Thirteenth International Conference on Design Principles & Practices

Abstract

The horizon of possible attitude to a Thing is determined by how each culture and each language determines what is a Thing and how it is included into the life world (Lebenswelt). The classical understanding of the Thing built the logic and inclusion of Things to Lebenswelt as follows: the world of Things was opposed to the world of artworks and sought it as its ideal. In this classical configuration of culture, there were two spheres communicating, but still separate in meaning, essence, and purpose: the sphere of Things and the sphere of artistic creation, in which the formation of both spheres was infected with symbolism. The modern configuration of culture and the corresponding understanding of a Thing changes the status of an art object and the status of a Thing radically, bringing two previously separated spheres closer to inseparability. A Thing is formed mainly on the basis of the imperatives of functionality, mass cultuer, and consumption. Such is the disposition of a mass global culture reserves for the Design the medial area between man and Thing. Design is not just a special practice of aesthetic and industrial activity, but a medial sphere that controls the «dialogue» between man and the world of Things from the stage of formation to the stage of consumption of Things. The emergence of a new online reality and the lack of ordinary reality virtualizes both Things and Man, as well as the communication between the each other, and accordingly, Design as media space.