Design as Art

Bruno Munari

Paperback, 224 pages

Published September 25th 2008 by Penguin

Classics (first published 1971)

Original Title
Artista e designer

ISBN
0141035811 (ISBN13: 9780141035819)

Edition Language
English

An analysis on the chapter ‘Knives, Forks and Spoons’ by

Kareena Shamsi
Section J
ISDI Parsons – First Year Studies
 Design as Art
Bruno Munari

We eat. No surprise there. From crisp juicy salads to delicately broiled meats,
we are no stranger to food, lest there be any dispute. Globetrotting, as fun
as it sounds, can be quite a bother. It is simply easier to enjoy any cuisine in
the comfort of your city. Whether you use a fork handcrafted from the finest
silver, a black plastic spoon, simple pair of chopsticks, it is still an instrument
of satisfaction. The earliest use of cutlery to assist eating dates back centuries
and its purpose hasn’t changed - it has merely expanded exponentially.

Bruno Munari cleverly exposes the excessive nature of our demands in a

simple paragraph long litany over a couple of utensils you’d find in any
kitchen drawer. Coming from one of the most inspirational designers of all
time; his work and life has explored how to make design accessible and
appealing, yet highly functional. Perhaps the International Herald Tribune
said is best, “(He) encouraged people to go beyond formal conventions and
stereotypes by showing them how to widen their perceptual awareness”.

Munari, an Italian artist, designer and inventor, contributed generously to the

fields of visual arts (painting, sculpture, film, industrial design, graphic
design), modernism and futurism amongst the visual arts. As far as non-visual
arts go, his research on games, didactic method, movement, tactile learning,
kinesthetic learning and creativity have been path breaking. Born on 24th
October in 1907, he lived a full life till September 30th, 1998. From 1938 to
September 1943 he worked as a press graphic designer for Mondadori, and
as art director of Tempo Magazine and Grazia, two magazines owned by
Mondadori. At the same time he began designing books for children,
originally created for his son Alberto.

Useless Machines – Bruno Munari

The inventor of the ‘Useless Machines’; Munari’s work is probably the best
example about how a creation so frivolous and unnecessary can hang in fine
balance for vanity’s sake. The absurdity of making these simplistic yet edgy
mobiles was lost on society till Alexander Calder came along. Ironically, the
more refined circles, Calder’s bold versions pushed Munari into the position
of an imitator rather than being acknowledged as an original content creator.
A prime example of society’s obvious partiality towards bolder looks; both
had this in common – they were suspended and they gyrate; yet details of
construction, delicacy and design were lost on most. Much like crows, we
often point to a large shiny thing and “aaaahhhhh” in wonder and praise.
The intention wasn’t to undermine the organic movement and inspiration of
Calder’s creations but rather to highlight the geometrical nature of Munari’s.

Useless Machines – Bruno Munari

Design as Art – in a movement of abstraction, Munari extracted sharp and
unique forms from the world of art and injected it into his work. Freeing these
geometric shapes from a static canvas and freeing them into open air, letting
them soar in any way the wind wishes, it almost sounded like a bird taking off
from its nest for the very first time. It is strangely enlightening to see how a
mobile made solely for our harmonic entertainment can hold so much
meaning without much purpose. What one later realizes is that this
transcended the conventional two and three-dimensional art, it was acquiring
a fourth: that of time.

Why useless machines and why so much matter dedicated to it? It is Munari’s
intentions towards all the possible interpretations of that moniker that make
this rudimentary concept inspired by the workings of a basic lever so
refreshing. In the author’s own words, “They are useless because unlike other
machines they do not produce goods for material consumption, they do not
eliminate labour, nor do they increase capital.” It is strange that one would -
buy his mobile then, no? Yet I remember my own mother buying one made
out of stuffed toys and hanging it above my crib, I was so very fascinated by
it. As a mere baby I could derive no intellectual enlightenment from my fancy
new toy, I could just wiggle my limbs in a premature attempt to reach the
swinging shapes suspended above me. After much contemplation maybe it
was simply about that emotion, it was after all producing a good, one of a
spiritual, intangible kind. Sometimes extravagance in the simplest forms is
meant to appeal to an aesthetic sense more than anything else.

