Here are some general questions about modernism I plan to use in two interviews I am performing later - enjoy!
Interview #1
How do we recognize a “modernist” work? Are there any characteristics all (or the majority of) modernist works share in common?
Modernism in art is sometimes seen as a change from “capturing” reality to “constructing” reality. How accurate do you think this is?
Advertising (especially in the USA) transformed during this time into an industry in its own. With this industry came what could be called an ‘art’ in its own right – and indeed, advertisers used several modern techniques (particularly those of psychoanalysis) in their “products”. Can we call this modernism as well, or is there a key difference?
Somewhat ironically, modernism has flourished the most in “traditional” capitalist, consumerist societies, even though the creators of modernist works (and modernism itself) often reject these societies/philosophies. Why do you think this is the case?
Sigfried Gideon argues that the new forms of art were especially influenced by new forms of transportation, like the automobile. (To support this, he notes that many early films are train films, made by cameras fixed to a train rushing through the landscape). He argues that these new forms of transportation changed the population’s perspective on space and time and encouraged a more “dynamic” type of art. What are your opinions on this?
How important were new technologies, especially the invention of photography, to the change in art around this time? Is it possible that the introduction of the camera made traditional painting partially obsolete?
Has modernism ended?
Interview #2
How do we recognize a “modernist” work? Are there any characteristics all (or the majority of) modernist works share in common?
In Marshall Berman’s book on modernism, All That Is Solid Melts Into Air, he suggests that all the key founders of modernism were located in the 19th century: like Goethe, Marx, Nietzche, Baudelaire, and Dostoevsky. Do you agree?
Modernism (or, the precursors to modernism) was originally limited to small elite groups of “avant-garde” throughout the world. But over the course of a few decades, it rapidly spread throughout the rest of the world and effectively pervaded popular culture. What are the reasons for the speed of modernism’s success?
Somewhat ironically, modernism has flourished the most in “traditional” capitalist, consumerist societies, even though the creators of modernist works (and modernism itself) often reject these societies/philosophies. Why do you think this is the case?
Advertising (especially in the USA) transformed during this time into an industry in its own. With this industry came what could be called an ‘art’ in its own right – and indeed, advertisers used several modern techniques (particularly those of psychoanalysis) in their “products”. Can we call this modernism as well, or is there a key difference?
How important was the Ford-like “assembly line” mentality (i.e., treating people as ‘laboring units’, dividing time into blocks, the increased precision of management) in influencing modernism?
Has modernism ended?
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Saturday, January 3, 2009
Modernism at the AGO (Henry Moore exhibit)
Last Friday, I visited the Art Gallery of Ontario (AGO). The AGO has quite an extensive collection of modernist and contemporary art, so I'll list some of the things that caught my interest the most.
Earlier I posted a bit about Henry Moore's sculpture "The Archer". Surprisingly, the AGO has an entire Henry Moore exhibit that contains the plaster originals of his famous bronze works. As one of the tour guides explained to me, Henry Moore has a special significance for both the AGO and the city of Toronto. When the Toronto City Hall was being built, the architect in charge of the construction of the AGO, Viljo Revell, was to select a sculpture (or some piece) to put in front of the building. $100,000 was set aside for this purpose, and Revell commissioned Henry Moore to create and design a suitable bronze sculpture. Moore's "The Archer" was finally proposed, but it was so abstract that City Council initially did not accept it. However, the citizens of Toronto appreciated Henry Moore's sculpture to such an extent that they raised $100,000 by themselves and purchased the sculpture (in truth, however, this was actually just a few large private donations). Moore was so impressed by this that he came to Toronto for the unveiling and donated all his plaster originals to the AGO. Moore later designed many other bronze sculptures for other buildings in Toronto - there's one just outside the AGO as well.
Onto the actual exhibit. Photography is prohibited in the AGO, so I have no pictures to accompany my comments, but many similar works can be found here.
