From Trash Heaps to Toolkits and Chaos to Convection – Management and Innovation at Leading-Edge Design Organizations and Idea Labs

My research at the MIT Media Laboratory has entailed close collaboration with many artists, technologists, and frequent interaction with managers at our corporate sponsor companies, affording a rare opportunity to work with and observe traditionally separate sub-cultures that do not often intersect. Contemporary design similarly inhabits a middle ground between art and engineering, as the designer's product should both work efficiently and make an aesthetic statement. Although the work of a pure artist isn't necessarily directed by an application, it's nonetheless generally inspired by some kind of stimulus in the real world that spurs the artist to express him or herself through their medium. It's fascinating to trace the process by which an artist conceives of and produces a piece. Often some sort of random-seeming stimulus acts as a seed that crystallizes and grows into a beautiful production. Although the final outcome of this process often bears little relation to the idea that launched the effort, the generation and evolution of the initial concept is a critical step in the artist's production. I've recently seen some striking examples of this process through a collaboration with the well-known kinetic artist Michael Moschen, who meticulously documents the various stages through which his performance pieces pass as they develop. He generally begins with a fascination with particular shapes or by noticing the way in which something moves in the environment, e.g., a branch flapping in the wind or the way a piece of litter rolls down the street. This inspires him to realize some sort of simple sculpture or aggregation of objects, which he often builds up in his garden. He watches how this structure looks and moves naturally in the environment, occasionally tweaking it himself, usually for weeks or more. Then he makes another set of objects that he can physically manipulate and thereupon begins to practice intensively with these artifacts to develop his performance. The process of design usually begins with a concept not necessarily generated by the designer. Unlike the artist, the designer is more often commissioned to produce something that serves a specific purpose. That said, designs that have the most impact involve breaking boundaries and seeing a particular function from a very different viewpoint. Accordingly, designers tend to create work environments that tap from and overlap various disciplines and approaches. I've had occasional opportunity to collaborate with several leading design firms and visit them at their workplaces. One …