de experiencia estética.
Foi com polémica que em 1992 foi visto
o trabalho “Output” – amplamente dis-
cutido através da revista Emigre (nrº10
e 13)- dos estudantes de Cranbrook,
principalmente por parte dos ávidos de-
fensores do Modernismo, que acredita-
vam numa primeira instância, que com
a “universalidade” conceptual e gráfica
proposta pelo movimento, a procura for-
mal relativamente ao design não estava
estagnada, mas sim finalizada – como
nos refere Ellen Lupton no ensaio “The
Academy of Deconstructed Design”.
beauty
2012- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Luísa Brito
MIXING MESSAGES
O conceito de “feio” sempre foi uma
questão polémica no que diz respeito
a aceita-lo, não como uma oposição
ao belo, mas sim como parte integran-
te do conceito de beleza, fazendo o
“feio” assim parte da criação artística,
enquanto possibilitador de experien-
cia estética. Foi com polémica que
em 1992 foi visto o trabalho “Output”
– amplamente discutido através da
revista Emigre (nrº10 e 13)- dos estu-
dantes de Cranbrook, principalmente
por parte dos ávidos defensores do
Modernismo, que acreditavam numa
primeira instância, que com a “uni-
versalidade” conceptual e gráfica
proposta pelo movimento, a procura
formal relativamente ao design não
estava estagnada, mas sim finalizada
– como nos refere Ellen Lupton no en-
saio “The Academy of Deconstructed
Design”. Se perguntar a uma série de
pessoas, de variadas nacionalidades
e idades (ou seja com as mais varia-
das culturas) o que é o “belo” – e re-
firo-me a belo numa dicotomia directa
ao feio- , obterei certamente as mais
variadas respostas, não chegando
assim a uma conclusão homogénea
do que é realmente o belo, tendo em
conta que cada pessoa tem uma defi-
nição própria de belo.
∆
x
How is ugly to be defined in the current post-modern design climate where existing systems are up for re-evaluation, order is under attack and thea forced collision of disparate forms is the rule?
For the moment, let us say that ugly de-
cision, as opposed to classical design
(where adherence to the golden mean
and a preference for balance and har-
mony serve as the foundation for even
the most unconventional compositions)
is the layering of unharmonious graphic
forms in a way that results in confusing
messages. By this definition, Output
could be considered a prime example
of ugliness in the service of fashionable
experimentation. Though not intended
to function in the commercial world, it
was distributed to thousands of practis-
ing designers on the American Institute
of Graphic Arts and American Center
for Design mailing lists, so rather than
remain cloistered and protected from
criticism as on-campus “research”, it is
a fair subject for scrutiny. It can legiti-
mately be described as representing the
current cult of ugliness. The layered im-
ages, vernacular hybrids,
Fo
r th
e m
om
ent,
let
us s
ay t
hat
ugly
de-
cisi
on,
as
op
po
sed
to
cla
ssic
al d
esig
n
(whe
re a
dhe
renc
e to
the
go
lden
mea
n
and
a p
refe
renc
e fo
r b
alan
ce a
nd h
ar-
mo
ny s
erve
as
the
foun
dat
ion
for
even
the
mo
st u
nco
nven
tio
nal
com
po
siti
ons
)
is t
he l
ayer
ing
of
unha
rmo
nio
us g
rap
hic
form
s in
a w
ay t
hat
resu
lts
in c
onf
usin
g
mes
sag
es.
By
this
d
efin
itio
n,
Out
put
coul
d b
e co
nsid
ered
a p
rim
e ex
amp
le
of
uglin
ess
in t
he s
ervi
ce o
f fa
shio
nab
le
exp
erim
enta
tio
n.
Tho
ugh
not
inte
nded
to f
unct
ion
in t
he c
om
mer
cial
wo
rld
, it
was
dis
trib
uted
to
tho
usan
ds
of
pra
ctis
-
ing
des
igne
rs o
n th
e A
mer
ican
Ins
titu
te
of
Gra
phi
c A
rts
and
A
mer
ican
C
ente
r
for
Des
ign
mai
ling
lis
ts,
so r
athe
r th
an
rem
ain
clo
iste
red
an
d
pro
tect
ed
fro
m
crit
icis
m a
s o
n-ca
mp
us “
rese
arch
”, i
t is
a fa
ir s
ubje
ct f
or
scru
tiny
. It
can
leg
iti-
mat
ely
be
des
crib
ed a
s re
pre
sent
ing
the
curr
ent
cult
of
uglin
ess.
