Modernity:
'The quality of being current or of the present'.
Modernism:
'Practices typical of contemporary life or thought'
In the lecture Richard began with analysing William Holman Hunt, 'The Hireling Shepherd', as a form of the most relevant form of modernity. The painting was initially seen as an inferior version of a classic ideal. However, it then became positive, showing that people can do something new and different. The specific aspect of modernity within this painting is its heightened colour, which seems fairly normal now but in the early 50's of the 19th century this was shocking stuff.
After this the idea of modernism changed, it meant, 'to improve'- loaded with the idea that the modern is better than the old.
A large scale example of this would be Paris.
Paris, the personification of modernity.
There was modern and ancient side by side i.e The Eiffel Tower and The Louvre.
Urbanisation kicked in, there was a total shift in the way people lived. This was partly because of industrialisation. Rather than people working in the country as a farmer, they would come to the city to live and would work in factories. The world 'shrank'- new transport systems were created; roads and railways, along with telephones. Everything was so much more accessible all of a sudden. There was the introduction of the standardised world clock, which meant regulated days rather than harvesting times. There was factory work with shifts and holidays.
There was less of a focus on religion and more on science and technology. It was a much more secular society.
This changed peoples mindsets, the change affected almost everyone. Modernity produces fragility, speeds up life and creates distractions that didn't exist beforehand. Alienation; despair and distraction were the main mental aspects people began to feel. So obviously there was a lot of criticism over the change .
There was a shift in artists subject matter- there was now a focus on the general 'feel' of modernity, they were portraits of alienation, rather than portraits of people. i.e In this image by Caillebotte named 'Man at his window', the subject, rather than looking at the viewer is looking out of the image, into the world, the sluggish stance connotes apathy, yet the rest of the frame is filled with impressive architecture reflecting the busyness of the new world.
Caillebotte is trying to make a connection with the viewer by relating to the world around them rather than specific people- this man, alone at his window is looking out into the world, slightly lost perhaps, confused?- much like the rest of the world were feeling.
The mixed media art form emerged from the hectic life within the world. For example, this photomontage by Raoul Haussmann (named ABCD) is consistently busy within the frame- using lots of type, image and colour.
I think this reflects how people were feeling at that time. It is exciting to look at, yet intimidating and busy. There is an information overload
Also, with the creation of Bauhaus came the idea of form following function. Lavish cutlery sets that showed off your social status were now seen as unnecessary. The idea was not to hide what these objects were made out of but to celebrate them- much like the Bauhaus building itself-
It doesn't hide the glass in the windows because they needed a lot of light, or the concrete on the walls to make it sturdy- all the materials used are incorporated into it's design and all the while the form is following the buildings function.
Typefaces such as sans serif were created to increase readability and decrease decoration. For example the typeface above. It is very clear to read so here the function is being fulfilled- whilst the form reflects the nature of the building.
Looking back, the idea was to keep looking forward, innovating. But from this there became a state of mass production, things were (and still are) being made quicker and sold for less. So, in a way it denies individuality and forces less quality. However, there is no arguing that without modernity there wouldn't have been such leaps within technology, materials and mental states.
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