A Thunderbird pictograph located near Jeffers, Minnesota.
Photograph copyright © 2009 David M. Versluis (click image for a larger view).
About fifty miles north of the Iowa state line; near Jeffers, in southwestern Minnesota are the so-called Jeffers Petroglyphs. In a field, and surrounded by prairie grasses, you’ll find a modestly expansive surface of smooth Sioux quartzite bedrock that is exposed flush with the surrounding grade. However, look carefully and you’ll begin to discover carvings of hundreds of petroglyphic forms that are like those found in other places of the world. Many of these petroglyphs represent animals, birds, reptiles, figures, and signs, which prompt you to realize this is an important place. The result is a greater appreciation and respect for this specific site. A similar feeling and sense of place also occurs out West in the desert ecosystem of the Petrified Forest National Park near Holbrook, Arizona (one of my favorite places in North America). You’ll also find hundreds of petroglyphs there as well – surprisingly, they're not as old as some of those at the Jeffers site. 
Some examples of petroglyphs at the Petrified Forest National Park in Arizona.
Photograph copyright © 2009 David M. Versluis (Click image for larger view).
Although the oldest carvings date from 7000 to 9000 years ago one of the newest petroglyphs at the Jeffers site is the Thunderbird. Apparently, the serrated lines of the wings suggest that Native Dakota people carved it about two hundred years ago. It is believed, this creature is so powerful that it can produce thunder by flapping its wings. The images were made by the subtraction and pecking method of hammering a pointed stone chisel to create incised linear shapes that form pictographs. The pecking technique disrupts the surface patina of the stone to reveal the lighter color and hence, the contrast.
The Jeffers Petroglyphs' site is maintained by the Minnesota Historical Society (click).
Scientific study seems to indicate, although not necessarily in strict linear sequence, that early pictographs and pertroglyphs unfolded in a couple of different ways. In A History of Graphic Design (1983), author Philip Meggs says, “First, they were the beginning of pictorial art. The objects and events of the world were recorded with increasing fidelity and exactitude as the centuries passed. Second, pictographs also evolved into writing. The images, whether the original pictorial form was retained or not, ultimately become symbols for spoken-language sounds” (Pg. 5).
If you were going to write about the history of graphic design would you start with the petroglyphs?
Tuesday, June 16, 2009
Primordial Visual Communication
Saturday, June 13, 2009
Jessica Helfand's 'Open Letter to Design Students'
In addition to Dordt's very fine 2009 commencement speech, 'Children of the Light' by communication professor Charles Veenstra, I thought I'd call your attention to a recent post on Design Observer by Jessica Helfand. Please read through to the last paragraph. Ms. Helfand is one of the founding editors of Design Observer.
As a side note, I have tried to do many of the things she advocates and it has served me well in the 30 years that I've been affiliated with design. My suggestion is to see if you can tailor her insights to your personal circumstances. (Click here to get to her post). For our alumni and other followers of this blog perhaps you may have your own 'words of wisdom.' If so, please leave a comment, or, let us know what you think about Helfand's piece.
Wednesday, June 10, 2009
Design History: Unexpected Art Deco
Photographs for this post copyright © 2009 David M. Versluis
It’s a great delight when you come across public art in unexpected places especially in small towns on the Midwestern prairie of the United States. This happened several years ago on our way to Minneapolis and Saint Paul from Sioux Center, Iowa. About 90 minutes into the trip, on highway 60, you come to Windom, Minnesota (pop. approx. 4,220). On the east side of the road just past downtown you’ll see the Municipal Power Plant with a carved limestone cornerstone declaring 1936. What’s most unusual about the building are the three carved Art Deco style bas-reliefs facing the road.…
In a moment I’ll talk a little more about the artwork, but first, some information about Art Deco. Marcia Loeb in her book, Art Deco Designs and Motifs describes Art Deco as, “… the most typical artistic production of the nineteen-twenties and thirties. This name comes from the large exhibition, held in Paris in 1925, called the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes.” You can characterize the art of this period as very eclectic and I was reminded of this with Paul’s previous post —a poll about art styles/movements. In other words, about Art Deco, Loeb says, “Its sources included turn-of-the- [twentieth] century art nouveau, most of the important artistic movements that followed (Fauvism, Cubism, Futurism, Expressionism) and such archaeological interests of the day as ancient Egyptian and Mayan art.”
Loeb further explains, “One of the chief unifying factors of Art Deco is the emphasis on geometrical patterns. Another, related to the first, is the full acceptance of the machine age and the consequent abandonment of the traditional barriers between fine and applied [design] art.”
