Paris Hilton as the 21st-century zeitgeist of America

When it comes to summing up the status quo of the present-day, the word “trend” or “mainstream” may come to mind. However, the Germans had originally devised the word, “zeitgeist,” which is defined as the general sociocultural tone of an era, or “the spirit of the times.” Imagine American society decades or centuries from now. What would be the zeitgeist of today’s American society? Although many things can fit as an appropriate answer to this question, there is one single object (or in this case, person) that can, unfortunately, represent America’s present-day society: Paris Hilton. The American socialite probably appears just as often in the news as any other concern of today’s society such as international warfare/terrorism, epidemic diseases or environmental issues. More likely than not, the image of Paris Hilton will live on even centuries later from now because the heiress so easily portrays the supposed highlight of present-day America: consumerism.

The concept of “zeitgeist,” is constantly changing – making it quite similar to design. Design is constantly changing, and the change is based on how previous design has been effective or ineffective in society. For example, with today’s society’s increased awareness of people’s physical handicaps and disabilities – at least compared to the level of awareness that was present a century ago – designers have since altered designed items that were once only adaptable towards the non-handicapped population. For example, what was once a normal stairway in a train station [see left image below], is now a revamped and improved design of a stairway/ramp that is accessible for any person – handicapped or not.

(Left: Personal photo)
(Right: http://gtrcontracting.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/fail-owned-stairway-fail1-150x150.jpg)

All designs, like zeitgeists, hold places in history where future designers can refer to, learn from, and even improve. If Paris Hilton’s position in the zeitgeist of American society could be portrayed as an object in the history of design, Ms Hilton would be comparable to the design of a stairway that heads directly into a wall [see right image above].

How do you measure...

…the value of value?

(Links to picture source)

The award-winning musical Broadway show (and later-made movie), RENT, greatly depends on the concept of value to portray its story and set its theme. RENT contains a deeply moving storyline by touching on sensitive and taboo subjects such as AIDS, gay relationships and drug addiction. With such powerful subjects, the role that value – the amounts of lightness and darkness – plays in the performance/movie are essential to highlighting RENT’s thematic moments. For example, in the opening scene, the actors/actresses are situated in a line on a darkened stage, with each character illuminated in his/her own individual ray of spotlight. It is during this scene when the song, “Seasons of Love” is sung, and the question, “How do you measure, a year in a life?” is raised.

The value contrast in this particular scene stirs up a sense of sincere humanity – with all focus and emphasis placed on the characters who sing about how life is fragile and how a person is never guaranteed to live through another day. The scene is especially powerfully moving when there is a blackout – when all lights are extinguished onstage – at the end of the song.

The art of quilting.

Although quilts are often associated with adorning the walls of family’s homes or lying neatly folded at the foot of people’s beds, the fabricating of quilts actually has a deeper history that is often overlooked. In the Nelson Gallery on U.C. Davis’ campus, the African American Quilts (the Sandra McPherson Collection and the Avis C. Robinson Collection) exhibit is currently on display. Here, viewers can stroll through the room and view the variety of quilts that all hold their own unique stories behind their creations. Back during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, African American women worked double shifts – plowing in the fields during the day, and making quilts for their families at night. Needlework, such as quilting, was the main way for African American women to express themselves aesthetically at the time. This history alone emphasizes the significance that lies within the stitches of quilting masterpieces, such as those on display in the Nelson Gallery, or even the quilts that do currently adorn living room walls and people’s beds.

Since new fabric was not readily accessible during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, African American women would use old pieces of clothing, bedding and flour sacks to make their quilts. One of the quilts featured in the Nelson Gallery portrayed this concept of using scraps for quilting. In the piece titled, “Annie’s Blue Jeans” [photo below], the quilt consisted of scraps of old blue jeans, tapestry fabric, cotton fabric, and hand-dyed cotton corduroy.

(Personal photo)

Although “Annie’s Blue Jeans” was actually made in 2007, the use of scraps allowed it to take on the appearance of the quilting style from the nineteenth and twentieth centuries. Also, the quilt’s sharp, straightforward and blunt rhythm is seen through the pattern of squares within more squares, and the quilt’s blue hued theme added to its overall cold appearance. Similar to the rhythm and pattern of a bulls-eye target, this quilt’s layout draws the viewer from the outside edges, straight into the center.

Unlike the design of “Annie’s Blue Jeans,” the pattern and rhythm found in another particular quilt from the gallery was quite different. In Rosa Ella Kincaid’s quilt [photo below], which lacked a title, there was not a pattern and rhythm that were as straightforward and obvious as the pattern and rhythm found in “Annie’s Blue Jeans.”

(Personal photo)

The rhythm in Kincaid’s quilt was less clear, but there were still obvious patterns in the repetition of figures on the quilt. By relying on gestalt principles, viewers can make out the repeating figures that resemble women in bonnets, cottages and grass fields. Also, the use of pink and beige color tones gave the quilt a warm appeal. Kincaid was born in 1886, meaning that this quilt was made during the twentieth century. Again, in contrast to “Annie’s Blue Jeans,” Kincaid’s quilt was not designed in the same organized fashion.

According to the words of Sigmund Freud...

Imagine walking down the sidewalk on your typical morning route to work. The average chalk drawings of elementary school students – smiley faces, butterflies and rainbows – are spotted along the ground. However, suddenly, out of nowhere, a gigantic hole is discovered in the sidewalk – a hole that seems to drop straight down into another world.

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Peering down into the hole in the sidewalk through the bird’s-eye view allows the new world below to be seen from a perspective with great depth. However, after peering even closer, the realization hits that this hole in the sidewalk is just a mere chalk drawing – drawn with the technique of spacial illusion.

While on the topic of illusion, design can also incorporate the illusion of motion into works of art. Why else would people continue to pay a rip-off fee to use photo booths at carnivals and amusement parks? Photo booths offer customers what normal cameras cannot: the mystifying illusion of multiple images.

(Links to picture source)

As seen in the multiple images set of American socialite, Edie Sedgwick [see image above], a sense of movement is captured when the multiple images of her different facial expressions are placed together. The movement is captured like the movement from an old-fashioned flipbook as viewers scan from one image to the next.

Like the illusion of space, the illusion of movement may be a natural sensation for people to experience because it helps make perceiving design in creative and more appealing ways. As psychoanalyst, Sigmund Freud, once stated, “Illusions commend themselves to us because they save us pain and allow us to enjoy pleasure instead. We must therefore accept it without complaint when they sometimes collide with a bit of reality against which they are dashed to pieces.”

Is balance a natural phenomenon?

In nature, balance and symmetry can easily be found almost everywhere – in the wings of a butterfly, in a sunflower, and even in the face structures of people. It is a known fact that people have a natural tendency to be attracted to people who have symmetrically balanced looking faces. On a deeper level, symmetry in appearances represents genetic fitness. Similar to people’s tendency to recognize patterns with the gestalt theory, people are also naturally registered to not only recognize, but to favor symmetry in their surroundings. This could explain why the more physically attractive crowd are often more regularly unavailable in the dating pool, why physical birth defects are regularly looked down upon by society and why the figure on the left in the picture below is more appealing to the eye for no logical reason.

(Links to image source)

Like any other design concepts, the idea of symmetrical balance has had its highlighted moments in history, along with its low moments as well. Examples of symmetrical balance at its finest were often found in architecture from centuries ago. Although examples of unsymmetrical balance in architecture have also been applauded in history, the concept of symmetrical balance still holds a spot of favor in people’s normal perceptions of design thanks to human nature.