Zhang Xun's Useless Design——A Brief Talk on the Oriental Thinking "Easy, Medicine, and Art" of Moder
Design is actually a modern fruit built on the foundation of traditional culture. Although the term "design" appeared relatively late, the behavior of design appeared with the birth of mankind, and it also had brilliant achievements in ancient China. If we regard design as a completely modern product and a future achievement, we will lose our way. Without a foundation, we will be easily shaken by another force, such as fame and fortune and evil, and therefore lose the initiative to solve problems. Ability and the ability to lead life to a higher level. When our resistance is not strong, we are chasing fame, fortune, vanity, and doing “useful” designs with real benefits that will bring people's lives into a backward state or even an abyss.
Art Daily Dialogue
Art Daily: Is the "useless design" you proposed a methodology? Or is it a pure concept?
Zhang Xun: To me, useless design means: "true design" is the most authentic behavior of design. In fact, design is a way to discover and solve problems. The creation of this way must start from the problem itself, and then the problem must go to the root of the search. The search process is also the design, and even the most important part of the design. Many designers or packaged design masters are not willing to follow this principle. They pay more attention to how to control time cost and smart cost in commercial design. This kind of useful shortcut from the perspective of visualization may cause more problems for things.
A larger part of the demanders also regard design as a means to solve immediate problems or to beautify the image or even cover up problems. Therefore, the search process in the design that I advocate is regarded as useless by most people (including those who need it). In fact, it is this kind of useless thinking that is the basis for solving the root problem of things or the ultimate problem of mankind. Sometimes it may not have an immediate effect, but it will lead people to a positive worry about the future through a guiding method, thus attaching importance to the utility of design in solving the ultimate problem.
For example, for decoration, you must figure out why the owner wants to decorate to know what he wants to look like. You can't judge by the owner's description alone, because he can't express what he wants with your professional level. So his analogy or designation is unreliable and will change with further changes in the environment, so you can't keep up with his thinking, because he himself is at a loss. As a real designer, he must not recommend a simple combination of style and expensive materials to him because of his requirements, but must fully understand the owner's deep psychological needs and objective space issues. Finding the root cause of the problem under the interaction of the implicit psychological environment and the explicit functional needs and then prescribing the right medicine, these seemingly useless steps are the inevitability of the design to play a useful function. This is what I call "useless design".
In addition, there is another exploration direction of the useless design that I specifically refer to is the source of inspiration for the design. I have been looking for the source of inspiration, trying to understand her characteristics and grasp her. But it has been unable to succeed. We all know that the design method is well mastered, and the execution technology is simpler. The most important thing is the soul, that is, creativity. Creativity cannot be realized without the patronage of inspiration. But is there any way for the designer to approach her through skill training and knowledge accumulation? When will she come and leave? Where to meet us, and beyond our control, this is a mysterious phenomenon. If we don't return to the original laws of the world to get to know her and understand her, we cannot dance with her, and then valuable design works or products will not appear. I tried to find her footprints from the source and ultimate beliefs of Chinese and Western cultures, that is, the Book of Changes and the Bible. There are many predecessors who selflessly dedicate the results of their lifelong research and exploration to modern people. It is these invisible love that have given me confidence in the action of discovering Eastern thinking in the field of design.
Art Daily: In the current state of fast-paced thinking and fast-paced life, will your proposal to return to "useless design" be inconsistent with the times? Have you thought that it will be questioned and opposed by many people?
Zhang Xun: Our pace is too fast, too fast to feel anymore, let alone enjoy it. We are urged by a huge lie, and everyone is running in an unclear direction. Design is actually a modern fruit built on the foundation of traditional culture. Although the term "design" appeared relatively late, the behavior of design appeared with the birth of mankind, and it also had glorious achievements in ancient China. If we regard design as a completely modern product and a future achievement, we will lose our way. Without a foundation, we will be easily shaken by another force, such as fame and fortune and evil, and therefore lose the initiative to solve problems. Ability and the ability to lead life to a higher level. When our resistance is not strong, we are chasing fame, fortune, vanity, and doing “useful” designs with real benefits that will bring people's lives into a backward state or even an abyss. Therefore, if you want to design, you must really be worthy of the sacred position of "designer", and you must carefully learn from the classics and discover the law of sowing and reaping from the foundation.
