portfolio task 4 - postmodern design

 

Berry, F (2006) “whimsical entropy” http://www.postmodern-art.com/postmodern_art_08.html

This watercolour shows many postmodern traits. The piece contains or displays a ‘meditative poem of sorrow’ laid out in a manner that allows the reader to choose the order in which to read it, which chimes true to the postmodern ideal that the work is there for the individuals own interpretation. The image in the top left of the piece could be viewed as mockery of authoritarian ideals. The image at top left has a bloodshot eye on the left hand side of its face, a crown depicting a fortress and a formal dress hat for a mouth that is barking orders at an obedient soldier.    

 

Ulzon, J (20th of October 1973 – present) “Sydney opera house” http://www.101worldtravel.com/2010/06/23/the-sydney-opera-house/

The Sydney opera house is one of Australia’s most famous buildings. Its design is derived from the form of the ocean and seagulls flying which takes a brave leap away from modernist obsession with geometrical perfection.

 

Dixon, T. “Cappellini S-chair” http://www.dezeen.com/2009/06/22/competition-win-a-cappellini-s-chair-by-tom-dixon/

This Cappellini S-chair is a good example of postmodern design because of its whimsical nature that defies modernist geometrical conventions and pays most attention to form. Its abstract design is open to interpretation. As a whole the chair could be looked at and pondered about just as much as it could be sat on.

 

Ettore Sottsass, (1981) “book shelf”  http://fafi.coolcats.fr/category/i-love-what-you-do/

The Italian collective Ettore Sottsass, comprised of a group of designers and architects who were fed up with utilitarian, humorless nature of modernist design. They created a created a plethora of wacky furnishings, that were full of humor and intrigue to counteract the increasing dullness of modernist design. They disbanded in 1988.

Lissitzky, E ( 1920) “beat the whites with the red wedge”

This is a constructivist poster that displays the arbitrary placement of geometric shapes. This convention was used a lot in postmodernist graphics.