Before Class 03/31/10

It wasn't until 1966 that Art Deco became a recognized movement, despite the fact it took place over forty years before. In 1925 there was a French art exposition at e Musee des Arts Decoratifs. However, the U.S. Secretary of Commerce banned any Americans from atteding the event. Instead, he sent experts in the field of design and architecture to sort of act as spies. He wanted them to learn about the new styles at the expositon and try to integrate them with American architecture.
Art deco style was interesting in the fact that it was simplistic, geometric, but also maintained connections to nature and botany. Another interestig aspect is how it combined styles of European, American, and South American designs. It was like a melting pot. "Additional inspiration came from American Indian models and Pre-Columbian structures." It was a mix of old with new. The past, present, and future were all taken to heart. The world economy was weak due to World Wars, but that didn't mean they couldn't create beautiful things. They just weren't as elaborate Victorian or Rococo designs. America was becoming more of a diverse society as immigrats from all over flooded the country. "American Art Deco conveyed both beauty and strength in a time when economic depression left much of the country unemployed and embittered. During the 1930s many public buildings were decorated in the Art Deco style, exuding nationalism through massive structures with great coloring, inspiring murals and strong sculpture reminiscent of Roman republicanism."
I like how art deco still maintained itself as a new creative art form despite depressing wars, economic troubles and uncertainties.
I would be curious to know WHY Herbert Hoover didn't allow Amercans to go to the exposition. Was art deco solely found in America?

I really liked this stained glass picture above. It's awesome.

After Class 03/29/10

Today Joslyn gave her presentation about Bauhaus. It began as a merger of the Veimar Arts & Crafts school and the Weimar Art Academy. After WW1, Walter Gropius took it over and wanted to "unify the artist & craftsmen." He wanted to teach the students to be inspired by Expressionism, De Stijl, and Constructivism. It's methods of teaching altered as well, in 1925, they decided to scratch the master, journeyman, philosopher method. Instead they focused on just the professor and student relationship. Gropius wanted students to find their own style rather than be taught HOW they should paint, create, and express. Unfortunately, Nazi Germany took over, and found the Bauhaus school not worthy of staying open, and all teachers and professors had to flee to America or other countries. Eventually a Bauhaus school was opened in Chicago, and later changed it's name to the Institute of Design.
Some other great designers of the Bauhaus movement were Eric Gill, the creator of Gill Sans, Perpetua, and Golden Cockeral Type. Paul Renner created Futura and Stanley Morisson created Times New Roman for the Times of London. Which later became the most widely used Typeface of the 20th Century.
This time period was about a lot of experimentation in typography. A lot of typographic designs were about assymetrical styles that expressed " spirit, life, and visual sensibility." Despite Nazi Germany's strict rules, Bauhaus stayed devoted to creating new typography and designs.
I would be curious to know if the Institute of Design and technology stays connected to it's Bauhaus roots? Do all art schools have a certain "style" or "technique" of design they follow and teach the students? Or is that a thing of the past?

Before Class 03/29/10

The 1900's were a dark time for a lot of the world. There were two world wars, and numerous violent overthrows of governments. Russia was not immune to any of this. They country was impacted by the first World War and then the Russian Revolution. However, during these dark times, there was a "brief flowering of creative art in Russia." A combination of cubism and futurism emerged called "cubo-futurism." Russian books were created that were agaisnt "czarist Russia." Kasimir Malevich was an influential artist who developed a painting style called "suprematism." Malevich wanted to abandone the geometric style of cubism and instead paint "expression of feeling, seeking no practical values, no ideas, no promised land." He believed what was most important was how the viewer experienced the painting, it's color and form. Artists who agreed with Malevich used this style to go agaisnt the Russian government and further the revolution. They wanted to abandon all the art of conservatives. However, not all artists agreed that art should be involved with society and politics. Malevich himself and Kandinsky thought that "art must remain an essentially spiritual activity apart from the utilitarian needs of society." They wanted to keep art and politics seperate so as neither of them to pollute or influence the other. Vladimir Tatlin believed the opposite, and he used art to further the communist values of Russia.
The most famous Russian of this period was Lissitzky. This visionary artist changed graphic design forever. Because he was Jewish, he was turned down by the Petrograd Academy of Arts, so he instead went to Germany for his schooling. Encouraged by the headmaster of his school, he invented a painting style called PROUNS. It was an acronym for "Projects for the Establishment of a new Art" This type of art was concerned with created 3D images and illusions in painting. Lissitzky was hopeful that the Russian revolution and communism would "provide for society's needs, and the artist..would forge a unity between art and technology by constructing a new world of objects to provide mankind with a richer society and environment." He designed for Wendingen magazine that was a catalyst for artists and designers to share their work and ideas. He created most of his designs on graph paper demonstrating the "modular structure and mathematical order." His designs also affect book design, as he tried to arrange the words and page designs act as a "violin accompanies a piano." Lissitzky developed rules and organization for how books were to be arranged in columns and rows.
De Stijl was a movement that began in the Netherlands. It was concerned with working with abstract geometric style. Philopsher M.H.J. Shoenmaker beleived that horizontal and vertical lines represented opposite forces in our world, and the primary colors; yellow, blue, and red should be only used. The artists of this movement were very concerned with equilibrium and harmony and purity. Mondrians most famous piece (Composition with Red, Yellow, and Blue 1922) is said to create "assymetrical balance, with tension between elements, achieved absolute harmony."

