2014 William Morris Exhibition Research ReportWilliam Morris Exhibition Report
Identification of Concepts William Morris as a great English textile designer, artist, and writer who leaves us an enormous valuable of legacy. "William Morris's work in the field of the applied arts inspired an entire generation of designers and architects; his concern with decorative honesty and truth to materials had a direct bearing on the principles of what was to be the Modern Movement." What's more, he transformed the whole status of decorative art, challenging the mass-produced mediocrity of the nineteenth century and re-establishing the value of handcrafted work. The topic of my two cases is "William Morris and Today". From the view of showing William Morris's great influence, the first case will mainly display his impact at the time when he was living. In this case, products like brooches, a small brass tray, and book cover, which were influenced by Morris but made by others will be on exhibit. The second case will display his influence but after his death in modern society. Therefore, the first part in this case will represent William Morris Society. After that, items of his influence upon a children's class, new products, jewelries, lyrics in sheet music, and Kurt Vonnegut's book which mentions Morris chair will be on display. From those two cases, visitors will be aware of who he was, how he lived at that time, and his connection to modern designs and everyday life. In the following part of caption list, more specific information about each object will be given out. Identification of & Artifacts (Caption List)
Explanation of Selection On Items
(Items Chosen For Exhibition Before Installation)
(Case Installation of William Morris Today)
(Case Installation of William Morris Today)
(Case Installation of William Morris Society)
(Case Installation of William Morris Society)
1) Case of William Morris Today
For the case of "William Morris Today", items mostly come from "Liberty of London" and "Art and craftsman" movement. These items were influenced by William Morris' pattern, and his philosophy. Those items are very contemporary look, and have practical functions as well. Meanwhile, some of them are even humorous. For example, on one of the Lapel Buttons says "I am beautiful & useful ", which interprets Morris's philosophy of beauty and utility with humor. Besides, inflatable models will wear clothes and accessories like a shirt, a skirt, a bad and a scarf, which were all influenced by Morris patterns. All those interesting items will combine together and attract visitors. In this way, items from everyday products in this case will bring the great English designer closer to visitors. They might have been using some of the items but without notice these objects are impacted by Morris. It is interesting to help them realize that there is a indirect connection between everyday products today and Morris' design in more than a hundred years ago. Besides, I also choose a poster from William Morris anniversary, which will be post above the case. As the case introduction will begin from introducing the great influence of William Morris and his legacy. This a poster will be post above the case on the glass wall. In order to take the advantage of the glass wall and let visitors know there is another part of the exhibition inside, posters will be double sided. 2) Case of William Morris Society In the case of William Morris and his Society, items basically chosen from two categories. On the one hand, books and brochures which talk about the society he lived in. On the other hand, plates, spoons, music sheets, fictions, jewelries and a book cover designed by others but influenced by Morris when he was alive. Additionally, a poster talked about the students projects in primary school affected by William Morris. In order to demonstrate the profound influence of Morris patterns and design elements, different forms of objects like plates, spoons, jewelries were chosen. Also, in these music sheets and fictions, authors mentioned William Morris and his design. Therefore it should be more persuasive to use things like music sheet or fictions, which are outside of his areas, to attest his influence. List research questions
Methodology
Key discovery or accomplishment This is my first time to prepare for an exhibition, I used to think it should be an easy and interesting thing. However I found it is interesting but not as easy as I expected. Not only the literature review on history is hard, the items selection part seems harder. Because sometimes you feel you have too many choices of items for one topic, but barely have anything for another one. You have to balance yourself and your cases from the beginning to the end. For me, the most difficult part is classifying all the items. In my two cases, there are various kinds of items made in different times. Because I am not familiar with the history of art and crafts, neither the materials. It was really a big challenge to group them and make captions for all of the items. Thanks to the help and feedbacks from Kathy and Dr. Brandt, I finally figured it out. Implications for future study In applied art, reality is much different than imagination. For example, before the installation of the two cases, I designed the way to show each category of items on a table, and they looked good. However, when it came to the real case, a lot of items could not be put into the case, due the limitation of the case shape. So the layout need to be changed for the real case. Besides, in exhibition design, we need to deal with some specific problems. There will be no harm, If we just lay items flat on a table. However, if we put them into an exhibition case, the flat layout would cause some troubles. Not only the glare, the flat design will bore the visitors as it lacks for visual hierarchy. Last, even if the real object itself is tedious, as a designer, we should discover fun in the design process and bring it out to users or visitors. During the process of the exhibition, some items might be fun enough to attract visitors, however some might be not. As a designer, we need to figure out how to add fun to it, through a distinctive way of display. Advice to students who will do it in the future
References Stickley, Gustav. More Craftsman homes: floor plans and illustrations for 78 mission style dwellings. DoverPublications. com, 1912. Vonnegut, Kurt. Bagombo Snuff Box. New York: GP Putnam's Sons, 1999. Thompson, Paul. The Work of William Morris. London: heinemann, 1967. Wilhide , Elizabeth . William Morris: Decor and Design . Harry N. Abrams, 1991. Morris, William. "The Decorative Arts." Their relation to modern life and progress (1878). Faulkner, Peter, and Peter Preston, eds. William Morris: Centenary Essays; Papers from the Morris Centenary Conference Organized by the William Morris Society at Exeter College Oxford, 30 June-3 July 1996. University of Exeter Press, 1999. |