Marcel's blog

Definitions

"Ornament"

1. an accessory, article, or detail used to beautify the appearance of something to which it is added or of which it is a part: architectural ornaments.

2. a system, category, or style of such objects or features; ornamentation: a book on Gothic ornament.

3. any adornment or means of adornment.

4. a person or thing that adds to the credit or glory of a society, era, etc.

5. the act of adorning.

6. the state of being adorned.

7. mere outward display: a speech more of ornament than of ideas.

8. Chiefly Ecclesiastical. any accessory, adjunct, or equipment.

9. Music. a tone or group of tones applied as decoration to a principal melodic tone.

"Adorn"

1. to decorate or add beauty to, as by ornaments: garlands of flowers adorning their hair.

2.     to make more pleasing, attractive, impressive, etc.; enhance: Piety adorned Abigail's character.

Ornament One

- Rick Owens, "Evolution"

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From fashion design to furniture, Rick Owens has made a successful transition through his latest line of sofas, chairs and lighting, titled "Evolution." The works are made up of seemingly modern and trendy materials such as concrete, plywood, fiberglass and cashmere, along with an unusual combination of bone and resin.

Looking at the chairs in particular, they seem to be made up of two parts. The bulk of the chair has been constructed using the more modern-day materials in a very minimalist style. The style and materials relate to each other, as they are both of a rather current and trendy approach. Minimalism is an art movement in which the subject is to avoid making any representation other than that of it’s own self, while thriving on simplicity in both content and form. Some say this is art, I say it’s far too convenient for both the maker and the admirer to call it anything but ornamentation. The maker has to try their very best to put absolutely no idea, no complexity, and no depth in their work what so ever, while the viewer gets away with applying no thought and appreciating the absolute nothingness that it stands for. To me the minimalist approach is something everyone can identify and appreciate on some level, adding an aesthetic appeal and thus being ornamentation.

Rick2

“Antlers and bones are sometimes included, flying from the corner of a chair as if hinting at archaic, subconscious narratives and dreams” (Rose Etherington describes, of Dezeen.com). Just like I argued the minimalist approach was that of an ornamental matter, I could imagine individuals expressing the same idea towards these (what Owens describes his influences as) “Biblical, Brutalist, Bauhaus and Bakersfield” forms. An instant image of a keen hunter’s prize room comes into mind… A thick coating of heads, tusks and antlers decorating the otherwise plain, canvas-like walls. In both situations of the “prize room” and Owens’s chairs, I personally see more of an offense through the removal of the animal from its natural context (Not to mention at the expense of its life!), for the sake of our own selfish comforts or aesthetic values. Other’s may see it simply as a display of accomplishment and pride, or even more simply… purely as a couple of ornaments for around the house.

A useful site on Rick Owen's work... Click here

Bibliography

NP. “Art Movements: Minimalism.” April 13th, 2009 at 2:00 pm

http://www.artistportfolio.net/blog/minimalism.htm

“Minimalism”

http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/m/minimalism.html

“Avant-garde.” 9 August 2009 at 17:54

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avant-garde

“Avant-garde.”

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/avant-garde

“Ornament.”

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/ornament

“Adorn.”

http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/adorn

“Dezeen – Design Magazine”

Rick Owens

Design, Furniture, all.

Thursday, August 6th, 2009 at 10:48 am

Posted by Rose Etherington

http://www.dezeen.com/2009/08/06/evolution-by-rick-owens/