Field Trip

1.     The theme was Action/Reaction.  The exhibition had a variety of categories: industrial design, fashion, graphic, transportation, and architecture, but each piece was united by the concept of sustainability.  I found the theme to be highly relevant because sustainability has a huge impact on all of our lives. 

2.     Yes, the designs expressed current economic, political, and environmental challenges in various creative, inspiring ways.  The materials used, the messages emitted, and the purposes of the pieces showed viewers a new way of recognizing and reacting to the sustainability issues we all have to deal with. For example, one curator used recycled vinyl from billboards to create fashionable hobo bags.  There has been a trend taking off toward the use of more eco-friendly fashion pieces.  By recycling materials to create something new, attractive, and useful, we can help make the world a better place.

3.     I think that the eco-friendly car ad made from plants best captured the exhibition’s theme.  Gas-guzzling automobiles have a huge impact on the world’s environmental, political, and economic challenges.  This piece presents the transportation trend for more eco-friendly cars in a more eco-friendly channel for advertising.  The more economical, eco-friendly car is pictured using plants to create a design.

4.     I found the most interesting piece to be Tanya Aguiniga’s furniture piece, the felt chairs.  She challenged the coldness of recent industrial design trends by covering the usually harsh, stone cold, foldable metal chairs with her handmade felt in different colors.

5.     The least compelling piece was the new water bottle design.  I had broken my water bottle (remember, my favorite design object!), so I was so excited to come across a new water bottle design to potentially buy.  The description did a great job selling the bottle, but when it came to the actual product, I was not impressed.  The side-notes said that the design would make you want to drink more water, was easy to carry, great to sip from, and more.  I then found the bottle in the gift shop.  Not only were the $30, but they were heavy, hard to hold, it was difficult to open the caps, and they were hard to sip from.  I think the goal of the design was definitely not achieved.

6.     I love it! I think the different design categories came together into a dynamic message.  So many concepts can be associated with sustainability and the different design categories gave the museum an opportunity to present these themes in many different ways!