DOI Artikel:
Korduba, Piotr: Między monografią a koneserstwem: Badania polskim dizajnem XX i pocazątków XXI wieku
DOI Seite / Zitierlink:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.73044#0038
36
Piotr Korduba
Piotr Korduba
Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań
BETWEEN A MONOGRAPH AND CONNOISSEURSHIP RESEARCH
ON POLISH DESIGN IN THE 20TH AND EARLY 21ST CENTURIES
Summary
The text aims to describe currents, tendencies and fields of interest in design history
studies in Poland, which grew in number around the year 2000. There are several char-
acteristic patterns to be observed. First of all, despite the fact that the pioneering mono-
graph on the subject appeared in 1978 (I. Huml), one can still observe terminological
diversity with various terms, such as applied arts and design, being used as synonyms.
Secondly looking at the history of the research, one may draw up a calendar of key events
(publications, exhibitions) which led to the development and/or consolidation of the
basic vision of Polish design from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the
21st century related primarily to the political and artistic history of the country Third-
ly, the increase in historical knowledge on the subject has been generated not only by
different environments but also in the context of diverse institutions (academic and
museum research, art market, collecting/connoisseurship). Consequently the research
conducted so far has been methodologically diversified, influenced by different goals and
results. As a result, in the social reception there is a specific coexistence of projects of
a scientific, popular science and commercial nature. A critical point in the dynamics of
research was marked by two events which took place at the beginning of the 21st cen-
tury: the exhibition Rzeczy pospolite and the subsequent publication (2000/2001), and
founding of the quarterly "2+3D" (2001). Another marked increase in initiatives has
occurred since the end of the 2000s. The demand for knowledge about design history is
also, to some extent, animated by the art market. On the one hand, old design collecting
generates a spontaneous exchange of messages on social media, while on the other, it
stimulates the creation of reliable popular science studies. Research on Polish design
has been dominated by the perspective of art history usually in its traditional version
focusing on style as well as the artistic and theoretical context, and highlighting issues
of uniqueness and individual authorship, which prevail over functional, technological
or social aspects in the discourse. Consequently there has been no approach that would
perceive Polish design and its multiple contexts as a dynamic system, a set of practices
and mediations, such as the approach proposed several years ago by Grace Lees-Maffei
[Production-Consumption-Mediation Paradigm) for design history Such a perspective
would enhance and stress the importance of research on the relations between various
actors in the Polish design community such as institutions (educational, experimental
and research, manufacturing), transmitters (exhibitions, advice) and mediators between
production and consumption.
Keywords:
design, design history methodology, mediation, consumption, production
Piotr Korduba
Piotr Korduba
Adam Mickiewicz University Poznań
BETWEEN A MONOGRAPH AND CONNOISSEURSHIP RESEARCH
ON POLISH DESIGN IN THE 20TH AND EARLY 21ST CENTURIES
Summary
The text aims to describe currents, tendencies and fields of interest in design history
studies in Poland, which grew in number around the year 2000. There are several char-
acteristic patterns to be observed. First of all, despite the fact that the pioneering mono-
graph on the subject appeared in 1978 (I. Huml), one can still observe terminological
diversity with various terms, such as applied arts and design, being used as synonyms.
Secondly looking at the history of the research, one may draw up a calendar of key events
(publications, exhibitions) which led to the development and/or consolidation of the
basic vision of Polish design from the end of the 19th century to the beginning of the
21st century related primarily to the political and artistic history of the country Third-
ly, the increase in historical knowledge on the subject has been generated not only by
different environments but also in the context of diverse institutions (academic and
museum research, art market, collecting/connoisseurship). Consequently the research
conducted so far has been methodologically diversified, influenced by different goals and
results. As a result, in the social reception there is a specific coexistence of projects of
a scientific, popular science and commercial nature. A critical point in the dynamics of
research was marked by two events which took place at the beginning of the 21st cen-
tury: the exhibition Rzeczy pospolite and the subsequent publication (2000/2001), and
founding of the quarterly "2+3D" (2001). Another marked increase in initiatives has
occurred since the end of the 2000s. The demand for knowledge about design history is
also, to some extent, animated by the art market. On the one hand, old design collecting
generates a spontaneous exchange of messages on social media, while on the other, it
stimulates the creation of reliable popular science studies. Research on Polish design
has been dominated by the perspective of art history usually in its traditional version
focusing on style as well as the artistic and theoretical context, and highlighting issues
of uniqueness and individual authorship, which prevail over functional, technological
or social aspects in the discourse. Consequently there has been no approach that would
perceive Polish design and its multiple contexts as a dynamic system, a set of practices
and mediations, such as the approach proposed several years ago by Grace Lees-Maffei
[Production-Consumption-Mediation Paradigm) for design history Such a perspective
would enhance and stress the importance of research on the relations between various
actors in the Polish design community such as institutions (educational, experimental
and research, manufacturing), transmitters (exhibitions, advice) and mediators between
production and consumption.
Keywords:
design, design history methodology, mediation, consumption, production