After Class 03/24/10

Kai gave her presentaion about the Pictorial Modernism movement. It took place between 1900-1945, when the two World Wars took place. There were three styles of posters that flourished during this period. Beggarstaff was a style that fashioned together pieces of cut paper and glued it to a board. Flat panels of color were used, and sensitive cut edges made it appear scissors drew the work. James Pryde was a famous designer who employed this method. The second style of design was called Plakastil. This design really tried to simplify things to their most essential details rather than crowd it up wit unnecessary complex designs. Lucian Bernhard won a design contest for "Priester" matches. His design emplified minimalist form. Plakastil was all about taking images with complex or deeper meanings, and reducing them to a very simple and obvious message. Sachplakate was the third style. It was similar the German Plakastil, but had more "hyper-realistic" characteristics. Colors and forms were enhanced.
The posters of this era were often concerned with the "war-time effort." In American the posters stressed the need for family. They were much softer looking, more idyllic pictures of children and American life. However, in Germany they were the opposite. Strong iron-clad fists were depicted, and dark images of metal clad helmets.
Ludqig Holwein created some interesting posters for Germany as Hitler's personal graphic designer. He worked for Jugend magazine. He was inspired by Beggarstaff originally.
Art Deco emerged also during this period, it was an extension of Art Nouveau.
The Englishman Edward Kauffer. He created 141 posters for London Underground.
Other designers were Paul Colin who designed close to 2,000 posters, and 800 set designs. The most notable poster that emerged from this period was the American war poster of Uncle Sam. It was designed by James Montgomery Flagg who drew himself into the picture as Uncle Sam. It's bright, bold, and simple. It gets the message across easily and effectively.
I would be more interested in knowing if other coutnries had recruiting posters like England and America. Also, does the Daily Herald still do awesome desingns on their covers like Kauffer had made?

After Class 03/22/10

Today Jenn gave her presentation about the Modern Arts movement. Just how the society and environment effect what cave men, egyptians, and people of the renaissance wrote and draw about the same can be said about the 20th century environment. Big huge cities were popping up, radio was spreading, world wars were beginning, and for the first time ever humans could fly- in airplains. These factors changed the way we think about the world, our neighbor, and our place in the world. Cubists wanted the viewer and artist to change the way they thought about an object. It "challenged pictorial art" and the typical style in which human figures had been painted for hundreds of years. Paintings were created by putting together different fragments of what they eye sees- color, shape, form.
Futurism was interesting in that it rebelled against the machine age, modern life, and war. "Emotionally charged" poetry led the revolt. Originality in poetry and design was held at a higher esteem. Filippo Marinetti changed the way we think about tyographic wording.
The DADA movement was "anti-art." They rebelled against all tradition forms and ideas of what is considered Art. Often there pieces angered people, but that was the point. They were mocking what people considered the "Greatest art" like The Mona Lisa.Although they may seem like a bunch of punks, the people who were apart of the DADA movement stirred emotions in people. It made they question WHY they were getting so angry a piece like the Mona Lisa was getting defaced.However, with no organization or leader the movement died off in 1922.
The Surrealists came next in 1924. This had a huge impact on photography. The way a photo was developed altered, and lighter pictures were made. Frottage, which is a technique of rubbing over something to create an image became popular.
In Expressionsim color and proportion were bent out of shape. Paul Klee and Kandinsky were two artists that belonged to this movement. Die Blaue Reiter was the school they belonged too that showed "deep human emotion through color, line, and form"
I would be curious to know if Chanel was influenced by Futurism. There's a quote by Coco Chanel (?) that says, "In order to irreplaceable one must always be different"
I think it would be interesting to explore how all the movements we studied influenced fashion.