For starters, a broad overview of the exhibit. Henry Moore is a British sculptor who is famous for his bronze statues. He did most of his major work during the 1950s and 1960s. His work generally focuses on curves and flowing figures, often reclining females. Many of his pieces also have strong influences from nature (one of his most famous pieces, "The Warrior", was based off of the shape of a pebble he found on a beach). Overall, his work is definitely modernist - there is no real attempt to capture reality anywhere.
That being said, there is definitely a range of realism among the pieces. There are some that are quite realistic, almost Greek (with the exception that there's almost no detail in the face), like "Draped Reclining Figure" and "Draped Seated Woman". There are some which are more bizarre, like "Reclining Figure (1951)", which contains several sharp angles which look very out-of-place compared to the curves of the body, and "UNESCO Reclining Figure", which contains several gaping holes. Some of them are completely unrealistic, in that you might not be able to actually make out the reclining figure for a while. These include the multi-piece figures, namely ones like "Three Piece Reclining Figure No. 2: Bridge Prop", "Three Piece Reclining Figure No. 1", and "Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 9".
You might be wondering what a multi-piece reclining figure is - how one could even exist. Personally, I found these figures to be some of the most interesting there. Like indicated, something like "Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 9" is actually two pieces. Now, viewed head-on (so, along the length of the reclining body), it looks nothing like human at all. However, rotate 90 degrees and view it so that you're right in front of the statue's feet, and it suddenly looks as realistic as any of the other figures. This "illusion" comes from the fact that when we're looking at the feet of the reclining figure, we can only see the knees and the very upper part of the torso and head. The other parts of the torso and body are often distorted (or removed, hence the multiple pieces), and thus when you look at it head on, what you see is two arbitrary rocks.
In addition to reclining figures, there are also two totem-like or pillar-like structures in the exhibit, titled "Upright Motive No. 1: Glenkiln Cross", and "Upright Motive No. 8". These 'upright motives' definitely have traces of natural and Aboriginal influences. Like his other pieces, the upright motives have plenty of curves, holes, and random sharp protrusions.
However, the two that caught my attention the most were neither reclining figures nor multi-piece statues nor pillars, but rather, "Locking Piece" and "Oval with Points". Just like toy building pieces lock with each other, where although you can attach them easily, they can't be removed from each other, so does Locking Piece - except it locks with itself. It's spherical (or perhaps, cyclical) in shape, and has grooves and edges that run along its body. As Moore comments on this piece,
"Anyhow, I was playing with a couple of pebbles and I found that . . . they got locked together and I couldn't get them undone and I wondered how they got in that position and it was like a clenched fist. . . . this gave me the idea of making two forms which would do that and later I called it Locking Piece because they lock together."
"Oval with Points", on the other hand, is much more stylistically simpler - this makes it perhaps my favorite piece in the exhibit. I can't explain it very well (aside from saying that it's an oval with two sharp protrusions in the middle), so it will have to suffice to look at the picture here. I was surprised when I learned it was actually influenced by an elephant skull - it seemed more elementary and fundamental the first time I saw it. Regardless, it has a certain aesthetic quality that just seems to "work".
That summarizes the Henry Moore exhibit at the AGO. Of course, there's tons of more contemporary and modernist stuff - I'll cover that in another post, though.
Earlier I posted a bit about Henry Moore's sculpture "The Archer". Surprisingly, the AGO has an entire Henry Moore exhibit that contains the plaster originals of his famous bronze works. As one of the tour guides explained to me, Henry Moore has a special significance for both the AGO and the city of Toronto. When the Toronto City Hall was being built, the architect in charge of the construction of the AGO, Viljo Revell, was to select a sculpture (or some piece) to put in front of the building. $100,000 was set aside for this purpose, and Revell commissioned Henry Moore to create and design a suitable bronze sculpture. Moore's "The Archer" was finally proposed, but it was so abstract that City Council initially did not accept it. However, the citizens of Toronto appreciated Henry Moore's sculpture to such an extent that they raised $100,000 by themselves and purchased the sculpture (in truth, however, this was actually just a few large private donations). Moore was so impressed by this that he came to Toronto for the unveiling and donated all his plaster originals to the AGO. Moore later designed many other bronze sculptures for other buildings in Toronto - there's one just outside the AGO as well.
