Journal Interrobang's Journal: Mondrian and My Sewing Machine 10
(Yes, this is another one of Interrobang's musings which requires a smattering of art history knowledge. Don't worry; I'll hyperlink.)
Gentle readers, have I ever told you how much I despise Piet Mondrian? Villainous Piet is everything that's wrong with modern design, singlehandedly. I am convinced of this less-than-salutary fact, thanks to getting stuck doing an art history project on him in OAC (Grade XIII)* art class.
I mean, not only did the man do something like 23 nearly identical paintings of the same tree (think Monet's Rouen cathedral paintings, only a lot less interesting), but he also turned his "Victorian man of sensitivity" turned "twentieth-century technologist" sensibility to influencing architecture, which eventually culminated in the "brick boxes" building style. Industry, of course, loved it, because brick boxes are cheap and easy to design and build, but those of us with even rudimentary senses of aesthetics (well, those that don't run to antiseptic and the extremes of form-follows-function, anyway) find it ugly and unappealing.
Well, let me hedge a bit: I agree with form-follows-function and don't get into the extremes on the other end (think Danish Modern), but there are limits. The devil, as they say, is in the details, and the details make the design. Adding a few "designer details" to a design doesn't necessarily compromise its utility any, but it can make all the difference...which brings me to my sewing machine.
I have an old black Singer machine. Its similar to the one shown here, but not exactly the same. Pretty close, though. Even though it's also about as functional as one could want (although I wish I could find some documentation so I'd know for sure how to get the shuttle to pick up the bobbin thread), it's also pretty. Hell, no. Scrap that. It's damned beautiful.
The arm that holds the head has aesthetically-pleasing curves to it; it's got gold-painted detailing and hand-carved fonts on it, with swoops and curlicues; the head is capped with a silver metal plate embossed with rococco designs; and every component was designed to not only look nice, but also function well (and it does function well, all things considered).
A Short Aside on the "All Things Considered": For those who do not sew, sewing machines are notoriously tempermental, quirky, and recalcitrant beasts, prone to having their own idiosyncracies and foibles. They're not quite as bad as sergers, but close. Each sewing machine has its own "personality traits." Every sewing machine has its problems (I haven't yet met one that didn't), which does not negate their functionality; it merely qualifies it a little.
Still, for some strange and intangible reason, I'd rather sit there and fight with my old black Singer (which doesn't mind sewing through four layers of canvas, but complains a little about two of cotton, at least in the tension department) than sit there and fight with some ignoble plastic sewing machine jobbie I picked up at Wal-Mart-or-designated-equivalent (since I don't shop at Wal-Mart).
At least the aesthetics are better, and damn that Mondrian for taking all the craftsmanship and artisanry out of the technicianship. Thanks to him, we live in a world of brick boxes, unadorned sewing machines...
...and unabashed Luddites like myself.
* No, that's not a typo. I really did do (as did everyone from Ontario up until this year) 5 years of high school.
Unrelated Addendum: Ok, I swore to myself that I wouldn't post any more Judaica for a while, but if you are at all interested in the subject, go read the blog (!) of the Hasidic Rebel. His prose style (remarkable, I am told, for a Hasid) is so sweet I would be in the throes of grinding envy, were I prone to such things. Alas, I'm too inspired by HR to feel anything as crass as envy right now.
Gentle readers, have I ever told you how much I despise Piet Mondrian? Villainous Piet is everything that's wrong with modern design, singlehandedly. I am convinced of this less-than-salutary fact, thanks to getting stuck doing an art history project on him in OAC (Grade XIII)* art class.
I mean, not only did the man do something like 23 nearly identical paintings of the same tree (think Monet's Rouen cathedral paintings, only a lot less interesting), but he also turned his "Victorian man of sensitivity" turned "twentieth-century technologist" sensibility to influencing architecture, which eventually culminated in the "brick boxes" building style. Industry, of course, loved it, because brick boxes are cheap and easy to design and build, but those of us with even rudimentary senses of aesthetics (well, those that don't run to antiseptic and the extremes of form-follows-function, anyway) find it ugly and unappealing.
