the questioning

I have been thinking hard recently, looking for an issue to both question & challenge. I am over the age old art vs craft debate so have decided to question contemporary art practice and it's validity within the wider design field. Okay, let me explain.......I have two works sitting in front of me. One is a Bill Viola video showing on a large flat screen [people crying, people dying, people staring in to space etc etc], on the next shelf is a 1950's Wedgwood white porcelain container. I am enjoying dissecting the concept, design and creation of the container, thinking of it's history, and uses over the past fifty years. I have to be careful as, if I view Viola's work for more than two minutes, I fall into a psychotic episode of sheer boredom.
I have decided I don't want to be rescued from my passion for design and my practice is taking a 'utilitarian' direction