technology
= progress
technology
? progress
The personal and social consequences of any medium—that is, of any extension of ourselves —result from the new scale that is introduced into our affairs by each extension of ourselves, or by any new technology. Marshall McLuhan, “The Medium is the Message” Understanding Media (1964)
DLF: Digital Migration
The Bauhaus
methodology
style
pedagogy
The Bauhaus Weimar: 1919-1923
Lyonel Feininger, woodcut for Bauhaus manifesto, 1919
Soviet Constructivism
Vladimir Tatlin “Monument to the Third International� 1919
art and technology “a new unity” 1923 Before the machine, everyone is equal… There is no tradition in technology, no consciousness of class or standing. Everybody can be the machine’s slave or master.
László Moholy-Nagy
art and technology “a new unity” 1923, Bauhaus products
The Bauhaus Dessau: 1925 - 1932
Marcel Breuer B3 for Thonet,; KAISERidell 6631 R Luxus Lamp by Christian Dell; Kubus stacking containers by Wilhelm Wagenfeld ; Marcel Breuer, Model B32 for Thonet
Herbert Bayer, universal alphabet, 1926
The Bauhaus and the Articulation of a “Shared Visual Language” for Art and Industry
Nan O’Sullivan Masters of Architecture
“The most famous experiment in art education of the modern era”
Marcel Franciscono, Walter Gropius and the Creation of the Bauhaus in Weimar
“The most famous experiment in art education of the modern era”
“The most radical and sustained effort yet made to realise the dream cherished since the industrial revolution, not merely to bring visual art back into closer tie with everyday life, but to make it the very instrument of social and cultural regeneration.” Marcel Franciscono, Walter Gropius and the Creation of the Bauhaus in Weimar
The Bauhaus provides a critical benchmark in the history of modern design education and in the efforts of early modernists to define a ‘universal visual language.’
“The German Threat” Pre World War One
“The German Threat” Pre World War One
“Now here is an aspect of something new and unexpected. Germany posi:ons itself as a champion of modernism, crea:ng nothing in the domain of fine arts to prove itself so, but on the other hand, revealing itself almost without warning to be colossal in power, in determining and achieving in the domain of the applied arts.” Charles-Édouard Jeanneret. Étude Sur le Mouvement d’art Décoratif en Allemagne 1912
Deutsche Werkbund 1907 – present day
Henry van de Velde 1863- 1957
Hermann Muthesius 1861-1927
“ An alliance of the most intimate enemies” Hermann Muthesius
Walter Gropius 1883 –1969
Walter Gropius 1883 –1969
“Let us therefore create a new guild of craftsmen without the class distinctions that raise an arrogant barrier between craftsmen and artist! Let us desire, conceive and create the new building of the future together. It will combine architecture, sculpture and painting in a single form and will one day rise towards the heavens from the hands of a million workers as a crystalline symbol of a new and coming faith.” Walter Gropius. Bauhaus Manifesto 1919
Trailblazers William Morris 1834-1896
John Ruskin 1819 - 1900
Henry van de Velde 1863- 1957
Peter Behrens 1868-1940
Education Johann Pestalozzi 1746 - 1847
True knowledge can be achieved only through learning “the simple elements of the laws of form ” with an alphabet of lines, shapes and angles.
Friedrich Froebel 1782 - 1852
A visual language of simple objects. Haptic and visual senses are paramount to language. Learning through play. .
Franz Cizek 1865 - 1946
A child’s art expresses pure nature. Nurturing creative expression exceeds formal instruction.
Franz Cizek 1865 - 1946
A child’s art expresses pure nature. Nurturing creative expression exceeds formal instruction.
John Ruskin 1819 - 1900
“A student must attain the innocence of the eye, a sort of childish perception of these flat stains of colour, as they merely are, without consciousness of what they signify.” John Ruskin. Elements of Drawing
Franz Cizek 1865 - 1946
A child’s art expresses pure nature. Nurturing creative expression exceeds formal instruction.
John Ruskin 1819 - 1900
“A student must attain the innocence of the eye, a sort of childish perception of these flat stains of colour, as they merely are, without consciousness of what they signify.” John Ruskin. Elements of Drawing
Innovative education + Innocent eye = preliminary course at the Bauhaus
Johannes Itten 1888 - 1967
New personal experiences and discoveries would lead to a “new way of seeing”
Principles of the Vorkurs Feeling and Thinking Intuition and Intellect Expression and Construction
Colour Theory by Itten
Vogelthema Johannes Itten 1918
Principles of the Vorkurs Feeling and Thinking Intuition and Intellect Expression and Construction
Colour Theory, Itten
Gymnastics leading to studies of rhythmic form and movement
Vogelthema, Johannes Itten, 1918
Analysis of the “Old Masters”
Balance
Balance
Asymmetry
Balance
Balance + Asymmetry
Asymmetry
Balance
Rhythm/movement Balance + Asymmetry + Rhythm
Asymmetry
Repetition Balance
Rhythm/movement Balance + Asymmetry + Rhythm + Repetition
Asymmetry
Repetition Balance
Hierarchy
Rhythm/movement Balance + Asymmetry + Rhythm + Repetition + Hierarchy
Asymmetry
Repetition Balance
Hierarchy
Rhythm/movement Balance + Asymmetry + Rhythm + Repetition + Hierarchy = Composition
Gropius build
Itten compose
Gropius build
Itten compose
Maholy-Nagy integrate
Lázsló Maholy–Nagy 1895 - 1946
“Reality is a measure of human thinking. It is the means by which we orientate ourselves in the universe. This reality of our century is technology: the invention, the construction and the maintenance of machines. To be a user of machines is to be of the spirit of the century.” Lazalo Maholy–Nagy 1922
2D 3D Universal Visual Language Itten had introduced an analytical process of understanding two dimensional composition that assimilated seamlessly into the three dimensional forms created at the Bauhaus workshops
Metalwork - Marianne Brandt (1924) “Tea Infuser” Painting- Kandinsky (1924) “Quiet Harmony”
Sculpture - Maholy–Nagy (1921) “Nickel Sculpture”
Awareness of Space Haptic awareness
Pestalozzi
Compositional understanding
Itten
Spatial discovery
“Wassily chair”
Maholy-Nagy
Marcel Breuer
The Bauhaus School in Dessau. A timely formalisation of Gropius’s Bauhaus ideologies. Here he composed and constructed form – containing and contained by space. (opened 1925)
What will become of the universal visual language?
culture+context mini-lecture series
Dr Mike Lloyd
Senior Lecturer, Sociology VUW School of Social & Cultural Studies
“Everyday Life: Report Back from a First Fieldtrip” Thurs 9 Sept 2010 2:30 – 3:30 pm VS 220 [RSVP to Anne.Galloway@vuw.ac.nz]