Contents 1. The Modernists mind Behind the closed doors of the modernist mind. After the fight with the post modernist era, where does the design world sit today? Modernist? post modernist? Post post modernist? New Graphic Design explores.
2. Has modernism failed? A book review of Suzi Galbik’s ‘Has modernism failed?’
The modernist mind Modernism was born at the turn of the century and encompasses the belief that certain forms of art were becoming outdated and were in need of a ‘change’. Modernism itself was not a singular movement but rather a collection of ‘isms’ that evolved into the collective term we understand it as today. Modernism was preceded by romanticism. It focused on the representation of light, atmosphere and colour, producing a direct reproduction of what physically appeared within the world around them. This is where the modernist’s chose to take a hugely different view on the world. The word ‘reality’ became increasingly fluid, lacking a solid definition as the movement grew in power and popularity. Whilst emphasizing continuity with the past idealisms that the movement was founded upon, artists embraced a change in the artistic direction the movement took. Leaving the more emotionalistic
and irrational aspects of pre-war modernism behind, movements such as constructivism began to work more systemtically, becoming useful to society, an important factor to almost every economy in the post war climate.The huge advances in technology also altered the way artists worked and perhaps more importantly, the views they had. As the world was becoming increasingly enthused with cars, air travel, the telephone and other technological advances. The modernist artists saw the need to embrace this. The need to work, and live with these life changing inventions created social change. The modernist movement went through possibly the most rapid social changes in history, the art and views that were reflected throughout this time were always on the edge of what was new. Often pushing the boundries of convention and challenging people’s perception of ‘art’.
Has modernism failed? Twenty years ago, a noted art writer lobbed a hand grenade at the smug world of contemporary art. In Has Modernism Failed?, Suzi Gablik castigated a culture in which total submission to “the big, powerful machine” of the art market replaced the artist’s independent moral authority. Modern art broke the old rules, creating subversive work intended to shock the viewer into a new way of seeing. But consumer culture eventually co-opted shock value. In Gablik’s view, successful artists of the 1970s and early ‘80s traded their autonomy for the money and security of “institutionalized individuality” offered by aggressive art dealers and museums increasingly reliant on corporate support. Gablik argued that by losing its last vestige of belief in spiritual values, art also lost touch with society as a whole. While praising the “spiritual dignity” of work by Anselm Kiefer and Josef Beuys, she viewed spiritual imagery in neo-expressionist paintings with suspicion. How could artists who didn’t actively believe in this imagery invest it with mythical power? In the revised edition of her book---which includes two new chapters---Gablik revisits the issue of moral vision
in art. She divides the post-9/11 art world into artists whose work promotes the materialism of Western culture and those few who have found a “socially redeeming purpose” for art. Most controversially, she proposes that “the truly significant product of an artist is his life.” Her highest praise goes to artists whose work consists of social service projects, whether attempting to feed the hungry or restore damaged ecosystems. Worthy as these projects may be, Gablik’s failure to address the aesthetic component of art undermines her views. Her writing can be repetitive, and her arguments, too narrowly focused. But her passion, fearlessness and inclusion of the diverse viewpoints of artists, critics, dealers and others make her book compelling reading. —-Cathy Curtis http://www.tower.com/has-modernism-failed-suzi-gablik-paperback/wapi/100718602
New graphic d e s i g n Josh haywood