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Modernist elements
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The late 19th and 20th centuries were full of various technological innovations and major social upheavals. From the conflicts brought by a world at war to the booming revolutions of industry, civilization had gotten quite a boost. This led to new ways of creative expression, in both visual art and literature, that broke the binds of tradition and classical design. The term Modernism can characterize a broad array of styles and techniques, but it encompasses the same core ideals and principals that allows a piece to be easily identified as a Modernist work.
A predominant theme in Modernism is the futility of needless embellishment. Previous forms of art and literature were so overwhelmingly adorned with frivolous designs that new thinkers had the urge to strip down their crafts to the bare minimum. In architecture, for example, there is a great contrast between the Paris Opera House designed by Garnier in 1861 and the Brauhaus
Workshops designed by Gropius in 1925. The incredible, intricate design of the opera house is a wonderful illustration of everything that the modernist wanted to stray away from; the gold statues and carefully carved stone existed as nothing more than beauty for the sake of being beautiful. However, working in an era still feeling the staggering tolls of the Great War, Gropius designed his workshops to be very straightforward. Not only was there no need for these superfluous adornments, there was also a scarcity of resources, which lead Gropius to use cost-effective materials such as glass and concrete for the majority of his buildings. However, there was still beauty in such a simplified work. From the shine of the glass to the sharp and precise geometry, there was still art to be found for everyone wh...
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... story itself, where Borges made his work relatively simple to read, but in order to understand the true meaning, the reader had to break through the illusion of a normal narrative. Borges breaks away from the typical writing style where the moral of the story is nicely packaged and handed to you at face value.
The whole idea behind Modernism is the breaking of the chains that bound artists and authors alike; surpassing the limits imposed on them by the conventions of their predecessors. A true Modernist was not afraid to risk their prestige or their career in hopes of setting new standards for what it means to be a true work of creative genius. The tenaciousness of the Modernist style is the same as that of history's greatest inventors and philosophers, changing the way we perceive the world, and leading us on the path towards becoming a more advanced civilization.
Modernism indicates a branch of movements in art (Impressionism, Post-Impressionism, Fauvism; Cubism; Expressionism; Dada, Surrealism, Pop Art. Etc.) with distinct characteristics, it firmly rejects its classical precedent and classical style, what Walter Benjamin would refer to as “destructive liquidation of the traditional value of the cultural heritage”; and it explores the etiology of a present historical situation and of its attendant forms of self-consciousness in the West. Whereas Modernity is often used as ...
Before Impressionism came to be a major movement (around 1870-1800s), Neoclassical and Romanticism were still making their impacts. Remembering last week’s lesson, we know that both those styles were different in the fact that one was based on emotion, while the other was practical and serious. However, one thing they both shared was the fact that the artists were trying to get a message across; mostly having to do with the effects of the French Revolution, and/or being ordered to do so. With Impressionism, there is a clear difference from its predecessors.
Postmodernity is said to be “a reaction against the Modern movement” (Nicol 2009) and has shown a complete disregard for many aspects of art and design that were popularized during modernity, including: legibility, the grid, and use of a clear hierarchy. Postmodernism, as an art movement, aims to create works based on an independent style. Nothing is new in postmodern art, in a sense that something always comes from something else.
Throughout the years there have been frequent cultural movements in the arts, one of them being postmodernism. This term is well-known as a description of an era, broad and multifaceted movement, postmodernism represents the departure from Modernism, Postmodernism describes a recognized use of the earlier time styles alongside the strong notion in the arts, architecture, literary criticisms, literature, cultures, and recognized use of the earlier time styles, that emerged later in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Other than most cultural movements, individuals identified themselves rather than a structuralist perspective, in which an entire community was viewed.
