Modernism/Postmodernism

It was very difficult to make sense of all thing books and websites I visited on modernism and postmodernism.

Modernism is the artistic movement that developed in concurrence with, and eventually in opposition to, fully developed modernity. Modernist artists were disgusted with the quality of life in industrial capitalism. They responded to this degradation of the quality of life by retreating into a longing for pre capitalist organic social order, by embracing fascist leaders and ideologies like Ezra Pound and Gertrude Stein by seeking refuge in radical and sometimes anti social individualism or agrarian populism. Below is a Stein piece...

 

As for Postmodernism it embraced this condition and rejected narratives and values for parodies of the classics and exalting popular culture at the expense of traditional high culture. Postmodern art is characterized by highly self conscious uses of strategies like parody to undermine a sense of order and timeless values. 

It seems like every postmodern movement had some kind of backlash within it and most of the time these backlashes involved some kind of gender concerns.

I did some work on Gillian Wearing for my Advertising class and found it very interesting, have a look...she is a post femenin/postmodernist English documentary photographer.

SIGNS THAT SAY WHAT YOU WANT THEM TO SAY AND NOT SIGNS THAT SAY WHAT SOMEONE ELSE WANTS YOU TO SAY 1992-3

In this project Wearing chose random people from the public and asked them to spontaneously write something on a piece of paper, and then she photographed them

References

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.ashleasart.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/GillianWearingSignsHelp.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ashleasart.co.uk/2011/01/image-and-context/&usg=__fU49vOHucO1CDWN56RiNWGNWcJs=&h=338&w=240&sz=20&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=iRW90JcCsNgSHM:&tbnh=147&tbnw=104&ei=tzrZTdjkFIyJhQeNmqTIBg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgillian%2Bwearing%2Bsigns%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7SKPT_en%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D489%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=124&vpy=89&dur=392&hovh=267&hovw=189&tx=91&ty=144&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

 http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.tate.org.uk/collection/P/P78/P78348_9.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blog.tate.org.uk/tate-tales/%3Fp%3D49&usg=__MR7DIW3yE-FThyMlLepshba49bI=&h=512&w=338&sz=23&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=_Gqu5QetUXwFXM:&tbnh=147&tbnw=91&ei=tzrZTdjkFIyJhQeNmqTIBg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dgillian%2Bwearing%2Bsigns%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7SKPT_en%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D489%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=10&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=18&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=31&ty=63

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=36WUgFMDY-M

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjBaNWhxKBPuZb-lNG0mNXojE2lrNHXmZfgx3XJe-NJ3Jo3vjBbKmJX1iLye87bbcA4hFaEO8KftMLJoXxmUEm4KBKGDHWkcJTmaf6vNAgsFi_PAwVaopcWHcQzBT7tNBkI1UatOcZpGg/s400/Roy-Lichtenstein-Kiss-V-133905.jpg&imgrefurl=http://nextwaving.wordpress.com/2008/10/11/pop-art-double-standards/&usg=__TDiaYKO4gS01OEtgIAkdWrIHkO0=&h=392&w=400&sz=59&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=29X4MPdfmtpPYM:&tbnh=165&tbnw=165&ei=yRLZTaLHBZOxhQfcx-TABg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Droy%2Blichtenstein%2Bpostmodernism%2Bthe%2Bkiss%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7SKPT_en%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D489%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=63&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:1,s:0&tx=90&ty=88

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://wiki-images.enotes.com/thumb/d/d6/GertrudeStein.JPG/180px-GertrudeStein.JPG&imgrefurl=http://www.enotes.com/topic/Gertrude_Stein&usg=__ctN1_2aQSv2U-KIjkXrtrhgrUN0=&h=221&w=180&sz=12&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=yYhjk5LcHhAn1M:&tbnh=175&tbnw=143&ei=XQ3ZTaCgFYKEhQf4j_C-Bg&prev=/search%3Fq%3DGertrude%2BStein%2BPetain%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7SKPT_en%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D489%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=158&vpy=113&dur=3862&hovh=176&hovw=144&tx=95&ty=85&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=14&ved=1t:429,r:0,s:0

 

Identity (race and gender) - A womans Worth...

From early on girls sold dreams about lives of fairytales, sending a message of sitting in a castle and waiting for prince charming to come and take them away, provide for them so they can live happily ever after. I feel like this is playing down on a woman’s worth and deludes a lot of people. When I was younger and am sure this applies for most girls, my dad told me I was a princess and in a way I did feel special and felt that this was true, but in real life things aren’t as dandy as they are in fairytales. I do feel that some woman have been brainwashed by the media, making them strive for beauty on a daily basis, of course this does not apply to all people it does depend on the individuals themselves and how emotionally string they are and how easily they can be swayed or encouraged.  

Media portrays a woman’s worth by the size of our hips, boobs and the richness of our expression amongst other things. Every part of us is analysed and scrutinised by not on the world but by our peers to, as well as ourselves. Commercially women are sold as commodities, the price of her distinguished in ‘attributes’ she possesses that many wish to attain, the sad things about this is that they don’t define beauty in many people eyes. It is not intellect or insight, vision or drive, nor compassion or humility that a woman strives to attain; it is in superficial beauty and manufactured sexuality.

