Session 6 Part 2 Modernism & Postmodernism

Session 6, Part 2: Modernism and Postmodernism

Postmodernism: meaning is not contained within a text; it relies on knowledge of other external texts to ‘make sense’ of it

Modernism: the latest styles attitudes or practices, designers are looked at in their cultural and social context.

1939 - war (modernism)

When there was a ridgid class structure, with the upper and middle class having superiority over the working class. This was when models of behaviour, dress, manners, pronunciation were all formed by the so called guardians of culture, the wealthy who could afford to live a life of leisure and fill their time with the arts.The idea of modernism was an idea of progress, to advance society and turn it into an ideal.

Class has drastically shifted roles over time, with the victorians having very steriotypical roles, with the wealthy and upper class not having to work, or having the highest paid jobs with littlest effort, being highly educated with a lot of cultural knowledge, the middle class having a role slightly below this, not inhereting there fortune, but having a fairly decent living in usually a family run business, and the lower class who would never be educated and always did the most work for the lowest pay and lived in very poor conditions and had the lowest life expectancy. Where as today societies structure has conpletly changed with the upper class still being the wealthliest but now its self made, whether it be by having a music career, an acting career, being very lucky with the lottery, or being an entrepreneur.

Is it right that we should call "Amy Winehouse" upper class or high society when high society used to be what people aspired to, was thought of the correct way to live? Or is this indeed a true picture of our society and that we aspire to getting rich but never to happiness. Money only seems to give us unwanted attention, giving the press a reason to highlight our every move waiting for us to slip up. Whereas before the upper class all knew where they came from and what was expected of them, but now we are given so much freedom we dont know whats expected of us and dont have any boundaries, has Post-Modernism given us too much free choice and thinking that society no longer has any direction and in order to find happiness we now resort to drugs and alcohol?

Does not coming from money mean that we are unable to handle it correctly unless we are very grounded and have a business like mind i.e. "Richard Branson"? Or is it society that corrupts us once we are rich/ famous? I wonder how different a persons life would be if they won the lottery and never told anyone and just lived a comfortable life with no money worries, and if the whole of Britan knew?...

Middle class is now defined as people with good jobs i.e. management, and have the right to all levels of education and you can easily esculate yourself to upper class because now there is an enormous amount of possibilites of what you can do, where you can live and all levels of society mix together. In this instance I feel that Post-Modernism and free thinking has given society the chance to better themselves.

In the 1950's people returned to different type of life where young peoples group identities started to emerge in fashion.

luxury becomes affordable and artifical adverts promote an idealistic, futuristic society. This then had influence on products, becoming lifestyle choices and selling an image.

Historical Developements, this society as a culture shift where man was now in charge of his destiny, this in turn influenced art, making things better for all human kind, where art was not just a pretty thing, but could have a purpose and positively influence society, making an impact and challenging ways designers were seen in society.

Design, Arts and Crafts Movement was a new way of valuing skills and the way we used materials, a way forward, this was also when the black market emerged with a value on copied goods. Taste was now dictated by individual lifestyles.

Design and exhibitions postwar were ment to define society and enforce how good britan was!

Now was a different way of thinking what creative practices could be with the minority of so called taste makers being regarded as phillistines.

Popular culture also had some influence on high culture who were suppost to be the authorities in Fashion, Fine art, photography and Graphics

Post-War development was ridgid and focused onto pushing ethical and moral constraints

Post- modernist Theriores were supposed to be fixed with stable identities

Is it that what we attach ourselves to defines us? Or the world therfore defines us and puts us in a box that we have no means of getting out of.

Post-Modernism: Not clear when begins, but influences from building in prague (unsemetrical) suggests thats when we majorly started to challenge art.

Modernism: destroying values of the past/beauty/skill

Post-Modernity: Artists were colonial and 3rd world countries being taken over (post-colonism)

The modernist view is the right way to do things

Post-modernism are the theriores not relevent and you just go round in circles?

Vivieene Westwood plays around with steriotypes, kilt tartan, and Yves defines perfection, Channel has a uniform, classical reference, Dior - A, Y, S line of perfection, Givinchey is Classic not challenging and Elsa - playing with Fashion

Fashion has seamistress with makes what makes them less valued than the designer?

Kawakubo, has assemetrical, anti-fashion designs, made to certain market, whereas clothes are normally made to to hide flaws his work excentuates them

Archetecture on fashion is unwearable, fashion is supposed to contour the body and architecture can never fit this - also relates wearer to being large and ungainly.

Historical refrences with modernist take (altimate modernist)modernism - constantly refrences the past
can we produce progression? Designers, upper class, afulent society, can do what ever they want and get others to do the work, does mass produciton de-value work?

I would say I'm more post-modernist than modernist, because I think that fashion and art should be beautiful and made to last, not shocking or ugly.