1 / 44

WEEK 9

WEEK 9. w eek 9: the postmodern identity crisis. + Class Schedule: + Presentation and Discussion: + Postmodernism: definition + Cultural appropriation and plurality, rejection of Modernist ideals + Tutorial

eferris
Download Presentation

WEEK 9

An Image/Link below is provided (as is) to download presentation Download Policy: Content on the Website is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use and may not be sold / licensed / shared on other websites without getting consent from its author. Content is provided to you AS IS for your information and personal use only. Download presentation by click this link. While downloading, if for some reason you are not able to download a presentation, the publisher may have deleted the file from their server. During download, if you can't get a presentation, the file might be deleted by the publisher.

E N D

Presentation Transcript

  1. WEEK 9

  2. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Class Schedule: + Presentation and Discussion: + Postmodernism: definition + Cultural appropriation and plurality, rejection of Modernist ideals + Tutorial + Video screening: “The Merchants of Cool.” Narr. Douglas Rushkoff. Frontline. + We will be watching excerpts in class, but if you want a preview, it is available online + Heads-Up: + Third (and last!) Article Summary due November 5 + Based on readings from weeks 7-9

  3. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Pluralism + Shifting Climate in the 1960s and 1970s + 1963: March on Washington for Jobs and Freedom + 1964: Civil Rights Act enforced + Protection of individual rights sparked major shifts in culture, politics, and public opinion + Challenged viewpoints on minority groups: gender, race/ethnicity, sexual orientation, and other groups who had previously been displaced or disempowered + 1966: Miranda Rights + Those under arrest must be told their individual rights and freedoms + 1960s-1970s: Quota Systems Abolished + Need-based and merit-based loans/scholarships allow greater percentage of population access to higher education + 1970: Establishment of Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) + Result of Ralph Nader's challenge to unquestioned faith in corporate power + Led to mandatory seatbelt laws and manufacturer recalls to protect consumers + Today, it is threatened... + 1973: Roe vs. Wade + Legalized abortion + Also threatened... + 1976: End of Vietnam War + Diminished protest directed towards US and allies + Result? Pluralism + Embracing many points of view; lack of hegemony and singularity + Parallels in art, architecture, design, and critical writing reflect social shifts

  4. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Pluralism + "The 1960s also signalled the critical recognition of several co-existing cultural expressions in the areas of art and design, a situation sometimes referred to as Pluralism, in which no single approach to modernity dominated, and where the exchange value of all commodities overshadowed former distinctions between 'good', mass, and popular design." -- David Raizman + Diversity: + Style and taste no longer dictated by institutions, critics, and arbiters of taste + Encouraged diversity, but within an acknowledged culture of consumption + Late 20th century-21st century Pluralism: commercialization of diversity + Mainstream demands the margins to feed their machine + "The avant-garde is the research and development branch of the culture industry." -- Thomas Crow

  5. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Colors Magazine and Benetton (OlivieroToscani/TiborKalman, 1991- ) + "We set up Colors as a way of communicating the intelligence of the Benetton brand to an extremely sophisticated consumer." --Paolo Landi, Advertising Director, Benetton

  6. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Political Pluralism + US Foreign Policy + Governed by exploration of new markets under the guise of human rights + Technology linked with progress (as we explored in the 1939 World's Fair) + Progress equated with consumption in a capitalist system + Therefore, a variety of aesthetic approaches emerge to appeal to (or service) this expansion + Heterogeneity allows for: inclusiveness, relativity, reform, alienation, resistance, subversion + Hallmarks of postmodernism + The works of Italian designers (Sottsass, Pesce, et al) and Memphis represent this rejection of a commercial impetus + Design as a form of socialism and/or cultural expression

