This weeks class discussion include De Stijl, Constructivism, and Suprematism.

De Stijl was the art movement in which everything was simplified. The main colors were only the primary colors with black and white. The artwork is usually abstract since most of the artwork has very crisp, geometric shapes that do not really seem to be perceived as anything. Although, there is a very popular chair that is very simple as well. It contains the primary colors, and was saved from a fire. It did not want to die there. The artwork was made keeping in mind the spiritual aspects of our beings.

Constructivism is the old day’s Photoshop. I refer to it this way, because the artwork seems like it was done in Photoshop. Here is a hint, it was not. The different types of art made from the tools they had back then is pretty amazing. They rejected the idea of “art for art’s sake”.

Suprematism, like De Stijl, dealt with geometric shapes in an abstract form; however, they did not confine themselves to a grid-like form or primary colors. Suprematism is the short version of “supremacy of pure feeling or perception in art.” Popular in Russia, it was important in shaping Constructivism.

Art Deco is one of the many art movements we discussed in class that did not end in an “ism”. What caught my attention were the simplicity and cleanliness of the shapes. They artwork, whether it was a poster or architecture, were simple but still very appealing to the eye. It seems like the concept was to “get the idea across”. Based on this logic, you could say that it has carried over into today with artwork such as some posters and logos.  The geometric designs or representational forms in products were other characteristics of Art Deco.

On the historic side of things, it originated in the 1920s and then became even more popular in the 1930s specifically under western Europe and the United States. What is notable is that idea that it became popular in the United States seemingly after the Stock Market Crash in 1929. Maybe it was a way to escape the negatives of the times since most of the products that were developed contained materials that were usually more on the expensive side such as plastics and silver.

The main reason why I enjoy Art Deco is the idea that a lot of it is simple, but the artwork is still appealing and gets the message across.

What is the point in propaganda? Simply put, it’s work that intends to promote or publicize a certain topic. It usually is used to help increase support for or against that topic. Some effective ways in using propaganda is by using guilt, making fake promises, or giving a cause to like or dislike the topic. People are asked, “Why are you not taking action against this horrible situation?” They are told that by doing this you can get fame, acknowledgement, and help save your country from anything. I think that these methods are pretty effective. They “attack” human emotions and empathy to promote the cause. During more popularized wars (WWI, WWII), propaganda saying, “What are you doing to help save your country?” could influence many people: the target audience leaning towards men than women(at the time).

I think that propaganda has not really changed much. The same methods are used in order to appeal or grab the attention of whoever the target audience is. The reasons behind these propaganda may be completely different, but they still attempt to attack the human emotion. I think that different countries will have different influences. For example, the iconic Uncle Sam probably won’t have the same effect on an enemy nation.

This week’s Art Nouveau differed compared to the last. In the prior week, the colors seemed much fuller in color and usually had bright color added into their designs. The art usually consisted of women and celebrating them. The artwork usually was also asymmetrical in composition and had incredibly detailed backgrounds. They usually had “flowing” lines with lots of movement.

This week, the color palette for the artwork was usually darker or more diluted compared to last weeks which was full in color. Instead of celebrating women, there were some figures that were hard to differentiate. Some art seemed more grotesque and did not really celebrate anything. It didn’t give off the same “happy” feel as the prior week attempted to do. Because the art had a more symmetrical approach, the final result ended up looking more geometrical in shape.

It would make sense that the two weeks differed from each other, because as listed above, the artwork did have distinct differences from one another. I prefer the light colored and curvy, long lines from the first week compared to the geometrical approach; however, I am not a fan of the more grotesque images from the second week as they did not appeal to me.

An Art Nouveau image that caught my attention the most is the La Loie Fuller poster like painting by Jules Cheret. The solid, dark background surrounding the image really helps the bright colors pop even more than it would on a lighter background. The type or letters on this one seem a little more balanced and appealing when compared to some of the other Nouveau images we came across that just seemed to be stuck on the image, because it needed to be.

There are pretty common characteristics with Art Nouveau and all of the images we discussed: sinuous curved lines, asymmetrical balances, forms of nature (the Japanese approach was fairly popular), and unusual natural forms. While most of them contained images of women to influence the idea of women having a greater part in society, some of the art created also just contained beautiful, intriguing patterns that usually resembled nature or even insect patterns. So if you ever wanted a wall decorated with each individual legs from a spider, this art form is the one for you!

What I actually like about Art Nouveau is that bright colors used in the art. I find it extremely appealing to the eye unless it just becomes a circus-like production with no thought put into it.

Gutenberg is such an influential person in design history, because he basically started a revolution in printing. His instrument was the first of its kind and was the “blue-print” for further printing presses in the future. It is a stretch, but without Gutenberg and his ideas, there is the small possibility that we could still be handwriting books. Books themselves would cost fortunes like they did in the past. Only the wealthier side of society would be able to afford books which would affect learning, then jobs, and then lead to an even greater divide between the rich and poor than there is today. Why would it cost so much? Time. The amount of time that would go into each book would factor greatly into the price of a book.

You could argue that someone else would have just come up with the idea, but I do not think that is necessarily true. Someone could come up with a similar idea, but coming up with the same exact frame for the initial printing press seems a little far-fetched since it was designed by Gutenberg and his ideas. Even the one they made in the movie shown was said to not be an exact copy, because there is no evidence on the entire thing itself.

When we were assigned on creating a new alphabet, my group was pretty much stumped. I had no clue how to go about this, because by creating anew alphabet, I figured it would not be right to use or involve the current one. Otherwise it would just be copying what already exists; however, with no other idea coming to mind, we just decided to alter the art forms of the letters in the current alphabet. Putting thought into how they look was much easier than trying to make sense of a new alphabet altogether. Some people in my group wanted to have a picture representing each letter: apple equals “A”. I was not too fond of the idea, because how we say and see the word is already based off the current alphabet.

I think there was a clearly obvious reason as to why the alphabet came to be. With only drawings to represent ideas, the possibility to create more abstract thinking would be impossible. Imagine trying to explain that your daughter was eaten by a pack of hyenas while singing “Under the Sea” as a result of you kicker her out of the house in only one illustration. It is impossible right? This is why the alphabet is important. It is needed to make up thousands of words to represent an unlimited amount of ideas. But not just showing the ideas, but also explaining them in a faster, yet more comprehendible way.

Cave paintings were significant because they showed how humans communicated back in the day. I do believe that their paintings were indeed intentional, because they have meanings. Do I know what each painting is gonna tell me? I don’t know; however, I see it as a toddler drawing. If this sounds insulting, there was no intention to do so. I have no clue what a 3 year old is drawing sometimes, but it does have shape and form implying that there may be some meaning behind it. We may not know what it is, but they might. The same principle applies to the early minds of these primitive humans. The fact that there was communication like a game of Pictionary is incredibly interesting, but I don’t think these thoughts were too complex. Most of the drawings or paintings found probably include animals, food, or personal markings to show territory or let everyone know that who was there. It’s basically like finding a carved number into the side of a bathroom stall. I find it hard to believe an early human would be able to pass extremely complex messages with just pictures since we still have problems with that today. A mark I would probably leave behind would probably be something like my foot just to show I existed. Communication, I believe, is inherent to us. Most of the people in the world have had to communicate to somebody at one point. Whether it’s through talking, pictures, or dancing; it is necessary. Otherwise, would anyone be able to help each other? I feel communication existed back then to help one another survive since surviving is also natural to us. Communicating is just another insurance to our survival just like a bow is an insurance for Katniss Everdeen’s survival in the Hunger Games.