As I’ve said on occasion, in class, Art Deco was not the only art movement trying to break down the barriers between art and design — also in the twenties, the German Bauhaus and the Dutch De Stijl were essentially doing the same thing by incorporating all facets of art and design from architecture to graphic design, photography, product design, textiles, painting, sculpture, ceramics, theatre arts, and interior design.
From Loeb’s concise description of Art Deco, the style, certainly seems fitting for the Windom Municipal Power Plant because of it's industrial purpose. This building was intended to function as a utility in order to benefit the whole community as well as being a sign of progress during the economic depression era of the thirties.
Energy — after sculptor Ulric Henry Ellerhusen
Light — after sculptor Ulric Henry Ellerhusen
Electricity by the late Don Gregory
The most knowledgeable person about the Power Plant Art Deco reliefs is Lucille Lewis. In the late 1980s, Lewis, who was then the Windom correspondent for the Worthington Daily Globe wrote a couple of articles about the Power Plant. In a copy of a June 1, 1988 article, obtained from the Cottonwood County Historical Society, Lewis states:
In 1936 the city of Windom constructed a power plant and contracts for the building were given to Carlstrom Construction of Mankato [Eric A. Carlstrom Construction Co.]. Thinking the simple outside walls needed some decoration; the contractor had two Art Deco panels Energy and Light, carved and placed under the windows.*When I asked her, Lucille said the addition was added in the late 1930s (c.1938).
In the City Council minutes of 1936, there is no mention of the decoration nor the sculptor. The newspapers of the day only tell about the sizes of the dynamos and the amount of electricity generated at the plant. No one seemed interested in the outside panels. There are also no photographs or blueprints of the building.
Some years later,* the city once again asked Carlstrom to add to the powerhouse. This time Carlstrom contacted his friend Professor Don Gregory of the newly founded art department of Gustavus Adolphus College to make a matching panel titled Electricity. … [Gregory was paid $200 for the commission]
Gregory was a graduate of the Minneapolis School of Art and had worked with Carl Milles, a Swedish sculptor. Many of Gregory’s works are in the St. Peter/Mankato area, such as a mosaic on Grace Lutheran Church in Mankato and works on the Mankato Telephone Building, according to his wife. He retired from the college in 1980 and died in September 1985.…
The Windom Power Plant as it stands today. In c.1938 an addition was added to the existing building, on the left side, where the Don Gregory relief sculpture is located. The original windows have been removed and paneled over.
Actually, the contractor in the 1930s did a fine job of merging the addition to the existing structure. Only a careful observer will probably notice some differences mostly in the symmetry of the building. Remarkable however, is the work of Don Gregory whose added relief carving matches incredibly well with the other two and yet seems to convey Gregory’s personality and classic style. I may do further research to determine if the two original reliefs were completed as part of the Works Progress Administration (1935-39) during President Franklin D. Roosevelt’s Administration. The WPA provided jobs to unemployed workers, including artists and designers, on public projects sponsored by federal, state, or local governmental agencies.
As a side note, The Windom Municipal Power Plant is registered in the Barbara Baer Capitman Archives. and it should be researched too. The Theater’s interior designer and artist is John Also registered in the Archives is the 1930s, Art Deco style State Theater in WindomMoede. Although over 100 years old Mr. Moede is still living and resides in a Windom rest home — Do I have any volunteers to help me? Read More......
Tuesday, June 9, 2009
Creativity Aid
Have designers block?
Visit creatiu.com
This website contains 'Cool Sites, Cool Videos, Design Schools, Trends'
This portfolio of interesting website and well done videos is definitely helpful as we blog and journal our creative summer ideas to help us through our next year of studies.
Poll results...
Neo-Classicism | 0 (0%) |
Romanticism | 0 (0%) |
Realism | 0 (0%) |
Impressionism (etc) | 3 (30%) |
Art Nouveau | 2 (20%) |
Cubism | 1 (10%) |
Expressionism | 0 (0%) |
Surrealism | 2 (20%) |
Abstract Expressionism | 1 (10%) |
Pop Art | 1 (10%) |
So...Impressionism (etc) has it! With 3 of the 10 votes....a very poor voter turnout.
Wednesday, June 3, 2009
Website and Blog comments
I am doing a new project of making a site of all the images that I find inspiring for design. Feel free to comment and follow my blog. Click here.
I am also working on a flash website to become a portfolio of photography and artwork.
It is currently under construction but I would love any comments and suggestions you have to offer. Portfolio.
Websites and Google
I am not sure how many of the designers are presently working on web design but I found that this website is a very helpful tool in Marketing the company/product or just getting more traffic onto your site.
https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/docs/en/about.html
I hope this is helpful