Through no fault of our own, we have been registered in the origins of our being that we must be more than what is perceived as normal. Men want woman that have something another woman they could easily get doesn’t have, making women struggle to be an object of lust. Whether the problems main root is the media or woman themselves, it is one that sticks out like s sour thumb. Every woman is a princess and should be treated like one!

We were shown these two images in the lecture, the first one was viewed as art and rightly so and the one on the right was sort of looked down on. I think both images are intended for different audiences and serves there intended purposes very well.

Bigography Topics - Paul Rand

He is a Graphic Designer best known for his logos. Rand’s career creating icons stared in the temple of global capitalism. It was one that he embraced at a very young age, painting signs for his father’s grocery store as well as for school events. His career began with simple assignments, starting with a part-time position creating stock images for a syndicate that supplied graphics to various newspapers and magazines. “Among these young Americans it seems to be that Paul Rand is one of the best and most capable. He is a painter, lecturer, industrial designer, and advertising artist who draws his knowledge and creativeness from the resources of this country. He is an idealist and a realist, using the language of the poet and business man. He thinks in terms of need and function. He is able to analyze his problems but his fantasy is boundless”.

References

http://flyergoodness.blogspot.com/2011/04/classic-identity-design-by-paul-rand.html

(Accesses 22/05/2011)

Biography Topics - Tibor Kalman (Graphic Design)

Tibor Kalman, 1949 to 1999 was a Hungarian graphics designer. He was a social activist for whom graphic design was a means of achieving two ends: good design and social responsibility. Since the height of American Modernism during the 1950s he became known as the bad boy of graphics design. He had a magazine called Colours, which was the first for a global village which focused on global awareness and multiculturalism; this was an outlet for his political activism. The design firm M&Co, was started in 1979 by him, Carol Bokuniewicz and Liz Trovato which did corporate work for clients such as, New Wave Music, Talking Heads and Restaurant Florent to name a few.

References

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.coverjunkie.com/uploads/1289142757.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.coverjunkie.com/blog/colors-classic/4/2689&usg=__gqBKy0gn94pGzWuWJjktaphvOeY=&h=650&w=604&sz=48&hl=en&start=305&zoom=1&tbnid=ynX1cm73Mt9iLM:&tbnh=110&tbnw=102&ei=XCLYTe29NdGJhQeinZS7Bg&prev=/search%3Fq%3DTibor%2BKalman%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7SKPT_en%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D531%26tbm%3Disch&chk=sbg&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=380&sqi=2&page=13&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:12,s:305&tx=70&ty=44 
(Accessed 21/05/2011 at 9:00 p.m)

http://www.aiga.org/content.cfm/medalist-tiborkalman (Accessed 21/05/2011 at 9:49 p.m)

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://29.media.tumblr.com/tumblr_lc96t9Wtrs1qzix80o1_500.png&imgrefurl=http://ladyfresh.tumblr.com/post/1640512649/black-queen-elizabeth-tibor-kalman-for-colors&usg=__hkCNBwhjwIn3yR-o7KLyrVSATjg=&h=463&w=500&sz=471&hl=en&start=74&zoom=1&tbnid=QLwla1W0bcVcpM:&tbnh=109&tbnw=105&ei=nCTYTeKkNcPRhAeehrH7Cw&prev=/search%3Fq%3DTibor%2BKalman%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7SKPT_en%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D531%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=109&sqi=2&page=4&ndsp=27&ved=1t:429,r:13,s:74&tx=53&ty=47 

(Accessed 21/05/2011 at 10:30 p.m)

Biography topics - John Stezaker (Illustration/Printmaking)

I had never heard of this artist before (yes, I know I should be ashamed) but the moment I saw his work I fell in love with it! I love the way he merges two images so perfectly and they blend in together so well and form this amazing image. I love his work and he will now be influencing the way my graphics design work is done from now on. This is going to sound gay, but I got a feeling when I saw his work, I think I have a favourite artist now. I say this because usually when I see art work I think err what the fuck is that?! Is that art?! I can do that!! I don’t really understand the work but when I saw this work it clicked in my head. Wahoo! (I have a goofy grin on my face as I’m writing this).

John Stezaker is an appropriation artist, who appropriates pictures found in magazines, postcards and books through his clean cut juxtapositions. (Juxtaposition is when u place compositional elements side by side, with the intention of comparing or contrasting them).  He embraces the content and context of the original pictures to convey his own clever meanings to it. He is a conceptual artist who looks at the different images as documentations of truth, purveyor of memories and symbols of modern culture. In using stylistic images from Hollywood’s golden era, his work temporally and conceptually engages with Surrealism.

Using both male and female identity, he creates a sense of harmony in his work. In his images and personalities become ancillary and empty, rendered abject through their magnified flaws and struggle for visual dominance.

