I was recently asked to host a design-related symposium together with a friend, an art director. When inquiring about the concept, I learned that a certain urban development firm was contracted for the redevelopment of a certain big city’s harbor area, and one of the ideas that surfaced was a concept of "urban vitalization through design". The persons in charge were highly motivated, and even talked about making the area a hub for the Asian region. The symposium was supposed to be some kind of kick-off event to launch this large-scale project.
Next I was presented with a written outline of the project, and a list of suggested participants in the symposium. The latter emphasized again how ambitious the whole thing was, as it contained not a single "old master", but such individuals as an independent advertising director who is known for his innovative work, the president of a printing company that produces an experimental publication, and a handful of pioneering creators from the imagery and graphic design fields. They are all trailblazers of contemporary Japanese design who have been enriching the business with fresh new elements. I was deeply impressed and pleased with the selection.
But wait. Something is missing. After staring at the list of names for a minute, I noticed that, although those people were talking about the "Asian region", all panelists they planned to invite were Japanese. "Urban vitalization through design" or "countries built on design" are phenomena of a global trend, and in European and other countries around the globe there are several projects like this one underway. Thanks supposedly to the success of the former colonial power’s "Design UK" project, similar projects have been launched among others in Hong Kong and Singapore. Upon realizing this, I tried to collect the pieces of my fragmentary memory.
The most glamorous current project is probably Hong Kong "West Kowloon Cultural District Project", in which the district’s waterfront area is being developed according to the plans of prominent British architect Norman Foster until 2010. The concept is reportedly to "gather together art, culture and entertainment", whereas "art" in Hong Kong has been used synonymously with "design". I mentioned previously (in vol. 105 of this column) that I attended the "What’s Good Conference" in January 2005. The Hong Kongers are showing particularly great interest in design, and participants in this conference included such illustrious names as Groovisions, Sato Kashiwa, Droog Design, Peter Saville (UK), and many others.
The big cities in mainland China — especially Shanghai — keep importing design from abroad ravenously, and according to Harada Yukiko, the coordinator for volume 10 of "ART iT" magazine (Chinese art special) in Shanghai, people on the mainland are rather indifferent to visual presentation, and talented designers and producers are few. In order to fill this gap, art direction jobs are apparently often consigned to specialists in Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Europe or the United States. For the same issue of ART iT, Harada-san interviewed a Hong Kong-born urban development producer who was in charge of the city’s new hot spot, "Xintiandi". In the interview he explained that many creators from overseas are forming communities with the idea in mind to mature design in Shanghai. The theme of this year’s Shanghai Biennale, by the way, is "Hyper Design".
In Anyang, quite close to Seoul, there is the DNA project aiming at — guess — urban vitalization through design. There will be a string of lectures happening between April and June, and later in the fall also workshops and symposia. The project name is an abbreviation of "Design Network Asia", which hints at the project’s wish to establish a nodel point in the Asian design scene. In fact, in this age of globalization, no kind of artistic activity has a future without such a network.
Once I remembered some of what is presently going on in Asia, talking about "creating a hub for the Asian region" in ignorance of all this seemed to me like Don Quixote fighting windmills. Another thing I remembered was the impression I had when functioning as a scout for the rececnt "Geisai". It was for me an occasion to realize once again that most young artists are lacking originality, however I knew that before so it didn't matter. What did matter was to witness how a lot of artists were unknowingly imitating things that creators from other countries had been making long before them. To say "imitate" is not quite right here because they didn't know the originals they were copying, but given that those artists are eager to establish themselves in a major art scene with distinct, "original" styles, they're just wasting time, plain and simple. If an artist doesn't check out first what others around are doing, and then determines which way to go himself, all his effort won't be more than a mere ego trip.
In my view the situation is exactly the same for symposia and other "urban vitalization through design" projects. People have to be open and interact with the world around them. That’s the only way how contemporary forms of originality can be achieved. it may be difficult for financial reasons, but I'd like to recommend organizers of symposia to invite panelists from various countries if circumstances allow.
Ozaki Tetsuya / Editor in chief / REALTOKYO