  7. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Postmodernism + Key Theme: Cultural Exhaustion + Change in approach to art and aesthetics + Dominant style pre-1960s was Abstract Expressionism + Determined by critic Clement Greenberg to be the apex of art's trajectory + Pure formalism captured through trace of a gesture + Championed Jackson Pollock as the greatest artist of the 20th century + Greenberg exerted his influence: artists catered their work to fit this mold, collections of this work grew in major institutions + In 1960s, experimentation became more extreme + Abstract Expressionism removed the figure, but Pop Art was more extreme + Simply emulated the popular culture of the time + There was a sense that artists could no longer do anything original; exhausted all possibilities + It has all been done before, it is impossible to do anything new, so why bother trying? + Jackson Pollock, Lavender Mist (1950) + Andy Warhol, Brillo Boxes (1964)

  8. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Reproduction and Mimesis + John Berger, "Ways of Seeing" (review) + Based on Walter Benjamin's essay, "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Production" (1936) + Andy Warhol, Interview (1964) + "Just tell me what to say." + Employment of industrial production techniques and "factory" model + Collective authorship; diminished sense of traditional art qualities or craftsmanship and originality + Campbell's Soup Cans (1962)

  9. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Postmodernism and Popular Media + Key Theme: Collage + Mining art history for references, sources of inspiration + Portray art in many different ways + Mixing of "high" and "low" culture and popular media sources + Simultaneous use of styles all lumped together: a hallmark of postmodernism + The Beatles, "Sergeant Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band" (1967) + Imitate a variety of styles: early 20th century British music hall, Indian (Bhangra) music, Stockhausen's avant-garde sound collage experiments, hard rock, roots... + Album art also reflects this Pluralistic approach (Peter Blake/Jann Haworth)

  10. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Postmodernism and Popular Media + Key Themes: Irony, Kitsch, and Camp + Laughing at itself; in on the joke + Doesn't take itself too seriously + Heightened self-awareness + Modernism was about extreme pretense and overemphasized theoretical concerns + Distinctions between "high" and "low" were very pronounced + Self-consciousness to the approach and discourse + Sense of sarcasm and irony (i.e. incongruity between expectations and reality) + World-weariness, cynicism, and dry humour + Television Series, "Batman" (1966-1968) + High sense of camp + Everyone is in on the joke: audience, producers, and actors + Double-entendres and sexual connotations + Two grown men playing dress-up is the premise for the humour + Ridiculous scenarios and impossible gadgets (Alfred Pennyworth)

  11. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Postmodernism and Popular Media + Contemporary "Batman": + Sense of fun embodied in Michael Keaton's Batman and Jack Nicholson's Joker in Tim Burton's version (1989) + Sense of camp is tempered, but true to the spirit of the 1960s original + Val Kilmer's role was somewhat less campy, but certainly lighthearted with the exaggerated prosthetic costumes and his relationship to Robin (Chris O'Donnell) (1995) + Jim Carrey as the villain, The Riddler, is high camp + "The Dark Knight" has a very different tone (2008) + Taken very seriously and lacking sense of fun and camp + Villain no longer provides comic relief; sense of humanity, not a caricature + Signifies the end of the irony and cynicism of postmodernism + Reflection of shifting culture and times in a politically/economically fraught decade

  12. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Postmodernism and Popular Media + Television in the 1990s: + Accelerates the postmodern aesthetic and themes + Mixing different genres that would not necessarily have related in previous eras + Creation of hybrid forms + Joss Whedon, "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" (1997-2003): + Combination of teen drama and horror + Matt Groening, "The Simpsons" (1989-present): + Referencing other television genres: "The Itchy and Scratchy Show," musicals, historical dramas + Liberal integration of popular culture sources and current affairs + Critique of the cartoon genre, yet presented in the same format + Self-conscious and self-depricating + The characters never age, yet they have clearly-defined histories and are aware of the passage of time + It is "of the moment": exists in a phantom space and time that is the perpetual present + Running gags: undisclosed location of "Springfield" + David Lynch, "Twin Peaks" (1990-1991) + Surrealistic approach to dramatic television + Like "The Simpsons" it takes place in a mythological town + The falseness of the representation is highlighted for the audience through bizarre narrative moments and caricaturish roles (but delivered in earnest)

