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Serial: Auxiliary Lines for Things & People #04: Yamada's Picture & Motoyama's Box
PROFILE
Mai Tsunoo / Design Writer
After graduating from Keio University with a degree in Environmental Information, I worked for a manufacturer and then served as an assistant to designer Toshiharu Yamanaka from 2012 to 2016. Following that, I stayed in Scotland for a year and am currently working as a freelancer.
While exploring expressions to convey what needs to be communicated clearly, I have been writing for media such as "Nikkei Design" and am involved in curating exhibitions and copywriting.
My notable works include the curation of the 70th Anniversary Exhibition of the University of Tokyo's Institute of Industrial Science, titled "POTENTIALITIES: Exhibition For A Possible Future" (National Art Center, 2018), and writing the text for the exhibition “Insects: Models for Design” (21_21 DESIGN SIGHT, 2019).
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I think that being an artist and a designer is surprisingly difficult to balance. Of course, there are people who can do it, but it isn't that simple. Even if there are common skills, the starting point for creation is quite different.
This doesn’t necessarily apply to every case, but I believe that the process of making things varies between a designer whose main job is to create items that meet the conditions and demands that others (potentially) want, and an artist who works with themes they have personally chosen, even if there are people who buy their work.
By the way, I personally consider that “art and design are quite different professions” and, although it may be quite obvious, I assert that there is no superiority or inferiority between the two (therefore, it is a mystery why praises like “This is already art!” and criticisms like “This is nothing but art” can exist regarding products created by designers). Moreover, even if the work is created by individuals with different professions, I honestly think it doesn’t really matter whether it’s considered “art or design.”
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