The MoMA

On thanksgiving break break this year I returned home to New York City and revisited one of my favorite museums: the Museum of Modern Art (MoMA). In addition to featuring temporary exhibits, the MoMA provides a great overview of modern art. I was surprised to find just how present design and elements of design were in the fine art that was featured in the museum.

The MoMA usually features examples of effective and sometimes iconic product designs such as like Gebrüder Thonet's Rocking Chaise with Adjustable Back, or works of graphic design like posters by Jules Chéret. However, I was most interested in viewing the artwork that blurred the lines between art and design, or works that looked like product design but were intended to be viewed and interpreted as art or fine art.

For example, the MoMA featured works by Andy Warhol like his Campbell's Soup Cans and his Brillo Box sculpture. By removing the function for which these designs were intended (through displaying them as works of fine art, rather then a product intended for use) the MoMA brought my attention the the fact that an effective design, in addition to performing a practical function, can be admired as a work of art.

An example of a sculpture by Marcel Duchamp:


Andy Warhol is not the only artist featured in the MoMA who brought my attention to design. Jeff Koons made a sculpture called New Shelton Wet/Dry Doubledecker that presented a vacuum as a work of modern art and Marcel Duchamp produced In advance of a Broken Arm, a sculpture that was essentially an example of a product design (it consisted of a hanging shovel). Even the artist On Kawara presented elements of design in his paintings because he produces paintings of dates. By literally painting the date of a particular day, the artist is not only brought my attention to that day but the text he chose to use in his work.

An example of a painting by On Kawara:


I suppose I like the like the MoMA in part because I think that the museum has a very accepting view of art. This flexible mindset allows the museum to highlight the importance of both fine art and design, and the effect they have on a viewer or user.