Before Class 03/22/10

I think there are some really exciting people and ideas in the modern art movement. The first notable person who had a huge impact was Pablo Picasso. Although I'm not sure if I completely understand cubism, it is interesting to me. He and Paul Cezanne changed the way we understand the eye and how it works. Instead of seeing a human form, Pablo forced the viewer to see a human form in all geometric shapes and angles. They thought a paitner "should treat nature in terms of the cylinder and the sphere and the cone." It is like analyzing what your eye does when it looks at an object. The way your pupil, iris, rods and cones flip and absorb color, shape, and form and then send a message to your brain. Cubism branched off into synthetic cubism. "The essence of an object and it's basic characteristic, rather than it's outward appearance were depicted." This means that a painter was trying to relate the soul, spirit, and feeling of an object. What cannot be seen was just as important as what was visually obvious. Fernard Leger's take on cubism had a big affect of graphic design. His flat colored and urban pictures were characteristic of design post World War 1.
Futurism is another interesting movement because it all started with a poem. Futurists were inspired by Filippo Marinetti. They were concerned with freedom and spontaneity, " Leaps and burst of style running through the page." Things were not always planned out, instead their energy just appeared. The futurists used bright bold words on pages to relate energy, noise, and speed. All of this was influenced by the advancements in technology in the 20th century. This movement had a great impact of graphic design, as I can see in the present time all the designs and songs that are illustrated with typeface design and movement. Finally, the Dada movement was the rebellious movement that reacted against war. They were concerned with the "shock factor" They wanted people to not be complacent, but passionate thinking and questioning individuals. Marcel Duchamp was a French painter who championed this movement. Although much of his work was controversial he got people to think about WHY they were angered by what he did.
Surrealism was another interesting movement that was heavily influenced by Freud's belief in the importance of dreams and exploring the unconscious. This movement explored the mystery of the mind and the things that are unknown. Salvador Dali championed this movement as his paintings were nothing recognizable except we can all relate to the strangeness of dreams. Surrealists were searching for the "real world" beyond the "real world". The "real world" that exists inside our head, outside of the real world we live in.
I am somewhat confused as to understanding how cubists used the rods and cons in their eyes to paint something. Did they study the science of vision first?

After Class 03/19/10

Peter Behrns is created with being the first designer to create a "visual identification program" for a company. What this means is he created a standard logo, color, and look to "brand" the company AEG. We may take this for granted in our modern era because we are familiar with so many brands. This is quite an achievement because Behrns recognized the benefit repetition of style for a company would have. It would make it so much more memorable and hopefully profitable because people would be able to relate good feelings with recognition. Behrns also was concerned with typography. He considered it the "most characteristic picture of a period." I agree that you can tell a lot about a certain time in history and the people by what their writing looked like. Going back, we can obviously see the Sumerians and Egyptians were concerned with farming. Later we see during the times of the renaissance, religious literature was beautifully written. Behrns advanced the use of sans-serif type. He was giving writing a very clean look. This style was called "New Objectivity." Rather than be concerned with fanciful elaborate designs, this style was about simplicity and focusing on the needs of the industry. Behrns represented two concepts: Neoclassicism and Sachlichkeit. He designed a tea kettle that was simple and functional. He "eliminated social class recognitions."
Other breakthroughs in New Objectivity were the first sign for the London Underground railway system. It was created in 1890 and designed by Frank Pick. His poster to advertise the railway was bold, bright, and stood out. He used positive and negative space with bright blue, red, and white colors. His design became the blue print for "corporate design."
I think it's interesting to see how design began to become simpler looking. With all advancements in technology, the most important thing the industry needed was for it to be practical and functional. I would be curious to know if London has ever considered re-doing the UNDERGROUND sign