References 

Websites

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.stills.org/sites/default/files/Mask%2520XXXV%25202007.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.stills.org/exhibition/past/john-stezaker&usg=__AntLcKya-GnrSVWcXJ6mH4YVPf8=&h=3898&w=3153&sz=1749&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=RVN2MUDMsxHBvM:&tbnh=163&tbnw=132&ei=LP7XTbiBCIOxhQesn8nBBg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Djohn%2BStezaker%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7SKPT_en%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D492%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=hc&vpx=139&vpy=147&dur=1053&hovh=250&hovw=202&tx=133&ty=232&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:6,s:0  (Accessed 21/05/2011 at 8:34 p.m)

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.snowdenflood.com/sites/default/files/imagecache/post/post_images/John_Stezaker.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.snowdenflood.com/blog/john-stezaker-collages&usg=__e-zTpf1xQwVoRY8DTfNGVPA2YkY=&h=334&w=493&sz=25&hl=en&start=24&zoom=1&tbnid=yzPPKNbsrex-GM:&tbnh=147&tbnw=193&ei=LP7XTbiBCIOxhQesn8nBBg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Djohn%2BStezaker%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7SKPT_en%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D492%26tbm%3Disch0%2C765&um=1&itbs=1&biw=1259&bih=492&iact=rc&dur=485&sqi=2&page=3&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:8,s:24&tx=102&ty=66  (Accessed 21/05/2011 at 8:34 p.m)



Appropriation

Historically appropriation is of some importance in the practise of art making, (well it is of importance but, I do not quit know what to make of it at the moment, because even though I do occasionally copy images for my work,  I don’t know if I agree with it after the research I did). It’s the term used when artists and other people in the creative industries “borrow” if you will, images or sounds and manipulate them to form a whole new images or sound to what they would have previously have been.

Whilst doing research on this topic, I came across Cultural Appropriate in a book I read called Cultural Appropriation and the Arts. Inside it stated that “Artists from many countries are constantly engaging in Cultural Appropriation, Picasso famously appropriated Motifs which originated in the work of   a African carvers” (Young, J 2010).

Picasso - Motifs











He goes on to say “A host of Novelists like Tony Hillterman have made the native culture of North America the subject matter of many of their books...A host of film makers have done the same thing including Disney’s Peter Pan (1953)”.  I think cultural appropriation can cause to an extent some controversy and debate, you could argue that ethically the art could be an automatic failure and immoral. Personally am in two minds about this.

Rip Manifesto is a illegal media mash up, the group is made up of web activist Brett Gaylor and musician Greg Gillis also known as Girl Talk. They “serve as your digital tour guides on a probing investigation into how culture builds upon culture in the information age”. They have received props for their live performances. They aim to reposition popular music from band and artists but add a hind of wacky creative flare of their own to it, some see this as illegal actions what with copyrighting infringements and stuff.  “Nothing is original. Steal from anywhere that resonates with inspiration or fuels your imagination. Devour old films, new films, music, books, paintings, photographs, poems, dreams, random conversations, architecture, bridges, street signs, trees, clouds, bodies of water, light and shadows. Select only things to steal from that speak directly to your soul. If you do this, your work (and theft) will be authentic. Authenticity is invaluable; originality is non-existent. And don't bother concealing your thievery - celebrate it if you feel like it. In any case, always remember what Jean-Luc Godard said: "It's not where you take things from - it's where you take them to." Jim Jarmusch.

References

Books

Young O, J (2010) Cultural Appropriation and the Arts

Websites

Picasso Picture

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://images.bidorbuy.co.za/user_images/923/1099923_100107143916_PICASSO_MOTIF_17.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.bidorbuy.co.za/item/22239157/PABLO_PICASSO_MOTIFS_No_17_HAND_PAINTED_CERAMIC_R85_000_00.html&usg=__fDK116xqSeLsbsUBeZarIC4pWIo=&h=500&w=500&sz=48&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=81zRFSJRHfUc7M:&tbnh=163&tbnw=163&ei=kt_XTYaRLMqEhQeCtdHFBg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dpicasso%2Bmotifs%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26sa%3DN%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7SKPT_en%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D492%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=79&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=12&ved=1t:429,r:7,s:0&tx=100&ty=55      (Accessed 21/05/20110, 5:12p.m)

Dog Picture

http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.fashionphile.com/blog/pics/vuittondogmerylsmith.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.fashionphile.com/blog/tag/appropriation/&usg=__c1Du2R0AH5GaX85_WO-5gUNfg8k=&h=494&w=654&sz=75&hl=en&start=0&zoom=1&tbnid=CdU_2KeulyIHgM:&tbnh=137&tbnw=179&ei=_vbXTc-RB8u2hAeorNizBg&prev=/search%3Fq%3Dappropriation%26um%3D1%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-gb:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7SKPT_en%26biw%3D1259%26bih%3D492%26tbm%3Disch&um=1&itbs=1&iact=rc&dur=5&sqi=2&page=1&ndsp=13&ved=1t:429,r:9,s:0&tx=113&ty=64   (Accessed 21/05/20110, 3:00p.m)