Lecture Notes on Modernism and other 'isms'
Tuesday 24th September 2013
5010GD ‘Isms’ as ways of seeing / thinking / reading
1. ‘isms’ is a shorthand for the seemingly complex array of ideas and theories that surround art and design as a socially and culturally located practice. With many of these ideas it is difficult to find a starting point, and a lot of these terms have superseded one another or are in conflict in some way. There is no real chronology of these ideas, in fact, a linear approach to these ideas is probably misleading.
2. These different ways of formatting knowledge are prevalent in visual culture and art and design. They are what followers of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze might describe as ‘reading machines’ or a tool kit for examining the world of ideas, concepts that shape our lives.
3. They are ways of modelling the world as well as being lenses through which we view our surroundings, the ideas, habits, concepts and histories that make up a culture or society. Ways of thinking like this provide critical positions from which we organise these seemingly chaotic or impractically complex surroundings.
4. The following list is by no means exhaustive but I hope that in some ways what will become apparent are the different ways that people try to make sense of their subject (Graphic design or illustration), their discipline (art, art and design, applied art, visual communication, visual culture) and the wider world (society, political systems, culture, difference, power etc).
5. These ideas can often provide insight, comfort and / or revelation to the adherents, but they can also impose dogma, inflexibility and / or a predictable response. Think of the different approaches almost as a set of tools that can be used to strip down the engine of history.
6. My perspective on this, and one I think I share with everyone here, is the perspective of the practitioner.
7. Whether the concepts here are familiar or entirely new, what I ask all of you to do is re-think these ideas
5010GD ‘Isms’ as ways of seeing / thinking / reading
1. ‘isms’ is a shorthand for the seemingly complex array of ideas and theories that surround art and design as a socially and culturally located practice. With many of these ideas it is difficult to find a starting point, and a lot of these terms have superseded one another or are in conflict in some way. There is no real chronology of these ideas, in fact, a linear approach to these ideas is probably misleading.
2. These different ways of formatting knowledge are prevalent in visual culture and art and design. They are what followers of the French philosopher Gilles Deleuze might describe as ‘reading machines’ or a tool kit for examining the world of ideas, concepts that shape our lives.
3. They are ways of modelling the world as well as being lenses through which we view our surroundings, the ideas, habits, concepts and histories that make up a culture or society. Ways of thinking like this provide critical positions from which we organise these seemingly chaotic or impractically complex surroundings.
4. The following list is by no means exhaustive but I hope that in some ways what will become apparent are the different ways that people try to make sense of their subject (Graphic design or illustration), their discipline (art, art and design, applied art, visual communication, visual culture) and the wider world (society, political systems, culture, difference, power etc).
5. These ideas can often provide insight, comfort and / or revelation to the adherents, but they can also impose dogma, inflexibility and / or a predictable response. Think of the different approaches almost as a set of tools that can be used to strip down the engine of history.
6. My perspective on this, and one I think I share with everyone here, is the perspective of the practitioner.
7. Whether the concepts here are familiar or entirely new, what I ask all of you to do is re-think these ideas