Art Daily: Do you find some theories from the Book of Changes and the Bible to support your "useless design" theory, will it make people feel that you are following the trend of "Chinese studies fever" or make people feel very fascinating and misunderstand you Is there a pseudo-scientific element in his view?
Zhang Xun: I am not looking for theoretical support from the Book of Changes, but traditional culture has indeed brought me certain enlightenment. We cannot avoid this enlightenment, because Eastern blood has always been flowing in the mothers of all people. It is a kind of physical inheritance, but some people have not created timely conditions for it to function.
"Heaven, earth, and people" are the core system on the entire living planet. Westerners face it in a direct way, while Easterners think in an indirect way. But no matter which form is the same and develops in the same direction at the same time, it will eventually come together.
Design as a way to solve problems for human survival is to discover the law that never changes from this foundation. The craze for Chinese learning is not popular, but an inevitable response to survival. When we find that our own ability and wisdom really cannot face many of today’s difficulties, we humble ourselves and let go of ourselves and begin to find a way out from the root cause for self-examination. See if you are off track.
The "Sutra" cannot be changed, nor can it be surpassed by modern wisdom. Only by following its specific principles can human beings infinitely develop the results derived from it, because the formation of "Sutra" is transcendent, which is what we currently still have. The laws and laws revealed to mankind by incomprehensible creativity and thus recorded by specific characters cannot be changed once they are determined. It can be infinitely varied in application, but it cannot be abandoned. The Book of Changes is indeed amazing, because the knowledge and wisdom of mankind for thousands of years has not been able to fully understand it. It is all-encompassing, omnipresent, far-sighted, and near-touch. It is the treasure of all people, and the art is more. It is its immediate family, so the artist is sacred, and it is the spokesperson explorer of modern culture and future culture derived from the root culture. Design is a special item in the field of art. It can make nothing change or make something better. I can't deny its magic, but I don't advocate magic.
Art Daily: Is "yi, medicine, art" a design procedure you invented?
Zhang Xun: Nothing was invented by anyone, we just found it in the law. "Yi, medicine, art" is not a design model, because once art is regulated by the model, its value will be lost. I just put the three together to make an analogy, and then discovered their inner connection, so as to create more valuable "real design" (no matter the work or the behavior) under their interaction.
"Yi" mentioned in Zhou Zhenpu's "Zhou Yi Yi Zhu": The four elements of air, fire, water, and earth in natural objects are called the origin of the world in ancient Greek and ancient Indian philosophy. Eight trigrams are derived from the symbols representing eight things: sky and earth, thunder and wind, water and fire, mountain and ze, plus the theory of yin and yang, which makes it produce various changes to reveal the law of change in nature. Mr. Ren Jiyu divides the philosophical thinking of The Book of Changes into three aspects:
The concept of observing and capturing images uses a simple materialistic view of the generation of all things to reveal the rationale between all kinds of things and things.
The concept of sympathy of all things, the process of all things being changed in the promotion and contradiction of the two forces of yin and yang is through sympathy, which is like the interaction between men and women to produce new life.
The concept of development and change, the concept of change and development is the basic idea that runs through the "Book of Changes". There is nothing in the world that does not change, and everything completes its development in change. The law of change is not obvious at the beginning, and then it becomes obvious when it develops, and it becomes strong after it develops. If it continues to develop, it will exceed the stage of suitable development, and when it reaches its limit, there will be no future. The nine-three line of the hexagram of "Thailand" says "no peace, no ambition, no reciprocation" is the principle that the extreme of things must be reversed.
In the process of design, we should also follow this principle to feel the "demand", "environment" and "product" from these three levels. If the design deviates from these basic steps and takes shortcuts, no real problem-solving works will appear.
