Lecture One: Modernity & Modernism: An Introduction

Presented by Richard Miles, 03/11/10.

Modernity & Modernism

1. Terms- 'modern', 'modernity'.

2. Modernity- Industrialisation, Urbanisation- the city.

3. Modern artists' response to the city.

4. Psychology and subjective experience.

5. Modern art and photography.

6. Defining 'modernism' in art.

7. Modernism in design.

The following information was both delievered to me by presenting tutor Richard Miles, and through my interpretation and note-taking.

*Up until the 19th century, the term 'modern' was used as a derogitory and inferior terminology- often describing artists who went against the classic ideals of that time. It was the turn of Pre-Raphelities that made the term 'modern' creative and inspiring.

* Although this painting, 'The Hierling Shepherd' by William Holman Hunt (1851), may seem very classical in today's terms, this was a very modern product during it's time of conception. The colours were bright and vibrant and has a cheeky, playful twist- the shepherd herder, once distracted by the beautiful woman upon the bank fails to realise his escaping sheep eating the grass in the background. Paintings started to have concept, as oppossed to just an aestheric appeal.

*Nowadays, 'modern' is regarded as a very positive word- progressive modern movement for a better future- 'tate modern' showcasing new ideas and creations in the art world, and 'new labour'- showing positivity to move away from harder times.

*Modernity's main period was between 1750-1960. We still live in a time of modernity, though may consider today as 'post-modernity'.

*Paris was one of the citities most responsible for the turn of modernity, around 1900, when the city transformed to accomodate the modern world, with a period of rapid growth and change.

*These were times of global industrialisation. Life becomes regulated by a standardised world clock- introducing shifts to work hours, along with new leisure activities introduced such as cinema, galleries and shopping- there was more disposable income with the increase of jobs in industrial cities.

*People started to move to towns with the growth of industrialisation. City and factory work was the most common form of employment. The railway, telephone, telegraph and steamways were too introduced around this time. Technology's growth was rapid.

*Process of rationality and reason.

Enlightment= period in the late 18th century when scientific/philosophical thinking made leaps and bounds- people moved from a religious to a scientific mindset.

*Secularisation- technological, faster, dense, a fragmented new way of life.

*It was around this time that cities really began to develop their own distinct character. Paris, most notably, had a grand mixture of the "ancient" architectural design along with the modern, with the introduction of Gustav Eiffel's Tower and the rebuilding of the city, with monuments placed in a parallel.

*Caillebotte's 'Paris On A Rainy Day' (1877), perfectly depicts the change in Paris at this time, along with a shift in the everyday artist's way of thinking. Before this time, portraits would focus purely on the subject, yet Caillebotte shows that the portrait is no longer the main focus within painting, purely an accompaniment to the lager picture- a metaphor for modern day itself.

*Haussmanisation- Paris 1850's- a New Paris

Old Parisian architecture of narrow streets and run down housing is ripped out.

Haussman (city architect) redesigns Paris- bulldozing down the slums and made the center of Paris a desireable, and affluent area- designed to "push out the poor"- the city was cleansed for the way of modernity.

Large boulevards in favour of narrow streets- this made the streets easier to police as a form of social control.

The "dangerous" elements of the working class are moved outside the city centre- going on to become an expensive middle class and upper class zone.

*The mood of the city grows poor with the rise of modernity- artists reflect upon this with portraits showcasing alienation, a new feeling of worry.

*Psychology is developed around this time of need, displine practice and "discovered" around this time. Modernity both speeds up our lives, but also makes us more distracted and "rushed through life".

* Seurat's 'Sunday Afternoon on La Grande Jatte' not only developed the science of painting with his pointlist style, but also showcasing the classes of modern day- the working class lying by the water's edge mixing with the middle or upper class sailing their boats in great contrast.
Socialities and the wealthy were out to be seen- often going out in their finest attire for the pure intention to showcase their wealth- creating even more competition and distance among classes.

*Degas depicted great emotive scenes in his paintings, like this one, L'Absinthe (1876) in which a wealthy woman sits next to a drunk- both alienated, yet with the one thing in common- drowning their sorrows at the state of their lives in modern day. A real state of monotony and depresssion fills the air.

*The invention of the Kaiserpanorama (1883) was a reaction to modernity- that people would rather view life through a screen then experience it themselves. Perhaps from a sense of fear or trepidation? Technology became a further distancing device to the modern world.

*The Lumiere Brother's discovery and growth of the technological moving image was hugely popular at this time, and captivated many. Once again, this gave people a different way to view the world. When people first saw the Lumiere's footage of the train arriving to the station, many were fooled by the two-dimensional capture, and ran screaming from what appeared to be a train crashing through the screen!

