Art and Design Lightened A Better Life

   (Reported by CUG News) May is a peak period of graduation exhibition for the postgraduate in art and design. I watched some of the graduates' design works and deeply felt that many works were seriously completed under the careful guidance of the tutors, both the tutors and the graduates had paid a lot of time and effort, because the works would tell a lie. For the design works in the graduation exhibition, I had several impressions in following aspects:

Chinese elements were clearly materialized in the design works. In the journey of building a socialist country with advanced culture, the postgraduates were becoming more and more confident in Chinese culture, which also showed from another aspect that the postgraduates were interested in the excellent Chinese traditional culture and had made up "a missed lesson". Some of them consciously integrated the feelings of home and country into their graduation design works. For example, some design works were targeted towards the elements of traditional Chinese opera, the patterns in Longmen Grottoes, etc. The traditional culture of China is a huge artistic treasure trove, once it is explored again and again, we will more respect the tradition and the design works will have more connotation and heritage.

Natural ecology was particularly eye-catching in the design works. Natural ecology was an concerned issue for the whole society, and both the tutors and the postgraduate were keenly aware of it. In fact, this coincided with the strategic theme of "A Beautiful China and A Habitable Earth" of CUG. In the design works, mountain chains, rivers, animals and plants were reproduced in different design forms. I noticed that some of the design works took the famous mountains and rivers in China as the design objects; some of the design works had animals as the "leading characters", and some of the animals were very cute and adorable. The postgraduates' love of nature was in line with the theme of the times of ecological civilization.

The breath of life was warm in the design works. The ultimate purpose of art and design was practicality, which was not the common practicality, but the poetic practicality. All art and design works were closely related with daily life. The art and design works of the graduates fully considered the practical value of the works and had humanistic care. Some of the design works presented a sense of closeness and experience. From another perspective, the graduates closely related the artistry with the practicality and explained their understanding of the essence of design with their works.

The stream of times was manifested in the design works. Different times had different streams and different aesthetic preferences. Art and design were ubiquitous in life, and art and design, like other creative activities, must respond to the stream of the times. Only when art and design follow the trend of the times can they be more vital. At present, the continuous realization of people's aspiration for a better life is both the stream of the times and the one of art and design, and it is also the responsibility of art and design in the times. Many graduation design works, integrated the concept of aesthetics throughout the design of food, clothing, housing and transportation, etc., and showed the vitality of art and design.

Innovation and creation are everywhere in the design works. Contemporary art and design resonate with the economic and social development, and art and design shall not divorce oneself from reality and act blindlly or indulge in self-admiration. The graduates took into account social, economic, historical, humanistic, technological and other factors in their design concepts. The process of conceptual design was a process of innovation and creation. At the same time, many art and design works, fully borrowed the latest digital technology, thus the design creativity and theme, could be wonderfully reproduced.

(Source: Shanhe Network Studio)