Well, let me hedge a bit: I agree with form-follows-function and don't get into the extremes on the other end (think Danish Modern), but there are limits. The devil, as they say, is in the details, and the details make the design. Adding a few "designer details" to a design doesn't necessarily compromise its utility any, but it can make all the difference...which brings me to my sewing machine.
I have an old black Singer machine. Its similar to the one shown here, but not exactly the same. Pretty close, though. Even though it's also about as functional as one could want (although I wish I could find some documentation so I'd know for sure how to get the shuttle to pick up the bobbin thread), it's also pretty. Hell, no. Scrap that. It's damned beautiful.
The arm that holds the head has aesthetically-pleasing curves to it; it's got gold-painted detailing and hand-carved fonts on it, with swoops and curlicues; the head is capped with a silver metal plate embossed with rococco designs; and every component was designed to not only look nice, but also function well (and it does function well, all things considered).
A Short Aside on the "All Things Considered": For those who do not sew, sewing machines are notoriously tempermental, quirky, and recalcitrant beasts, prone to having their own idiosyncracies and foibles. They're not quite as bad as sergers, but close. Each sewing machine has its own "personality traits." Every sewing machine has its problems (I haven't yet met one that didn't), which does not negate their functionality; it merely qualifies it a little.
Still, for some strange and intangible reason, I'd rather sit there and fight with my old black Singer (which doesn't mind sewing through four layers of canvas, but complains a little about two of cotton, at least in the tension department) than sit there and fight with some ignoble plastic sewing machine jobbie I picked up at Wal-Mart-or-designated-equivalent (since I don't shop at Wal-Mart).
At least the aesthetics are better, and damn that Mondrian for taking all the craftsmanship and artisanry out of the technicianship. Thanks to him, we live in a world of brick boxes, unadorned sewing machines...
* No, that's not a typo. I really did do (as did everyone from Ontario up until this year) 5 years of high school.
Unrelated Addendum: Ok, I swore to myself that I wouldn't post any more Judaica for a while, but if you are at all interested in the subject, go read the blog (!) of the Hasidic Rebel. His prose style (remarkable, I am told, for a Hasid) is so sweet I would be in the throes of grinding envy, were I prone to such things. Alas, I'm too inspired by HR to feel anything as crass as envy right now.
Sister-in-law... (Score:1)
My sister-in-law learned to sew on a treadle machine. Yours looks like my grandmother's sewing machine, which I wish that I had. I use my husband's Husqvarna Viking Freesia, which does almost everything I want... the one feature I want that I don't have isn't worth buying another $expensive$ machine at the moment, though.
I've worried that the designers of things like sewing machines, etc. -- the workhorse objects that serve their function well -- have given up on design. All the lamps I see lately suck. Al
Singers spoil ya (Score:2)
I disagree about the limits of sewing machine design, though. I've seen a few pretty ones; it's just that they're terribly expensive. I do understand about the boxes- i'm sick of them myself. As a misplaced v
Nice sewing machine... (Score:1)
Tucker
bad link, or borked server (Score:1)
The following Blog*Spot page was not found:
Weird... (Score:2)
http://www.hasidicrebel.blogspot.com/
Sorry about that. --shrug-- Wish I could explain it!
mondrian (Score:1)
mondrian's crime, if he has one, is that he inspired some less-talented
Think about William Blake's wallpaper designs (Score:2)
Since I can't see straight lines properly, I can't possibly get off on them. Most of the prettiest things in life don't even have straight lines.
Sigh...
Re:Think about William Blake's wallpaper designs (Score:1)
i'm not comparing them. i believe beauty takes many different forms, many of which don't mix well. they shouldn't be compared, but they can both be appreciated (or despised) equally.
think about Falling Water
do i have to? i'm all for modern architecture, but nothing about that says "house" to me. if you're going to bring up gothic architecture, at least try to compare it to somthing modern that achieves a similar degree of beauty, like frank gehry's gug