Art history paper due in 10 hours
niz521510
113ModernismNotes.docxDES 113 - History of Modern Design: 1850 - Present fall 2017
syracuse university school of design, college of visual & performing arts
Modern Art, Modern Technology & Modern Design
Modern Art
Beginnings, late 1800’s to 1900, mainly painting & graphic arts (sculpture to some degree)
- Impressionism (painting; Monet)
Painting light, the immediate/changing reality around us (no more unchanging external appearances & traditional themes of past): the scientific and experiential truth/reality of now.
- Post-Impressionism (Van Gogh)
Re-interprets/stylizes the appearance of things, painting the inner, to express the psychological or emotional experience of life/reality, not “photographic”, objective accuracy
Movements in Modern Art, early 1900’s
- Cubism, Expressionism, Futurism, Constructivism, Dadaism, Destijl, Purism;
Main Tendencies
- Expressionism: Form that’s active , dynamic, to express inner emotion, experience or just energy in world
- Radical / Anti-Historical: Form that rejects the rules, values and expectations of the past
Industrial Technologies
Engines (speed, power, noise), Electricity (energy, change), Steel, Glass & Concrete, New Inventions (e.g. phones)
Modernism...
... in Fine Art: Seeking a new vision, new methods of getting at a deeper or inner truth; and trying to capture modern life characterized by industrial tech.: speed, industrial urban environments, etc.
... in Design : Also seeking to be more true/honest, more attuned to modern, industrialized life
- Purism of form seen as true, pure, sophisticated; more common than Expressionism in design
- Radical, Non-Historical character of design form, in order to start fresh for a new era
Defining Modernism in Design
Form(al) Characteristics
1) Abstraction/Simplicity: Form that doesn’t imitate other form(representation), but is only itself; simplified to be efficient, and read as pure, and new
2) Integrity/Organic: Form that is unified, not a collage of distinct, unmatched parts; having a clear logic to how the form is organized or composed
Functional Characteristics
3) Rationality/Efficiency: Not wasteful with extra materials or unneeded labor; reduced to essentials for practical function and economy; clear logic
4) Technologically Advanced (“Machine Age”): Use of new forms, materials and technologies for aesthetic effect or image as well as function
Ideological Characteristics
5) Universalistic: Believing in one type (or “style”) of design solution for all situations, all societies, all times in future; the ultimate (non-)style
6) Anti-Historical: Rejecting all imagery and technologies of the past, in favor of obviously and boldly new imagery and technologies
7) Progressive: Belief that design must continue to move toward a higher standard and help society make progress toward a better life for all