The
laye
red
im-
ages
, ve
rnac
ular
hyb
rid
s,
ugly is the new beauty?
[ R. Mutt “Fountain” 1917 ]≈
Are You Serious ?
~
“Duchamp rejected purely
visual or what he dubbed
"retinal pleasure," deeming
it to be facile, in favor of
more intellectual, concept-
driven approaches to art-
making and, for that matter,
viewing. He remained commit-
ted, however, to the study
of perspective and optics
which underpins his experi-
ments with kinetic devices,
reflecting an ongoing con-
cern with the representation
of motion and machines com-
mon to Futurist and Surreal-
ist artists at the time.”2
Does
th
e cu
rren
t so
cial
an
d cu
ltur
al
cond
itio
n in
volv
e th
e ki
nd
of
uphe
aval
to
wh
ich
crit
ical
ug
line
ss
is a
time
-hon
oure
d co
mpan
ion?
Or
in
the
wake
of
ea
rlie
r, mo
re se
riou
s
expe
rime
ntat
ion,
ha
s ug
line
ss si
mply
been
ass
imil
ated
int
o po
pula
r cu
ltur
e
and
beco
me a
sty
lish
con
ceit
?
The current wave began in the mid-
1970s with the English punk scene,
a raw expression of youth frustration
manifested through shocking dress,
music and art. Punk’s naïve graphic
language – an aggressive rejection of
rational typography that echoes Dada
and Futurist work- influenced design-
ers during the late 1970s who seriously
tested the limits imposed by Modernist
formalism. Punk’s violent demeanour
surfaced in Swiss, American, Dutch and
French design and spread to the main-
stream in the form of a “new wave”, or
what American punk artist Gary Panter
has called “sanitised punk”. A key anti-
canonical approach later called Swiss
Punk – which in comparison with the
gridlocked Swiss International Style was
menacingly chaotic, though rooted in its
own logic – was born in the mecca of
rationalism, Basel during the late 1970s.
For the elders who were threatened (and
offended) by the onslaught to criticise
Swiss Punk as ugly was avoiding the
1993- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CULT OF THE UGLY
Steven Heller
[ continuação ]
▷
“Chantry’s clever manipulations of found “art” into accessible, though uncoanventional, compositions prove that using ostensibly ugly forms can result in good design.”3
[ Arthur Chantry para a Oakley ]
X
“Semiotics is often employed in the
analysis of texts (although it is far more
than just a mode of textual analysis).
Here it should perhaps be noted that
a 'text' can exist in any medium and
may be verbal, non-verbal, or both,
despite the logocentric bias of this
distinction. The term text usually refers
to a message which has been recorded
in some way (e.g. writing, audio- and
video-recording) so that it is physically
independent of its sender or receiver. A
text is an assemblage of signs (such as
words, images, sounds and gestures)
constructed (and interpreted) with
reference to the conventions associated
with a genre and in a particular medium
of communication.” 8
Saussurre
▷
2012- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Luísa Brito
MIXING MESSAGES
O pós-modernismo, que começou
a ganhar força no final dos anos
70, marca o eclipse do Estilo In-
ternacional juntamente com todas
as suas assunções: neutralidade,
universalidade, racionalismo assim
como, também anuncia a ruptura
com a vibrante onda Pop dos anos
60. O Pós-modernismo caracte-
riza-se não só por uma mudança
imagética de estilo, assim como
por uma nova maneira de ques-
tionar e interpretar o mundo e as
suas concepções, sendo a base
deste estilo o conhecimento his-
tórico e filosófico - fundamental à
arte de criar- , que possibilita um
entendimento “revolucionário” do
presente e uma nova visão, quase
que profética, do futuro. O pós-
-modernismo tem como base con-
ceptual maior o desconstrutivismo,
este que pertence a um campo
mais alargado de estudos, o pós-
-estruturalismo. A desconstrução
“não é um estilo nem uma atitude”
– como referem Ellen Lupton e Ab-
bott Miller no ensaio “Deconstruc-
tion and Graphic Design” 1994 –
mas sim um modo de questionar os
paradigmas existentes, e de fundar
novas metáforas de representação,
ou seja: “deconstruction is critical
form-making”, como é referido ain-
da no mesmo ensaio de 94.
