Modernism & After

When we think modern we think of new and improved things, the latest gadgets and contemporary design. However, modernism revolving around Western culture is in fact classed as between 18^th and 19^th century, with the 17^th to the 18^th century being the Enlightenment era. A quote by philosopher, economist and sociologist, Karl Marx (1818 – 1883) highlights exactly what is meant by the idea of modernism – “All that is solid melts into air.” The idea that everything is constantly changing challenges the concept of the word ‘modern.’ From the writer H.G. Wells, "The crisis of today is the joke of tomorrow" (1920) up to Politian Tony Blaire, “The scale of challenges now dwarf what we faces in 1997” (2008) it shows that the changes in which we face and have face have been and will continue to be consistent.

During the Enlightenment period, the importance of rationality and science rather than faith, superstition and tradition surfaced. Intellectual reaction against received authority i.e. The French Revolution. The need for progress, the thriving optimism and desire for absolute knowledge became the step towards the industrial revolution (1760 – 1840). Areas changed from rural to urban with new working and living conditions. There were factories, mass production and major transformation. However with that came social alienation, this caused the growth of railways and transport.

The Arts and Crafts Movement was dominant during this period. (Stenburg Bros.: Man With a Movie Camera poster.) Modernism in Visual Communication became surreal, graphic and fragmented. This contrasts to the usual detailed, fantastical and classical illustrations that once were. Now it would involve mixed media and edgy design, espousal of the new and rejection of history and tradition. It was the utopian desire to create a better world from scratch. With design came the almost messianic belief in the power and potential of the machine and industrial technology; rejection of applied ornament and decoration, an embrace of abstraction.

Skandium. (2010). Miature zig zag.www.skandium.com/miniature-zig-zag-stoel.  Last accessed 23rd Sep 2014. 

Modernism and revolution in architecture and design revolved around form following function, Louis Sullivan, also known as 'the father of modernism' was the creator of the skyscraper. Another example of basic functional design is the Zig Zag chair designed by Gerrit Rietveld in 1934, objects and designs are now legacies from a previous original idea. Traditional design had been replaced with contemporary. Another example would be the iPod and the record player, both have the same function however one is more practical.

Cargo. (2010). Industrial Revolution Illustration.http://ben-jennings.com/Industrial-Revolution-Illustration. Last accessed 23rd Sep 2014.

Cargo. (2011). Photomontage: A collection. 
http://cargocollective.com/mat200a/Photomontage-A-Collection. Last accessed 23rd Sep 2014.

We as humans want to make our mark in the world. From the cave drawings around 30,000 years ago to graffiti today, we are continuously influenced by what is around us and what is to come. Cartoonist, Ben Jennings illustrates what is around him. He has a series of pictures created from the influence of the industrial revolution. Current artists today are influenced by photographs and drawings from those who created art subjected by their society at the time, thus the paradox continues. Alexander Rodchenko is one of many examples who were part of the change.

Modernism is an umbrella term for a wide array of movements which mostly occurred after the World War, characterised by changing attitudes, innovation and freedom from realism.