“…because together with language, it is a defining characteristic of what it means to be human, which puts it on a level far beyond the trivial.” – John Heskett.
3:00 am, Thursday. It is cool outside and I can see about 300 yards in all directions. I can’t tell if my eyes have adjusted or if the night has just gotten lighter. In my head I’m watching reruns of a conversation I had a few weeks ago..
Despite the Syracusian heat, she is wearing long, multicolored socks. Her eyes sit close together as though conferring with one another. She considers me with short stares as we talk. The topic is “originality” and she is saying something I have a hard time swallowing. “There is no originality. What you consider original is simply the product of selection and arrangement.” I’m unsure of how to respond, the right half of my body (clearly connected to the corresponding hemisphere of my brain) is in a process of motionless revolt, I strain to remain civil. The other side accepts her words so quietly, so unAndrew, that for a moment I question its loyalty to the rest of my person.
I think it’s safe to assume two things, one – good design should be original design. Two – if originality is, in fact, dead, that presumes that it was once alive.
Let’s break physical law and visit a bit of history.
According to Hesket, author of Toothpicks and Logos, even humankind’s earliest innovative endeavors (if ever there were a time to be original…), were frequently, if not always, modeled after natural forms, i.e. metal dippers shaped like conch shells. Naturally occurring tools likely break down. As each would have been an improvisation, human-made iterations could account for variables like durability, efficiency and power. Clam shells were not built to dig holes, but they were used with regularity to accomplish that end.
Modern design is comprised of layers. One design is inspired by a preexisting form which was inspired by a preexisting form which was inspired by… Early human borrows from Nature, modern human borrows from ancestor. With all this borrowing going on, originality kind of is dead. But in a way, it never existed. There was only nature and its products.
The left side of me is calm. The right side, however, is still grumbling. I think our definition of “originality” needs to be complicated a bit. It seems the word is much like “perfection.” Both can really only exist relatively. In regards to design, we are not just copies of copies, we are standing on the shoulders of giants, as the saying goes. Without them, who knows how many generations it would take for an idea to grow out of infancy.. shed abstraction and become something real?
At the moment, my two sides are in a state of relative rest. My hands seem to be reconciling their differences and for now we say, “that is all.”
