Self-expression

Design can be thought out, but it can also be spontaneous and random. According to the article Etymology of Design: Pre-Socratic Perspective by Kostas Terzidis, the word “design” in Greek means incomplete, about, anticipation, and unfinished; even the definition itself is rather ambiguous. Even something as insignificant as the arrangement of multi-colored pins on my wall is design and I am the artist because I was responsible for the random placements of the pins. Design is simply a form of self-expression.

 Photo by Diane Wu

This is exactly why so many artists in the modern world are often misunderstood by the public for their creations. The modern mentality of artists is to use art as a form of personal self-expression. Many artists ceased to create art to please the public; rather, they create art to please themselves. Although many modern arts compared to the arts of the Renaissance seem much more simplified, it is still design.

Jackson Pollock, one of the many misunderstood modern artists, painted using the technique of splattering paint from a brush into a large canvas laid out on the ground. Although he did achieve fame during his lifetime and was accepted as an artist, critics often claimed that his paintings were not art. They argue that any uneducated person can splatter paint into a canvas and achieve the same result as his work. However, Pollock’s paintings were not about whether it can be reciprocated, it was about his ability to express his emotions through the colors that he uses and to engulf himself and be actually part of his painting. His paintings bring him joy and individuality, which is exactly the purpose of art and design.

  http://www.arthistoryspot.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/painting_jackson_pollock.jpg

Sources:

Terzidis, Kostas. "The Etymology of Design: Pre-Socratic Perspective." Massachusetts Institute of Technology 23 (2007). Print.