Modernism

Overview

As some one who has grown up in the 20th century, being one of the last generations to remember the transition from analogue to digital, or even what a dial-up tone sounds like, I feel that modernism is particularly relevant to the way I, and my peers view the world around us. The predictions made by modernist illustrators, the merging of man and machine inspired by the industrial revolution is coming to fruition. Technological/scientific knowledge is rapidly advancing pushing the internet deeper into our way of living, a sort of social programming rather then a physical meld.

You can walk into any Art or Design college around the country and in each class you will (hopefully) find different methods of communicating, problem solving techniques, and expression. The modernists rejection of the norm, and pretty much anything that associated its self with a decorative, bourgeois attitude, could be a key player in helping shift the power into the hands of the working class and away from high society encouraging this exchange of ideas.

What the modernists strove to achieve was change. Artists have always tried to inspire change, but the heavy emphasis on design coupled with modern techniques (printing press), as an ultimate tool of communication and ultimately a tool of manipulation, allowed their ideas (mainly satirical) to be seen by the masses. This being the precursor to modern day commercial art.


Quotes and Citations

In my overview I discussed modernists desire create commercial art which could be accessed by the masses on a level they can appreciate and understand. Here is a quotation to support my claim.

“Designing a poster means solving a technical and commercial problem....in a language that can be understood by the common man.” (http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/graphic_designers/cassandre/cassandre.htm)

Cassandre is famous for his robotic hard shapes often coloured with soft gradients. This could be interpreted as a visual representation of the synergy between man and machine. I am of course referring to image A in part 2 to support my modernist vision of the future.

Design being used as a primary form of communication was most apparent in the creation of the bauhaus. A school teaching specifically modernist design and swiss typography, trying to merge together art and industry. the pushing away of the social norm which at the time was a representation of fascism.

“it embraced 20th-century machine culture. Mass production was the god, and the machine aesthetic demanded reduction to essentials, an excision of the sentimental choices and visual distractions that cluttered human lives.” (http://designhistory.org/Bauhaus3.html)



The modernists understood the power of satire, mixing the untold and ugly truths with humour making it easier to swallow and digest. This is most apparent in the work of George Grosz, image B and image C in part 2.


Critical Analysis

Although Modernists strived to create commercial work which could be used as a platform for the exchange of ideas, the emergence of large companies and conglomerates saw the potential of swiss typography and modernist design to influence people and ultimately manipulate them. Whether it be to buy a new kind of soap they don't need or to paint a friendly smile on the scheming face of exploitative mining companies, or what I like to call, 'Monsterism'. This is most obvious and outlined in the documentary Helveltica. They discuss swiss typography dominating branding, and particularly the font Helvetica being used almost everywhere.

“You can say, "I love you," in Helvetica. And you can say it with Helvetica Extra Light if you want to be really fancy. Or you can say it with the Extra Bold if it's really intensive and passionate” - Massimo Vignelli

Fundamentally modernism was more then just wanting to 'move away from the norm' or 'get rid of decorations', it was and still is a social commentary on the development and evolution of human behaviour. The separation of humanity from nature and the combination of man and the environment which he creates, in both a physical and now a digital/conceptual space (the internet).



Bibliography

Heartfield, J, 1934 As in the Middle Ages...So in the Third Reich.
. [electronic print] Available at: http://www.towson.edu/heartfield/art/blood.html [Accessed 13 December 2011].

Heartfield, J, 1927 Arena
. [electronic print] Available at: http://www.towson.edu/heartfield/art/arena.html
[Accessed 13 December 2011].

Brill, J, 1927 Flora and Fauna: Birds
. [electronic print] Available at: http://shop.lumadessa.com/collections/florafaunabirds
[Accessed 13 December 2011].

Grosz,G., 1926: The Eclipse of the Sun. [Oil on Canvas] (Huntingdon, New York © Estate of George Grosz/Licensed by VAGA, New York).


Cassandre, 1932 'Dubo - Dubon - Dubonnet'
. [electronic print] Available at: http://www.allposters.com/-sp/Dubonnet-1932-Posters_i396388_.htm?aid=208452&LinkTypeID=1&PosterTypeID=1&DestType=7
[Accessed 11 December 2011].


Cassandre, (1926 http://www.artyfactory.com/art_appreciation/graphic_designers/cassandre/cassandre.htm) states that 'Designing a poster means solving a technical and commercial problem....in a language that can be understood by the common man.'

Helvetica, 2007. [Film] Directed by Gary Hustwit. USA: Swiss Dots


Fiona MacCarthy (http://designhistory.org/Bauhaus3.html) states that 'it embraced 20th-century machine culture. Mass production was the god, and the machine aesthetic demanded reduction to essentials, an excision of the sentimental choices and visual distractions that cluttered human lives.'