Yachang Art Network: It is said that writing is like a person. Although design works will not have the artist's personality like art works, they will certainly reflect the designer's ideas to some extent. Is this "idea" behind your design works based on your own specific aesthetic, philosophical and life values? Are the design works based on these sudden inspirations?
Liu: As a designer, I actually have to do a lot of work on the basis of rational judgment, not just relying on sensibility. So I said that inspiration is quite illusory to me. In China, inspiration is quite inexplicable. For ordinary people in China, it is harmful to design and misleading to those who don't understand design. It's like we're designers and poets. Poets rely not only on inspiration, but also on thinking and philosophy. I prefer philosophical thinking or speculative thinking. Of course, I can't say that we design like philosophers, which is a bit silly, so I think design should be based on rationality. I personally recognize universal values, but at the same time, I come from China, so I think of the people of China. The relationship between art and design: cousins under feudal system can get married if they resist.
Yachang Art Network: Just now, when it comes to "universal values", a big difference between design and art is to emphasize a functional thing. For example, some people say that art is more about pleasing yourself, but design should please people and satisfy the value of people's use; However, some people think that today's art design, especially contemporary art design, has no clear boundaries in many aspects. How to treat this cliche-the relationship between art and design?
Liu: There must be a relationship between them. Relationships are cousins under the feudal system, but they can still get married.
First, many designers come up with concepts that are actually very similar to some things or concepts of modern art, even the same concept, but they have derived two different results. With the development of design today, why designers or artists do this is not so critical, but how others experience him, which is more important. In the classic era, what we appreciate is the personal existence value of artists. We will say, "Van Gogh is terrible. How did he suffer so much? How did he cut off his ear? " Or Chinese painting, calligraphy, saying that people and books are old, that is to say, how good the word is and how good the word is. Up to now, artists don't care what kind of person he is, whether he cheats men and women or celebrities, right? We pay more attention to his artistic achievements, whether his artistic achievements interfere with our people, and when his artistic achievements are not so good, when no one cares, or when they are of no value to the whole society, we pay attention to value rather than price. No matter how interesting this person is, we will not pay attention. This is especially true for design.
I think design even goes beyond art, which means good design. In fact, the design of the classic period is to meet people's needs. For example, when Bauhaus was in power, one of the most important components was the spirit of internationalism, that is, universal art products that all of us can consume. What will this era look like? Material is greatly enriched, and we no longer shoulder the mission of working for all mankind. What can we do after that? Slowly begin to reflect, that is, the core of modern art is particularly important: challenge an existing lifestyle, why is there rock music? Those people in Britain think China middle class is stupid. Everyone lives in the same house, just like Harry Potter, his aunt, uncle or any house he lives in. That is to say, the most mediocre lifestyle, the most mediocre values and the thinking about the world of the middle class have all become powerful conservative pressures, and finally rock music and even many modern arts have come out. In fact, this is the spiritual core, no matter what kind of philosophical thinking.
The same is true of design. In fact, it is very similar to modern art, but it is actually a provocation. This kind of provocation is of course fierce and peaceful. A graphic designer may have done something, such as a book. After you have copied it with copy paper, nailing a staple is also a book. Why does it have to be done by a graphic designer? Graphic designers may bring you some trouble. Maybe he made the writer's ideas more vivid through a good translation. Maybe he did some punctuation articles, so I believe that design and art are cousins. They may be the same concept, but they have different interpretations. At the same time, they are getting closer and closer today. In fact, they all have some characteristics in methods, which is one of the characteristics they have at the same time in design results. Even cousins still look a little alike, but not so good, and they look a little like their families. Maybe my cousin is better and my cousin is crazier. Maybe it's art, it's such a thing, it's hard to tell. In fact, to put it bluntly, modern art is functional today, and it is no longer just a contradictory reaction of the artist himself. If you think about it today, it is no longer an ivory tower. Of course, there are also some things that artists themselves have about this society. It is impossible, but it has gradually become a design work managed by artists. Many artists' design works and modern art are like this. What is this? In fact, I did one thing, that is, let this work have the greatest publicity, ask a question for others to think about, and so did the design. At this time, it is too simple to simply say that design is functional and art is not functional or narrow. Yachang Art Network: In our life, we will buy more and more products with a sense of design. For example, IKEA Beijing is always crowded with people, and people are more and more willing to spend money to buy this "designed" appearance and enjoy this "beauty". The growth of this consumer market always makes us feel that the design market in China is getting better and better, but why do we seldom see famous original design products and designers from China?
Liu: First of all, I don't think there is a real design class in China.
The design class may be composed of two kinds of people, one is the design consumer class, and the other is the design supplier class. The two groups winked at each other and finally became a group. Look at Japan. Without design, products can't be sold, or even sold in unlimited quantities. Japan is a limited society. I brought this ashtray back, limited to 3000, and sold it. That's it. At present, there is no such class in China. What is the reason for not taking such a class? China is the strangest country in the world, and I even think China is an alien.
What is China's design like? Those things in China's tobacco and liquor stores and China's supermarkets are the real China designs: cigarettes are all red boxes, wines are all like that, and drinks sold in shopping malls are all printed with a Summer Xu on Lulu, or you can copy them. China is a society with similar design and needs an example. Cigarettes in China sell well. All cigarettes are gold on red boxes. Maotai sells well. All wines are red on white porcelain bottles. That's the design of China, and the small commodity market is truly universal and folk in China. China people are consuming design, because design is to promote and spread such a particularly important thing through consumption. When I won the prize abroad, I said what kind of graphic designer I was. Compared with Japanese graphic designers, I have never done beverage packaging, signboards of large enterprises, medicines or cigarettes related to people's livelihood, but I have done album work for artists. Yes, I entered the public domain, but that's not the real design.
The misunderstanding and communication barriers of three groups of people have caused the present situation of China design today.
Liu: Secondly, I want to talk about: Why is the design of China like this? Why do freaks come into being? That's because people can't communicate with each other in China. There are three groups in China, which I divide from the designer's point of view: design group, official group and ordinary group. You will find that these three people can't communicate. Beauty is a very simple thing, but when these three kinds of people are together, whether they are beautiful or not becomes a big problem.
How does the government view "beauty" Look at the poster posted on the street, Miss Fuwa, the etiquette of the Olympic opening ceremony. Posters are all about pigeons. What is the China watch wrapped in? Why do people in the government think so? Because it can't go wrong.
These three people not only can't communicate with each other, but also have their own misunderstandings about each other. For example, leaders think that designers and artists are very similar. As long as it is designed, it must not be liked by ordinary people, or by the masses. It's an odd elegance. For example, leaders sometimes say, can you do something that ordinary people like? There are two misunderstandings here. One is that he doesn't understand what a designer's job is. Second, in his imagination, there will always be a stupid, stupid common people who need to be taught a lesson and given something lower. This is leadership.
Designers also have a misunderstanding about leaders and politicians. For example, I get annoyed when I see officials sitting there. Perhaps many leaders are educated, have been to the west and are more knowledgeable than us. Maybe a lot of them are good. At the same time, I have a misunderstanding about the people. People are stupid. Why? Because many people have told me that you want to be loved by the masses, can you give them a step down? If people always tell you that they are a bunch of idiots, I will think they are stupid.
People also have misunderstandings about us. The leaders are above us, and everything they say is right. Designers are artists. Of course I don't understand what they do. Come up and say, "I don't understand you." He didn't even look.
If these three people can't understand each other, it will never be possible for the people in China, and it will never be justified. Now it is much better than before, but the works that appear slowly, to what extent, and slow to good all appear before this class.