A Digital Handshake from Helen Varola

Hello art mavens, design experts, decorators, collectors, appreciators and even you stray Internet wanders that have discovered our blog. Welcome to Art Meets Design – a new online community focused on the ever-shifting intersection of the art and design worlds.

We plan to use this forum to focus on artists, architects and designers whose work is in active dialogue around the globe. This means we’ll be wading through the deep fields of applied art, modernism and recent contemporary practice that engage design, media and social sciences in an inclusive manner.

Since we’re celebrating the site’s first post, let’s do a quick introduction. I’m the lead editor for Art Meets Design with sponsorship by the Cohen Design Centers. I work as an independent curator and art advisor and have collaborated with major international artists such as David Goldblatt, Christian Jankowski, Keith Tyson and Mark Wallinger. I curate exhibitions for the Cohen Design Centers nationally with a focus on emerging artists and I’m deeply involved in the art market as an advisor. If you’re a new or seasoned collector feel free to email me with your wants, needs and desires (within reason, people).

Most of our entries will knock around the following predicament: You got your art and you got your design, but how the heck are they connected? We generally examine this issue through three different lenses:

• Art and design are different. How dare someone compare the functional aspects of design with the intellectual stimulation of art? You can’t sleep on a Rothko. (Although if you do, please email me.)

• Art and design are the same. This chandelier can tickle your brain while providing the perfect light for my dinner party. The lighting and presentation is art in its own way.

• An object can be both art and design. Like Ambra Medda, I sit on anything I can. I sit on this chair in my home, but people could take photos of it in a gallery.

We will explore these issues and viewpoints by examining a series of works, objects, property and other examples that blur boundaries between art and design in unique ways. We encourage your participation. Feel free to leave comments, join the debate and send us potential fodder for future posts. We’d love to hear your voice as we examine these important questions.