Modernity and Modernism // 5th October 2011
Modernity and Modernism // 5th October 2011
- Terms; 'Mordern' - 'Modernity'
- Modernity - Industrialition, urbanisation, "the city"
- Modern artists' response to the city - a change in culture - a change in life
- Psychological and subjective experience
- Mordern Art / Photography
- Defining modernism in art
- Modernism in design
John Ruskin 1819-1900
John Ruskin was considered a 'Modern' Painter of his era in the late 1800's. He was often used to describe the 'new'. He was the leading English art critic of the 19th century. Critic who discussed whether or not contemporary life was as good as traditional lifestyles.
William Holeman Hunt
- The hireling Shepard
His work became famous for vivid colour and attention to detail. Many of his features were influenced by John Ruskin. He was described as a modern artist at the time, however we was actually very dated and old-fashions.
- 'new' is best, and doesn't just mean up to date
- 20th Century definition of modern is not just something that is up to date but an improvement on the original
- Improved Art = More radical style and aesthetic = progression in art
- Improved Art = More radical style and aesthetic = progression in art
Paris 1900
Paris Exposition - sight of modernity
Paris was the sight and city of modernity in the early 1900's. The City of modernity at the time, most radical and modernist city in existence in early 20th century. Industrialisation was a large focus in Paris at this time. Urban Life there was fundamentally different to the rest of the world at this time. 'Modernity' dates from paris in the mid to late 1700's. One major factor what needs to be questioned from this era is, 'has mordernism ended?'. Urban modern life is said to have ended in the sixties - but how can modernism have ended, if we live in a modern society?
In the late 1700’s advances began. The world began modernizing, because of industrialization and urbanization. The rural farming industry was a traditional industry which relied on the weather and controlled by the times of the day, factories in modern cities could run for 24 hours a day and people began controlled, shifted work patterns of life. Living within a modern city meant that life began to speed up and inventions began to take over.
'Trottoir roulant' was an electric moving walkway, it was installed at the Métro station Montparnasse-Bienvenüe in Paris. This became the latest 'novelty' and emphasised the link between a controlled lifestyle and urbanisation. Since the invention of 'Trottoir roulant' more and more inventions kept coming with this invention of trains and the inventions of telephones. The invention of the telephone then led to communication over long distances becoming easier, more accessible and more popular. The invention of trains brings with it this focus on a 'shrinking' world - the world becomes more accessible now, leading to the whole country being accessible within hours rather than days via horse back. This then meant people could socialise more easily and next came new forms of leisure - cinema etc.
Modernisation (new inventions) did not come without their drawbacks, the invention of new technology began to changes people’s relationships with society having an effect on our subjective conscience.
Urbanization involves people living in an area but nobody knows each other, unlike small rural communities that came before. It is the density of the population growing within inner cities. The idea of being lost within the city - being close to people and not actually knowing who they are, where they are from or what they do. This was very surreal at this time, as usually you were always aware of the people around you at any one time. This was a big advance for Paris.
At this time, the competitive nature between Paris and large cities in Britain like London rose. They fought to be more modern and what was considered as 'The best'. London held the ‘Great Exhibition’ in 1851, which failed to impress the world as much as Paris’s event 4 years later in 1855 in which the Eiffel tower was unveiled. This rivalry creates a faster paced lifestyle and more progressive development. There then became a process of rationality and reason. Science now crontrols the world, in contrast to a time when religion controlled the world. This create a shift from an 'old' world to a 'new' world. Enlightenment - The world turns to modern forms of knowledge, humans now uses science and philosophy to understand the world rather than religion.
The city of Paris becomes the HUB of social life (a character itself), this them became a strong object of study for artists, historians and writers.
At this time in history the Eiffel Tower became the height of modernism, pushing Paris much higher above other cities in terms of hierarchy and superiority. The reflects the Eiffel Tower itself which rises above all else in it's scale. The materials used are modern and the tower is 'true to materials'. The Tower was designed to represent power, ambition and prevalence.
Increased density of population brings with it an increased sense of isolation. The growing pace in which the city and life changed was not welcomed by everyone, people began to object and become dazed by change.
Fashion would not exist without progression, consumers rely on a constant progression within fashion, much like the progression within fashion that we see today. Fashion becomes your identity - your way of expressing yourself. Fashion becomes a major factor within society and in defining who you are as an individual amongst the citizens and people who live within the city. Fashion was used to distinguish who you are and symbolise your personality. Within fashion rich people (the upper class) display themselves by walking down the streets focusing on social experience, which becomes pushed by modernism.
Haussmannization was the process of tearing down the streets of Paris and replacing them with large boulevards. Haussmann redesigned Paris in the 1850's to create a 'new' Paris. Poor people were pushed out of their homes and communities and affluence took over the majority of Paris. Classic architecture, which was loved by many was ripped out and replaced by new designs, this was purposefully done to emphasise Paris' role as the most modern city. The city became an upperclass zone and boulevards allowed for more control.
Relationships and interactions with the city and its citizens change as the city itself changes and develops. Artists now turned to the city of Paris for inspiration. This high period of modernity allowed the city to become the focal point of art rather than portraiture. Classical art was very traditional and mythical. The city became a relevant focus for artists as it became the centre of everyones focus' and ambitions. The city soon became more important than the people within the art work. The city became a subject for art.
The growth of disciplines like psychology then took off with this focus on modernity and understand the world around us, what it does, and why it does those things, linking this with human psychology, why we do the things we do and the link between 'a modern world, a modern mind'. This links to the modern family - a family which is physically close yet psychologically disconnected from one another.
