CONTEXTUAL INFLUENCES Ashley Bibby
1850-1918
Contextual Influences 1850-1918
Industrialization and the beginnings of Modernism The main happenings in the 18th century was the industrial revolution and the huge move forward in the ability to mass produce mechanical items. The industrial revolution changed agricultural, textile, transportation and the manufacturing markets hugely meaning a massive shift in the economy and also up lifting peoples spirits because of the new found wealth and the ability to access luxury goods unlike before. Europe soon changed from large open and agricultural areas turning into urban and city living and the United Kingdom was at the forefront of this movement. The invention of the steam train was huge and shifted the world into the modern era. It was the age of enlightenment, finally man realized the capabilities of what they could do. In the following years man saw the first photographs, first films and then in the 1910’s they learnt to fly. The Great Exhibition at The Crystal Palace changed the face of design around the world. Before the 1950’s people had no concept of design and people were just artisans and craftsman. The aim of the exhibition was for Great Britain to show off to the world their new technical and mechanical engineering talent in different expos. It was a chance to say ‘look what we can design and make efficiently’ and this soon spread to other countries hosting their own exhibitions to show off their talents, creating a huge competition between different countries about their mechanical prowess. However one thing that struck me was the fact that the numerous different mechanical inventions hd no aesthetics they were just produced for substance and a purpose not necessarily looking at how the items looked. They were just made so that they could be easily produced 100 times over.
Ashley Bibby
Contextual Influences 1850-1918
Against all of the mass production culture there was an arts and crafts movement which began in 1960 and rebelled against the new mass produced terrible quality and aesthetically ugly products that were being produced at the time. They movement wanted more care over what was being produced, more well made hand crafted goods. The mass produced items were accessible to anyone unlike the hand crafted items which were only available to the upper classes due to the time care that was taken in producing them. The main pioneer of this movement was William Morris and was inspired by the writings of John Ruskin and was a social reform against the industrial industry. William Morris was quoted saying “It is the allowing f machines to be our masters, and not our servants, that so injures the beauty of life nowadays�. This sums up the whole idealism of the movement.
Ashley Bibby
Modernism and Post Modernism
Contextual Influences
About Modernism Started in the 1880s Forward thinking modern ideas - this all stemmed from the industrial revolution and the great exhibition in 1851. People had a new found belief that they could achieve anything and they strived to be bigger and better than the past. Didn’t reference past styles - many modernists believed that by rejecting old traditions they could discover new ways of designing. Form follows function - Explains its self, there was no decor in design it was all about how the product worked rather than how it looked. It was all about geometric shapes instead of decoration. Cubism Started in the early 1990s by Pablo Picasso and Georges Braque They created a new way of seeing using geometric shapes and different perspectives to represent the modern age they were in. The movement rejected the idea that art should copy nature or traditional techniques which was a very modernist ideology. It was revolutionary as it was the first abstract style of modern art.
Ashley Bibby
Contextual Influences
Pablo Picasso les demoiselles d’avignon This is probably the most famous piece of artwork from cubism. It took a whole nine months to make and by looking at the far left womans face it shows what cubism is about. With the sharp geo metric face and the differing perspective from the eye to the nose. Ashley Bibby
Contextual Influences
Pablo PicassoWeeping Woman Again shows what cubism is about with geometric shapes and the perspective making the face look abstract. Ashley Bibby
Contextual Influences
Bauhaus Started in the 1920’s till the end of modernism in the 1940’s - Although it is late on in modernism it is a good example of modernism in practice. Bauhaus translates to construction house They took a lot of inspiration from the cubism movement and how the broken objects down to geometric shapes. They wanted to view objects the same way they did. They had a vision of an uncluttered and simplistic living environment which would match the technological age By using geometric shapes and taking objects down to their essential components it meat that they could be mass produced and make them ‘consumer goods’ This teapot is a good example of the minimalist product which could be easily mass produced because of its geometric shapes and only the essential parts The bauhaus graphic design follows the same principles, using predominately circles and squares. The colour style follows the same idea of only the red and the black. Modernists were always wanting to improve the way humans lived and often didn’t listen to what the popular taste was. One example of this was social housing flats. Although it seemed a good idea of people living closely together in a small space people soon became fed up of it. This and other things such as the misuse of science is how Post modernism broke out.
Ashley Bibby
Contextual Influences
About Post Modernism If you can get your head around modernism you can understand Post modernism as it is the complete opposite. It is a reaction and people rebelling against the modernist regime. It doesn’t actually have a start date and some people argued that it co existed with modernism but went unrecognized. But it started in the around the 50‘s and the term was first used in the 70’s Post modernists believe that the way you look and interpret something and how you feel about something is key Unlike Modernism they wanted to take reference from previous eras and styles to make their design and art look better Less is more, Less is a bore is a term which come from Robert Venturi in response to the modernist term less is more. Designers were allowed to add decoration and parts which were not necessary to the function of the product “open art” meaning anything goes, there were no where near as many restrictions as the modernist era.
Ashley Bibby
Contextual Influences
Jackson Pollock These are some of Jackson Pollocks works simply created by chucking paint around on a brush. As you can see their is no real method behind his madness, he doesn’t use any geometric shapes which were often used during the Modernist period and less is bore really applies to his pieces. Ashley Bibby
Contextual Influences
Pop Art Pop art created its name by the way it referenced popular symbols and icons of that time making it accessible to popular culture. Andy warhol did this fantastically and made him and his art known by millions. Ashley Bibby
Contextual Influences
Alessi Alessi are an excellent example of post modernist product design. They constantly use ornament and decoration throughout their product range. The phrase form follows function is thrown out of the window when designing their products.
Ashley Bibby
Contextual Influences
Philippe Starck If you look at this Philippe Starck kettle you can see that the aesthetics were the main priority when designing the kettle and that it is more of a piece of art than a kettle. Ashley Bibby
Debate Against Censorship
Contextual Influences
My Main Reasons On Why There Should Be No Censorship • • • • • • • • • •
People should watch what they want to watch and see what they want to see. People should have the choice not any third parties. It can be a way of education children about things such a sex and drugs because it is on the tv they are more likely to learn and remember. Freedom of Speech Makes people ignore certain issues which should be talked about and resolved. This such as sex racism and violence. The more you hide something from someone the more they want to see it. People have varied ideas on what should be censored and what shouldn’t and how bad it should be. Meaning the viewing experience is compromised Most of the time censorship doesn’t work. Films and games which are 18+ end up getting seen by people younger than that age because of the need to see something they are hidden from. Artists should be able to express themselves however they want without it being altered. Banned films always end up getting leaked and because they were banned it makes people want to see them even more. By blanking and blurring parts out means people want to see them even more.
Ashley Bibby