Onto the actual exhibit. Photography is prohibited in the AGO, so I have no pictures to accompany my comments, but many similar works can be found here.
For starters, a broad overview of the exhibit. Henry Moore is a British sculptor who is famous for his bronze statues. He did most of his major work during the 1950s and 1960s. His work generally focuses on curves and flowing figures, often reclining females. Many of his pieces also have strong influences from nature (one of his most famous pieces, "The Warrior", was based off of the shape of a pebble he found on a beach). Overall, his work is definitely modernist - there is no real attempt to capture reality anywhere.
That being said, there is definitely a range of realism among the pieces. There are some that are quite realistic, almost Greek (with the exception that there's almost no detail in the face), like "Draped Reclining Figure" and "Draped Seated Woman". There are some which are more bizarre, like "Reclining Figure (1951)", which contains several sharp angles which look very out-of-place compared to the curves of the body, and "UNESCO Reclining Figure", which contains several gaping holes. Some of them are completely unrealistic, in that you might not be able to actually make out the reclining figure for a while. These include the multi-piece figures, namely ones like "Three Piece Reclining Figure No. 2: Bridge Prop", "Three Piece Reclining Figure No. 1", and "Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 9".
You might be wondering what a multi-piece reclining figure is - how one could even exist. Personally, I found these figures to be some of the most interesting there. Like indicated, something like "Two Piece Reclining Figure No. 9" is actually two pieces. Now, viewed head-on (so, along the length of the reclining body), it looks nothing like human at all. However, rotate 90 degrees and view it so that you're right in front of the statue's feet, and it suddenly looks as realistic as any of the other figures. This "illusion" comes from the fact that when we're looking at the feet of the reclining figure, we can only see the knees and the very upper part of the torso and head. The other parts of the torso and body are often distorted (or removed, hence the multiple pieces), and thus when you look at it head on, what you see is two arbitrary rocks.
In addition to reclining figures, there are also two totem-like or pillar-like structures in the exhibit, titled "Upright Motive No. 1: Glenkiln Cross", and "Upright Motive No. 8". These 'upright motives' definitely have traces of natural and Aboriginal influences. Like his other pieces, the upright motives have plenty of curves, holes, and random sharp protrusions.
However, the two that caught my attention the most were neither reclining figures nor multi-piece statues nor pillars, but rather, "Locking Piece" and "Oval with Points". Just like toy building pieces lock with each other, where although you can attach them easily, they can't be removed from each other, so does Locking Piece - except it locks with itself. It's spherical (or perhaps, cyclical) in shape, and has grooves and edges that run along its body. As Moore comments on this piece,
"Anyhow, I was playing with a couple of pebbles and I found that . . . they got locked together and I couldn't get them undone and I wondered how they got in that position and it was like a clenched fist. . . . this gave me the idea of making two forms which would do that and later I called it Locking Piece because they lock together."
"Oval with Points", on the other hand, is much more stylistically simpler - this makes it perhaps my favorite piece in the exhibit. I can't explain it very well (aside from saying that it's an oval with two sharp protrusions in the middle), so it will have to suffice to look at the picture here. I was surprised when I learned it was actually influenced by an elephant skull - it seemed more elementary and fundamental the first time I saw it. Regardless, it has a certain aesthetic quality that just seems to "work".
That summarizes the Henry Moore exhibit at the AGO. Of course, there's tons of more contemporary and modernist stuff - I'll cover that in another post, though.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, and the Creed Building
In modernist architecture, there are a slew of different forms and methodologies: brutalism, deconstructivism, futurism, postmodernism, structuralism, etc. Even in its formative stages, during the 1920s and early 1930s, we still see very many different styles, like the constructivist architecture of the Soviet Union, the expressionist architecture of Europe, the "New Objectivity" style of German-speaking Europe, the organic architecture which influenced the design of houses and residences, and the International Style which influenced large commercial and industrial centers throughout the world. Undoubtedly though, one of the most predominant styles of architecture in the 1920s (in the United States, at least), is Art Deco.