Some say artists change the world and other say that the world pushes art in new directions and develops design. I however, am torn between the two. I believe that artists develop their understand of their discipline which changes the world because of the way that society and the world forces design to change, creating this focus on 'evolution' and a 'new' world. The discoveries in science began to to influence different techniques used and developed by artists.
Georges-Pierre Seurat 1859-1891 was a French Post-Impressionist painter. He created a modern scene and used a technique in which little dots of contrasting colours (e.g blue, yellow) were placed specifically to depict modern scenes and the modern world. Life became much more rational. His work became a painting of class division. Degas (1868) Class division between high and lower class also became more prominent, poorer members of society began to drink alcohol to ‘drown sorrows’ of the horrors of modern life.
The relationship between photography and paintings presents advances in technology. The invention of photography impacted the work of artists heavily.
Kaiser Panorama (1883)
An optical viewing device in which slides of art representing modernity were available for people to communally view. These slides often consisted of photographs, a shift in social behavior can be seen here, in that people are willing to pay to see static photographs rather than travel to see the actual places within the world around them. These images were often considered as 'soft porn'. This represents how technology creates this barrier between humans and the world around us. This is a very individual approach to art, however at the same time very anti-social, this anti-social behaviour caused by technology is reflected in today's societies where computers have taken over and created this anti-social block between human's and the world around us. Nowadays people would rather stay in doors and play computers games on a screen, than go outdoors and play with their friends. This has become very dominant over the past generation.
Degeneration (1892)
Much of society saw the modern world, only a few celebrated the changes surrounding modern life. The modern world was often considered to be bad. Max Nordau's quote predicts what life will be like in the 20th century, and his predictions are correct. Society is being changed by technology and the things around us. Max Nordau's quote shoes how isolation is created through modernity. Today we take technological advancements for granted, yet at the time of moderism these advancements for radical and fascinating.
Modernism is often incorrectly referred to as a 'style'. If we think about subjective experience - the experience of an individual in the modern world.
Painting is forced to respond to Photography as a new modern technique and developed process. Photography depicts the world exactly as we see it, however paintings are more personal choice and an artists interpretation of the world around them. Photography has made paintings obsolete.
The city and a 'new world' allows you to experience everything around us in much more detail, as well as from different angles. In the case of the city - we can look down on it from a tall sky scraper. A birds-eye view, or more commonly referred to as 'God's view' (from above).
Picasso
Next came a shift in visual culture. This involves understanding the movement in both space and in time. The world becomes instantly more understandable with advancements in technology helping us to further our knowledge. Picasso is a modern artist who didn't paint his subjects in a realistic manner. He paints them from different angles with a very abstract approach. Picasso painted in a way which represented how we interact with the body and how the body has natural movement.
Modernism in design
- Anti-hostoricism (don't look back, new is 'best')
- Truth to materials (materials/media speak for themselves)
- Form follows function (aesthetic is secondary to the purpose of the design and it's functionality)
- Graphic design purpose (simplicity - to communicate)
- Technology (advances - new improvements/new techniques)
- Internationally recognised (a language understood by all)
The Bauhaus cutlery set is an example of modernist design in which form follows function. The aesthetic design is secondary to how it works and functions, simple functioning forms creative beauty. The plain visual to the Bauhaus cutlery set meant that it never dates, it was modern then and still appears a modern piece of design in today's world.
Adolf Loos (1908) wrote ‘Ornament is crime’ which discusses how trends date and go out of fashion. Adolf Loos believe in truth to materials, things should look exactly as they are and not be decorative to suit the time of construction. He focuses on neutralisation and how it never goes out of fashion or ages. He votes to keep things simplistic to avoid things dating.
The Bauhaus modern design school in Germany, used modern techniques, modern approaches to teaching and was taught in a modern building which strongly reflected the earlier focus and Adolf Loos' beliefs in 'truth to materials'. The large windows of the building lets in lots of like making it more functional.
Internationalism
Internationalism is a recognised language within design that uses symbols or other techniques to help express the same message throughout different cultures that speak different languages. It is understood world wide on an international basis. An example of this is the map of the underground in London designed by Harry Beck, this was created with simplicity so it would be understand by people all over the world. This design worked so successfully that it is now used in similar ways all throughout the world.
San serif fonts were created in the modern era. Modernist ideology was seen in the developments of fonts and typefaces. This simplistic look represents initial focuses on form follows function. It is legible, and so should be kept simple and basic. Herbert Bayer also argued that all type should be lowercase as this made it easier to understand, however this idea did not take off and today we still use a combination of upper case and lower case type. Within the modern era, Stanley Morrison created the famous 'Times New Roman' typeface. A Modern font with traditional characteristics including serifs, going against earlier comments which state how serifs were removed in this era to create a more simplistic appearance to type.
Technology also lead to creation and production of new materials such as aluminium, plastics, steel and concrete. Re-inforced resin and steel core allowed for this design of the stiletto heel in this era. The process of mass production later became increasingly more common which allowed products to be produced on a large scale, for less cost which made certain products more readily available. As more and more products became mass produced this meant that more people could afford to buy them as costs were cut. This later led to the promotion of the cultural theory that everyone can have the same creating a communist society.
To conclude, the term 'modern' is not a neutral term is suggests novelty and improvements or advancements in the world around us and within technologies. Modernity is the period between 1750 and 1960 which expresses the change in social and cultural experience and developments internationally. "Modernism" is the idea's and styles that evolved from modernity.
