Artistic and Technical Essence of the Armenian Design in 1960-1980s

Is devoted to the foundation of 70 anniversary of national academy of sciences of the RA
(15-17 of November, 2013)

On the second half of XX century, on the conditions of Soviet social order, the consumer value was formed as additional trading value, but design, being the formation means of visual and functional natures of the subjective environment, became the new and main component of the industrial product and planning of the subjective world.

In Armenia the design of 1960s, in particular, the artistic design was linked to the economy as well as to the social-cultural, technical and aesthetic process of formation of the harmonic subjective environment by the individual means for the life and activity of an individual.

The first main congress of “International council of organizations of industrial design” (ICSID) took place in 1959, where the main term was accepted design. USSR also was the member of ICSID, where has starting to form state system of organizing artistic projecting at the beginning of 1960s. Designing activity has started to organize those organizations, which have special artistic-constructional bureaus.

Armenia, being in the progressive places of art, culture, industry and artistic design of USSR republics, could not be free of this process. The All-Union scientific and research institute of Technical aesthetics was created in USSR, which coordinated the work of that field all over the world and it was not accidental that the branch of that institute was opened in Yerevan in 1963. It immediately began to study and coordinate the formatting regularities of design and technical aesthetics, principles and ways, the main processes of master developing and professional works of painter designer in Armenia.

In fact, design began to have its unique place to the cultural system of Armenia on the second half of XX century. Practically we studied the formatting and developing processes of Armenian design of 1960-80s, gave its analysis of social function in soviet system. Today it is important to present design’s specific form of artistic and projecting activity, the organizing structure in 1960-80s, determine the total result in the field of design activity, the consumer value of mass consumption product. It was obvious that the diversity of consumption value in the cultural system of Soviet Armenia promoted to the generalization of mass realization of design activity, as a highest value, within that specific culture, viably formed the consumption ideal. The authorial theories of design were formed in Armenia, which had a certain role for the designing professional ideology, according to the separation of that real design. These facts were valued taking into consideration the importance of aesthetic meaning of design result in the context of its applied meanings, opposing the western design with the correlation of the elements of cultural social mechanisms, the using of artistic professional means in the platform of works evaluation.

With the purpose of giving the brief description of Armenian design in 1960-80s, it was important to mention that how did the result of that work affect to the question of the development of similar artistic and designing activity in Armenia.

During the initial period of development of “Artistic projecting” and “technical aesthetics” in our country it was clearly used only the formation of social order of “design”. The processing of exact categories was primary, by which result the quality (also aesthetic) of native everyday product might be matched to the international standards. In these conditions it was certainly natural to refer to the experience of western design, all the more, that the modern meaning standards having that stage of the product, were created on the influence of western product, western design. During the initial period, from the aspect of design, the comparison and contradiction of separate descriptions of native and foreign samples, but in the correlation with the native product, the negative result of that contradiction was the essential stimulating in the favor of using the means of artistic designing in the industrial production.

The negative description of that comparison, certainly, made its first stipulating role in the aspect of uncertain imagination about design and made it certain theory of artistic necessary designing.

Analyzing the developing duration of design in Armenia on the second half of XX century, it can be describes the total imaginations of Armenian design, which today are also included in the artistic and projecting modern activity.

Based on the above mentioned we can conclude to the following conclusions:

