On the Beauty of Process
Images above courtesy of Patricia Uriqola and Dezeen Magazine.
For a long time I found myself stressed with having to make a choice between the new skills, I wanted to learn on a daily basis. Should I learn to draw, paint, should I learn to ‘design’ what should I learn to design? But I also like photography. What should I do about that?!
A few days back I saw a few paintings the late Zaha Hadid did which she described not as ‘art’ but as a ‘way to explore architecture.’ I had also noted my personal irritation at instructional books that claimed to teach ‘sketching for designers’ that were, quite frankly, ugly. I however, compared that to a series of sketches that I thought were rather beautiful, one of them was from the jewellery brand Bulgari and the others were for a piece that of furniture by the multidisciplinary designer, Patricia Uriqola. It was then that I realised that the end goal doesn’t have to be the only thing that is interesting, but that the process can also be beautiful, meaningful and a space for an individual to bring whatever other interests them. Just as getting to death is not the objective of life, could the process of bringing something to life not also incorporate the other disparate interests one might have. My former coach Nick Jankel, wrote in his book Switch On, about this idea of being ‘fully expressed’ in our work. This concept really change the way that I look my activities and our activities as a society, whether we get paid for them or not. It made me realise that every day there is opportunity to bring other elements of ourselves into the work we do and interactions we have, but sometimes they are hard to see (as I sometimes find) because of predetermined expectations and teaching of what it means to be a fashion designer, a doctor, a multidisciplinary designer, chef, sales person etc. Why should a doctor not use painting as a way to study anatomy? Or a chef not use their Chemistry to create their new eating experience? Or a VC use their love of photography to capture the most meaningful moments in the journey of startups they’ve funded?
Through this realisation, I now feel I can move forward with channelling the skills I want to hone in multidisciplinary design through some of the skills we already expect with the programs and systems that exist but also, bringing more of my other interests into the process.
Words by Natasha J. Hussein