机器｜空间｜概念——Thom Puckey教授工作坊课程展

2018年5月6日下午，由英国裔雕塑家、艺术家Thom Puckey教授领衔指导，米兰官方网站入口施煜庭副教授主持的 “机器 | 空间 | 概念” 工作坊圆满结束，工作坊的成果汇报展在设计学院一楼展厅如期举行。

Thom教授先后任教于荷兰皇家艺术学院、荷兰登波士设计与艺术学院，对机器美学有深入研究。

机械与艺术的碰撞，观念与技法的尝试，功能与美学的关系，都是本次展览所力图呈现并引发思考的亮点，同时也吸引了很多老师和同学驻足观看。

参与本次工作坊的环境设计、公共艺术、视觉传达设计专业的研究生们经历了理论导入、思维发散、草拟计划、制作模型、调试修整、作品搭建以及策展布展的完整流程。对于他们来说，这是一次高标准的对于设计概念和实际操作能力的磨炼。

本次工作坊以3-5名学生为一组，共展示了9组作品，通过电机带动齿轮、链条等一系列机械原理的运动，表现机械艺术的美感进而表达设计者们思考的主题。

5月6日下午3点，米兰站官网网站实验艺术中心主任邬烈炎教授、工作坊指导老师Thom Puckey教授、荷兰艺术家Elisabet Stienstra、参与工作坊指导工作的施煜庭副教授、东南大学建筑学院沈颖老师、南艺高职学院汪莉老师以及南艺设计学院副院长蒋杰、副院长熊嫕、副院长周庆出席此次开幕式。邬烈炎教授、Thom教授、施煜庭副教授、研究生代表分别致辞。

邬烈炎教授在开幕式上说到：“在这之前我们的表达方式偏重于文化、形式语言或是创意设计，而通过这次的工作坊发现我们能够做更多的事，就像Thom教授所说的机械、功能、结构、材料以及在它们之上产生的想象力，另外我们也会在一定程度上延续这个思路作为突破的方式进行下去。”

Thom puckey教授对设计学院研究生的工作态度和专业能力给予了肯定：“难能可贵的是，对于我们设计学院的同学来讲，没有太多机械方面的基础，能够在这么短的时间内，边学边做，也始终保持着最初对机械元素的设想，是非常不容易的。并且学生们在这栋楼里楼上楼下忙碌着的身影令我非常难忘。”

施煜庭老师感慨到：“当我看到同学们在最后的两三个晚上不眠不休进行组装和调试，我看到了你们的拼劲和努力，掌声最应该送给你们自己。”

展览现场参观的师生被运转中的机械深深吸引，与设计者们进行交流，甚至去体验了部分无电力装置和互动环节。

通过电机的触发，完全裸露在观众视角中的齿轮、皮带、链条、异形亚克力这些静态的材料相互连接，一环扣一环地运动着，最终将观众带向设计者们想要表达的主题。

DANCE MUSIC /  舞中觅音

FIND  / 寻

DERIVE / 初·壹

FLASH / 闪电

此次工作坊与其它工作坊最大的不同，可能就在于“运动”。

未来几天，在设院一楼这样一个学生们日常穿梭地教学楼空间中，观看“机械”自带的运动属性，观看“连接”的美感，思考时间、空间、关系等更多本源概念。

此次工作坊的过程、作品阐释、制作花絮将在后续推送中陆续呈现。

附：Thom Puckey教授为本次工作坊撰写的教学计划

Machine - idea, function, design andaesthetics

Thom Puckey / Nanjing University of theArts, Department of Design

Workshop Plan

We have shown at SEU Nanjing that given thechance to freely design and built non-utilitarian machines based on personal , ironic , or idealistic themes, students of architecture and design come up with very beautiful, imaginative and inventive results. To take the aims and ambitions of the Machine, Space and Idea workshop one step further, it would be very interesting to concentrate more on the theme of design in this process. To design a machine in the normal world is to focus on the efficiency of the machine in the work it has to do, and for example also to make decisions about how compact it needs to be to efficiently occupy space. This brings about a particular sort of aesthetics, where beauty is often found in clarity and efficiency. The discipline of Design itself as it is taught in Design Schools , whether it is graphic design , product design , interior design, product designand so on, is a matter of decision-making concerning innovation, use and aesthetics. It would be very interesting to create a workshop specifically for students of design, where the following processes could be instigated:

- looking at the history of the machine,and investigating the principles of mechanics in general.