*If we start to think about subjective experience... (the experience of the individual in the modern world) we start to come close to the understanding modern art and the experience of modernity.

*modernism is the response to the condition of modernity.

* modernism emerges out of the subjective responses of artists/designers.

*Artists with modernist ideals, such as the post-impressionists at this time (Claude Monet, for instance) didn't paint in the traditional, purely aesthetic sense. They painted the senses they felt from modernity, and applied this to their canvas- as oppossed to just a scene of it. Their paintings were emotive, and showcased thought-processes, as well as skill and talent.

*The Faltiron Building, designed by Alfred Stieglitz (1903) was designed to create maximum density in minimum space- an example of many buildings in New York that would follow suit, with form following function, modern dominates nature in these times.

Skyscrapers gave a new perspective and aerial view- again linking to enlightment- people beforehand considered this view as only one God would witness- and now, they were able to do it themselves.

*Photomontage techniques were introduced to the world of art with the invention of the camera, and the new perspective of the world that modernity bought. This photomontage, Metroplis, by Paul Citroen (1923) lead the way in exciting prospects in graphic design at this time.

*This photomontage, 'Life & Activity in Universal City at 12:05 Midday' (1920), created by George Grosz and John Heartfield demonstrated that with the rise of industrialisation came the rise of advertising- dictating and overloading itself into the modern world, such as it is still today.

*Muybridge, made famous for capturing the motion in single frames of a horse was fascinated by movement, shown here in his series 'Descending stairs and turning around' (1884-85), just as many others were with the true development and growth of photography around this time- which helped people to ourstand both their lives and themseleves.

*In this fine art painting, 1912, Marcel Duchamp depicts his version of Muybridge's photographic series.

*Around this time, despite the global rise of modernity, design would still often be grotesque in it's indulgence of the classic and emphasis on decorative design, even in the most mundane of items, though a revolution of design was about to come in that would change people's perspectives on design, perhaps, forever.

Modernism within design

*Anti-historicism: looking forward to new styles within design. Often a direct response was made in reflection to modern life, working with change.

*Truth to materials: Let the new, modern materials "speak for themselves"- materials left raw- steel was steel- not steel diguised as wood because "that's always what chairs have been made from".

*Form follows function: Think function before form. Without use, it is useless.

*Technology

*Internationalism: all modern design should be readable and understandable in any country (also applies to 'technology' above).

*All functional items were stripped down to their "bare bones". This focused all the attention on function, clean lines, and absolutely as little fuss as possible.

*The Bauhaus is widely considered to have been the most powerful and influentual force in modern design that still stands today. The German art school of the 20th century focused on interdisciplinary design, much like many independent art schools and institutes today.

Even the building showcased innovation, design, and a brand-new way of thinking. There were no attempts to disguise the rather industrial- looking concrete, reinforced steel and glass-pane heavy exterior of the building, and was celebrated for their bold character.

The Bauhaus even created their own typeface to accompany the inovigoratingly new approach they had to design.

*Anti-historicism- no need to look backwards to older styles.

*"Ornament is crime"- Adolf Loos (1908): A quote taken from a famous essay Loos wrote in a "protest" of backwards thinking. A strong example of modernist thinking!

*Truth to materials- simple geometric forms appropriate to the materials being used.

*Like a mantra, "form follows function".

Technology

New Materials Included:

*Concrete

*New technologies of steel (such as tubular steel)

*Plastics

*Aluminium

*Reinforced glass

Mass Production:

*Cheaper more widely accessible products.

*Products made quickly.

*The modernist ideal was to make a clean-living, almost "immaculate", "Stepford" world, with the idea that all products could be distributed by mass production.

*The original London Underground Map, produced by Harry Beck in 1933 showed a bold, modernist leap in graphic design which is still hugely popular, and used globally even today. The colour coded, simplified reduction of the london underground stations onto diagram format was bold, internationally understood by key mapping and visually communicates very effectively- so much so, as aformentioned, the map design and system has been adopted by countries the world over.

*Internationalism- A language of design that could be recognised and understood on an international basis.

*Although modernism, and modernist design by this time was regarded as the "right way", Stanley Morrison, at this time (1932) was creating the typeface 'Times New Roman' (now globally known, as most commonly known for it's situe as the header of 'THE TIMES' newspaper), which was inspired by the serif carvings on ancient Roman stones.

*German pro-war posters in Nazi regime were also taking inspiration from the past with 'Fraktur' font, inspired by their Gothic routes within history.

Conclusion

*The term modern is not a neutral term- it suggests novelty and improvement.

*"Modernity" (1750-1960)- social and cultural experience.

*"Modernism"- the range of ideas and styles than sprang from modernity.

Importance of modernism

*volcabulary of styles

*arrt and design education

*ideas of form following function.