Klaudija Micheleviciute Design for Art direction student. Anti-design vs Modernism Looking at the discourse of Anti-design, is better revealed and understood within its juxtapositions. The term Anti-Design originated in Italy in the 1960s. A movement that represented a reaction by Avant Garde artists who were tired of the dull language of modernism. Which was simple, an act of focus, pure function and form, and prioritised removing any unnecessary decorative elements. With the understanding of matching societies developments at the time, in technology and speed, were objects that represented the new modern lifestyle. Anti- design created a radical opposition to this consumerist and capitalist venture and was critical of the modernist design function. An Anti-design vs Modernism mentality. Modern design was seen as heroic with the goals of extending the bodies armour and limbs as an object, making life easier through everyday activities. Although this seemed to embody human like capabilities of design, the Anti functionality came through a more energetic approach. One that highlighted participation of the viewer and increasing social thought processes through there engaging, questionable features. Rather than conforming to the easy comfortable lifestyle of wealth and good taste, these Anti- designs created risk and simply symbolically unique pieces that could stand on their own. What brings us back to current times is the resurgence of social awareness, as the Pandemic had influenced. As overwhelming constructions of capitalism and time were over powering daily routines, anti-design became noticeable as a turn of societal re-evaluation. This cycle of reinvention and possibly reverse engineering just like in the 60s, bringing us back to the core functions of objects and shifting perceptions to what design can be. To an iterative process of design evolution. Landscape Thinking and politics The innate reaction from my perception of this movement was of a spatial landscape. Thinking about critical theory like an architectural space for design. That re-introduces cultural and political values with connecting systems of ideas, objects and humans. With the use of manifestos and design, a new space holds speculation that is up to the designer and the uses of this tool of reaction and their audience to interpret. A cross-disciplinary approach to the movement of idea psychologically and anthropologically, these themes are naturally relevant and are incorporated within designer’s work, acting as a ‘Master builder’ (Foster et al., 2002). The Anti-design landscape has many platforms to fall into such as publications and exhibitions which both prove to embody radical future values with architectural grids and designs. Making a "big splash in the global pond of spectacle culture today" and "display in all sorts of spheres" (Foster et al., 2002). That opposes the “narrowed protocol of medium specificity of modern art and institution” and seems even ‘oxymoronic’, because of its contradictions of combined values explained by Half Foster in Design and crime. We not only start to re- imagine objects again but now designers are re-structuring organizations within law and the economy. A re-inventive quality, that acts on behalf of a sustainably aware mentality of social problems today. Representative of the movement during the 60s/ 70s of modernism, aesthetic autonomy and the Avant Garde and the reliance of all the iterative features of design. Radical ideas and well communicated blueprints. On the one hand, some Anti-design work does exactly this. With reliance on both Modernism and anti-design, functional autonomy is still present through symmetry and proportion but slightly subverted through sublime or large gestural figures like the ‘Nova’ lips sofa. On the other hand, Buffalo zine is a current example of where Anti-design may be headed in our time due to its rule breaking and experimental designs. Creating an open classroom landscape of free thinking today. Especially when approaching large topics in need of large ideas, like capitalism. Ideas are expressed in every ornament with the hopes of not reaching an Art Nouveau interior, 1899 of " life living with one’s own corpse” (Foster et al., 2002). Meaning having a cultural understanding of critiques but also how art can still speak on its own. The cultural design world right now is the playground of experimentation and conversation. Something constant about design is ambiguity. Its ever-changing form and purpose are what makes it unpredictable but also adaptable. The complex ideas of “today's aesthetic and political practise”(Lutticken, 2017) talks about new habits and new ways of identification. Freedom within Anti-design allows this, but what could continue to be questioned is how we will ground these fluid ideas through balancing of scale and communication and perception. Whether or not design can be independent or still require slight structure? Klaudija Micheleviciute, 2021 Anti- Design, Charles Moffat, August 2011, The Art History Archive Bohman, James, "Critical Theory", The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy (Spring 2021 Edition), Edward N. Zalta (ed.), URL = <https://plato.stanford.edu/archives/spr2021/entries/critical-theory/>. 2014. Speculative Everything. [Erscheinungsort nicht ermittelbar]: MIT Press. E-flux.com. 2016. PUNK. Its traces in contemporary art - Announcements - e-flux. [online] <https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/45533/punk-its-traces-in-contemporary-art/> E-flux.com. 2021. Learning Laboratories - Announcements - e-flux. [online] Available at: <https://www.e-flux.com/announcements/68961/learning-laboratories/> LUTTICKEN, S., 2017. Cultural Revolution, Aesthetic Practise after Autonomy. Berlin: Sternberg Press. Foster, H., Herrmann, G., Jacquet, C., Manceau, L., Vieillescazes, N. and Lahache, F., 2002. Design & crime. Verso. Nytimes.com. 2021. Architects Dreaming of a Future With No Buildings. [online] <https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/12/arts/design/superstudio-civa.html>
2 Comments
s.temple
1/7/2022 04:27:27 am
You have looked at some excellent references Klaudija and are right to consider this as a time for reinvention of our discipline. There is a dissatisfaction with so much uniformatiy. You propose significant conceptual progress, ideas over aethetics - 'real cities taken to logical limits' as Superstudio suggest was possible. Tschumi proposed that we look at the mediums - 'a reinvention of a new world with old tools.' Check out this important publication https://collection.cooperhewitt.org/users/bjoseph/visits/ztgs/5198927/
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Robert Urquhart
1/7/2022 12:43:51 pm
Wow! 'Thinking about critical theory like an architectural space for design. That re-introduces cultural and political values with connecting systems of ideas, objects and humans' what a great sentiment and sentence! Thanks for sharing
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