A inquisidora desconstrução rejeita
a crítica “universal” do modernis-
mo e propõe revelar o significado
de um determinado – inicialmente
eram apenas analisadas obras lite-
rárias- através do estudo de como
a forma e conteúdo, sem simbiose,
comunicam, uma característica que
vem directamente do estudo de
Fredinand Saussure “Semiotics”.
Quando falamos de desconstrução
aplicada ao design gráfico, temos
de referir o trabalho de J. Derrida.
No seu trabalho “Of Gramatology”,
o autor questiona o quanto a repre-
sentação (das coisas ou conceitos)
habita na realidade. Numa primeira
fase, Derrida quebra com o para-
digma tipicamente ocidental das
dicotomias, – dentro/fora; realida-
de/representação; belo/feio; (...) –
e é nesta quebra que o descons-
trutivismo vai actuar, desmontando
tais oposições, mostrando que os
conceitos não têm necessariamen-
te de ser oposições mas sim parte
de um todo universal.
▷
The current wave began in the mid-
1970s with the English punk scene,
a raw expression of youth frustration
manifested through shocking dress,
music and art. Punk’s naïve graphic
language – an aggressive rejection
of rational typography that echoes
Dada and Futurist work- influenced
designers during the late 1970s who
seriously tested the limits imposed
by Modernist formalism. Punk’s vio-
lent demeanour surfaced in Swiss,
American, Dutch and French design
and spread to the mainstream in
the form of a “new wave”, or what
American punk artist Gary Panter
has called “sanitised punk”. A key
anti-canonical approach later called
Swiss Punk – which in comparison
with the gridlocked Swiss Interna-
tional Style was menacingly chaotic,
though rooted in its own logic – was
born in the mecca of rationalism,
Basel during the late 1970s. For the
elders who were threatened (and of-
fended) by the onslaught to criticise
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Swiss Punk as ugly was avoiding the
issue. Swiss Punk was attacked not
so much because of its appearance
as because it symbolised the demise
of Modernist hegemony. Ugly design
can be a conscious attempt to cre-
ate and define alternative standards.
Like warpaint, the dissonant styles
which many contemporary design-
ers have applied to their visual com-
munications are meant to shock an
enemy – complacency – as well as
to encourage new reading and view-
ing patterns. The work of American
designer Art Chantry combines the
shock-and-educate approach with
a concern for appropriateness. For
over a decade Chantry has been
creating eye-catching, low-budg-
et graphics for the Seattle punk
scene by using found commercial
artefacts from industrial merchan-
dise catalogues as key elements in
his posters and flyers. While these
“unsophisticated” graphics may be
horrifying to designers who prefer
Shaker functionalism to punk ver-
nacularism, Chantry’s design is de-
cidedly functional.
1993- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CULT OF THE UGLY
Steven Heller
[ continuação ]
Post-modernism inspired a debate
in graphic design in the mid-
1970s by revealing that many
perceptions of art and culture were
one-dimensional. Post-modernism
urgently questioned certainties laid
down by Modernism and rebelled
against grand Eurocentric narratives
in favour of multiplicity.
The result in graphic design was to
strip Modernist formality of both its
infrastructure and outer covering.
The grid was demolished, while
neo-classical and contemporary
ornaments, such as dots, blips
and arrows, replaced the tidiness
of the canonical approach. As
in most artistic revolutions, the
previous generation was attacked,
while the generations before were
curiously rehabilitated. The visual
hallmarks of this rebellion, however,
were inevitably reduced to stylistic
mannerisms which forced even more
radical experimentation. Extremism
gave rise to fashionable ugliness as
a form of nihilistic expression.
In “Ode on a Grecian Urn” (1819),
the Romantic poet John Keats
wrote the famous lines: “Beauty is
truth, truth beauty, - that is all/ Ye
know on earth, and all ye need to
know.” Yet in today’s environment,
one standard of beauty is no more
the truth than is one standard of ug-
liness. It is possible that the most
convention-busting graphic design
by students and alumni of Cran-
brook, CalArts and Rhode Island
School of Design, among other
hothouses where theoretical con-
structs are used to justify what the
untutored eye might deem ugly,
could become the foundation for
new standards based on contem-
porary sensibilities. Certainly, these
approaches have attracted many
followers throughout the design
world.