Art Deco, in effect, "modernizes" many artistic themes and styles from the past, so it can be seen as "an amalgam of many different styles and movements of the early 20th century, including Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Art Nouveau, and Futurism." While the overall structure often derives from those of ancient cultures (in particular, Greek, Roman, Middle Eastern, Egyptian, and Mayan/South American), it is based on fundamental geometric shapes, like cubes, trapezoids, and smooth circular curves, which gives the buildings a modernist, "building block" feel. In terms of materials, Art Deco often purposefully used exotic materials like ivory, stainless steel, and even sharkskin in place of more traditional materials - this often caused Art Deco buildings to be viewed as ornate, ostentatious, and gaudy (indeed, this is why Art Deco fell out of favor after the 1930s).
Art Deco was not solely influenced by the structures of ancient cultures, however. A branch of Art Deco, known as Streamline Moderne, imitated the technology of the Machine Age and in particular, forms of transportation: the automobile, the ocean liner, and the modern airplane.
A good example of Streamline Moderne in Toronto is the Creed Building:
(note: the above pictures are not taken by me; you can find them here)
To illustrate the Streamline Moderne aspects of the Creed Building...:
1. Note how the length/width/height ratio of the building (see third photo) mimics that of an ocean liner. In addition, the roof of the front of the building is a bit more elevated than the roof of the rest of the building, making it appear like the stern.
2. Notice the repetitive window pattern along the long side of the building. In particular, note how each window is divided into smaller cells, and how two middle cells are emphasized. As an Art Deco building, this represents the geometry and regularity of the elements. If you look closely, you can also see that above each window is what appears to be a black light fixture. This element is also repeated along the length of the building.
3. Long white lines stretch across the entire length of the building. Again, regularity. Indeed, long linear "elements" can be found in many other examples of Art Deco as well.
4. The curved corner (entrance) of the building. Curves are ubiquitous in Art Deco. This curve sort of compromises the appearance of the entire building as a ship (since ships are, indeed, streamlined, and streamlined objects generally do not have large round bulges), but it does serve a number of architectural purposes (like making the entrance very visible). Also, the curve is an exact quarter-circle: again, we see the importance of fundamental geometric shapes in Art Deco.
Art Deco influences are fairly common in our society today. If you want to see more examples of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne architecture, check out the link in the first post.
Art Deco, in effect, "modernizes" many artistic themes and styles from the past, so it can be seen as "an amalgam of many different styles and movements of the early 20th century, including Neoclassical, Constructivism, Cubism, Modernism, Art Nouveau, and Futurism." While the overall structure often derives from those of ancient cultures (in particular, Greek, Roman, Middle Eastern, Egyptian, and Mayan/South American), it is based on fundamental geometric shapes, like cubes, trapezoids, and smooth circular curves, which gives the buildings a modernist, "building block" feel. In terms of materials, Art Deco often purposefully used exotic materials like ivory, stainless steel, and even sharkskin in place of more traditional materials - this often caused Art Deco buildings to be viewed as ornate, ostentatious, and gaudy (indeed, this is why Art Deco fell out of favor after the 1930s).
Art Deco was not solely influenced by the structures of ancient cultures, however. A branch of Art Deco, known as Streamline Moderne, imitated the technology of the Machine Age and in particular, forms of transportation: the automobile, the ocean liner, and the modern airplane.
A good example of Streamline Moderne in Toronto is the Creed Building:
(note: the above pictures are not taken by me; you can find them here)
To illustrate the Streamline Moderne aspects of the Creed Building...:
1. Note how the length/width/height ratio of the building (see third photo) mimics that of an ocean liner. In addition, the roof of the front of the building is a bit more elevated than the roof of the rest of the building, making it appear like the stern.
