lecture 4

Patricia talked about Post modernism. She handed out a list of main points of what post modernism is and a lecture summary. This lecture summary will only look at my notes because everyone else has her notes. Post modernism is not hanging on to the design of the past but celebrating something new. It is about choice and tends to focus on the minority. 50’s and 60’s were early post modernism (though some argue that it is late modernism) she talked about HFG’s designs, Hans gigolo’s systematic approach to design.

Things like feminism are post modern because it is a choice, it is different from the past, a new idea, and it is focusing and standing up for minority. In the same way movements and designs for the disable, the elderly, different races, etc. are all apart of post modernism. She went on to say that a part of post modernism is that it is a global thing, not specific to one place or culture. In post modernism the surface became important you needed to create things with a beautiful surface, people already had the functional thing. To create a need for your product you had to create a desire for it something that sets it apart from others.

Pop Art came in the 50’s - 70’s and made art for the masses and spoke of abstract expression. Pop culture was also a part of post modernism with the beetles the hippy moment etc. also using drugs for inspiration.

Inspiration came from the moon exploration and design started to look ‘space aged’ the also started using plastics and other new materials.

She then went on to talk about chairs the ant chair and the egg chair and there relation to the new materials.

She then covered:

• Apollo designs- TVs, phones, hamburger chair, blow up chair, base ball glove chair. (1962)
• Geometric pop art happen at the same time on opposite sides of the world
• Sottsass – his book shelf, valentine typewriter,desk from 1970. To sell it must be liked and wanted – Memphis
• Nefertiti desk taking inspiration for Egypt
• Taking joy in design. It should be a joyful thing, not just in the final product but also the process.
• Economic recession and oil restrictions
• Everything being government owned, repressed design no motivation no competition.
• 1968 Paris student uprising and strike, they didn’t like what they were being taught. The workers joined them 44 days
• The cold war
• Ussr broke up
• Kitchen debates
• Korean war
• Post mode architecture XYZ buildings
• Capitalism

So far this has only just covered half of my notes so I’m going to skip some stuff.

She talked about structuralism some main people involve and the importance of having signs to indicate what the product, building etc is, and the different parts needed in a sign.

She talked about Jeremy Bentham’s prison and the idea that if there is no way to tell if your being watched or not then you will always act as if you are and it will instill good behavior.” Control that is invisible and unverifiable will crate discipline.

She then talked about grand narrative and small narrative. And that there is no truth because nothing can be proven. Because you weren’t there you can’t prove it you can’t know so.. You can’t prove the holocaust happened etc. (personally I disagree with this you may not be able to prove things to an absolute certainty but you can prove them to a very high certainty and we do live inside a system it is called the world. Things can be proven to work or not work with in this system. It also completely ignores the scale on which things can be proven and the importance of probabilities.)

She talked about Baudrillard – Simulacrum-and simulation. Simulation something and them the simulation becomes more real than the original. We don't know what’s real and what’s not.