William Morris Wallpaper
Did anyone catch the Mathew Collings programme on saturday night "This is civilisation" ?
I believe it is part of a series and is worth a look .
On saturday he was talking about architecture reflecting the state of the nation / society and put forard a radical argument of Ruskin's that the Renaissance had no shared vision of nature . He saw Gothic architecture as being constructed by craftsmen who were spiritually fulfilled , enjoying their work and being able to express something of themselves into the work wheras in the architecture of the Renaissence the craftsmen were following someone elses plan . The example he chose was of St Marks Square in Venice with the two opposing buildings reflecting this .
He stated that the "fall" in Britain was the Industrial Revolution where people became factory slaves . Ruskin's views had a tremendous impact on artists and society and things we take for granted now like green belts and free schooling were established from the views expressed by Ruskin .Also that his views influenced people like Ghandi , Chairman Mao and the early British Labour Party .
William Morris took on his beliefs and created interior decoration that serves the soul and worked directly from nature to create his designs .
Interesting quotes
"Art connects us to something profound ."
"We are blinded by habit and familiarity ."
"Art challenges the superficial . "
Ruskin said that how a thing is made will affect how you think and feel perhaps this explains modern times and explains the current trend for the representation of nature in design and many artists and designers drawing upon nature for inspiration . It certainly makes me look at architecture in a very different way .
This certainly has a message for all of us as designers . I found it fascinating as it confirms my own beliefs and relates directly to my own work .
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