Modern, Modernity and Modernism (Portfolio Task 2)

Summarise the text Harrison, C and Wood, P. (eds.) (1997) 'Art In Theory: 1900-90', Oxford, Blackwell, pp. 125-9.

Write no more than a few paragraphs but try to include what you see as the five key points that the authors are trying to communicate about Modernity and various Modernists subsequent responses to the condition of Modernity.

Include a bibliographic Harvard reference for the text at the end.

This short text looks briefly at different art movements that begin at the start of the twentieth century. The first key point that the authors make is that this "new art" is all about expression. Unlike traditional art which focused on escapism, modern art portrayed real experiences of everyday life, not necessarily how the experience looked but how the experience felt.

After the war there was great pressure to be the leading country in the art world.

The authors then go on to say how this modern art looked at the modern world in two different ways. One, that the change was great and machines were making life easier and then on the other hand that life was losing depth and people were becoming imprisoned in their routines. Both of these are effects of modernisation.

There was yet another response/concern which looked at the cause of why the modern world was the way it was.

The last point in the text says that overall there is two different types of art created out of modernism. The first is trying to change the world, "decode the world" through art. While the other is to fit art around modern life and make it relative to the world we live in today.

Harrison, C and Wood, P. (eds.) (1997) 'Art In Theory: 1900-90', Oxford, Blackwell, pp. 125-9.

Image Analysis (Portfolio task 1)

Comparative analysis: The Uncle Sam Range' (1876) advertising image by Shumacher & Ettlinger, New york and A poster by Saville Lumley (1915)

The posters that I am analysing are both done in the form of illustration. Both posters are aimed at very different audiences, the top poster aimed at americans to buy a product and the lower poster aimed at english people about what they are doing for the war.

Each illustration is patriotic yet in very different ways. The Uncle Sam poster mainly uses the colours red, blue, and white. The use of these colours, teamed with the furnish coverings of stars and stripes automatically gets you thinking of the american flag, and how obviously proud, the people in the illustration are to be american. Whereas in comparison the poster by Saville Lumley use dull colours which is more english. The family set up in both images is also very different. In the Uncle Sam poster the family is of a high class, which you can tell from the furnishings and the fact they have a slave, showing that if you buy or use their product you be of a higher class of those who don't, implying that their product gives you status. In Lumley's poster the family portrayed, is a middle class family, all the figure in the illustration are well dressed and the little boy is playing with a set of soldiers and the girl is reading a history book.

The uncle sam poster uses a large bold typeface that would normally stand out, but because of the placement and the colour of the type it doesn't push the illustration aside and instead sits equally on the poster alongside the illustration. Also the type is all in uppercase making it look powerful and demanding. The text used in the english poster by Saville Lumley is completely different and is a lot smaller in comparison. Due to the use of italics and the typeface used the poster looks friendly. Plus the text on Lumley's poster is a question which starts with the word 'daddy' implying that the little girl sat on his lap has said it. The look on her fathers face shows regret and embarrassment. It is obvious that he didn't help in the war and therefore is ashamed. The concept of the poster is to show people that if they don't help in the war then they will regret it and they will bring shame on their families.

Although the two posters are very different, they do share similarities. The main figure in both illustrations is the male/ father who all the other figures are looking up to. But in different ways, in the Uncle Sam poster they are all looking up to him proudly, whereas in the War poster the girl is looking as him questioningly.

Image Analysis Exercise (Portfolio Task 1)

WRITE A 500 WORD COMPARATIVE ANALYSIS OF THE TWO IMAGES BELOW. PUBLISH YOUR ANALYSIS TO YOUR CONTEXTUAL & THEORETICAL STUDIES BLOG (by the time of your next CTS group tutorial- w/c 16 NOV at the latest)

'The Uncle Sam Range' (1876) advertising image by Shumacher & Ettlinger, New york

Poster by Saville Lumley (1915)

Compare and contrast the two images in relation to the following-
a) The choice and organisation of font and style of illustration
b) The purpose and meaning of the image
c) The intended audience of the image
d) The social and historical context of the image, such as social values at the time