2. Notice the repetitive window pattern along the long side of the building. In particular, note how each window is divided into smaller cells, and how two middle cells are emphasized. As an Art Deco building, this represents the geometry and regularity of the elements. If you look closely, you can also see that above each window is what appears to be a black light fixture. This element is also repeated along the length of the building.
3. Long white lines stretch across the entire length of the building. Again, regularity. Indeed, long linear "elements" can be found in many other examples of Art Deco as well.
4. The curved corner (entrance) of the building. Curves are ubiquitous in Art Deco. This curve sort of compromises the appearance of the entire building as a ship (since ships are, indeed, streamlined, and streamlined objects generally do not have large round bulges), but it does serve a number of architectural purposes (like making the entrance very visible). Also, the curve is an exact quarter-circle: again, we see the importance of fundamental geometric shapes in Art Deco.
Art Deco influences are fairly common in our society today. If you want to see more examples of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne architecture, check out the link in the first post.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Reflections on Henry Moore's The Archer
A few weeks ago, I had the opportunity to see Henry Moore's The Archer as I passed by the Toronto City Hall. Now, I wish I could adequately describe the piece, but truth is, I think anyone would have difficulty trying to convey what it looks like. The best description I could come up with was "bronze, large, flowing, and blob-like", which really says very little. I could say that it looks like an archer, but honestly, it looks like an archer about as much as it looks like a horse. Or a bent spoon. Or almost anything you can imagine. So, to make up for this deficiency of description, here is a photo of the sculpture itself:
(If the above picture doesn't work, visit the link here)
Admittedly, from this angle, it definitely has a resemblance to an archer. The bow is on the right, and the form on the right is the archer's torso, postured upright and leaning back ever so slightly as he nocks the arrow on the bowstring. The grooves near the top of the bow could represent the archer's hand, and there is definitely a sharpness where the bowstring meets the bow. Nevertheless, this is all with the prior knowledge that it is called "The Archer" and looking at it from the right angle - I would be surprised if someone called it an archer without previously knowing that it was supposed to be one.
On that note, interestingly enough, the official name for this piece is not "The Archer" but rather "Three-Way Piece No. 2". It was designed by Henry Moore and installed in Nathan Phillips Square in 1966, placing it out of the classical era of modernism (but still sharing many modernist characteristics). Moore was a British architect and sculptor, and best well known for his flowing, free-form bronze sculptures (like The Archer). More information on Henry Moore is available here. Some of his other sculptures that I found interesting (and actually, more aesthetically pleasing than "The Archer") include Double Oval and Hill Arches . Needless to say, the concept of flowing curves (and flow in general) is crucial in both Moore's work and in modernism in general.
As an aside, the Toronto City Hall, outside which "The Archer" is placed, is also considered a great work of modernist architecture. A nice view of it can be seen here. Designed by Viljo Revell, from the air, it looks like a "giant, unblinking eye", thus its nickname of "The Eye of the Government". Apparently when it was first opened in 1965, many people felt that it was much too futuristic for the city, and ill-fitting neighboring the surrounding buildings - not the first time this has happened with modernist architecture.
(If the above picture doesn't work, visit the link here)
Admittedly, from this angle, it definitely has a resemblance to an archer. The bow is on the right, and the form on the right is the archer's torso, postured upright and leaning back ever so slightly as he nocks the arrow on the bowstring. The grooves near the top of the bow could represent the archer's hand, and there is definitely a sharpness where the bowstring meets the bow. Nevertheless, this is all with the prior knowledge that it is called "The Archer" and looking at it from the right angle - I would be surprised if someone called it an archer without previously knowing that it was supposed to be one.
On that note, interestingly enough, the official name for this piece is not "The Archer" but rather "Three-Way Piece No. 2". It was designed by Henry Moore and installed in Nathan Phillips Square in 1966, placing it out of the classical era of modernism (but still sharing many modernist characteristics). Moore was a British architect and sculptor, and best well known for his flowing, free-form bronze sculptures (like The Archer). More information on Henry Moore is available here. Some of his other sculptures that I found interesting (and actually, more aesthetically pleasing than "The Archer") include Double Oval and Hill Arches . Needless to say, the concept of flowing curves (and flow in general) is crucial in both Moore's work and in modernism in general.
