The Five Obstructions

From my perspective as a designer, I see the 5 obstructions mandated by Lars Von Trier for the recreation of The Perfect Human short film by Jorgen Leth less as obstructions and more as constraints.  After all, the obstructions did little to actually obstruct the recreated films but, rather, changed their character.  The films were accomplished with skill.  Each set of rules posed unique challenges which had to be accounted for during the process of creation.  Each constraint posed new perspectives and new ways of approaching the subject manner. 

Design works in this way, balancing cultural, social, political and physical constraints imposed by the context of the project.  Some constraints are self-imposed by the values of the designer, some are imposed through the values of others on the projects.  The constraints are determined by working through context and relationships and shape the outcome.  As Michael Agar said about ethnography in his book The Professional Stranger, so it is the same in design – “More than one [design] is possible but not all [designs] are acceptable.  [Designers] are neither completely in charge nor do they vanish from the process.”  The artist is typically honest in their ownership of control.  If an artist relinquishes control to outside forces it is by choice with explicit intent; they never recede or vanish from the process (as designers would like to think they do). 

This film illustrates, clearly, that more than one outcome is possible and can be deemed acceptable in its own right.  This brings us to the question of criteria for what is deemed “acceptable” or “good”.  In design we might judge the outcome based on its attention to constraints and usefulness or function.  In art we may judge the outcome based on its insight, expression, or reaction.  Can we say that each film created in this movie was good?  Do we base our acceptance in reference to the constraints?  This movie is about the process.  It, however, was not just about reacting to constraints, but it became clear that art was created through the process as healing.  Is the process, or the purpose for the act of creating, that which we base our judgments?  One thing remains constant; our judgment is embodied, experiential, and culturally based.  Criteria changes and will continue to evolve; it is contextual and situated in the past, present, and future.