  13. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Postmodernism and Popular Media + Movies in the 1990s: + Focus on mixing genres, but also an exploration into the medium + Historical references, and questioning traditional methods of production (largely due to advances in technology) + Recognition of film's "fictional" quality; expose it as a false construct, not truth + Experiment with shifting time and non-linear approaches to narrative + Quentin Tarantino, "Pulp Fiction" (1994) + William Falkneresque approach to crime drama + Stream of consciousness, highly emotional, subjective, high tension/energy + A signature of Tarantino: direct citation of cinematic references, but hyper-exaggerated + Story is cut up and then reassembled in a non-chronological manner + Difficult to have a clear sense of what is going on and at what time + Tom Tykwer, "Run Lola Run" (1998) + Postmodern experiment with time + Sequences project forwards and backwards from film's contemporary time + Christopher Nolan, "Memento" (2000) + Film presented in reverse chronological order + Begins with the end of the movie, slowly revealing the process of how the protagonist arrived at the present day + Reflects character's inability to make new memories + Special edition DVD contains option to view in chronological sequence

  14. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + The "Postmodern Condition" + Irony and the Postmodern Condition: + Everything is a joke, but we take it very seriously + Late 1990s was the height of this period + Touchstones: + Douglas Coupland, Generation X: Tales for an Accelerated Culture (1991) + Alanis Morisette, "Ironic" (1995) + Richard Linklater, "Slacker" (1991) + Ben Stiller, "Reality Bites" (1994) + Instability, uncertainty and "Lack" (Fredric Jameson): + Lack of a common canon, lack of focus, lack of gatekeepers/arbiters of taste + Collapse of "high" and "low" culture under the pressures of organized capitalism + Fragmentation of culture, due in part to digital technologies, cable television, Internet + Audience becomes numbed and cynical + How does one communicate to a media savvy audience who is difficult to impress or shock? + Sense of isolation, yet endless possibilities; no direction or standard + Anticipates next week's lecture on marketing to youth

  15. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Postmodernism in Design + Broad Definition: + "For design, postmodernism encompasses projects and forms that signal an end to the polemic between esthetically- or socially-directed design and commercially-motivated design that emerged as a strain of modernism in the early nineteenth century and that dominated design theory for much of the two decades following World War II." -- David Raizman + Modernist tendencies lose oppositional status or pretense + Emphasizes multiple interpretations and meanings + Embraces ephemeral rather than permanent (both in materials and purpose--"of the moment") + Improvisational, references popular culture + Postmodernism and Capitalism: + "Late capitalism signifies investment directed toward increasingly segmented (rather than collective) audiences, and a readiness of businesses to design, manufacture, and market products with increasing speed, responsiveness, and sophistication in a highly competitive environment, stimulated even further by an accelerated interactivity between design, manufacturing, and marketing through the use of digital technology." -- David Raizman + Nike paradigm + Follows up on our discussion of kitsch and disposability

  16. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Case Study: Swatch + Manufactured from cheap plastics and mass production + Fashion and trend oriented (conjunction of "switch" and "watch") + Targets a youth audience + Less emotional attachment than other personal objects or heirlooms

  17. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Post-Industrialism + Review: + Age of industrial mass production has passed + Greater emphasis on mass research, service, and communications sectors + "Creative Class" (Richard Florida) + Product semantics, rather than form-making + Blurring of technology, progress, and consumption + "Soft" design: + "...designer's manipulation of virtual, rather than real materials and forms via computer imaging in a dynamic, interactive, and collaborative process, and emphasizing process rather than product." -- David Raizman + Aesthetics reflect software, digital manipulation, speed, fragmentation of information age

  18. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Hybridity + April Greiman (c.1980-1987) + One of first designers to experiment with emergent design software + Adopted the aesthetic of pixels, layering, and digital "mythology"

