Post Modern Art and Its Challenges

Art Nouveau (1890-1910)

• A revolutionary artistic movement merging art, life, design, and everyday objects
• Broke away from historical styles, embraced modernity
• A reaction to mass industrialization, creating brighter, more intricate architecture
• Embraced ornamentation, straying from minimalism
• Art should be seen in everyday life, homes, and design elements
• Sought to "elevate" the human experience

Art Nouveau Characteristics

• Organic forms and flowing lines, beauty in functional objects
• Nature as a central theme, life, growth, and vitality
• Depiction of female forms as symbolism, beauty, grace, and fertility
• Combining traditional techniques (handicrafts) with modern technologies

Art Nouveau Materials

• Innovative use of new materials: glass, iron, ceramics
• Emphasis on unique, handcrafted items, rejecting mass production

Art Nouveau Groundwork

• Unified elements of a space (architecture, furniture, textiles, decorative arts) into a complete image
• Holistic style, combining art, craft, and technology

Alphonse Mucha

• Czech artist who created a popular Art Nouveau style.
• Figurative approach to Art Nouveau, focusing on nature, harmony, and female figures.
• Idealized women in his work, using flowing hair and floral patterns for beauty
• Featured stylized typography and decorative elements.

Art Nouveau in Czechoslovakia

• Flourished in Prague during the early 20th century, leaving a legacy in architecture and decorative arts
• Incorporated folklore and mythology, creating a mystical style
• Aimed to make everyday life less mundane

Post-Internet Art

• Contemporary art movement using the internet as its main inspiration
• Expanding beyond meme culture and online forms to installations, sculptures, paintings, and hybrids
• Reflects consumerism, surveillance, political situations, identity, and current trends and events

Post-Internet Art Characteristics

• Glitch art
• Highly saturated colours
• Surrealism, using memes and stock images
• Irony and critiques of contemporary life (e.g., hope core)

Jon Rafman

• Contemporary artist working with post-internet culture, focusing on surveillance
• Google street view project (9 eyes) demonstrates surveillance
• Exhibiting post-internet art (KW Berlin) using modern technology and concepts

Status of Artists: Medieval Times

• Craftsmen were essential for producing arts, with no clear distinction between craftsman and artist until the Gothic Era
• Created items like tapestries, mill decorations, fountains, stained glass, sculptures, jewelry
• Some mass-produced items like pilgrim badges

Bohemia (10th-12th centuries)

• Art flourished within churches, crucial for understanding the Bible.
• Inspired by expressive art for the rise of the gothic era

Geographies of Art: National Styles

• Artistic styles and traditions shaped by specific locations, reflecting a nation's culture, history, and values
• Materials impact on art styles, influencing unique artistic regional styles
• Political tools—e.g., Soviet Czechoslovakia used socialist realism to promote nationalist propaganda

Antiquity (Greek & Roman Arts)

• Greek art emphasized human forms, balance, proportions, and mythology (e.g., Parthenon)
• Roman art influenced by Greece but focused more on realism and historical events, daily life, and glorifying the emperor

Nature in Art: Environmental Site-Specific Projects

• Land art, popular in the 1960s-70s, used natural surroundings and materials
• Materials were meant to coexist in nature and work within specific locations
• The work wouldn't be moved or transported easily
• Themes include entropy, sustainability, eco-activism, restoration, and awareness
• Often challenging traditional gallery settings

Andy Goldsworthy and Robert Smithson

• Examples of Land Art artists.
• Their work focused on creating art outside traditional settings, using natural materials

Power of Images: Power of Politics

• Socialist Realism, a political art movement, intended to glorify everyday life and industrialisation, often in an optimistic way despite the difficulties of the era
• Architecture—buildings and urban planning reflected communist ideals, like large building blocks representing community
• Censorship—art was controlled, and those who didn't follow rules were banned or blacklisted

Revolution against the regime

• Many artists (in Czechoslovakia) worked to defy regime ideals, with secret happenings, exhibitions, and manifestos like Charta 77.
• Artists like Jiri Kolar and Jiri Kovanda created subtle forms of revolt