At the turn of the 19th century Americans faced a multitude of cultural changes, involving contraceptive acceptance, sexuality changes, and modernism acceptance. Contraceptives were illegal in the early 1900s and posed many relationship problems between married couples since they wanted to be intimate. New ideas about sexuality and affection changed the views on appropriate erotic practices to indulge in within single people typically around college age. Women and men didn’t wait until marriage before having some type of sexual relation, which caused family problems and government intervention because of the negative views of being promiscuous. Modernism ideals developed with the introduction of new sciences and the argument of evolution
Modernism represents a shift amongst artists in wanting to create something new. This marked a new era in change within tradition that includes religious, political, and society that creates a new trend of ideas. This movement appeared in France during the late 19th century as a rebellion against the ideas of realism. Artist embraces society with new ideas in terms of social life and art. Modern pieces of art and music give a new free theme that was criticized by the people. Everything that is always inconsistent and always changing is modern.
Frank Lloyd Wright and Walter Gropius are widely regarded as the prionneering masters of modern architecture.The Johnson Wax Building and Bauhaus as their symbolic and critical masterpieces shared similar style of form but different idea of interpreting design. Wright’s simplicity approach and Gropius ‘less is more’ idea are seemingly related, but varied by their self preference in most aspects.
Modernism can be defined through the literary works of early independent 20th century writers. Modernism is exp...
From these case studies, it becomes evident that Art Nouveau was perhaps the biggest influence on art and design in the late 19th century. Although the movement was later replaced by 20th century Modernist styles, it is nonetheless recognised today as an important stepping stone between the fixed traditional art style of the time and the later Modernist approach to art, opening up new pathways and endless possibilities for artists, architects and designers alike.
...d the Bauhaus. As discussed, Marcel Duchamp’s Fountain is one of the most iconic artworks of the Dada era. It rejects preexisting traditions and expectations whilst creating contemporary art and making a mockery of the current society. Furthermore, the Bauhaus movement was one, which emphasized the importance of equality between the theory of art and the practice. The school was one of the first and most influential of its kind, recognizing the errors of past curriculum and redefining it’s aims, and has held a lasting impression on the art and design world. The Bauhaus itself was representative of the principles it endorsed, including simplicity, economic sensibility and practicality. Due to the changing social and political factors of the time, various movements characterized the modernist era, and in turn created new definitions of art, design and architecture.
One attribute of Modernist writing is Experimentation. This called for using new techniques and disregarding the old. Previous writing was often even considered "stereotyped and inadequate" (Holcombe and Torres). Modern writers thrived on originality and honesty to themselves and their tenets. They wrote of things that had never been advanced before and their subjects were far from those of the past eras. It could be observed that the Modernist writing completely contradicted its predecessors. The past was rejected with vigor and...
Anderson, A. "The Paris Exhibition Buildings." Architectural Review. Vol 7. Jan - June 1900. 28-37.
Modernists portray a dull, gloomy and pessimistic picture of culture in America during this time period. This despair is often caused by an apparent boredom and the people’s feeling of uncertainty, of changes to come. Modernism uncovered has an anti-traditionalist theme instilled in it, because of the inevitability that changes will occur. “Modern” itself possesses the qualities, such as being simple and spontaneous along with an indefinite time frame to allow people’s acceptance of unknown. In many ways, this movement is difficult to define, but it can be generally applied to the work o...
Gropius has an idea using glass and steels in design and its the most interest part of the building is its glass wall. Hu claimed that most traditional architecture in European is dark. So, Gropius changes traditional windows position (2014). Gropius combines window from second to fourth floor (Figure 3). The design ensures light and ventilation. Also, it increases the whole building’s visual performance (Qing, 2014). Especially, Gropius uses hyaline glass as a wall instead of solid wall. It increased the design’s modern and funny senses.
Michael Levenson said in The Cambridge Companion to Modernism that Modernism fiction was “involved in the radical modern departure, across all of the arts, from representational verisimilitudei”. It was stylistically and thematically focused on rebellion against the way art was presented in the past and what its main focus was.