The nature of context in design has been brought to my attention recently.
Is it possible to create without context?
I was struck the designer Ivan Chermayeff’s words when talking about modernism:
“I work in a completely white room. If it hadn’t been white, I would have painted it white right away. The room is merely a canvas in which other things happen. It is not an end in itself. If it were I’d have to take all the art off the walls and anything else that gives it focus. I would have to remove myself as well.”
I don’t believe it is possible to create without context. Modernism asked that the creator merely looked forward, never back. When the nature of context in design was brought to my attention, I was forced to consider the failing of trying to create without context: you cannot write without a font/handwriting style, you cannot paint without a brush, you cannot think without memory.
But it is something to aspire to?
