Wiley Publishes The Art of Critical Making, New Book from Rhode Island School of Design Faculty
Hoboken, N.J. (PRWEB) September 24, 2013 -- At Rhode Island School of Design (RISD), students are immersed in a culture of "critical making," in which the hand and mind combine to envision and create essential objects, experiences, and meanings. Consistently ranked as the number-one college of its kind in the United States, RISD is a leader in the field of art and design education. Its value, however, extends far beyond art and design, suggesting models significant to anyone seeking to contextualize, navigate, and transform increasingly complex cultures, structures, and networks.
In The Art of Critical Making: Rhode Island School of Design on Creative Practice (Wiley; September 2013; ISBN: 9781118517864), RISD faculty and staff guide the reader through RISD's approach to education and innovation. Chapters, each written by a different faculty or staff member, explore subjects including the origin of the hand-brain connection; the foundational lessons of "critical making"; the role of designers as curators of information; the human-nature relationship; the deep purpose of drawing, materials, and critique; and how partnered projects invite businesses to engage with RISD's educational resources.
This beautifully illustrated book shows how RISD nurtures creative practice, from initial spark to finished outcome. In these in-depth accounts, readers will discover methods and tools that will generate their own critical making, helping to:
• Frame critical questions through an iterative process
• Apply hands-on, embodied approaches to problems
• Enhance seeing through closer looking
• Meet uncertainty with flexibility
• Evaluate and articulate the significance of one's work
• Generate ethical responses to global needs
For creative innovators—whether business people, practicing artists and designers, prospective students of art and design, or educators—The Art of Critical Making will inspire new and rigorous ways of thinking and making. Readers will gain insight into how "critical making" can be a generative, transformative act essential to our collective experience.
“I believe that art and design have critical roles to play in innovation in this next century, much like science and technology did in the last,” says Dr. John Maeda, President, Rhode Island School of Design in the Foreword. “The very methods revealed in this book will drive the new ideas, movements, and solutions to help us tackle the complex problems of our day.”
“As the world grows increasingly complex and fast-paced, with global issues impacting us all, making, materials, and meaning are critical. The kind of essential knowing that we develop at RISD—informed through our hands, through our bodies, and in the creation of works, experiences, and events—is more cogent than at any other time,” explains Rosanne Somerson, Provost, Rhode Island School of Design, in the Introduction. “Artists and designers hone the capacity to generate something from deep inside ourselves to live outside of ourselves. By residing in the experiential and the physical, and by developing the ‘hands-on’ as a portal of intelligent learning, we confirm the mind as maker and making as a state of mindfulness. We demonstrate how artists and designers are hosts for enduring creative discovery that is self-initiated and actively engaged. In short, artists and designers manifest what has not existed previously—in many cases, what has never even been imagined.”
About Rhode Island School of Design
Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) has earned an international reputation as the leading college of art and design in the United States. Recently ranked #1 in Business Insider’s survey of The World’s 25 Best Design Schools, approximately 2,400 students from around the world study at RISD, pursuing full-time bachelor’s or master’s degree programs in a choice of 19 studio majors. RISD is known for its phenomenal faculty of artists and designers, the breadth of its specialized facilities and its hands-on, studio-based approach to learning – one in which critical thinking informs making works by hand. Required courses in the liberal arts provide an essential complement to studio work, enabling graduates to become critical and informed individuals eager to engage with the world. Through the accomplishments of its 26,000 alumni, the college champions the vital role artists and designers play in satisfying the global demand for innovation. Founded in 1877, RISD (pronounced “RIZ-dee”) and the RISD Museum of Art help make Providence, RI among the most culturally active and creative cities in the region. For more information, visit http://www.risd.edu or our.risd.edu.
About the Editors
ROSANNE SOMERSON is the Provost at Rhode Island School of Design. A professor for more than 25 years, she has lectured in museums, conferences, corporations, and schools across the world. She has maintained her own studio since 1978 and has exhibited work extensively in museums throughout the United States and internationally including the Smithsonian American Art Museum and the Louvre in Paris.
MARA L. HERMANO is Executive Director of Strategic Planning and Academic Initiatives at Rhode Island School of Design. Trained as an art historian, she has focused her career on the intersection of art and design, culture, and higher education.
THE ART OF CRTICAL MAKING
Rhode Island School of Design on Creative Practice
Edited by Rosanne Somerson and Mara Hermano
Wiley; September 2013
Hardcover ISBN: 9781118517864
Also Available in eBook Formats
Jocelyn Cordova, Wiley, http://www.wiley.com/WileyCDA/WileyTitle/productCd-1118517865,descCd-buy.html, 201-748-6249, [email protected]
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