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C&CS reflection: Alternative Culture

What was the comix movement?

The Comix movement was a group of nonconformist comic book artists that rebelled against the Comics Magazine Association of America, during the counterculture movement of the late 1960s. This association put into place the Comics Code Authority, a bureau with a strict set of expectations of acceptable contents inside published comic books. As a result, cartoonists that felt they were suffering from censorship created a new genre of comics known as the Underground Comix - the unusual spelling was a message of their refusal to conform to the CCA’s control over media and to indicate the material was explicit in nature referring to the x in ‘x rating’ for movies. These comics are often compared to tijuana bibles, palm-sized pornographic comics popular in the 1920s predecessor of the comicx in the 1960s.

The movement was lead by small-run, independent publishers known for creating material referring to sex, drugs, violence and other taboo topics. The comics were sold in stores under the counter hidden from authorities making the circulation of these materials strictly regional. As a result, the movement had little influence overall and were yet to become an established movement, and later to be considered a legitimate part of the arts movement. 

The Zap Comix was considered to be one of the first recognized underground comic books due to its popularity, making it the movement’s pioneer one of the reasons being that it was the first one to be printed in traditional comic book style, which then inspired other artists to do the same.

Are these ideas relevant to today's graphic novels?

The world is in an age where nothing seems to shock anyone anymore and day by day the culture of censorship is benign outshined by the power of freedom of speech. Nonetheless the explosion of underground pressed paved the way to new possibilities and underground culture - still thriving - to this day.  

The ‘zine’ culture - possibly considered the love child between the 1960s underground press and the internet culture - is very much established in the media community of nowadays. With the help of the internet these zines are much more accessible today, which also helped bring the cost of production down from designers to distribution. Censorship still prevails in the mainstream media justifying the necessity of having an underground press to expose and debate forbidden subjects, much like the comix from the sixties. 

https://www.messynessychic.com/2020/05/07/that-1960s-revolution-of-underground-press-is-still-alive-well/

https://lib.calpoly.edu/news/2014/03/understanding-underground-comix-an-introduction-to-the-moore-collection/

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q3wBqzg8bs0

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C&CS reflection: European Modernism

How did the grid and systems design influence the development of European design across the 20th century?

The most important evolution to typography took place in the first half of the 20th century, with the development of technologies, designers were faced with the challenge to create new meaning to art and design for the modern age. As a result the modernists art schools emerged. Early modernist movements drew inspiration from the chaos of the modern age, such as Futurism, an artistic movement founded by italian poet, Filippo Tommaso. He believed that man and machine should work together to develop even greater creations, and through that he declared a revolution against the conventions of the printed page. Futurist typography was free flowing and dynamic, expressing the sounds and sensations.

In contrast to that, after the second world war, the Swiss Grid Style - also known as the International Typographic Style - emerged by Swiss designers, such as Armin Hofman, Josef Muller, Hans Neuberg and so on. The design style was characterized as ‘cold and emotionally sterile’ that became very influential in the mid 20th century. These artists saw design as a tool for industrial production and pursued objective visual communication. Swiss Style pioneer Josef Muller, founder of the Zurich published journal Neue Grafik, prioritized funcional and objective design by restricting design elements through a set of imaginary confining lines and grid. For the time this design style that adopted a geometrical aesthetic was considered to be novel and rare. The style incorporated mathematical methods of spatial organization into the work and was very reminiscent of the language of constructivism.

Are these ideas still relevant today?

The grid design is to this day considered the foundation of graphic design. The grid began as a system for organizing text, and these ideas still remain relevant to this day. It is used to teach the basics of page composition and notion of space within a page. With the help of design softwares it is much easier to define those spaces with much more precision and the movement is no longer considered a novelty. The grid based design is now very popular in the world of web design. It is a paramount tool of communication, showing great importance to simplifying navigation though the page and communicating trust towards its users. 

The international swiss style teaches you how to be reasonable with the elements in a page and build a pleasing special system. Despite its ridgid nature the grid system can accommodate an incredible number of design possibilities, because it allows a starting point for a designer to compose the writing elements on a page. Muller-Brockman, father of Swiss Typography draws inspiration from nature and earlier human civilizations, by looking at ‘ancient systems of order’ for example, honeycombs made by bees, and studies of the proportions of the human body. Other things that evoke a sense of order and structure that inspired Muller-Brockman are Egyptian pictograms, the Gutenberg bible, music manuscript and geometry of traditional Japanese architecture. As a result he concluded that design required a “high degree of not only emotional but also intellectual capacity for creative achievement”. This line was drawn in design because it's a field that embraces both the arts and commerce.  

https://trydesignlab.com/blog/grids-ui-ux-graphic-design-quick-history-5-amazing-tips/#3

https://trydesignlab.com/blog/grids-ui-ux-graphic-design-quick-history-5-amazing-tips/

https://visualartsdepartment.wordpress.com/modernism/

http://blog.ocad.ca/wordpress/visd2004-su2017-c/home/modernist-typography/

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C&CS reflection: Avant-garde

What does the term avant-garde mean?

The term ‘avant-guard’ is often used to describe something ahead of its time, daring or cutting-edge. Avant-garde is french for ‘vanguard’, a military term used to describe the front line of an army moving into battle. However, the term was coined in the art world in the mid 19th century to designate artists that grouped in numbers to challenge long established ideals about art. This comparison was made because these artists were forward thinkers with big fighting spirits and had privileged vision in the battle field.