  19. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Memphis + Liberated from constraints of corporate clients and the marketplace + Pursue projects beyond the parameters of "good design" + References to Hollywood-style historical sets + Celebrated advertising, rock and roll, and popular entertainment: kitsch ephemera + Worked with Formica to explore/experiment with their ColorCore materials + Mix of expensive and debased materials + EttoreSottsass, Tartar Table (1985)

  20. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Memphis + Robert Venturi, Chippendale Style Side Chair (1978-1984) + Mocks important tenets of modern design + Imitates 18th century style; uses industrial materials to imitate an original design in a natural material; flaunts decoration rather than making it subservient to function + Considered himself as a "jester" + Chair is the paradigm through which designers express irony and approach the "complexity and contradiction" of postmodernism

  21. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Memphis + Robert Venturi, Seattle Art Museum (1991) + Reference to Art Deco traditions (and the first SAM location) + Learning From Las Vegas (1972, with Denise Scott Brown) + Challenged orthodox modernism and elite architectural tastes

  22. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Memphis + Michael Graves, Portland Public Service Building (1980-1982) + Cartoon representation of classical architecture; stripped down to silhouette and bare essentials + Garish, bright, unnatural, and exaggerated colours

  23. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Memphis + Michael Graves, Post Office, Celebration Florida (1993)

  24. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Memphis + Michael Graves, Product Designs for Alessi (1985)

  25. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Hybridity + Daniel Libeskind, Michael Lee-Chin Crystal, Royal Ontario Museum (2002-2007) + Alien attachment onto 1914 Italianate Neo-Romanesque building + Does not acknowledge the historical reference, or try to blend in

  26. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Hybridity + Daniel Libeskind, The Spiral Project, Victoria and Albert Museum (Unbuilt)

  27. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Hybridity + ZahaHadid, Department of Islamic Art, The Louvre (Proposal, Unbuilt)

  28. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Hybridity + Frank Gehry, The Rasin Building aka The Dancing House or The Fred and Ginger Building (1995)

  29. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Hybridity + Frank Gehry, Art Gallery of Ontario (2008)

  30. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + The Everyday Object Redefined + Alessi + Use of outright humour to transform the everyday + Kitsch: aesthetic sensibility outweighs functional qualities

  31. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + High Design + Philippe Starck + Began creating original furniture for wealthy patrons + However, used industrial materials and simple, geometric shapes + Clever use of support systems and collapsible elements for storage + Humour in much of Starck's work: references classical forms + Louis Ghost Chair (2002): Based on a Louis XV style, but rendered with polycarbonate

  32. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + High Design + Philippe Starck, Assorted Works

  33. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Socially-Conscious Design + Ron Arad, Big Easy Volume 2 Sofa (1988) + Sheets of industrial steel cut, shaped, formed, and welded to mimic contours of upholstered sofa + Focus on aesthetic qualities of industrial material + Suggestion of decay, waste: environmental or ecological overtones + Ambiguities of intention and interpretation are foregrounded + "Often the results are contrived and undermine any possible desire to reach beyond a sophisticated audience entirely prepared to view such objects esthetically or as a form of socio- political commentary." -- David Raizman + Stimulate reflection and question the conventional associations of consumption and materialism

  34. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Socially-Conscious Design + BohuslavHorak, Autumn Leaf Sofa and Related Works (1988)

  35. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Postmodernism and Resistance + Punk Politics and Aesthetics: + Aggressive, destructive, uninhibited: reflected in music, writing and visual arts + Attacked mainstream culture, by exaggerating use of commercial products (makeup, hair dye, etc.) + Personal expression, and rejection of materialist/leisure culture from the past two decades + Post-Vietnam era of protest + Neville Brody: + Typeface designer parodied the uniformity and consistency of corporate graphics + Convey the spirit/mood of punk outside of available typefaces from traditional foundries + "Industria" (1984): designed for "The Face" + Blunt rectangular forms and knife-edge terminations + Consistent approach, but quirky, odd characters within set