As an aside, the Toronto City Hall, outside which "The Archer" is placed, is also considered a great work of modernist architecture. A nice view of it can be seen here. Designed by Viljo Revell, from the air, it looks like a "giant, unblinking eye", thus its nickname of "The Eye of the Government". Apparently when it was first opened in 1965, many people felt that it was much too futuristic for the city, and ill-fitting neighboring the surrounding buildings - not the first time this has happened with modernist architecture.
Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Modernism References
Here are some modernism works and research materials that I've collected so far - I'll continue to update and annotate this post as I find more information:
Modernist Literature
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis
Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot
James Joyce's Dubliners
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness
Albert Camus's The Stranger
Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
- note, strictly postmodern, but still displays many modernist characteristics
Modernist Poetry
Most modernist poetry (esp. the works of T.S. Eliot and William Butler Yeats) can be found (in their original editions) at
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
or
http://www.archive.org/details/texts
Online Sources
Wikipedia has good overviews of most topics relating to modernism. Some more in depth sources are listed below:
Art and Architecture
John Haber's Art Reviews
A collection of reviews and essays on several dozen traditional pieces of modernist art and how they influenced art today. The essays are accompanied with reproductions of the paintings and sculptures
Decopix
Collections of photos of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne buildings. The main site (above link) has a few essays on Art Deco and the state of architecture in the beginning of the twentieth century as well.
Victoria and Albert Museum Art Deco Study Guide
The Archer by Henry Moore
TIME Archive: reactions to modern art
The highlights of TIME magazine's coverage of modern art throughout the twentieth century.
Excerpt from The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton
Discusses the famous architect LeCorbusier and how efficiency and science influenced the architecture of the time.
Music
Recordings of Schoenberg's Phantasy, Op. 47, and Chamber Symphony, Op. 9 .
Literature and General
Essay on Postmodernism by Dr. Mary Klages of the University of Colorado
Modernism in Five Chapters - good overview of modernism and it's effects on modern day society.
PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide - Chapter 7: American Modernism, an Introduction.
Some Attributes of Modernist Literature
Modernist Literature
Franz Kafka's The Metamorphosis
Samuel Beckett's Waiting for Godot
James Joyce's Dubliners
Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness
Albert Camus's The Stranger
Tom Stoppard's Rosencrantz and Guildenstern Are Dead
- note, strictly postmodern, but still displays many modernist characteristics
Modernist Poetry
Most modernist poetry (esp. the works of T.S. Eliot and William Butler Yeats) can be found (in their original editions) at
http://www.gutenberg.org/wiki/Main_Page
or
http://www.archive.org/details/texts
Online Sources
Wikipedia has good overviews of most topics relating to modernism. Some more in depth sources are listed below:
Art and Architecture
John Haber's Art Reviews
A collection of reviews and essays on several dozen traditional pieces of modernist art and how they influenced art today. The essays are accompanied with reproductions of the paintings and sculptures
Decopix
Collections of photos of Art Deco and Streamline Moderne buildings. The main site (above link) has a few essays on Art Deco and the state of architecture in the beginning of the twentieth century as well.
Victoria and Albert Museum Art Deco Study Guide
The Archer by Henry Moore
TIME Archive: reactions to modern art
The highlights of TIME magazine's coverage of modern art throughout the twentieth century.
Excerpt from The Architecture of Happiness by Alain de Botton
Discusses the famous architect LeCorbusier and how efficiency and science influenced the architecture of the time.
Music
Recordings of Schoenberg's Phantasy, Op. 47, and Chamber Symphony, Op. 9 .
Literature and General
Essay on Postmodernism by Dr. Mary Klages of the University of Colorado
Modernism in Five Chapters - good overview of modernism and it's effects on modern day society.
PAL: Perspectives in American Literature- A Research and Reference Guide - Chapter 7: American Modernism, an Introduction.
Some Attributes of Modernist Literature
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