NEW VISUAL LANGUAGE
Form follows Function an exploration of Modernism and Post Modernism 1
CONTENTS Modernism & 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Post-modernism 10 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . City in Flux 18 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Earth Artefact 28 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Modernism
MODERNISM AND POSTMODERNISM
Modernism creates a connection to our history and our ancestor’s actions in society, which would directly affect society in our cities today. The history of modernity will be key to unlocking the future of people in our cities and their actions by following our progression and possibly predicting a future by looking at a modern society and comparing to past societies.
Modernism is reason. Reason and science provide accurate, objective, reliable foundation of knowledge The application of Reason leads to a progressive movement toward civilization, democracy, freedom, scientific advancement.
Post-modernism believes that reason and science are Ideologies in the Marxist sense; myths created by man. The ‘self’ is an idealology.
CITY IN FLUX One of the most interesting aspects of a city is its history and culture. Cities can begin as trading out posts, shipping yard or could have experienced an immense change through war or an industrial change. These changes can be as visual as a monument or can be as subtle as a design accent. These changes are not possible without the change of the society we live in. History relates to humans in the form of knowledge and discovery, which all suggests narrative and ideas on how to interoperate the past, which in turn helps us understand the present and future of our cities. The culture of a city can be regarded as our intellectual achievement from the past, making people or society a stronger theme since we build culture into our cities.
Flux can be interoperated very broadly to mean many different things, such as change; motion; flow and alteration. My first instinct and my favourite idea, is to use evolution as a theme in City in Flux. Evolution can suggest a city can progress, adapt and transform. An example may be the revolution of technology and how it has been implanted into our roads and skies to support the technological age. Another example could be the industrial revolution, where tower were erected and factories were born in the time of mass production. Using these words and ideas in connection to the city can be powerful in creating a narrative for the people who live within it.
In my opinion, Victorian and Roman architecture are very powerful at portraying their times and are so relatable to their timeline that it has become subconsciously known by most people. Their designs have become iconic and connected to emotions, which is what is most powerful in a piece of art. An example could be how when looking at a tower block of concrete, emotions from the tragedy of the divide of the rich and the poor in the 80’s. My aim will be to replicate this use of emotional stimulation.
Salvador Dali is famous for his surreal art work. In his work, he shows objects morphing and flowing. This is a metaphor of the decay he was visulizing. The liquified clock suggest that time has a power over this world to decay and destroy, much like how the clock is being destroyed. In addition, he used ants in his artwork to suggest decay directly. By using ants, it shows that nature is taking back what it used to own.
I began by taking photography in Huddersfield town center and on the roads. Capturing the people was important, but I also believe the cars make an interesting subject. I was able to create a succesful selection of ghosting effects that represnted the artist well.
Using too many photos in a single piece like this would cause and information overload, too create a piece with effect, I only used 6-8 photos per piece. Laying them one over the other, i reduced there opacity equaliy to around 20% too allow them to merge into one. I also used the blend mode ‘Screen, which take away any black in the images, making them merge together more. The black layer at the bottom was to compensate for the loss in each image. Lastly, I used the Hue/ Saturation and Levels adjustment layers to add more contrast and colour.
Urban decay is the rot of a city. It the process of a previously functioning city turning to dust. Deindustrialization, changing of population, restructuring, abandoned buildings, high local unemployment, fragmented families, political disenfranchisement and crime are all reoccurring themes and causes of the idea of urban decay. They also show the idea of a changing and fluctuating city landscape. In the 1970’s and 1980’s, the United Kingdom experienced severe urban decay in major cities such as Glasgow, Manchester, Liverpool and East London, caused by population decrease.
EARTH ARTEFACT Voyager’s Golden Record holds within it all that is good and interesting about Earth. Even when the human race is gone and forgotten, the Golden Record will be Earth’s Artefact, it will be the fossil of earth that can be collected by another race. It can be seen as an optimistic reach for another species, to show we are not lonely in this Universe or it could be seen as a desperate need to not be forgotten. The human race is more selfish and evil than good, so why is it that Golden Record is trying to show that we are good. Isn’t this a lie? Isn’t it strange that our Governments chose what we should be represented as, instead of letting us represent ourselves? The only reason we consider ourselves intelligent life forms, is because we have yet to meet anyone smarter or more evolved. Instead we should send out a ‘Keep away’ sign, to warn them that we are not worth visiting. That we hate, fight and are corrupt enough to go to war and scam. On the other hand, it could be a cry for help. A race much smarter than us could see straight through our lies and depict, maybe they could help us stop going to war over resources that could be shared or help stop governments scamming their people of worthless pieces of paper that we, for some reason, value. We definitely need help. Yet, we may not be worth it.
MODERNISM & POST-MODERNISM