  36. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Postmodernism and Resistance + Neville Brody, Industria (1984); Applications for The Face

  37. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Postmodernism and Resistance + Neville Brody, Typeface Six (1986)

  38. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Postmodernism and Resistance + Neville Brody, Cabaret Voltaire Record Jacket (1980) + Used record sleeve to evoke emotional response + Employed variety of media: photocopies, typography, video stills + Relate covers to the music: bucked mainstream trend to emphasize celebrity image of stars + Use of photomontage relates to Dada reference of Cabaret Voltaire, yet logo is very corporate

  39. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Postmodernism and Resistance + Peter Saville, Sleeve Designs for New Order

  40. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Postmodernism and Resistance + "Decay through process is [...] about repetition, and the loss of quality that you suffer when information is abstracted from its human origin [...] Punk was about individual expression, and more than anything, it was a reaction against authority. It couldn't really describe itself as "independent" unless the authority was completely circumvented--which, for a very short time, it was. But as soon as the whole phenomenon was categorized as the "independent scene," this insured that it would become exactly its opposite." -- Neville Brody + Co-optation of anti-authoritarian qualities for commercial purposes + Attempt to break away from commodity culture that threatens expression + Yet, also acknowledge the parameters in which freedom operates

  41. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Post-Postmodernism + Robert Hughes, The Culture of Complaint (1993) + Culture obsessed with delineation of difference, rather than with commonality or quality + Gap between "haves" and "have nots" requires more active participation and social responsibility + Still operating on the ideology of progress + Ignore the realities of most of the world's population (i.e. "global village" is a privilege) + Shift from cynicism and irony to a more thoughful exploration of contemporary life + World politics necessitate a more serious approach to dealing with issues + Society is more aware of economic and environmental strife + Postmodernism and Denial: + Cultural imperialism couched as a global sensibility + "Appropriating" content from many sources, but without context (pastiche) + Postmodernism begins to take itself too seriously

  42. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Major Assignment: "Just What is it That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?” + Part 2: Integration (35%, Due November 26) + Richard Hamilton (1956)

  43. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Major Assignment: "Just What is it That Makes Today’s Homes So Different, So Appealing?” + Overview: + Commit to a specific artifact, live with it, document your interactions/environment/context of use + Can be almost anything (shampoo, coffee cup, typeface, etc.)--be specific! + Collection of information, texts, photographs that help you to better understand the life and story of your artifact + Determine how it influences, and is influenced by the culture/world in which it operates + Will become the subject of your entire semester's research--choose carefully! + Part 2: Integration (35%, due November 26) + Connect object to broader culture and theoretical/historical/social framework + Section 1: + 6 sources of information about object (1+ Library book, 1+ scholarly article, 1+ popular media) + Discuss how artifact relates predominant cultural values/ideals (be specific about the time, location, community, user, etc.) + Provide proper citations; credit all borrowed thoughts and references + Section 2: + Choose one historical artifact (pre-1960) to compare or contrast with your artifact + Describe how it reflected its time/culture and how it relates to your contemporary example + Section 3: + Conclusion + How does this study help you to better understand contemporary culture, and your role as a designer? + Format: + 2000-word paper (HARD COPY), with appropriate citations, title page, etc. + Include relevant illustrations/photos/captions

  44. week 9: the postmodern identity crisis + Heads-Up: + Tutorial + Video screening: “The Merchants of Cool.” Narr. Douglas Rushkoff. Frontline. + We will be watching excerpts in class, but if you want a preview, it is available online + Preparation for Next Week: + Davis, Glyn. “From Mass Media to Cyberculture.” Exploring Visual Culture + Gladwell, Malcolm. “What is Blink About?: Q&A With Malcolm.” + Reverend Billy. “What is the Sho-po-ca-lypse?” What Would Jesus Buy? + Heads-Up: + Third Article Summary due November 5 + Based on readings from weeks 7-9

More Related