modernity, i think could be compared to the growth of character in an individual like Billy (the guy with red hair) [society] from one flew over the cuckoo's nest - he is a quiet and controlled individual who does not question anything. he keeps his head down. but when he is exposed to Randle (jack nicolson) [industry] he becomes a new, seemingly more healthy and "normal" individual. sadly this new found strength of character does not serve him well and he ends up killing himself. whether that part is in any relation to the analogy of modernity that i am trying to create, i don't know.
i am aware that it is quite a strange and possibly nonsensical analogy but what i am trying to question is whether modernity is a healthy or unhealthy phenomenon. i am also aware that psychology is a product of modernity and the worry that people had about the effect that this rapidly evolving society would have on the mind. whatever the answer may be, it certainly made for some good cinema! the interior design and decoration is also quite modernistic, so to speak, - function over form like iv never seen before!
moving away from suicide, lobotomy's and good cinema, we have this beautiful Degas "the absinthe drinker". Absinthe, ironically, was banned from mainland Europe because it was felt that it was leading to a demise in society. i think it is still illegal in the UK to this day actually. im not sure though. But the painting - depicting a woman in a a very human, honest state. i believe, was a very revolutionary piece of work, as it questions such ideals as monogamy, and in turn the church. which gives rise to another factor of modernity - the shift in power from the church/religion to government. but to address the painting at hand the image of this pretty young woman, looking quite unhappy, or even depressed, sat next to an older, uninterested and in my eyes, less attractive man. the woman looks somewhat uncomfortable as well, her bach is hunched her shoulders stiff, her hands are at her sides and her chin is down. the alcohol on the table is sat there like some sort of medication, to cure her discontent with the society that she lives in, or at least to make the night that is about to unfold a little more bearable!
graphic design vs. fine art: graphic design, in my mind, is analytical and based on common sense rather than being conceptual and expressive. a painting or sculpture does not have to sell anything other than an idea perhaps. while graphic design is solely built to sell things like paintings and sculptures strangely. however certain pieces of graphic design were, and still are considered to be art forms for example this cigarette advert by Alphonse Mucha is ART Nouveau.
"weapons of mass communication"
both images have a propaganda like underlying themes. well the lumley obviously is a propaganda poster
Daddy, what did you do in the Great War? poster by Savile Lumley (1915)
The Uncle Sam Range (1876) Advertising Image by Schumacher & Ettlinger, New York
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