Illustration: Elaine Carstairs: Filigree circle vessel using a mixture of crochet, metal and sculptural perspective.
It is interesting to note the number of consummate multi-disciplinarians that were a common feature of nineteenth and early twentieth century design, whether in the decorative or more formal arts, such as architecture. Individual design careers often spanned architecture, textiles, ceramics, glass, jewellery and many others including book decoration, furniture, fashion and theatre design. Many of these multi-disciplined designers had no formal training outside of their chosen career, but in many respects the lack of formal training had little effect on the results, as intrinsic design skills were what really mattered, and could be used largely irrespective of the discipline.
There is no conceivable reason why a designer should not be able to cross over into a number of areas, depending of course on the innate skill of that designer. A number of designers could equally work well in textiles, jewellery, ceramics or glass and even though they may have some element of formal training in one discipline only, what they bring to another is always intriguing and creatively dynamic, taking the discipline in a direction that may not have been foreseen by those directly trained within that speciality.
Likewise, there is no conceivable reason why a designer should not be able to cross the line between design and fine art, many in fact do. Admittedly, much depends on the aesthetics of the individual designer and their career path. Those who necessarily have a craft or bespoke background may well find the transition between design and fine art an easier one than say that of an industrial designer. However, as with life this cannot be seen as a standard rule for everyone and there are always exceptions to the case.
Today we tend to live in a much more constricted and contained world, where a single-disciplined environment is seen as the norm. Although there is still a certain amount of latitude between disciplines in the design world, single-disciplinary professionalism is still seen by many colleges and schools of art for example, as the norm, although admittedly things are changing. However, as a culture we do seem still insistent on minutely observing the single-purpose individual, that person that can do one task well and only that one task. We seem not to revel in the multi-tasker or multi-disciplined individual even though we purport to. Most artists and designers are still portrayed as single discipline individuals and there is a significant contemporary trend which seems to be following a course in which single disciplines are being broken down into ever more specialised areas so that the mono-focus becomes so acute that there is a danger of creative people being ghettoised within disciplines.
A designer should be classed as that, a designer first, their trained discipline second. Therefore a ceramics designer should conceivably be able to design a rug, and a textile designer to design jewellery, and so on. Admittedly, some design disciplines are technically specific, not many jewellers would perhaps be willing to take on car or aircraft design, but within the disciplines that are usually associated with the decorative arts there really should be little to hold back a good competent and creatively inquisitive designer from expanding on their trained discipline.
The cross-discipline or multi-media artist is an even more interesting concept, as this is an individual that sees no real boundaries to creativity. They are an artist or craftsperson first before any specific discipline. If for example they have been trained within the textile world, bringing elements of ceramics, glass and jewellery into textiles brings a sense of dynamism to the subject. Equally, entering another discipline but taking the textile experience with them, can add immensely to that subject. There is no real barrier to this type of artist bar the one of practical experience which they tend to scale with ease. It is the expansive nature of creative inquisitiveness and willingness to experiment that really drives the cross-disciplined multi-media artist.
The cross-fertilization of disciplines always needs to be encouraged, no matter what the barriers thrown up, whether they be of tradition, peer pressure, or simply fear of the unknown. If an artist or designer wishes to explore another discipline, or perhaps wants to expand therir creativity in another direction, this should not be seen as an intrusion into another world, but as yet another thread of connectivity between disciplines and adding, rather than subtracting from the whole. We live on a multi-dimensional, multi-cultural and multi-creative planet, that the arts, crafts and design should be included within this multi-framework is a necessity rather than an addition to the norm.
The illustration used for this article was kindly supplied by the cross-discipline mixed-media artist Elaine Carstairs. More examples of Elaine's work can be found at - La Belle Helene.
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