▷▷
Tod
avia
é u
ma
exp
eriê
ncia
fre
que
nte
a d
e o
bra
s
cria
tiva
s/d
e ar
te p
od
erem
ap
rese
ntar
-no
s nã
o
só c
ont
eúd
os
ou
situ
açõ
es a
gra
dáv
eis/
apra
zí-
veis
, co
mo
tam
bém
co
nteú
do
s d
esag
rad
ávei
s,
dis
sona
ntes
, ag
ress
ivo
s: f
eio
s.
O r
eco
nhec
imen
to d
o e
spaç
o q
ue o
fei
o o
cup
a
na c
riaç
ão a
rtís
tica
é,
no q
ue r
esp
eita
à t
eori
a,
um fa
cto
sub
stan
cial
men
te m
od
erno
que
co
me-
ça a
man
ifest
ar-s
e p
or
volt
a d
o s
écul
o X
VIII
e
que
ass
ume
uma
imp
ort
ânci
a ca
da
vez
mai
or
nos
sécu
los
XIX
e X
X, e
m p
aral
elo
co
m o
s fe
nó-
men
os
de
“rej
eiçã
o d
o b
elo
” e
da
“pro
cura
do
feio
” co
mo
val
or
esté
tico
ass
umid
o,
cria
ndo
-se
assi
m,
nest
a ép
oca
, um
a no
va c
ons
ciên
cia
en-
tre
o q
ue d
efin
imo
s p
or
“fei
o”
enq
uant
o p
riva
do
de
valo
r es
téti
co –
um
det
erm
inad
o o
bje
cto
ou
exp
eriê
ncia
po
ssue
m v
alo
r es
téti
co q
uand
o o
s
pre
feri
mo
s em
rel
ação
a o
utro
s, p
elo
pra
zer
que
susc
itam
em
nó
s- e
o q
ue,
emb
ora
qua
lific
ável
com
o f
eio
é n
o e
ntan
to c
apaz
de
pro
duz
ir u
ma
exp
erie
ncia
est
étic
a si
gni
ficat
iva.
O conceito de “feio” sempre foi uma questão p o l é m i c a no que diz respeito a a c e i t a - l o , não como uma oposição ao belo, mas sim como parte i n t e g r a n t e do conceito de beleza, f a z e n d o o “feio” assim parte da criação a r t í s t i c a , e n q u a n t o
“Anybody can become angry
- that is easy, but to
be angry with the right
person and to the right
degree and at the right
time and for the right
purpose, and in the right
way - that is not within
everybody's power and is
not easy.” 7
Stanley Kubrick “Full Metal Jacket” (1987)
2012- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - Luísa Brito
Na linguagem comum o termo “feio” indica desvalor estético, o “desagradável
que causa horror”, o desonesto: em suma, indica uma falha na criação
humana, “porque o que é divino é sempre belo, o homem é que não tem
entendimento suficiente para perceber parte da beleza da criação”6
- como diz Aristóteles.
Todavia é uma experiência frequente
a de obras criativas/de arte poderem
apresentar-nos não só conteúdos ou
situações agradáveis/aprazíveis, como
também conteúdos desagradáveis,
dissonantes, agressivos: feios.
O reconhecimento do espaço que o feio
ocupa na criação artística é, no que respeita
à teoria, um facto substancialmente
moderno que começa a manifestar-se por
volta do século XVIII e que assume uma
importância cada vez maior nos séculos
XIX e XX, em paralelo com os fenómenos
de “rejeição do belo” e da “procura do feio”
como valor estético assumido, criando-se
assim, nesta época, uma nova consciência
entre o que definimos por “feio” enquanto
privado de valor estético – um determinado
objecto ou experiência possuem valor
estético quando os preferimos em relação
a outros, pelo prazer que suscitam em
nós- e o que, embora qualificável como
feio é no entanto capaz de produzir uma
experiencia estética significativa.