“Machines would not exist without us, but our existence would no longer be
possible without them.” – Pierre Ducassé

I skimmed past most chapters in my second run-through of the book. I was

hunting for ‘Knives, Forks and Spoons’ and trust me there was no shortage of
them, a full four pages of cutlery heaven. A short chapter, barely qualifying as
a design article, I felt it was a unique take on the abundance of design.
Sarcastic and excessive, it alludes to the repetitive redesigning of the tiniest
of implements. Why was I drawn to this chapter? After all, it was practically an
ace of a designer ranting about knives, forks and spoons; but it was
inherently that which brought me back. It seems beneath a master of his
caliber, such a mundane thing to trigger a person, but yet it did. It is pure
human reaction coming through a design-oriented filter.

“If it ain’t broke, why fix it?”

Someone should have sent that memo to the cutlery manufacturing industry,
but then a lot of people would have been out of jobs and even more out of
shiny new things to buy at their local store. An unmitigated disaster. Imagine
a newly engaged couple setting up a new life; they’d need cutlery, obviously.
Or, think of your mom setting the table for when guests come over, and
gasp, one spoon is missing from the set. I know mine would have replaced
the entire set with a new one, rather than just choosing a random other
spoon and filling the gap. It is the reason we have thousands of options.
Munari understands it, rants about it, we
understand it, we accept it, there is
something wrong with this picture yet
we don’t see the need to change a
thing. Maybe the problem isn’t with the
design, but the fact that there is too
much design.

“Two giant toothpicks ten inches long”,

a refreshingly honest elaboration of
chopsticks, yet it is a solution far too
simple for the west world. Yes, this cost
Talking Forks, 1958 - Bruno Munari effective utensil has been used for years
by millions. As an Indian however, there
is something glaring obvious overlooked here. As an Italian artist, born in
Milan and raised in Badia Polesine before shifting back to the former on
work, his life was restricted to the lifestyle he knew. I eat with my hands, this
sounds crude once penned down, but it is an art form too. For someone who
has used cutlery all their life, it’ll be a stretch of imagination for them to cast
it aside and adapt to the technology our ancestors once used; these
dexterous double-jointed marvels called hands. I’d like to see someone from
Europe use their hands to eat rice and rasam (a lentil based spiced watery
soup – I do this delicious concoction no justice with my unpolished
description). By the time you figure out how to balance rice on the tips of
your fingers and put in your mouth without having to open it too wide, all the
rasam would have probably trickled down your arm or poured through the
microscopic gaps in between your fingers. This seems like an impossible feat
right? Then how have millions of people been eating this way in the Indian
subcontinent, and that too off fresh banana leaves rather than plates?

Good design is sustainable, and increasingly the horizon has broadened to

include environment-friendly options as well. South-Indians use banana
leaves as their plates, parts of Gujarat and Rajasthan weave ‘crockery’ out of
dried leaves using thin stems as thread. It is ingenious and an example of
how design evolves to suit a need out of the most accessible resources.

It is evident in hindsight that a fascination with the space-time continuum is a

part of his collection of work. His ‘Useless Machines’ amongst other works,
interact with the environment and change accordingly, his intention all along.

Inspired by the commonplace cutlery and his personification of the forks in

his work shown above (Talking Forks) one can envision Munari’s concept
behind the grand declaration of variety. Maybe advice for a young married
couple ready to equip their kitchen, it is several pages of indispensible
implements, only to finally huff and puff and settle at chopsticks. While also a
much cheaper option saving all the pretty pennies it feeds into his fascination
for the Japanese culture, a recurring theme in his life. Perhaps it is the
cleanliness, sophistication and effectiveness of the society that he identified
with so easily as a minimalist. Fancy goods such as corkscrews like pigs' tails
and ashtrays in the form of little houses provoke similar ironies. Munari is
everywhere opposed to excess. "Subtract rather than add," he advises.

Interesting features in his Useless

Machines are also a byproduct of
the actual form. One will never
truly know if the effect was
desired, but the results are simply
marvelous. It is all a game of
shadows. Whether they loom in
the background almost swallowing
the mobile in a dancing darkness,
or a barely-there suggestion of an
outline, lighting of his works have
always produced two results.
Much like how even the slightest
whisper of air can change the
dynamic of the form, and hence to
life of the resulting shadow, a
mere hint of a suggestion by the
right person can change an entire style of art. Every time a kind of fork or
filigree ceases to be in ‘vogue’, we replace it with a newer more ‘relevant’
one. But in the larger scheme of things, in lets say a century of cutlery
production, how many designs will we truly remember and immortalize?
None really.
His work remains to be quite a paradox, despite being part of futurism; there
is a staunch mocking response, (while subtle, still very experienced) to the
fascination for roaring machinery. After all he did create an anti thesis to
counter the basic nature of Industrialization; arguably one of the best
movements to happen to modern humans in our history. Life as we know it
would not exist without machines, yet in spite of seeming primitive, it may
just be simpler – or less complicated depending on whom you ask.