Action Art

• Artists (e.g., Jiri Kovanda) used their bodies, surroundings, and small, unconventional social actions as forms of art and protest to remain unnoticed

Propaganda Art

• Examples of artwork meant to create a particular political impression (visuals for the Stalin regime)

Body Physicality and Role in Art History

• Canonization - a systematic method to measure body proportions and create ideal beauty in art
• Egyptians used a grid system for precise body measurements
• Romans focused heavily on realism and naturalism

Canonization Standards

• Ancient Egypt focused on symmetry and proportions ("divine perfection").
• Ancient Rome focused on natural beauty and realistic proportions.
• Modern canonization is more individualized and less rigidly structured

Art and Utopia: Social Utopia Expressed Through Art

• Art and architecture representing human hope for a better world
• Influences social transformation
• Ways to create social change (e.g., Socialist Realism, Bauhaus, Futurism).
• Plato's ideas of art shaping moral values and harmonious living
• Bauhaus as an example of creating a utopia for students in a creative and harmonious atmosphere.
• Rejection of existing boundaries between art practices as a focus

Cubism (Pablo Picasso, Joan Miro)

• Abstract art form focused on geometry, shapes, straight lines, flatness, perspectives
• Early experiments in abstract art, developing analytical and synthetic approaches
• Focus on structure over detail, often with monochromatic colours or breaking down objects
• Picasso and Braque as early figures, known for collaborating to develop this type of visual work.
• Impact on various future movements in art.
• Significance to abstract and experimental art, pushing boundaries and influencing other movements in art.

Interwar Avant Garde: Bauhaus

• Example of Utopia through architecture and art, emphasizing simplicity and functionality
• Focused on creating a harmonious living atmosphere, aiming for a creative future for students
• Inspired by Art Nouveau and Arts & Crafts movements, stripped away unnecessary ornamentation emphasizing clean simplicity, and geometry
• Developed a unified aesthetic
• Impact on modern design and architecture, emphasizing minimalism

Art and Totalitarian Regimes

• Underground art movements formed in Czechoslovakia as opposition to the Stalinist/Communist regimes
• Artists often created secret happenings and used home exhibitions/secret societies
• Challenged government-mandated art styles like socialist realism (e.g., Charter 77)

Contemporary Art: Jiri Kovanda, Marina Abramović

• Artists pushing boundaries through daily gestures, performance art, use of their bodies and physical presence
• Engaging audiences, while challenging societal norms
• Exploration of human connections and everyday interactions with others in public spaces.
• Emphasis on both documenting art (photography) but with the act and physical presence being the key component.

Post-Modern Art

• Rejected Modernism, embracing pluralism, skepticism, and the collapse of high/low culture boundaries
• Focused on deconstruction, irony, and rejecting singular narratives
• Used many different eras of art, combining them into works
• Embraced appropriation (using existing works)
• Artists like Roy Lichtenstein (using pop-culture images) sought to combine fine arts and commercial art, and challenge the traditional notions of media and advertisement

Art at the Turn of The Century: Role of Ornament

• Decorative elements applied to objects and architecture enhancing visual appeal in response/reaction to industrialization
• Heavily influenced by Art Nouveau, incorporating harmonious patterns, florals, and fluidity
• Examples of cities like Prague showcasing ornamentation in their facades and public buildings, emphasizing strong culture identity

Origins of Abstract Art: Abstract Sculpture & Photography

• Art not realistic, focusing on shapes, free form, textures, space, and material
• Influenced by Cubism and Constructivism, including aspects like the use of industrial materials and creating free form sculptures
• Development of minimalist work with geometry and focusing on basic forms to create visuals with a significant impact
• Significant influences on abstract art, including photography (Pictorialism) influencing other artists and techniques

Explore the complexities of Post Modern art with this quiz that delves into its central themes, characteristics, and notable figures like Andy Warhol. Analyze how globalization, irony, and parody reshaped the art world, contrasting it with traditional forms. Test your knowledge on the impact of technological mediums and the historical context of art production.