Head and hands need a mediator
The mantra that titles this essay is one I found whilst watching Fritz Lang’s ‘Metropolis’ and is a phrase that I have developed something of an obsession of. The content of this essay is fundamentally about the effect technology has had on art and our perception of it. For my final major project my intention is to use the universally known and unobtrusive medium of the magazine in order to communicate my artwork with the general public. Through both primary and secondary research I hope to find a way to appeal to people who have only a passing interest in art, whilst communicating complex ideas and emotions that often cause most people to distance themselves from such work.
The film ‘Metropolis’ is a futuristic story about how a wealthy member of the upper class elite travels to the underbelly of the city to discover the disgruntled working class and the chasm between his own people and the lives of the impoverished workers operating Metropolis. The main theme of the film is not a new one; it has many similarities to the biblical story of The Tower of Babel, found in Genesis. In this tale, the head of Babel wishes to build a tower, a huge structure which ‘men have not seen the likes of’, a monument of human victory and power. However, he cannot do the work himself, so ‘hands’ are hired to do the dirty work. The head and his hired ‘hands’ seem to understand each other at first, but soon communication breaks down, creating a rift between the two as the ‘hands’ are unable to see the vision of the ‘head’. In Metropolis, we are introduced to two, very different and distinct social classes; the rich upper class and the poor working class. The working class has, just as in the biblical story of The Tower of Babel lost understanding of the vision of the ‘head’. The workers do not fully understand what they are doing, constantly working on machines, physically exhausting themselves for next to nothing.
In both stories, a fundamental mistake has been made; you can have both the vision and the practical ability, but without passion and heart, the message will be lost. Head and hands need a mediator just as they do in design. You can have the most innovative idea or vision and have the best software around but, without a little humanity in the design, the message will be lost.
The digitalisation of art and, most prominently, design has revolutionised the way in which we view and create work. There are ways and means to generate and edit images that would have been unthinkable just twenty years ago. The advent of software such as adobe ‘Photoshop’ and illustrator mean that it is now almost possible to achieve perfection; in fact a kind of pixilated delusion of perfection has rendered the once unachievable goal of perfection a reality As with all technology, the laborious ways in which designers used to approach common technical difficulties have been replaced by tools and applications that allow for the transition of ideas to polished final product to become almost seamless. From the birth of an idea to its realisation, the journey of trial, error and correction that once faced designers has become instant. It is obvious that this has many benefits and the world today would look very different without these technological advances. However, there are issues that are only just beginning to be realised by designers, as old-fashioned methods of production are rendered obsolete and tossed on to the scrap-heap.
In his ode to handmade type wittily entitled ‘handjob’ Michael Perry informs us;
”Once upon a time, graphic designers would’ve been expected to have a decent number of lettering skills even if it were just to work up an initial layout. Then the computer completely removed the need for those skills. By rendering hand lettering obsolete, the computer strips it of its previous obligations and imbues the very act of lettering with a level of meaning that it has not had. Now I use my hands because I want mistakes, quirks and imperfections-those qualities that give my work warmth.”
Whilst we are on the subject of type, a good example of digitalisation’s impact on traditional mediums of art making is the prevalence of standardised fonts available on word processing applications such as Microsoft word. Now, although I am aware that there is a wide range of typefaces available on ‘Word’ and to mention an infinite number available to download over the internet, for the purpose of this example I am going to envisage a world with one font to rule them all; Times New Roman. This classic font commissioned in 1931 for the Times newspaper is a serif typeface invented by Stanley Morrison it is accredited with being the most widely used and therefore most influential typeface of the first half of the 20th century. In addition to this it has become even more famous in recent years due to the invention of the computer and its use as the default typeface on ‘Word’.
I remember the day my primary school bought its first computer, shortly afterwards other children in my class started getting computers at home and soon enough we were being advised to type our essays up on the computer so as to avoid potentially losing marks. Now at the time I was irritated by this, mainly because we did not have a computer at home and thus to pick up maximum marks I was going to have to spend my lunchtimes on my schools only computer, but I soon realised the implication that the need for my finely tuned handwriting skills would soon diminish. It wasn’t just the fact that I enjoyed to write by hand that annoyed me however, as deadline day came around 30 Times New Roman assignments would be handed in everyone of them identical at first glance. Any individuality that came about through what I accept were imperfections was lost and although the idea’s and thought contained in each essay remained and even though each was perfectly formed in a flawless, legible manner the assignments lacked the heart or humanity you get with handwriting. Everyday we are assaulted by a typeface that is essentially emotionless, any value as an art form is lost by its ubiquitous role in the world today. Its name is particularly apt because just as the Roman Empire spread across the known world imposing itself on the culture and traditions of all who stood in its way, so too has Times New Roman. ….