Bruno Munari's Design as Art, first published in English in 1971, has been out
of print for much too long and Penguin's decision to reissue it as a Modern
Classic couldn't be timelier. Inevitably, some elements of this collection of
short writings have dated, but Munari's way of thinking stands revealed - not
for the first time - as extraordinarily prescient and relevant to many of the
design problems we face today. His playful, inquiring, socially aware
intelligence mark him as what we would now call a "critical designer". The
great charm and delicacy of his writing makes the humanity and good sense
of his arguments even harder to resist. In a rare effusive display this chapter
almost defies his own personal dispassionate style of work and text. His
language reveals a world of pure emotional response to his world, revealed
as you peel layer by layer. Yet unlike most designers who are hired for their
styled, he is quite the chameleon, he blends to suit the brief rather than
forcing it to suit his style. That is probably the penultimate goal of design.

As far as Munari’s style goes, its very distinctive, it almost makes you do a
360 – he doesn’t have one. This quality is a rarity, one he urges others to
inculcate, and he describes it best –

The designer doesn’t have a style,

he doesn’t have a personal style.
He shouldn’t have a personal style.
I humbly suggest that a designer shouldn’t have a personal style.
Because he gives a style to a product.
— Bruno Munari (1992) University lesson in Venice, Italian Language

“Good design is obvious, great design is transparent”, Joe Sparano hits the
nail on the head; forks, knives and spoons were simply meant to make our
lives easier, not make the “next Leonardo (Da Vinci)” (as Picasso surmised)
lose his calm over. Man overboard, or rather society overboard.
 Bibliography

Text

1. Design as Art, Bruno Munari; 1971

2. "Munari's childhood memories and "Useless Machines"." Italian Ways.

March 5, 2014. Accessed March 16, 2017.
http://www.italianways.com/munaris-childhood-memories-and-useless-
machines/.

Reference for images of 'Useless machines' and their context

3. Http://the189.com, M. Robinson -. "Bruno Munari, The Man and his

‘Useless Machines’." OEN. August 22, 2012. Accessed March 13,
2017. http://the189.com/design/bruno-munari-the-man-and-his-
useless-machines/.

Analysis and personal response to the book and work

4. Casali, Davide Folletto. "Useless Machines: Munari, Calder and Ray."

Intense Minimalism. May 05, 2015. Accessed March 16, 2017.
http://intenseminimalism.com/2011/useless-machines-munari-calder-
and-ray/.

Response to Design as Art

5. Papadopoulos, Yiannis. "Yiannispapadopoulos | Bruno Munari & the

useless machines." Yiannispapadopoulos Site Wide Activity RSS.
Accessed March 10, 2017.
https://www.thedesignschool.co.uk/yiannispapadopoulos/2012/11/02/
bruno-munari-the-useless-machines/.
 Images

1. "Munari's childhood memories and "Useless Machines"." Italian Ways.

March 5, 2014. Accessed March 16, 2017.
http://www.italianways.com/munaris-childhood-memories-and-useless-
machines/.
2.
Reference for images of 'Useless machines' and their context

3. Http://the189.com, M. Robinson -. "Bruno Munari, The Man and his

‘Useless Machines’." OEN. August 22, 2012. Accessed March 13,
2017. http://the189.com/design/bruno-munari-the-man-and-his-
useless-machines/.

Analysis and personal response to the book and work

4. Casali, Davide Folletto. "Useless Machines: Munari, Calder and Ray."

Intense Minimalism. May 05, 2015. Accessed March 16, 2017.
http://intenseminimalism.com/2011/useless-machines-munari-calder-
and-ray/.

Response to Design as Art

5. Papadopoulos, Yiannis. "Yiannispapadopoulos | Bruno Munari & the

useless machines." Yiannispapadopoulos Site Wide Activity RSS.
Accessed March 10, 2017.
https://www.thedesignschool.co.uk/yiannispapadopoulos/2012/11/02/
bruno-munari-the-useless-machines/.