Picasso's Ugly

Anna and I went to go see the Picasso exhibition at the Seattle Art Museum, but it wasn’t the work you know and expect from Picasso. It was more of a Tour de Picasso than a greatest hits album. While I initially resisted getting one of those awesome cell phone-looking thingies that tells you about each painting (purely based on the fact that I am cheaper than Scrooge McDuck), we discovered that they’re free. I’m so glad we grabbed them.

The voice accompaniment was the best part of the exhibit. A woman’s voice introduced one piece with “This BEAUTIFUL painting from Picasso’s rose phase…” Okay. Let’s be clear about one thing: there’s an expansive menagerie of words one could use to describe Picasso’s work… challenging, imaginative, textured, whimsical, harsh, exploratory… one should rarely if ever use “beautiful”.

Don’t get me wrong. Picasso’s a good time, and I like his work. But why is “ugly” such a bad thing to say about a revered artist’s work? Picasso’s stuff IS ugly. That’s right. I said it.

I worry that in a world where we’re terrified of offending emotionally fragile teenage girls, ugly became a four letter word. Never mind that it does, coincidentally, contain four letters. Ugly is just an adjective, a way to describe how visually pleasing something is, and it’s subjective. Furthermore, it does not make you sound like an art sophisticate to say that ugly work is pretty. It does not prove to those around you that you see hidden depths that they do not. It makes you sound like a tool. If you already own a beret, you can borrow my black turtleneck, hang out in a coffee shop quoting Nietzche, and really complete the package.

I love the Ugliness. Anyone who ever tried to hold a conversation with a guy who is WAY out of your league, only to trip over your words and sound about half your IQ, knows that beauty is distracting. Without beauty clogging your experience, you can see what Picasso wants you to see. And when a world famous Spanish painter wants to show you something, you look.

The girls behind the lens.

So, since the profile page limited our "about us" info to 1200 words, we're definitely going to need to elaborate a bit on our page. If you haven't deducted this already, you soon will, Becky and I are quite the talkers. You could say we like the sound of our own voices, or in this case, the sight of our own text? Anyway, here's a little window into who we are:

Mission Statement:
to engage in a comprehensive analysis of the relationships among design practices and their relevance in today’s culture.

Goals:
1. draw larger ideas from common daily interactions with design
2. view and experience design through a wide, inclusive lens
3. highlight design’s relevance to today’s cultural trends in a way that is accessible without compromising content
4. appreciate the sociological affects of design on our environment, and vice versa
5. recognize the complexity of design and raise awareness of its importance
6. challenge both authors and audience to view design and culture in new and unexpected ways

Target Audience:
Anyone with a love for design and a desire to , professional designers, design students, artists, and hipsters, urban and non-urban alike.

Subject Matter and Inspiration Sources:
interior design, architecture, graphic design, fashion, art, museums, local music scene, tv/film, media, current events, nature, urbanity, technological trends, color trends, textiles, lit., design research, theory, sociology, and culture.

Becky:
I shocked all my high school teachers when I told them I was going to Washington State University for a degree in interior design. I was in advanced calculus, advanced biology, advanced English, basically every dorky teacher’s-pet-class that would take me.Which was all of them. Plus, I’m about the least emotional girl you will ever meet (I have never cried when Bambi’s mother dies; how soulless is that?!). Design was not the obvious choice for me. To my chagrin, it’s often regarded a subjective, frivolous hobby. Let me knock that down right now: while a large chunk of design is intuition, the much larger portion is reason, logic, and facts. That’s my territory. The best design is rooted in logic, but executed intuitively, and that perfect storm of brain exercise is what makes it my intellectual cocaine. I have worked in residential interior design, but since that industry is controlled by clients like Nazis in France (oh yeah, I took advanced history, too), I cannot wait for the free range that this blog offers me to experience the avante garde. I plan on getting really weird with it.
Side note: Throughout our time here on this blog, I will do my best not to swear. Please note that this is very difficult for me, and I can promise you I will do it anyway from time to time. Try not to scold me. No one likes a prude.

Anna:
Well, I should start by establishing with you all that I may be a bit more on the “emotional side” in my design critiques and observations than my rock solid intellectual counterpart. Although I do love a hearty theoretical debate, my raw emotions come out to play quite often. I have always been an overly expressive individual. As a child I was often ignored while I threw tantrums until I could “get my emotions under control.” Clearly, I have always had a flare for the dramatic. It took me a while to realize what I wanted to do with this. Growing up I thought I wanted to be a doctor because, well, that’s what smart people do, right? It wasn’t until my sophomore year of high school that I realized, I can do anything, why not something I enjoy? (my optimistic, whimsical outlook on life, nauseating isn’t it?) And that’s when I began to fall in love with the world of the arts. I studied Interior Design in college (grad and undergrad) and focused my emphasis on fine arts, art history and sociology. I am IN LOVE with anything design related particularly when it has a clear impact on sociology and/or culture. What I’m all about: Inspiration, Conceptual Thinking, Visual Communication, Brand Identity, Innovation, Analyzing, and Social Networking.

Both of us:
We met in our sophomore year of college (in interior design studio) and were friendly immediately. While over the years since we have been classmates, friends, and coworkers, what always seemed to magnetize us together was that we are in many ways perfect opposites. We each recognize and respect each other’s contrasting viewpoint and process, which has resulted in a perfect soundboard for design and life. Because all great design comes from the graceful resolution of conflict, contrary minds are essential to create a truly successful design conversation.

Or we’re both too lazy to do an entire blog by ourselves. You be the judge.

Why hello there, stranger!

Welcome to our little white box on the web.  We’ll be talking about design as it relates in concept and practice to art, music, fashion, sociology, blah blah blah.  Hopefully you think it’s special, even if we don’t put glitter on it.  Anna and I have been working very hard to cook up a vision for this blog, so if you don’t like it, that would make us both massive failures.  Hear that?  Our success as human beings depends entirely on your approval of our blog.

Just kidding.  We don’t care.  In fact, we’re just kind of excited you even found us.  If you like what we say, that’s solid; feel free to let us know.  If you think we’re borderline retarded, a threat to the American way, or probable glue sniffers, we’d prefer you keep the negativity to a minimum.  However, definitely comment to (respectfully) disagree.  Heck, you might even supply our next discussion topic by being the jerk who tells us we’re wrong!  How fun is that, irritating know-it-all-guy?!

Anyway.  Read it.  We have lots of thinky-thoughts about all kinds of design topics.  Comment.  Now that you’ve read this, you’re part of this, and we want to know you’re there.  And never forget to wash behind your ears.  That’s just good hygiene.

--Becky