Chapter 15

Chapter 15 discusses A New Language of Form. Cubism begins to permeate into all areas of Visual Art. But Visual art also moves beyond the restraints of pictorial imagery and into the invention of pure form. The ideas about form and using space from painting to sculpture was quickly applied to the problems of design. Modern design is not a step child of the fine arts. Innovation became very apparent in art and designs and new ideas were presented often. By the end of WWI, graphic designers, architects and products designers began to push the boundaries of form and function within visual art. During this time Russia began to go through an era of political troubles. Due to this cubo-futurism was developed, a mixture of cubism and futurism. This style was a reaction to the values of czarist Russia.

Supermatism was founded by Kasimir Malevich. This was a painting style that included basic forms, pure color, and nonobjective geometric abstraction.

Art's purpose began to be questioned as spiritual or social. Constructivism was founded due to this conflict. It is categorized with three words; tectonics, texture and construction. Texture is how materials were used, Tectonics was how communist ideology was used visually, and construction represented the process of visual organization.

In the Netherlands the De Stijl movement began. It was characterized with abstract geometric styles that sought harmony. The works were purely abstract and consisted of dynamic movement and balance.

Interesting fact:

Within the De Stijl style, curved lines were almost completely eliminated and sans serifs began to be much more favored as a typeface.

After Class 3/19

Kevin gave his presentation on New Objectivity and Peter Behrens. The new century brought about a need for new direction. Art and design permeated into social, technical and cultural areas.

Peter Behrens was a German artist, architect, and designer. He sought typographic reform. He is also considered the "first industrial designer". He formed the AEG and came from a wealthy family. He was orphaned at age 14. He loved art and pursued it when he began school. In his later years he came to believe that architecture and typography defined the types. He developed his own typography called "Behrenschrift". With this he combined blackletter type with the Roman style. He focused on the needs of the industry and had the formal eye of a pointer and the structural apporach of an architect. With this he created the first visual identity system. This is something people associate immediately with something else based upon its color, logo, and type.

Question: I was wondering about the sort of architecture Peter Behrens influenced and if there is evidence of it around it today.

Peter Behrens

Peter Behrens was a German artist, architect and designer. He developed a path for design in the first decade of the new century. He wanted typographic reform, and also was an early fan of sans-serif type. He developed a grid system that was used to structure space in his design layouts He is considered the "first industrial designer". He manufactured many different products such as street lamps and teapots. He also worked for the Allgemeine Elektrizitats-Gesellschaft. Also known as AEG. This company was considered the first comprehensive visual identification program.

Behrens was orphaned at age 14 but he was left a considerable amount of money from his father's estate. This helped him evolve in to the figure he is seen as today. He studied art in Hamburg and chose it as his career.

He embraced the German version of Art Nouveau, Jugendstil when he abandoned social realism. He also designed his own house and all the furniture, including everything in it, demonstrating total design. He was concerned about designs forms of social, technical, and cultural aspects. He believed that typography, after architecture was "the most characteristic picture of a period, and the testimonial of the spirtual progress" and "development of a people." Behrens standardized strokes used to construct his letter forms unlike previous styles.

Eventually Behrens began to accept commissions for architecture and moved away from graphic and product design. He centered around this and eventually his advanced thinking inspired further developments in later years.

Most Interesting:

What I found most interseting was Behrens interest in architecture and how he designed EVERYTHING in his own house.

After Class 3/17

CLASS

Patrick gave his presentation on The Genesis of Twentieth century. This was a period in which rtists questioned the status quo of the times and began to develop modern style typeface.

We talked about Frank Lloyd Wright who was an architect who was ahead of his time. He managed to maintain recognition world wide and was also a graphic designer. He is considered the most amazing architect of all time.

Next we talked about the Glasgow School which was made up of 4 Scottish student artists. who became known as The Four. They introduced new geometric designs, and flowing contours. Jessie Marion King and Tawlin Morris were inspired by Glasgow School. King created a unique medieval style fantasy illustrations. Morris became the director of Glasgow publishing firm of Blackie's.

The Vienna Secession was a movement started by students at the Kunstlerhaus resigned due to a disgust for few ideas in their fields of study. It was a countermovement to Art Nouveau. Ver Sacrum was a magazine that was a design laboratory and had a ever changing editorial staff.

Question: What was the problem with art nouveau that the students of Kunstlerhaus found?

Chapter 12

This Chapter discussed the Genesis of the 20th Century. Art Nouveau inspired artists to begins innovating new things and technologies. Industrial advances were vast during the Genesis. The works of Frank Lloyd Wright, an american architect, became widely known throughout Europe within circles of artists and designers.

