Before Class, Chapter 15 (Selective Reading): A New Language Form

Innovation boomed in art and design during the postwar years. A new, formal typographic approach emerged in Holland and Russia. Visual art was turning into pure form rather than pictorial imagery and different ideas about form and space were applied to new paintings and sculptures. By the end of WWI, artists and designers everywhere took on the challenge to question traditional form and function.

A lot of political trauma broke out in Russia after WWI. Czar Nicholas II was overthrown and executed along with Civil Wars breaking out throughout the country. Even though all of this was very hectic for the people of Russia, innovations of creative art emerged that influenced twentieth-century design. Russian artists took elements used in cubism and futurism to form cubo-futurism to move on to new innovations. "Kasimir Malevich founded a painting style of basic forms and pure color that he called suprematism." Through this, he created a geometric abstraction that rejected utilitarian function along with pictorial representation. According to Malevich and another famous artist at the time, Kandinsky argued that "art must remain an essentially spiritual activity apart from the utilitarian needs of society." During the postwar years, a new communist society emerged. Constructivists were tired of paintings and turned to the poster in preparation for this new society. They also believed that tectonics, texture and construction were the three main principles for construction. El Lissitzky played a major role in the constructivist ideal. After he studied architecture at the Darmstadt in Germany, architecture became the basis for Lissitzky's art. He then invented a painting style called PROUNS, which introduced 3D illusions. Lissitzky experimented with all sorts of things, like photomontage, painting, graphic design and printmaking. He influenced many people during this time and had a huge audience.

The De Stijl movement began in Netherlands in the summer of 1917. During this movement, artists and designers worked with an abstract geometric style which sought "universal laws of equilibrium and harmony for art." Theo van Doesburg was the founder of this movement. Piet Mondrian was a very important painter during this time that set the rhythm for this De Stijl movement. He developed forms and incorporated cubism elements in his pieces. He also used lots of vertical and horizontal lines. In general during the De Stijl movement, artists reduced their visual vocabulary by using only primary colors. They also sought "an expression of the mathematical structure of the universe and the universal harmony of nature." The artists during this movement were worried with "spiritual and intellectual climate of their time." Universal harmony was the basis of a lot of De Stijl artists and designers. We also see, in type, that words along with letterforms were designed horizontally and vertically.

One thing that I found interesting during this selective reading of chapter 15 was that Lazar Lissitsky, who played a very famous role in the constructivist ideal, was turned down by the Petrograd Academy of Arts because of his prejudice views against Jews! It's a shame he thought like that or he could have got more experience in graphic design!