After Class 03/17/10

Today, Patrick gave his presentation about the lead designers, architects, and influences behind the movement that began at the turn of the century. Frank Llyod Wright was a major influence. He was born in Wisconsin, but the houses he designed stretched across the midwest and into Arizona as well. His homes were "prairie style" homes, and was considered to be way ahead of his time for his visionary thinking. He designed not only the exterior, but all aspects of the house. The interior windows, furniture, and set up were all decided by Wright. His vision was for the house to all be "in sync." All parts of the house flowed together harmoniously. Wright was also a graphic designer. In the winter of 1896, he and William Winslow printed "The House Beautiful" which was written by Rev. C. Gannett. Wright meticulously designed the borders that accompanied every page.
The Glasgow school of the arts produced four tight nit designers and architects who were fans of Wright. "The Four" who were Mackintosh, McNair, and the MacDonald sisters created new geometric designers similar to the geometric designs found in Wright's stained glass and houses. Their designs were streamlined but also had curved floral elements at the end of them. "The four" also designed rooms that were anti-Victorian. They were white walled rooms, that flooded with light and contained few objects as opposed to the overstuffed and busy Victorian rooms. In the posters they designed, they were also the first artists to distort a human body. This was considered very controversial. Other designers were Jessie Marion King and Tawlin Morris who were influenced by medieval style fantasy illustrations. Morris also became the director of the Glasgow school.
The Vienna Secession was a group of students who outed themselves from the Kunstlerhaus school. They rejected what they were learning there and wanted to explore new design and styles. Their greatest accomplishment was "Ver Sacrum" which means "sacred spring". It was a magazine that illustrated the innovative and ever chaning creative designs are artists and editors. It had 300 subscribers, but they always printed 600 copies. This was so that more people could be exposed to their new designs. It was a "design laboratory" where many artists created and pushed the envelope in designs.
The magazine ran for only five years; from 1898-1903. I would be curious to know why it did not suceed? Were they not making any money on it? Did artists go onto other projects and disband?

Before Class 03/17/10

At the end of the 19th century there was a push, vision, and hope for a new direction in the arts. People and artists questioned the philosophies, rules, and styles of old and sought out new inspirations. There were many many influential people in this period who helped further these ideas. One of the most notable figures was the American architect Frank Llyod Wright. He became known for his ideas about architecture, and how ones "living space" should be approached. He believed that the most important part of the house was the inside, and how it would be functional to the individuals living there as a place of work, play, and relaxation. He was influenced by Japancese designs and looked for "a model of harmonious proportion and visual poetry." He was also influenced by geometric and mathematical designs of pre-colombian architecture. Straight lines, and evenly spaced proportions were important to him. He also valued white and blank space. As a printer, in his basement he recognized the importance of careful layout, design, and execution. He became known across Europe especially to the Glasgow school of Art in Scotland. Four scholars, who became known as "The Four" were especially fond of his vision. Charles Mackintosh, Herbert McNair, Frances & Margaret Macdonald all colaborated and shared ideas of this movement. They produced works with "lyrical originality, and symbolic complexity." Floral designs, mystical, and religious symbols were all employed by these designers. Bold, and simple lines were typical of their flat-color posters. The simplicity and "fairy-tale" imagery was a complete change for the busy, elaborate, and ornate styles of years past. Their ideas spread across Europe to Vienna. However, they were not always welcomed. "The Four" and the Creative Artist's Association in Vienna all had to fight to get their works on display. Painter Gustav Klimt led the revolt in Vienna. In Vienna much of their imagery was found in Greek mythology. After Glasgow, Vienna became an area of importance and "creative innovation." The Secession artists used more borders and headpieces than the Glasgow people,but they still maintained the simplistic and clean layouts the movement believed in.
I would be curious to know more about the influence this movement had on nursery rhymes. When I see many of the pictures, they often remind me of children's stories.

Before Class 02/26/10

The impacts of the Industrial Revolution are almost immeasurable. It changed our world and the way we can manipulate, create, and produce commodities at a much faster rate. For the first time, farming was not the main source of income for most people. Mass amounts of people left the rural areas and flooded into the cities. Animal power was replaced by machines and steam-power. The machine was not the most resourceful tool in society. It was faster and more efficient than humans. Because of this, handicrafts and skilled tradesmen were no longer needed. Machines mass produced everything at cheaper costs. As far as communication goes, this was the beginning of Mass Communication. Friedrich Koenigh developed the high speed printer. It was also the beginnings of advertising. Posters were hung around towns in vibrant colors. Producing and consuming was the main goal of the industrial revolution. With faster printmaking, typeface also changed. The new fonts were BOLD. "Fat Face", "Egyptian or slabface" both had "load-bearing slabs." They were huge letter forms that got your attention right away. To people these days, they might look like the typical "Wild West" fonts. Also, letter forms in newspapers and books were "sans serif." To us, this is MUCH easier to read, but to people back then they had a difficult time reading the smaller, thinner, letter forms. It is quite amazing that from 1450-1800 there were virtually no changes in the printing press. In one machine, the way we communicate, and how quickly we can receive information is changed. This was the beginning of the world becoming "faster."
I would be curious to know what happened to all the land that people left to go to the city? Did countries buy it up? or did other rich people? Land used to mean wealth and power, and it is surprising people would move away from it.