The Vienna Secession came about when young members of Kunstlerhause began to protest. Foreign artists were not aloud to exhibit in the Kunstlerhause . The Vienna Secession became the countermovement for Art Nouveau.

The Genesis of the 20th century brought about a break from art nouveau in German, Scotland, and Austria. They paved new directions due to their personal and societal needs. They maintained a concern for spatial relationships, inventive form, and functionality.

THE MOST INTERESTING: The most interesting fact I found was Peter Behrens as the first industrial designer. He manufactured products such as street lamps and teapots.

AFTER CLASS chapter 10

AFTER CLASS

The Arts and Craft movement is characterized by a shift from industrial-inspired art works towards nature-inspired botanical related works. functional.

Industrial revolution had a social impact that affected design

Robert Owen= made fortune in cotton. Shocked by living conditions of factory workers and child labor. established a model village that respected workers and living conditions. believed there was a connection between morality and enviornment.

Britain began to change as it was leading world in industrial power. middle class grew with better working conditions.

William Morris. Biggest impact on the AC movement. Came from a wealthy family. wanted to give workers respectful professions. wasn't divided labor, designers were a part of process from beginning to end. wanted art for everyone, for the common man. Started making stained glass but construction of churches began to decline. started working towards making wallpapers and textiles. inspired by nature. Known for book design. Carefully planned everything. Began the Kelmscott Press business. Renaissance of book design. This idea spread around the world.

The Century Guild:

Arthur Mackmurdo= inspired by Italian architecture. Gathered together artists and designers and began an organization. They rejected industrial revolution and machines. Came up with The Hobby Horse, a magazine devoted to design. Believed that all visual expression deserved the title of art.

Charles R Ashbee= wanted to bring AC back to a social thing. Started The Guild of Handicraft. students were taught as apprentices.

Chapter 10

SUMMARY:

The Arts and Crafts movement was a result of a variety of events. First of all the quality of book design and production declined due to the Industrial Revolution. William Pickering played an important part in reversing this and separating graphic design and printing production. The decline in book design continued for some time. Eventually a revival occurred. This revival first treated a book as a special and unique piece of art. This influenced commercial production, and was in general a direct product of the Arts and Crafts movement. This movement flourished in England at the end of the nineteenth century. It was a reaction against social, moral, and artistic confusing that occurred during the Industrial Revolution. It was encouraged to return to design and handicraft. The leader of the Arts and Crafts movement was William Morris.

John Ruskin was a writer and artist that inspired the philosophy of the movement. He asked how society could order the lives of its members "so as to maintain the largest number of noble and happy human beings". Ruskin was concerned with social justice, and improving housing for industrial works, a national education system and retirement benefits.

William Morris on the other hand was a pivotal figure in the history of graphic design. He decided to become an artist instead of a clergyman. He struggled with romantic paintings but was never fully satisfied with the work. He joined instead with six friends to start an art decorating firm (Morris, Marshall, Faulkner and Company). He proved himself as an amazing two-dimensional pattern designer. Art and craft had the ability to combine and create beautiful objects from bedding to buildings.

Arthur H. Mackmurdo met William Morris. He was inspired by the ideas and accomplishments he had in design. Mackmurdo studied the Renaissance and eventually led a group of youthful artists and designers to band together and start the Century Guild. Their designs provided a link between the Arts and Crafts movement and Art Nouveau. The started The Hobby Horse, which was publication devoted completely to visual arts. This publication sought to proclaim the philosophy of the The Century Guild. It displayed Arts and Crafts through typography, graphic design and print making. Mackmurdo was a forerunner for the private press movement and the revival of book design. The Century Guild disbanded in 1888.

Individuals concerned with the craft revival came together to form the Art Workers Guild in 1884. The opened their first exhibition and changed their name to the Arts and Crafts exhibition. William Morris was on tapestry weaving, Walter Crane on design, and Emery Walker on design and printing. They advocated a unity of design. Morris moved into typeface design and printing. He enlarged incunabula typeface to study their forms and counter forms. He began a new enterprise called the Kelmscott Press. The influence of Morris and his press on graphic design and book design showed the value in a well-made book, beautiful typeface designs, and a sense of design unity.

MOST INTERESTING: What I found most interesting was that the quality of book design declined at this time. Seems as if that craft was lost pretty quickly which is surprising.

After Class 2/2

AFTER CLASS:

Today in class we reviewed what we went over previously. We talked about illuminated manuscripts and the evolution from Egyptian Hieroglyphics to styles such as Carolinian, Spanish, and Celtic. We also talked about the invention of writing starting with the Caves of Lascaux and cuneiform.

Question:

My question is why is it that Celtic was so monumental in the time period?