In the arts, avant-garde can be used as both a noun - indicating artists that introduce these new ideas - and as an adjective - describing works and experimental ideas of those artists. The influential thinker, Henri de Saint-Simon, one of the four runners of socialism, had the idea that artists alongside industrialists and scientists were leaders of a new society. He insisted that ‘the power of the arts is indeed the most immediate and fastest way’ to social and political reform.

Avant-garde artists purposefully push boundaries and are regarded as innovative, striving to question traditions and the establishment. Due to its radical nature, avant-garde has often been cast aside and met with resistance. Artists had to fight censorship as these establishments denied the art movement to public exposure. Notable movements subsequent to avant-garde are expressionism, cubism and surrealism. However, the critic Peter Bürger associated the term exclusively with Dada and Constructivism because these movements had a social agenda comparable to the avant-garde.

Is it still possible to be truly Avant-garde?

Art by nature is in a constant state of reform and evolution, led by its practitioners especially the ones seeking new boundaries and ideas - those are considered to be avant-garde. However, being avant-garde is all about the right timing and the right moment. It is accepted that the movement began in the mid-19th century with the Realist artist Gustave Courbet (1819-77) and Jean-Francois Millet (1814-75). 

Coubert challenged the establishment by exhibiting his work independently and not recognised by the artistic Academies  in France. He rejected the dominant romantic and neoclassical schools of the time and chose to depict pheasants in his works. As a result he had an agenda to break the social norms of the time, making him an avant-garde artist. But looking at his works nowadays, it almost seems as if he is part of the traditionalists artist because the perspective of avant-guard has already evolved, what was once considered daring is now ordinary. Society has bigger expectations as to what is truly avant-garde.

Regardless, it is still possible to be avant-guard to this day, because it is all about absorbing and understanding your surroundings and reflecting on what needs to be changed about it, this that you are displeased about and what should be done about it. It is about questioning the authority or simply questioning the norm - why are things the way they are and son on. However the real question is; what happens to the avant-gard when everything becomes avant-garde? The sole purpose of avant-gardism is to distinguish yourself from the rest and not follow that norm, but in the world of contemporary art, in which doing exactly that is already the norm, you simply fit in within the establishment and avant-gardism is then lost. 

https://www.nationalgalleries.org/art-and-artists/artists/gustave-courbet

https://www.moma.org/collection/terms/165

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7hqzexxZqRc

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C&CS reflection: Arts & Crafts Movement

What are the differences between the Arts & Crafts and the Art Nouveau? 

Initially, Arts & Crafts Art Nouveau movements can be quite tricky to tell apart, attributed to their approximate essence. Both movements were created during the same era and carry a strong appreciation to the natural world. On the surface both styles are very similar, however on a deeper scale there are distinguishable features in its philosophy and design. It’s a natural overlap that occurs since one art movement actually influenced the latter one.  

There are a few distinguishable features between both styles, starting with comparing the complexity of each movement’s design. Arts & Crafts is more focused on simplicity; details are minimized to its simplest forms, resembling neoclassicist design. In Art Nouveau, there is a greater importance to intricate designs, and exaggeration. Another difference between both, is the colour palette, both styles draw influence from the natural world, however each with its own approach. Arts & Crafts lean towards neutral colours whereas Art nouveau plays with the drama and saturation. Overall, what set both styles apart are their differing points of view and approach towards the same topic.  

It is well known that the Arts & Crafts movement is rooted from the rejection of the Industrial Revolution, fed up with the direction the 19th century society was heading, as a result the pioneers of the movement were striving to elevate different art forms that were usually diminished as craft prior to that. Art nouveau shares the same ideals, with a twist, artists were running away from traditional art styles that excluded the growing middle class' interest in fine arts. Between both art movements there is a clear visual contrast, arts & crafts gave great importance to the use of materials and media as a form of protest, whereas art nouveau enjoyed creating art with an ostentatious core, for the benefit of creating shallow beauty. 

 What is the relationship between the Arts & Crafts and the 19th Century industry? 

The Arts & Craft movement originated from a collective disapproval of the lifestyle of current time within the industrial revolution. The revolution was a crucial transitioning time from a primitive to a technological society. In other words, machines began to replace men in factories. This made it possible to produce a higher rate of merchandise with a lower cost, also known as mass production. This left artists and craftsmen wondering if the industry left any room for their art to be produced and consumed. 

The industry and the arts & crafts movement had a clear relationship of aversion, primarily due to their conflicting principles. With the new faced paced urban lifestyle, people were compelled to relocate from the countryside to the big cities, causing the rural community to appear primitive and outdated. Artists and craftsmen of the time were discontent with the deteriorating quality of urban life and sought refuge in the countryside where their art could be better appreciated. This was a period of hardship for artisans who were once reputable honest workers, now replaced by speed-based production machines that lacked originality and individuality, as a result quantity was more valued than quality.  

The art style produced by arts & crafts was developed to purposefully clash with whatever the industry was manufacturing. As machines were forcing designs with a more minimalistic appeal to facilitate production cost and speed, craftsmen were pushing design boundaries to prevent any form of replication in the industry and propagation of individuality, creating art which is only possible by the use of hand and tool, not machines. The movement's founder William Morris emphasized the necessity to manufacture both useful and beautiful objects.  

 https://www.thecollector.com/industrial-revolution-arts-and-crafts/ 

http://blog.flametreepublishing.com/art-of-fine-gifts/why-was-art-nouveau-the-art-revolt-people-were-looking-for 

https://www.hunker.com/13725336/difference-between-arts-and-crafts-and-art-nouveau 

https://www.barnfurnituremart.com/blog/differences-between-art-nouveau-and-arts-and-crafts-design/