  1. During the 1960-80s the Armenian design had a viable evolve and create the classical samples of quality of industrial production. Therefore, the perception of professional methods and ways, processed by Armenian design, was the primary issue for the native artistic designing.
  2. The Armenian design was created on the special conditions of the development period of strictly regulated economic relations. The purposes of native and foreign production were different, so the principles of the artistic designing in Armenia might be differed from the principles of western design.
  3. The contradiction, between the obviously mentioned provisions, was changeable so for it designing activity and design should develop and it was possible only in the case of presence of some total production of design. Until that problem was not solved the contradiction between two convictions was solved with a specific way, from which it was necessary to distinguish progressive “true” and contradictive design, styling, in western design.
  4. The using of that freely electoral theory, without design distinction, the contradiction of totality solved only outwardly, but in real, was deepening it letting formally make the achievements of “critical perception” of western design. Undoubtedly, the dissatisfaction of such a formal mean essentially might disturb to the process, and the limit between progressive and styling design didn’t correspond with the provisions of inner real separations of design service, that in the field of “good” and “bad” design separation it was possible to show the freest individual approaching[1].
  5. Today, when the difference between the artistic and projecting activity and design, as the elements, mechanisms of that economic relation, is clear, it is obvious that any transfer from western design organizing to the soviet conditions, without the total analysis of its total design, was impossible. The field of designing education in the sphere of western design was settled in the generalized system of design in the totality of diverse connections. It was obvious that the rupture between »academic» design and real service of design, the discrepancy between imaginations of the activity and activity forms could not be the sample for the artistic and projecting education in our country, though the study of knowledge deepen about western design and development of artistic projecting in Armenia always shows the enriching tendency of the imaginations about the projecting necessary system.

[1] See Дизайн в системе культуры. Тезисы конференций, совещаний. Москва. ВНИИТЭ. 1982. стр. 29.

The first generalized theoretical outline of such a system was in the book of »Beauty and usefulness» by K. M. Kantor.[2] It is clear that this outline project would develop, as well at the same time other imaginations and other projects would be formed and formulated. It is obvious that the quick recognition of one of the projects might be obstacle for the development of the artistic and projecting activity and its forms to the detriment of other opportunities of the issue. Undoubtedly, not only the fact that it was necessary simultaneous and parallel development of numerous projects of the activity system, but also it was necessity to their parallel implementation in the experimental different forms of the coexistence and the self-comprehending of the artistic designing.

[2] See. Кантор К. М. Красота и польза. Социологические вопросы материально-художественной культуры. Москва. «Искусство». 1967

Speaking about the specific nature of the artistic projecting system in the correlation of western design in Armenia, 1960-80s, it is necessary simultaneously take into consideration the fact that certain descriptions of designing activity servicing, in a certain period, undoubtedly should have their analogousness with the soviet conditions. We could not ignore the fact that the consumption was not only the necessary element of the public reproduction, but also was meant as consumption and due to it got a particular meaning. The perception between the norms of requirements distinguishing the whole sum of public relations and the actual norm of consumption not only quickened the production development through the individual consumption, but also brought concentrated attention generally towards the consumption problems.

The perception of the material and the cultural problems satisfaction (by their increasing complication and difference) let suppose that the generalized production of the artistic projecting system corresponding with the generalized production distinguish of the Armenian design, could be the creation of the new consumption value. In that case, of course, the separation of the artistic projecting system production required its qualitative change. The speech is about the issued matter of that period when should be taken into consideration not only the role of consumption value, but also its additional trading value depending on the trading nature of country economy. However, stopping on the separation of the design generalized production, in some borders should be presented the nature of consumption value of that period in its meanings, manifestations and clearance. The system of relations, existing in the country, which was absent from the sharp differences of the economic state, did not let form consumer electoral stratum, as a specific layer, the material safety levels essentially got closed, there were no artificial public status relations, by which result the consumption could not get specific symbolic meaning.

At the same time, it is important to take into consideration that the increased demands of the exportation, which were created by western culture within the certain public context, on the conditions of the additional trading values competition the painter-designers were forced to western design, the knowledge of its uninterrupted comprehension and the ability to work by the logic of »anti-style» and »style».

Armenian leading painter-designers, with their total freedom, which was ensured by the state of free designers, they were strictly limited in their actions, apart from the conditions of design service, which were oppressed almost by the indissoluble self-limitation in the creative works. They were oppressed by the artificial emphasis of leading, state meaning of mass consumption production, which were included in the characteristic features of the »super-convenience civilization».

LILIT MELIKYAN