On the Relationship between Art Design and Arts and Crafts in China (I)

Abstract: By reviewing the evolution of Chinese arts and crafts and modern and contemporary design, the dialectical relationship between contemporary Chinese art design and traditional arts and crafts was revealed. The limitations of traditional arts and crafts history were understood. The purpose was to further deepen the idea of ​​ancient Chinese art design. Research focused on the inheritance and protection of traditional arts and crafts.

Keywords: art design arts and crafts relationship

If we use the “Bauhaus” school established in the German town of Weimar in 1919 as a symbol of the birth of modern design education, then the formal art and design education has been developed in the West from Bauhaus for almost 100 years. Just in the year when Bauhaus was established, the "May 4th Movement" broke out in China. After that, with the spread of new cultural movements, new ideas and new ideas, the concept of modern design began to spread to China. China’s design education has gone through the process of “pattern”, “art crafts”, “utility art”, “industrial art”, “arts and crafts” and “art design”.

First, Chinese Arts and Crafts

Before 1840

In ancient China, there was a name for "craft". At that time, "craft" was a combination of multiple meanings such as "work" (artisan, production) and "art" (talent, skill). As early as the Northern Song Dynasty Li Fang (925-996) and other compilation of one of the four major books, the encyclopedia of the nature of the book "Tai Ping Yu Lan" in the "process department", "the Ministry of objects", "boat department", "car Departments, treasure departments, and other categories are undoubtedly technical categories. The word "craft" was also recorded in the Northern Song Dynasty Ouyang Xiu (1007 - 1072) (New Tang Book Gurard Biography): "The father adjoins, and is the little prisoner in the palace. This is the process." Obviously, this "craft" one The word is different from the concept of Chinese modern arts and crafts.

184o-1911

Zhang Zhidong, one of the representatives of the Westernization School in l902 (28th year of the Qing dynasty)
(1837-1909) played "Sanjiang Normal School" (now the predecessor of Southeast University),
In 1905, "Sanjiang Normal School" was renamed as "Two River Superior Normal School" by the Qing court.
In l906, "Two Rivers Normal" officially established the drawing and handicraft department. As a result, "Two Rivers Teacher" became the earliest university in China to establish a normal college of fine arts. At that time, foreign studies and equipment paintings (such as today's professional basic courses in drawing, color, and descriptive geometry, etc.) were mainly taught by the Japanese and were influenced to a certain extent by Japanese early art education. (For the history of Japan, see The author published in "Decoration" in the sixth issue of 2002, "A brief history of Japanese design during World War II", not much to say here).

1911-1949.

With the victory of the Revolution of 1911, the demise of the feudal monarchy, and the civil war of successive years thereafter, Chinese traditional handicrafts have entered the low point of development. However, art education has not stopped as people imagined. In particular, after the May 4th Movement, Chinese intellectuals proposed the slogan of saving the country with aesthetic education, as written by Mr. Yu Jianhua (1887-1936), a famous art history writer, in his 1920 monograph on the “Latest Pattern Law” monograph. : "The word "Design" has recently sprouted in my country, but it is not yet very clear that people understand their significance and painting techniques. The people want to develop industries and improve their manufacturing products to compete with the East and the West. Pay attention to the fact that there is no delay! Up to the arts and crafts, if you use a device, you must first have a pattern of the object, and the craft and pattern must not be separated.” 9 years after the art educator Chen Zhifo (1896-1962) The author of “Oriental Magazine” stated that “in terms of the essence of arts and crafts, arts and crafts are by no means the same as antiques.” Industrial products are indirect or direct concern for the lives of human beings. Their purpose is for human life. The craftsmanship is a combination of the two elements of art and industry, with the purpose of human life upbringing, so craftsmanship is an element that adapts to human daily life - 'practical' And while acting 'Art' fused to an industrial activity. "[51 visible, arts and crafts in today's concept of time is referred to as" pattern "," art technology "," practical art. "

1949-1956

On July 10, 1949, Wen Wei Po published a draft of the "Tsinghua University's Construction System Academic System and Academic Program Plan" written by Liang Sicheng: "Industrial Art Studies Department - Numerous articles in the physical environment, from a knife, a Kettle, a textile, a chair, a table... even a car, a train, a ship... the design of its beauty... On the other hand, there are many in our country It is worth advocating craftsmanship, but at the same time it must increase its artistic level." This period saw the emergence of "industrial art".

1956-1978.