After Class 03/05/10

Art Nouveau was a movement about creativity, invention, and pushing the "norm." Many art movements and styles have been an extension of another type, but Art Nouveau really wanted to push the envelop with the new ways of creating, designing, and using materials in art. The style reached all avenues of design; architecture, furniture, typeface, and posters. It began in France, and spread across Europe and eventually to America by means of Harper's magazine. The style was " organic, linear, and imaginative." The famous burlesque house of "Moulin Rouge" had posters designed that represented the Art Nouveau movement. Henri de Toulouse-Lautree designed the poster style for Moulin Rouge. Vincent Van Gaugh and Paul Gaugin were also influenced by this style. Across the pont in America, Louis Rhead advertised in Harper's magazine with "vibrant unexpected color combinations" It was an "eclectic style" like no one had ever seen before them. What I think is most interesting about this style is the colors of of the posters. It doesn't have the "natural" feel like designs of the "arts & crafts" movement, yet it is not uncomfortable. It looks NATURAL, just not so heavily relied on NATURE. I really enjoy the beautiful posters. It has a simplistic quality, yet we can tell it is not because the colors are so vibrant. It really is attention-grabbing. I would be curious to know more about where the posters were seen generally. Would they only in Paris? Was America's exposure to this style only in magazines?

Before Class 03/05/10

Like many art movements, there are numerous contributing factors that influenced the style. Historical, cultural and political forces all had an influence on the movement that began in Paris in 1890. Chinese art was a style all of it's own. Citizens of the East were banned from visiting other places. Because their land, people, and country was all they knew and could be exposed to, that is what they drew. The art was beautiful almost dreamlike pictures. Most commonly art was of beautiful women, flowers, birds, and nature scenes. Kitagawa Utamaro was a great artist of the late 1700's. There was great detail and "tenderness" in his artwork. Chinese art had a "kinetic energy." Katshuhika Hokusai created the most pieces of art; 35,000. Japanese books of art were meticulously planned out, arranged, and styled using "tecture, density, and dramatic action."
Finally at the turn of the century, Eastern influences began to pervade western art. Like most art forms this style reaches all avenues of design; architecture, typography, fashion, graphics, and print. It began in Paris and was called "New Art" because it was not influenced by anything else. The vines and lines were free. Graphics were invented and not just copied from nature. The was a whole movement of art because it was about finding new avenues for inspiration. The two artists that championed this movement the most was Cheret and Grasset. When French rules about censorship dropped, they began creating this art nouveau style. Posters filled the streets and galleries were stocked with new design. Cheret was the inventor of the modern day poster we see today. Posters were dominated by illustrations now, rather than large bulky letters and words. This was also a new style of women in advertising. Cheret portrayed them as the "ideal woman." They encompassed all that a woman now had. They had freedom, happiness, were self-assured, and living life to the fullest with wine and cigarettes. Grassat created posters and designed books more influenced by nature than advertising. In England, books were reprinted in the art nouveau style. Shortly art nouveau spread across the pond to the United States. Flat color was the style, and design was less busy.
I would be curious to know what type of censorship there was in France and why?

After Class 03/01/10

Today in class we discussed further the impact of the Industrial Revolution on design. Most notably is the development of the camera as an important tool in spreading ideas, recording history, and in advertising. The camera was developed by chemists. Also, during this time advertising became much more prevalent. Large colored posters were now common sights. Color became a huge part of design. Books and posters all had vivid colors. Typeface design on posters was large with huge serifs. Although to our eye it might look disorganized and difficult to read, this was the style of the times.
Also in class we made up time lines in order of how writing and design has progressed. My group noted how art began combining words and pictures early on. Hieroglyphics would be the first example of this. Later illuminated manuscripts also achieved this with beautiful results.
I would be curious to know how much one of the first camera's would have cost?