I've heard the phrase before, "form over function", "form versus function" but while I may have heard the original phrase as well, I don't recall hearing the specific "Form follows function" until I started to research a little bit for this post.
I took a class some years ago called "Women Artists" and we learned about functional art like the work of Bertha Hoola van Nooten, Belgian botanical illustrator (1840-1885). And it came across to me as a novel concept: It's art, but it's also the visual aids for a textbook!
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| Nooten's Poinsettia pulcherrima |
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| Nooten's Butea frondosa |
It seemed to me that a lot of times, things that are functional (at least in some of my textbooks) seem kind of sterile. I was surprised, for example, when one of my history books used humorous language. A history book... that's actually funny?!
Imagine your biology textbook being worded in this poetic language:
“This tree of medium height is one of the most beautiful ornaments of the Isle of Java and of the neighbouring islands. The flowers of fiery red are softened by the delicate shades of the buds and by the sombre hue of the bracts. One can easily imagine the striking effect of this tree in solitary and barren places where it is seen from a distance of several miles. Yet, so slightly do these flowers hold together, that they fall off at the least touch and such is the brightness of their brilliant colouring that in strewing the ground they seem to deck the grass with coals of fire” - Nooten (describing the plate above)
It's no doubt that detailed painting of flowers can be beautiful, even when done with a scientific flair. Even so, I didn't expect to find this on the walls of the display room in Ikea:
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| Plate 22 by Cynthia Newsome-Taylor (Taylor began botany paintings in 1945.) |
If that took me by surprise, then words don't quite convey how a was oddly, yet pleasantly startled when I saw this in my fashion magazine subscription.
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| T-shirt by Christopher Kane. Currently on sale at Luisaviaroma.com |
It was actually some sequined variation of this concept, but I thought this was the strongest example with the clearest shot. There are other interesting variations of the same theme.
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| Spring 2014 |
Who knew? Fashion that could educate! Of course, while we're on the subject of fashion-- Is fashion functionality (keeping warm, modesty) or is it also art (pattern, colour, texture, shape)? If you dare, contemplate your body as an artistic canvas (bone structure, muscle shape, curves, hair texture), and imagine if all clothing were to work with your shape, instead of against it.
With that in mind, I think it's time to bring up the person to coined the phrase. Louis Sullivan was said to be inspired by Marcus Vitruvius Pollio who said in his book "On Architecture" that buildings should be sturdy, useful and beautiful. Sullivan re-worded the concept like this:
"It is the pervading law of all things organic and inorganic, of all
things physical and metaphysical, of all things human and all things
superhuman, of all true manifestations of the head, of the heart, of the
soul, that the life is recognizable in its expression, that form ever follows function. This is the law."
If that is in fact so, then even the most overblown, detailed items of nature will prove to have a purpose, and those things that seem unnervingly clean will eventually be seen as missing something vital. Maybe one day textbook editors will say "That book needs humor; the kids will forget everything they just read!" Maybe one day we'll look at our bodies and say "It's perfect! It does exactly what I need it to do!' And our clothes will be so beautiful and comfortable that we won't complain on the aesthetic side.
And who knows? Maybe our clothes will keep on teaching us things!
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Things that are besides the point:
I found some other pictures while preparing for this post, and I still want to share them.
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| Christopher Kane Spring 2014 |
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| Miu Miu Spring 2014 |
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| Miu Miu Spring 2014 |
The colours and patterns of the print remind me of sushi... Swim away, Pretty Fishy!!!
Japanese high-fashion florist Makoto Azuma arranged some 2,000 species of flowers, some freshly cut, some withering, for the award-winning book Encyclopedia of Flowers.
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| Azuma and photographer Shunsuke Shinoki team up for this project. |
In the back of the book, each flower from each arrangement is listed with its scientific name. (I just enjoy saying the phrase binomial nomenclature, so I'm throwing it out there.) Beauty that educates.
The poster that started the wheels in my mind to turning...
Happy Thursday, Everyone!
Sources:
"Lars Müller Publishers — Lars Müller Publishers." Lars Müller Publishers — Lars Müller Publishers. Lars Müller Publishers, n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.
"Plate 22." Art2Order. Next Retail Ltd., n.d. Web. 03 Apr. 2014.
Speirs,
Carol.http://www.reading.ac.uk/web/FILES/special-collections/featurewomenbotanicalartists.pdfOnline
PDF. University of Reading. "Two Women Botanical Artists and Their Most Famous Works".
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