Of course, "medicine" refers to Chinese medicine. Facing the mushrooms that grow in the ground, Western medicine eliminates it, while Chinese medicine considers changing its soil. "Doctors share the same origin", so Chinese medicine is the core of Chinese traditional culture. I read "Thinking Chinese Medicine" by Mr. Yu Lihong some time ago. I personally feel that he is not only thinking about Chinese medicine, but I have gained a lot of design thinking from it. The husband pointed out that "Chinese medicine" is not only the medicine of the motherland, but the medicine of "the Golden Mean". The number of yin and yang signs in the Book of Changes is an essential foundation of Chinese medicine. What I want to talk about here is medical ethics and medical ethics. In Chinese medicine, great doctors are called "shanggong" and quack doctors are called "xiagong". There is even a saying "Healing the sick with Chinese medicine, treating the people with Chinese medicine, and treating the country with Chinese medicine". This is the wonder of Chinese traditional culture. Then there are too many similarities between it and the design. There is also the medical ethics. Sun Simiao’s "Great Doctor Sincerity" mentioned that “everyone who treats a disease must calm his mind, have no desires, have no desires, and have a heart of great compassion and compassion, and vow to save the suffering of the soul. If there is disease. Those who call for help should not ask whether they are rich or poor, whether they are rich or poor, whether they are elder or young, complaining about relatives and friends, Huayi is foolish and wise, universal, etc., all like the thoughts of relatives, nor should they look forward and backward, worry about good and bad, and protect their lives. , If you have it, you are deeply sad, don’t avoid panic, day and night, cold and heat, hunger and thirst, fatigue, and go to rescue with all your heart, without the heart of kung fu. This can be a great doctor of common people, otherwise it is a giant with spirit. "Then whether we are the "going work" or the "going work" in the design world, are we going to be the "general doctors" or "the giant thief with spirits".
"Art" here I mean design. From my brief description of Yi and Yi above, I will naturally find the similarities between them. As far as "yi" is concerned, in order to make a good design, it is necessary to find the truth between the thing itself and use the contradiction between the force and the reaction force to find a way out of the problem. Through yin and yang sympathy, designers need to interact with objects, with the environment, with the products, and even with the needs themselves to discover the source of inspiration.
The designer's vision must be developmental, to see the needs and future work changes to the extinction, and then replace it with new life. It is impossible not to lag behind in 50 or 100 years, but we will see what it will become in 50 years and how it will face transformation and regeneration.
In terms of “medicine”, it’s even more obvious. The designer plays the role of a doctor to some extent. He must treat the disease to make it exist healthier and die out more harmoniously. Heal people, because all studies have found that the ultimate goal of all human behavior is for people. The designer is an operation, not a health consultation. The off-work designer is to discuss the problem in terms of the problem, and the off-work designer is to find the problem behind the problem, and also to speculate on the secondary problems and control the problems that will occur.
The designer's professional ethics should be similar to the ethical code of great doctors, "Do not ask whether they are rich or poor, whether they are rich or poor, whether they are young or old, resent relatives and friends, Huayi is foolish, universal, etc.". Because we discover common problems by solving individual problems, and ultimately we have to solve the ultimate problem of mankind.
Art Daily: Are your works at the Beijing 798 Art Festival considered art or design? Is it installation or performance?
Zhang Xun: It's design, it's design behavior. It is an exploratory act of "useless design".
This is one of my "Reading the Wall" series. I use the simplest materials or the most common objects as symbols, and discover their obvious and hidden features such as form, scale, texture, etc., to contact "Yi" The enlightenment in the Scriptures allows people to discover the rules that they do not know about daily use. For example, this work uses square bricks to borrow the characteristics of the doubled scale on both sides, and the front and back are superimposed on six layers to form a three-dimensional gossip pattern. The strange thing is that the front hexagram image and the side hexagram image are opposite. For example, the front is "dry" and the side is "kun"; the front is "Thai" and the side is "no". This laterally reflects the principle that any thing has two opposites.
I think this discovery is not accidental, whether there is a certainty in the design of the brick itself. I have some other forms to reflect this discovery, and will be produced and displayed in front of the public. I hope that more people will participate in this discovery.
Art Daily: Are you the first person to discover this law in the field of design? To what extent do you want to achieve it?
Zhang Xun: I believe that I am not the first person, because this is not my own creation, I do not have the exclusive right to sign, I just want to reiterate the true essence of design once or several times under the current impetuous industry conditions. It is hoped that designers will try their best to solve problems for society instead of creating problems for mankind.
