The Meaning of Objects

Meaning is an interpretive quality. The meaning of objects is derived in originality from societal ideals. As an Industrial designer designs an object he or she may try to change the meaning of an object but ultimately the meaning of something is up to interpretation.

This idea of instilling meaning into one’s work is very prevalent in painting. For example Chris Ofili’s The Virgin Mary created quite a controversy when it was displayed at the Brooklyn Museum of Art. “A very black woman cloaked in a stippled, Prussian-blue robe hovers over an intricate golden ground of enamel dots and glitter. Her mantle is open to reveal a black breast made of elephant dung and festooned with pins. The painting rests on two clumps of dung; one is decorated with the word Virgin, the other with the word Mary” (Saltz).

In western civilization, Ofili’s use of dung is seen as outrageous and disrespectful because western society has a different view on cow poop; it is seen as unsanitary and dirty. And so associating poop with the Virgin Mary is seen as a blasphemous act. In many African communities cow dung is sacred. The Masai people of Kenya, Africa use cow dung to build their homes, to clean their hair, and moisturize their skin. The cow is the basis of their lively hood and therefore held in high regards.

I believe that as a designer we can try to change or alter pre-existing meanings of objects within our societal constraints. However there is most often pre-existing meaning attached to objects or the users use of an object. I think that as designers we can design the interaction between a user and between an object or interface such as a game remote, or the interface on a phone. The touch screen interface on the iphone completely changed how people interact with a cellular device. Instead of pressing a green call button to answer your phone you slide your finger across the bottom of the touch screen. Aside from a person’s physical interaction and behavior with an object it is hard to judge whether or not as designers we can control how a person acts or how a person reacts towards an object. Not all people have the same background so not all people will react in the same manor.

There are some basic ideals we can base our designs off of. Many colors have emotional associations that are part of our societal construct. Red is the color of passion and love, it also is related to danger. Green Is related to nature and wellbeing, as well as wealth. Purple is related to royalty which tradition dates it back to roman times. White represents purity and cleanliness where as black represents death, as well as elegance and sophistication. We can use the ideals of emotional color theory and apply them to our designs to try and portray meaning behind an object. I still stand to say the ultimate impression of an object on a person cannot be fully controlled by the designer, but rather guided.

http://www.artnet.com/magazine_pre2000/features/saltz/saltz10-08-99a.asp