Introduction to Post Modernism

Characterised

• Exhaustion
• pluralism
• pessimism
• disillustionment with idea of absolute knowledge

Modernism

• Expression of modern life/technology

Post Modernism

• a reaction to these

Origins

• 1917- German writer Rudolph Pannwitz, spoke of  nihilistic, amoral men
• 1964- Leslie Fielder a culture which rejected the elitist values of modern culture

• 1960 - begins
• 1970- established as a term
• 1980- recognisable style
• 1990s- dominant theoretical discourse
• today- tired and simmering
• Modernism dies according to Charles Jencks - 15th of july 1972
• demolition of the Pruit - Igoe development, st. Louis
• typical modernist design

Post Modernism

• has an attitude of qeustioning conversations
• Post modern aestheric = multiplicing of styles and approaches
• space for new voice
• only rule is that there are no rules
• celebrates what might otherwise be termed kitsch

Park Hill Flats

• post war housing
• modernist style
• build a community

New media and Visual Culture

Characteristics of new digital media

• "late age of print" were in atm
• age of print started 1450
• allows people to become literate
• Lage age of print we now have to be computer literate

Electronic Books

• reader takes on the role of author
• democrasation 
• challenges the role of author

Computer Media

• hypertext
• overwhelming amount of information
• all the information you need
• new technologies change the world

Definitions of Mass Media

• Modern systems of communication
• negative criticism of mass media
• superficial, uncritical, encourages status Quo, audience is dispersed, disempowered, figures measure success. 
• encourages apathy
• power held by few motivated by profit/social control
• bland, escapist and standardised

Positive

• not all low quality
• creativity can be a feature of mass media
• democratic potential

Artist use of Mass Media

• John Walker - Art in the age of Mass media, what happens to art in this late age
• Oliviero Toscani - Benneton Campaign
• Leeds 13 - uses mass media to get known and get work

Key Qeustions

• Can art be autonomous
• Should art be autonomous
• Jackson pollard paid by CIA to do his work to show the work of free mind
• art for political reasons.

Advertising

• a harmfull social force
• Relationship between propaganda & advertisement
• Adverts effect us subcontiously
• commercial consumer advertising - adverts which promise something
• Kalr marc 1818-1883
• we live in a consumer/commodity culture
• They way people think of themselves or others
• construct their identities by products
• "The commodity self" - steward ewens
• We measure ourselves with what we own or what we can buy

Big TV - signifies money, how well off you are

• Buying things to reinforce the person we want to be
• we judge people on superficial categories
• you are glamorous when envied
• measuring ourselves against unobtainable ideals

Symbolic Associations

• Sociability
• popularity
• youth
• coolness
• sophistication
• multiracial 

Adverts like these produce a false need for meaningless things

How does it perpetuate false needs

• aesthetic innovation
• planned obsolescence 
• novelty
• builds false desires

Commodity Fetishisms

• The context in which a product is produced is kept hidden
• gets personified with people and things
• people become dehumidified 
• sexy
• romantic
• sophisticated
• cool

Frankfurt School (1923)

• Commodity culture manipulates us and makes us think in one dimension
• advertisers say it creates wealth for our world
• encourages - Freedom, Choice
• how free are you well you keep being called inadequate

Stereotyping

• manipulates people
• seeks to make people unhappy
• can become addictive
• encourages us to buy something potentially unhealthy

Semiotics

The front cover is a mythical construction of what the working class male is interested in; Cricket, Football and X factor. The front cover is also a mythical construction of women being babes, singers and sexy santa's. The photo of katie shows innocence although the text used is bold and gossipy, the language used within the article is common and aimed at the working class male it uses slang like "Babe" which connotes working class slang for a sexy lady, which is another mythical construction of women.

Photography lecture

A document of the world at a moment

• Document with the aim to change the world
• use camera to change the world
• Document to relay to others
• a photo is not necessarily neutral
• offer a humanitarian perspective
• portray social and political situations
• people tend to form the subject matter

James Natchway - Conflict photographer

• idea of showing people how the other side of the world live

The photographer and the subject always have to compromise the photo as both have their own idea of what they want in the photo.