- looking at the ideas of efficiency and beauty as found in landmark developments in machines and mechanics.

- looking especially at machine as an art-form in the 20th and 21st centuries with the aim of discovering how fine artists treated notions of machine-beauty and machine-efficiency when coupling them with fantasy, irony etc. 

- looking at how 'machine-thinking' influenced design especially in the 20th century.

- giving the students the assignment to plan and construct their own freely thought out machine-like works but with special emphasis on the design aspects in this process. By this I mean that they should focus very much on the decisions they make during planning and execution and then try to refer these decisions back to their own design-studies to focus better on the very nature of design itself.

The reason why a certain wheel within a machine must be in a certain position and of a certain size, has to do with the function it needs to fulfill within the complete designed network of the machine. When the machine has a fantastic, ironic or purely aesthetic functioning, the reasoning and design-processes can become more apparent exactly because of their unusual aspects. In this way it should be possible to liberate design-reasoning in the students by giving them the chance to invent a function for their machine, offering its own kind of 'need' and 'logic' which they can choose to obey, so that good design becomes a necessity not a choicebased on taste or aesthetics.

The students will be expected to keep journals or logs of their work-processes, and to document all the stages withdrawing, photography and video.

We want to focus on the way that design decisions are taken within each group. The group can also be seen as a machine,in the broad sense of the word, which can operate in a stimulating and self-inspiring way.

The aspects of control with regardto machines, i.e. what kind of thought patterns or programming makes them do what they must do, can be also looked at as a design matter. The elementary designing and application of elements of robotics to the students'machine-works could be a very exciting addition to this proposed workshop given sufficient time and resources.

 Methodologyand Expectations

We will begin with theory, with seminars to discuss what a machine is and does and its place in our society, with lectures, and with assignments for some individual students to study particular areas of knowledge and return to the workshop group to give reports on their findings. There will be 2 or 3 lectures in the first week, to cover idea-constellations relevant to this workshop, and relevant aspects of modern and contemporary design, art, music and philosophy. I want to emphasise that the theoretical phase of this workshop should be not at all dry and uninteresting, but fascinating and exciting instead, with wide presentation of video and photographic material, and lively talks and discussions.

During the first 2 weeks of theoretical work, the students will be expected to begin already with planning and sketching the machines and models that they will actually make and construct during the second week. We as teachers will be always ready to discuss and criticise these plans and advise the students.

The restof the workshop will be devoted to practical work. We will propose a number of categories within which the students can frame their ideas. A preliminary list could be as follows:

- The speculative machine, a consideration of language.

- The machine as a model of perfect efficiency.

- The nonsensical machine, a self-defeating entity.

- The aesthetic machine, a thing of beauty and a producer of beauty.

- The machine and nature, harmony, clash or interaction.

- The machine of sound and/or or light.

- The desiring machine, as metaphor for human love and relationships.

- The machine of fear, with reference to war and militarism.

- The machine of humour and absurdity.

We will propose a number of easily available materials, wood, aluminium, plastic, materials occurring innature, etc (this list must be discussedand revised by me, Teacher Shi and other teachers, with a view to availability and cost) from which the students must construct their works.

We expect that the students will be equally attentive to the 'housing' or 'casing'of their machines as to their inner workings.

Students will be expected to work in groups of 4, ideally.

The workshop will culminate in an exhibition at the end of the fifth week, in which the students' works will be presented in an inspiring and beautiful way, and in which texts, models and papers will provide extra intellectual stimulation to the visitors.

文字｜沈馨／徐智惟

编排｜许璐

摄影｜杨一洲／曹斌华／张彬彬／原艺洋／郭永鑫／王园