“Optimism full time, design in part-time. A look at contemporary Portuguese design across generations” is an essay commissioned for Pli* Arte & Design #4, dedicated to the theme “Hot and Cool”. The issue’s title refers to the contradictory currents felt within the field: the “hot” of the tensions and conflicts society is faced with, and the “cool” state of pragmatic and critical attitudes in art and design.

The essay looks at a generation of Portuguese designers who came of age after the 2008 financial crisis broke the European promise of stability. They arrived late to design, in stagnant schools, with almost no criticism and no written history to draw on. It traces three currents moving from the international scene into Portugal: autonomy, the designer as author of self-initiated work; a design star system built on social media; and optimism, in which designers without good clients create their own work, often forming temporary communities with political and social dimensions. In Portugal, the crisis that followed made this a design of effort, funded by part-time jobs and shaped by the choice between working for money or for pleasure. Its role might be to keep culture alive in a parallel, independent space.

Publisher   ESAD Matosinhos
Type   Essay
Year   2013

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