MIXING MESSAGES
Po
st-m
od
erni
sm
insp
ired
a
deb
ate
in
gra
phi
c d
esig
n in
th
e m
id-1
970s
b
y
reve
alin
g
that
m
any
per
cep
tions
o
f
art
and
cu
lture
w
ere
one
-dim
ensi
ona
l.
Po
st-m
od
erni
sm
urg
ently
q
uest
ione
d
cert
aint
ies
laid
d
ow
n b
y M
od
erni
sm
and
reb
elle
d a
gai
nst
gra
nd E
uro
cent
ric
narr
ativ
es in
fav
our
of
mul
tiplic
ity.
The
re
sult
in
gra
phi
c d
esig
n w
as
to
stri
p
Mo
der
nist
fo
rmal
ity
of
bo
th
its
infr
astr
uctu
re a
nd o
uter
co
veri
ng.
The
g
rid
w
as
dem
olis
hed
, w
hile
ne
o-
clas
sica
l an
d c
ont
emp
ora
ry o
rnam
ents
,
such
as
do
ts,
blip
s an
d a
rro
ws,
rep
lace
d
the
tidin
ess
of
the
cano
nica
l ap
pro
ach.
As
in
mo
st
artis
tic
revo
lutio
ns,
the
pre
vio
us g
ener
atio
n w
as a
ttac
ked
, w
hile
the
gen
erat
ions
b
efo
re
wer
e cu
rio
usly
reha
bili
tate
d.
The
vi
sual
ha
llmar
ks
of
this
reb
ellio
n, h
ow
ever
, w
ere
inev
itab
ly
red
uced
to
st
ylis
tic
man
neri
sms
whi
ch
forc
ed
even
m
ore
ra
dic
al
exp
erim
enta
tion.
E
xtre
mis
m g
ave
rise
to
fash
iona
ble
ug
lines
s as
a
form
o
f
nihi
listic
exp
ress
ion.
Post-modernism inspired a debate in
graphic design in the mid-1970s by
revealing that many perceptions of
art and culture were one-dimensional.
Post-modernism urgently questioned
certainties laid down by Modernism
and rebelled against grand Eurocentric
narratives in favour of multiplicity.
The result in graphic design was to
strip Modernist formality of both its
infrastructure and outer covering.
The grid was demolished, while neo-
classical and contemporary ornaments,
such as dots, blips and arrows, replaced
the tidiness of the canonical approach.
As in most artistic revolutions, the
previous generation was attacked, while
the generations before were curiously
rehabilitated. The visual hallmarks of
this rebellion, however, were inevitably
reduced to stylistic mannerisms
which forced even more radical
experimentation. Extremism gave rise
to fashionable ugliness as a form of
nihilistic expression.
X
Post-modernism urgently questioned
certainties laid down by Modernism and
rebelled against grand Eurocentric
narratives in favour of multiplicity.
“His layouts featured distortions or mixes of 'vernacular' typefaces and fractured imagery, rendering them almost illegible. Indeed, his maxim of the 'end of print' questioned the role of type in the emergent age of digital design, following on from California New Wave and coinciding with experiments at the Cranbrook Academy of Art.”4
[ David CArson (2011) capa da “Little Lies” Magazine ]
So in order to stretch the perimeters of
art and design to any serious extent it
becomes necessary to suspend popular
notions of beauty so that alternative aes-
thetic standards can be explored. This
concept is essential to an analysis of a
recent work by the Chicago company
Segura, who designed the programme/
announcement for the 1993 How maga-
zine “Creative Vision” conference and
whose work represents the professional
wing of the hothouse sensibility. Com-
pared to the artless Output, Segura’s
seemingly anarchic booklet is an artfully
engineered attempt to direct the reader
through a maze of mundane informa-
tion. Yet while the work might purport
to confront complacency, it often merely
obstructs comprehension.
A compilation of variegated visuals, the
How piece is a veritable primer of cultish
extremes at once compelling for its
So
in ord
er to stretch the p
erimeters o
f
art and d
esign to
any serious extent it
beco
mes necessary to
suspend
po
pular
notio
ns of b
eauty so that alternative aes-
thetic standard
s can be exp
lored
. This
concep
t is essential to an analysis o
f a
recent wo
rk by the C
hicago
com
pany
Seg
ura, who
desig
ned the p
rog
ramm
e/
announcem
ent for the 1993 H
ow
mag
a -
zine “C
reative V
ision”
conference
and
who
se wo
rk represents the p
rofessio
nal
wing
of the ho
thouse sensib
ility. Co
m-
pared
to
the
artless O
utput,
Seg
ura’s
seeming
ly anarchic bo
oklet is an artfully
engineered
attemp
t to d
irect the reader
throug
h a
maze
of
mund
ane info
rma -
tion. Yet w
hile the wo
rk mig
ht purp
ort
to co
nfront co
mp
lacency, it often m
erely
ob
structs com
prehensio
n.