FSA Photographers

• Paid by the american government to document the depression
• they were instructed what to take
• not neutral photos

John Lampray

• used staged photography to show inferiority of blacks
• photography used as power

Robert Capa (conflict photographer)

• shocking and horrifying images

Magnum (international Group)

• documents social problems

Graphic Design: A medium for the masses

Giotto Di Bondene and his betrayal of christ

• Got paid to paint pictures of the bible
• Illustrates the message as a lot of people couldn't read at that time either.

Graphics through the ages

• Bison and horses (15,000 - 10,000 BC)
• cave paintings to help communicate stories

Hentri De Toulouse - lautrec

• advertising nights out in france
• using fine art with text

Graphic design started out as fine art with text

• Swiss had cutting edge design
• English and American conscripition posters much more tradition with home values
• British design very reserved
• Paul Rand starts to become very inflauntial  in america (1946)
• Paul Rand IBM logo
• Hitler shuts down the Bauhaus in 1933 to stop modernist forward thinking
• Hitler puts on degenerate art exhibition
• Sex pistols - do it yourself poster has links to how the punks think and their style and the movement against the hippys
• Volkswagen - think small advert
• Neville brody pushes the boundaries of type and layout
• David carson and ray gun magazine pushes the boundaries of legibility

5 Images of modernist graphic design

P. Citroen (1923). "Metropolis"

This image is a representation of the world where your not the centre. He uses photomontage which is a new technology for the time. The amount of images used is overwhelming.

H. Beck (1932) "underground map"

Harry Becks underground map was a case of form follows function, instead of confusing all the train lines by keeping them geographically accurate. The poster is anti decorative as well which is a modernist trait.

H. Hoch (1920) das schone madchen

This image represents a little girl lost in a world of new technology. She uses photomontage which is a new technique for the time.

G. Klucis (1930) Electrification of the entire country

This photomontage is new technology for the time and the image represents the government trying to get electricity to the entire country by constructing a network of regional power stations.   

El Lissitsky (1924) Advert for ink

El Lissitsky used modernist techniques and montage to produce this advert for ink

Lecture notes

Modern

• idea of progression
• Doing some new or different for the time

Urbanisation

• People shifting towards towns or citys for work
• Modernity gave the idea of world time so set shifts where given and time off.

Enlightenment: Period of late 18th century when scientific/pholosophy started to reject the idea of religion.

Caillebotte showed modernity in his painting, they showed distance between people and that the rich and poor had to mingle.

Degas and his "L'Absinthe" painting showed how horrible peoples lives where and that they had to have a drink after work to make it better.

New Paris (after 1850's)

• Old paris had narrow streets and run down housing
• Large boulevards were put in which made it easyer to police
• City centre became expensive and for the rich
• Haussman helped to redesign

Kaiserpanorama (1883) - technology started to distance people

Lumiere Brothers
Their short films showed videos from the top of the Eiffel tower, these videos gave people new prospectives of things they would never otherwise of seen.

Mone
His paintings described sense of smell of the modernity in his paintings, Artists had to start using new methods to produce work as photography captured images perfectly, almost rendering painting pointless.

• Citys and skyscrapers gave new prospectuses
• photomontage and collage
• methods of showing modernity

These were direct responses to new technologies and art techniques

Modernism in Design

• Anti-historicism
• truth to materials
• form follows function
• tecnology
• internationalism
• Beauty comes from simplicity
• Anti-historicism - no need to look backwards style
• ornament is crime - adolf loos 1908
• truth to materials - simple geometric forms appropriate to the materials being sold

The Bauhaus

Technologies 

• Mass production
• Cheap and widely accessible 
• design that could be understood on an international scale

1. The term modern is not a neutral term it suggests novelty and improvement
2. Modernity (1750-1960) 
3. modernism range of ideas and styles that sprung from modernity

Modernism

• a vocabulary of styles
• art&design education

Image Analysis