M A R C H 2 7 , 2 0 1 3

-       Walter Gropius is the Director of the Bauhaus from 1919 to 1928

-       Fine arts were indispensable to great architecture.

-       Johannes Itten is charged with developing the primary courses at the Bauhaus.

-       Dumpster diving for art supplies. Germany devastated after war.

-       Laslow nagy is a Hungarian constructivist and replaces itten (who was left of center). Ends up becoming Groupius’s right hand man at the Bauhaus.

-       First Bauhaus is in Weimar, Second Bauhaus in Dessau

-       Student work being inspirational and whatnot. Representation of concepts, basics, and what the Bauhaus was built upon.

-       Bauhaus was the greatest design school of the 20^th century. Developed a sort of “visual science”

-       Groupius had come from a family of means and was an architect who was in the military for some time.

    Thoughts

    After watching that brief short film, I thought it was interesting to see how resilient the students were and how committed to their work they had become. It's almost like, what happened to that? I mean, I'm sure any decent student here at Ringling would more than defend their work but to actually die for it? That would be considered absurd and stupid. When it shouldn't be, your work should be something you value considering it represents who you are and what you stand for.

March 20th, 2013

-       Cubo-futurism (combination of cubism and futurism)

-       Kazimir Malevich and the black square. Yes, we could all do that, but we didn’t. Red and Black square.

-       Contructivism from Vladimir Tatlin

-       El Lissitzki

-       Try making something that’s not about the thing, or, the subject of the composition. Just for the sake of trying composition. What has more volume, what has more weight, what has more expression.

-       Kandinsky

-       See what you look at and then see what you read. You look at pictures for the gist, look at the type for information.

-       Constructivism supports function, suprematism rejects it. Suprematism is a really nice idea, but it becomes finite. There’s only so much you can do with it.

-       De Stijl a style basically wrapped around one guy. It’s an art movement in the Netherlands. It was a utopian approach to art. Had a focus on rectilinear planes, and worked on finding the mathematical structures of the universe. Piet Mondrian is the guiding force, publishes the magazine.

o   In 1921 the format changes from rigid architectural structures to asymmetry. Use of negative space and proportions

-       BAUHAUS (1919 – 1933)

o   1919 – 1925 Weimar

§  1923 First Public Exhibition

·      First time public gets to see what’s going on, the first time their ideas see the light of day

§  1924 Letter of Resignation

·      ideas rejected by area

o   1925 – 1932 Dessau

§  1928 Walter Groupius replaced by (left leaning) Meyer who then brought more attention from the Nazis

§  1930 Meyer replaced by van der Rohe

§  Chased out by Nazis

o   1932 – 1933 Berlin

§  Demoralized, working in an old abandoned shoe factory

o   Utopian desire to create a new spiritual society

o   Unity of Artists & Craftsmen to build for the future.

o   Ideas form all of the Advanced Art & design Movements were explored and applied to functional design

o   Paul Klee, Moholy Nagy, Johannas Itten, Herbert Bayer, Kandinsky, Mies van der Rohe, Walter Groupus, Oscar Schlemmer, Joseph Albers

 Thoughts

It was interesting to go through the history of the Bauhaus and see what was popular at the time and to see how much they changed the view of artwork at the time of their existence. It would be interesting to see if something like that existed more recently or a more relevant example.

Questions

What made their work so especially influential at the time? They weren't the only   design school that existed at the time. 

March 13th, 2013

-       Peter Baron, running sans serif type. The first comprehensive identity system. Peter Baron worked in architecture as well.

-       People did a lot of different things, not because it was a job, but because it was a creative outlet. Not our job, but our lives.

-       It’s not the artifact, it’s the philosophy, the thinking behind it.

-       Priester poster represents a new style in design and possibly a new way of thinking/approach to design

-       Plocka Stihl? Poster Style in German

o   Style of poster became Name. Background. Item.

-       Allies were considered more literal in their designs posters. People pointing at you, very direct. More sappy (if you don’t join the cause, you hate America)

-       Axis more representative, more thoughtful design.

-       Phallic symbols are used in designs that are meant to appeal to men. Beginning of Art Deco

-       Work promoting entertainment starts to become more popular

-       Through all work exists mathematics and proportions that create a pleasing composition.

    Thoughts

    I think the difference between European and American design is interesting. It makes me wonder if today they're still just as different or if the internet has made everything less "local," so to speak

    Questions

     Is good design learned, or is it something that some people just have an inherently good sense of?

February 27th, 2013

-       “If all you do is design the negative space, everything else will work”

-       Alphonse Mucha, poster for Job cigarette papers, 1898

-       Art Nouveau was at one point synonymous with Mucha (Mocha)

o   Tile, pattern, Asian inspiration. Wiener Chic is an example of the evolution of style throughout that period of time.

-       Art Nouveau gets a lot of its aesthetic from nature.

-       Abstraction becomes more and more of a dominant form in aesthetics as time goes on.

o   A lot of branding starts at this time. (G.E. logo)

-       Popularity and growth of art journals and manifestos at the end of the century and the beginning of a new one.

-       Young people are hungry for rallying points.

-       Popularization of flat wallpaper backgrounds with dimensional yet flat figures in the composition. Plays with the figure ground relationship.

-       Lippincott’s and Harper’s magazine. Divide between what you’re promoting and advertising, and what the artifact is itself.

-       Note the overall wide use of abstraction with flat figures in the composition to add depth.

-       Art Nouveau begins in France but reaches out globally

-       Masthead – name at the top of the magazine.

-       Glasgow school is a legitimate building, but when referred to it is normally used to describe the art movement. Charles Renee Macintosh, Herbert Mcnert, and The Mcnair sisters.

o   Aka the “four”

-       The work is defined by a rectilinear (rectangular) structure but uses curvilinear elements. So basically it’s a rectangle but the curved elements become dominant devices. It has a lot to do with spirituality and metaphysical stuff.

-       Blackies is known for making relatively cheap books

-       Vienna Secession occurs when young artists from the Künstler House wanted to show work from other countries to develop their own art but the older people deny that right.

-       If you’re not pissing someone off, you’re not doing your job, and quite frankly you’re probably boring too.

-       Question of the Day

    Does efficiency always mean good design?