In 1956, the Central Academy of Arts and Design was independent from the Department of Patterns of the Central Academy of Fine Arts, which marked the establishment of China’s first high-level institution for arts and crafts, and became the first comprehensive and multi-disciplinary arts and crafts institution in China. . Subsequently, local art academies and universities across the country successively set up arts and crafts departments or majors, such as Zhejiang Academy of Fine Arts, Sichuan Academy of Fine Arts, Guangzhou Academy of Fine Arts, and Nanjing University of Arts. At the same time, China has successively established a number of secondary arts and crafts specialties and technical schools to form a teaching system that integrates education in higher art schools, education in secondary arts and craft schools, and various forms of professional education for employees and vocational education. Specific professional direction of ceramics, dyeing, lacquer art, decoration and so on. After the 1950s, there was also the "opening of the arts and crafts service department throughout the country." The concept of “arts and crafts” recognized by the academic community today is formally established during this period -B, -t.

Since l978

After the Third Plenary Session of the Eleventh Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party in 1978, due to the need for economic construction, engineering colleges such as Hunan University took the lead in setting up the corresponding institutes in China in the late 1970s, and established industrial design majors in the early 1980s. In 1987, the China Industrial Design Association was established. Afterwards, in the winter of 1995, a “National Symposium on Design Art Theory” was held in Guangzhou. In 1998, the title of “Art Design” appeared for the first time in the undergraduate professional catalogue issued by the Ministry of Education. During this period, the Arts and Crafts Department of the National Art Institute In teaching thinking, we began to move closer to "art design" and successively renamed the discipline as art design.

In other words, in the 19th century of the 20th century, we really established the discipline name “art design” that is different from “arts and crafts”. This change is silently proceeding

Second, Chinese art design

Art design is a new compound word. Combining art and design into one is a product that combines Chinese national conditions and Chinese context. After fully understanding the background and principles of modern design, a compound word that can better explain and convey Western Design, I thought Basically it still reflects the ideas of its ancestor Bauhaus Design School. From the very beginning, "Bauhaus" incorporated artistic factors into the entire structure of the design education system, making art and design an inseparable organism. Art design, through the design of a creative man-made thing, beautifies and enriches people's lives and influences people's lifestyle (Liu Guan Chinese). It is a creation activity that integrates matter and spirit, science and art (Li Yu-zu).

Quintilian, a Roman rhetoricist in the 1st century AD, divided art into three categories. The first category was "theory of art", such as astronomy; the second category was "art of action", such as dance. The third category is the "art of the product", that is, the art of producing finished products through certain skills. Therefore, this third category of "art of products" is closer to the meaning of our current artistic design. The art of ancient Greek (Texvn,) is a form of specialization, such as carpentry. The English art (Art) and the German art (Kunst) also represent a learnable rather than an instinctive skill and special talent. Over 3,000 years ago, China had already had the concept of "art" and "art" was defined as a compulsory subject for "shishi". For example, the ancient "six arts" refer to ritual (courtesy), music (music), and shooting (martial arts). ), Imperial (equestrianism), books (calligraphy), number (arithmetic) and other six kinds of skills. Therefore, the 'art' in ancient Chinese also contains the similar semantics of English Art, which contains the concepts of skills and talents. Therefore, in a nutshell, the basic meaning of the word art is skill and means. The concept of "Design" originated during the Italian Renaissance. Its original meaning was to sketch and paint, and the meaning of the development from design to later became broader. It also contained creative thinking in the mind of the artist. In the “Advanced Chinese Dictionary”, this explains “design”: “In accordance with the purpose and requirements of the task, pre-determined the work plan and plan, and draw a pattern specially designed for solving this problem.” So Mr. Zhang Daoyi said : "If you literally teach, design is the 'idea' and 'plan'. Mr. Liu Guanzhong further believes that “design is a kind of creative behavior and creates a more reasonable survival (usage) method”.

The author believes that "art design" is a compound word formed by combining the Western modern design concept with the actual situation of China's current professional background. It reflects the status quo of China's disciplines to a certain extent, and can unify industrial design in the past. Interior design, packaging design, apparel design, print advertising, and today's information media, etc. If, as in the West, only the word “Dizain” is used in Design, it is bound to be confused with the “design” concepts of architecture, mechanics, and other engineering. Therefore, the term “art design” is currently the most appropriate expression method that can solve problems. Of course, we must also see that the development of disciplines is a development. As an discipline, “art design” is an organism, and it also has the laws of being born, grown, matured, and extinct as any natural organism. Regarding the struggle for the "surname" of this organism, I think it is only a symbol, and there is no need to brush up on this. When we understand the process of the creation and development of this organism, we will not be confused by the appearance of its “surname”. Between art design and arts and crafts, although it is a product of different stages of an organism, it has branded the intellectual traces of several generations of intellectuals. It is worth comparing and combing the relationship between the two.