A co
mp
ilation o
f variegated
visuals, the
Ho
w p
iece is a veritable p
rimer o
f cultish
extremes at o
nce com
pelling
for its
1993- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
CULT OF THE UGLY
Steven Heller
[ continuação ]
So in order to stretch the perimeters
of art and design to any serious
extent it becomes necessary
to suspend popular notions of
beauty so that alternative aesthetic
standards can be explored. This
concept is essential to an analysis
of a recent work by the Chicago
company Segura, who designed
the programme/announcement for
the 1993 How magazine “Creative
Vision” conference and whose work
represents the professional wing of
the hothouse sensibility. Compared
to the artless Output, Segura’s
seemingly anarchic booklet is
an artfully engineered attempt to
direct the reader through a maze
of mundane information. Yet while
the work might purport to confront
complacency, it often merely
obstructs comprehension.
“Where does beauty begin and where does it end? Where it ends is where the artist begins.” 5
A compilation of variegated visuals,
the How piece is a veritable primer of
cultish extremes at once compelling
for its ingenuity yet undermined by its
superficiality. Like a glutton, Segura
has stuffed itself with all the latest
conceits (including some of its own
concoction) and has regurgitated
them on to the pages. At first the
juxtapositions of discordant visual
material appear organic, but in fact
little is left to chance. The result is
a catalogue of disharmony in the
service of contemporaneity, an
artefact that is already ossifying into
a 1990s design style. It is a style
that presumes that more is hipper
than less, confusion is better than
simplicity, fragmentation is smarter
than continuity, and that ugliness is
its own reward.
▷
So in order to stretch the perimeters of
art and design to any serious extent it
becomes necessary to suspend popular
notions of beauty so that alternative aes-
thetic standards can be explored. This
concept is essential to an analysis of a
recent work by the Chicago company
Segura, who designed the programme/
announcement for the 1993 How maga-
zine “Creative Vision” conference and
whose work represents the professional
wing of the hothouse sensibility. Com-
pared to the artless Output, Segura’s
seemingly anarchic booklet is an artfully
engineered attempt to direct the reader
through a maze of mundane informa-
tion. Yet while the work might purport
to confront complacency, it often merely
obstructs comprehension.
A compilation of variegated visuals, the
How piece is a veritable primer of cultish
extremes at once compelling for its
But is it possible that the surface might blind one to the inner beauty (i.e. intelligence) of
this work?
Ralph Waldo Emerson in The Conduct of
Life (1860) wrote: “The secret of ugliness
consists not in irregularity, but in being
uninteresting.” Given Emerson’s measure,
it could be argued that design is only ugly
when devoid of aesthetic or conceptual
forethought – for example, generic restau-
rant menus, store signs and packages.
Perhaps, then, the How booklet, which is
drowning in forethought, should be “read”
on a variety of levels wherein beauty and
ugliness are mitigated by context and pur-
pose. Perhaps – but given the excesses in
this work, the result can only be described
as a catalogue of pretence.
So in order to stretch the perimeters of
art and design to any serious extent it
becomes necessary to suspend popular
notions of beauty so that alternative aes-
thetic standards can be explored. This
concept is essential to an analysis of a
recent work by the Chicago company
Segura, who designed the programme/
announcement for the 1993 How maga-
zine “Creative Vision” conference and
whose work represents the professional
wing of the hothouse sensibility. Com-
pared to the artless Output, Segura’s
seemingly anarchic booklet is an artfully
engineered attempt to direct the reader
through a maze of mundane informa-
tion. Yet while the work might purport
to confront complacency, it often merely
obstructs comprehension.
A compilation of variegated visuals, the
How piece is a veritable primer of cultish
extremes at once compelling for its
Beauty is whatever I want▷